Obligatory noob thread - first impressions and gripes (1 Viewer)

Digsy

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NOTE: Original post edited to update on each issue.

Hi all,

This is my first post on here, having just come from a fairly well sorted (as in organised) HTPC built around WMC. I have just installed MP2 and so far I must say that I am very impressed. I'm not really into tweaking and my main requirement of an HTPC and media front end is that it "just works". For all its shortcomings, WMC did indeed just work (until getting the EPG to work with third party providers became too troublesome). So far despite its apparent complexity, MP2 is also working right out of the box.

So far I have set up the TV service and grabbed all the channels I want. Organising them can come later. I seem to have far more channels than I could convince W<C to tune into, which is great (or will be once I organise them). I even got EPG Collector to talk to MP2 simply by getting it to spit out an XMLTV file, with no other config changes whatsoever - very happy with that.

My ripped CD library was already well organised, tagged and with album art, so the audio media library also worked right out of the box.

Now here's where I start to hit a few issues...

I have a library of ripped DVDs in VIDEO_TS format, all with cover art (folder.jpg) downloaded by YAMM. The folder names all follow the format MOVIE NAME (YEAR)
So far I am assuming that MP2 does not use these JPGs and downloads new artwork when the movie library is imported or updated. Generally it seems to get this part right, but two things are causing me issues:

1) For foreign language films, the artwork, title, and movie data get changed to the native language version, and the movie blurb appears in the native language. For example, the 2006 film "Black Book" lives in a a folder called BLACK BOOK (2006) but appears in the library as "Zwartboek", with the movie description in Dutch.
This is not a bug. Movie details are grabbed in the same language as the DVD language. Possibility to include an option to override this in a future release?

2) I have the 2 disc version of "Das Boot", which lives in separate folders DAS BOOT (1981) DISK 1 and DISK 2 as well as suffering from the above language problem, it only appears once in the library, and when I play it only disk two plays. I cannot see or play disk one.
Not fixed yet. Disc "merging" seems not to be working in this case.
Bug report raised.
Should be fixed for public release of version 2.2

3) "Downfall" was originally identified as completely the wrong film until I renamed the folder to DOWNFALL (2004). Now it does not appear in the library at all, neither as "Downfall" nor its German title: "Der Untergang".
Not fixed yet.
Bug report raised.
Fixed by backing up folder, deleting from media library and then re-importing.


As WMC had no native BluRay support I was already using WinDVD Pro for this. I'm not mad keen on playing Blus within MP2, but it would be nice to add a launcher icon for WinDVD Pro inside MP2 somehow. The WInDVD installer could do this for WMC so any feedback on how to do the same thing would be great.
Not possible, but see this thread.

I also have a small collection of videos ripped from YouTube, home movies, etc. Some video thumbnails would be nice (a'la WMC). Is there a way to generate them in MP2?
Video thumbs did generate a few days later. Not sure what the delay was!

So much for movies... :)

Images:
My Image library is large and, to be honest, poorly organised. No matter which view I choose I cannot see the images as thumbnails. I have the Windows thumbnail generation turned off for all folders because the thumbs.db files were very slow to update over my network (all my media is on a NAS). Do I need to turn this on again to see image thumbs in MP2?
Image thumbs did generate a few days later, but not for all images. Maybe this takes time? Also there is a strange bug in the "folder view" image browser. See here:
Bug report raised.

Finally my only real "moans" are reserved for two things:

Moan 1: Mouse control.
Controlling MP2 using the mouse seems very hit and miss, and also different from skin to skin. I could control WMC completely using the mouse, especially the scroll wheel. With the BlueVision skin on the TV guide I can scroll the wheel a few times to move down the channels list and nothing happens, but then it jumps several channels at once. Using the scroll wheel to move along a list of DVDs or CDs is even more hit and miss, and I have to keep falling back on the cursor keys. From reading a few threads in here I'm starting to get the impression that MP2 isn't really intended to be mouse controlled, and is more optimised for a remote. I think that's a shame but I can see the logic.

Moan 2: The WMC skin!
Coming from WMC, I was overjoyed to find an WMC skin for MP2 but it seems like a real missed opportunity. Not only is mouse control no better than the other skins (WMC had clickable four way arrows on the EPG, for example), but the floating shuttle controls are completely missing from the DVD player (both ripped films and real discs) even though it is right there in the TV viewer.
Update to fix the missing DVD controls should be available in the next MP2 release. This only seems to effect playing physical discs, ISO images, or ripped discs stored in VIDEO_TS format. Other video files play OK.

Sorry for the long first post! I'm looking forward to getting feedback on any of the above items. :)
 
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Brownard

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    Hi, thanks for the feedback.
    So far I am assuming that MP2 does not use these JPGs and downloads new artwork when the movie library is imported or updated.
    MP2 does support local images but will also download online images if they are enabled (which they are by default) under Settings -> Media Library ->Movie import settings
    For foreign language films, the artwork, title, and movie data get changed to the native language version, and the movie blurb appears in the native language.
    Yes, as per the other thread you replied to, this is currently by design but is open to being changed.
    "Downfall" was originally identified as completely the wrong film until I renamed the folder to DOWNFALL (2004). Now it does not appear in the library at all, neither as "Downfall" nor its German title: "Der Untergang".
    Have you tried reimporting the share?
    I have the 2 disc version of "Das Boot", which lives in separate folders DAS BOOT (1981) DISK 1 and DISK 2 as well as suffering from the above language problem, it only appears once in the library, and when I play it only disk two plays. I cannot see or play disk one.
    MP2 attempts to combine multiple discs into a single media item but it should give you a dialog asking which version to play. It may well be a bug in the last release, there have been many changes incorporated in the next release (which is a couple of weeks away) but I'll double check if the issue is still existing.
    As WMC had no native BluRay support I was already using WinDVD Pro for this. I'm not mad keen on playing Blus within MP2, but it would be nice to add a launcher icon for WinDVD Pro inside MP2 somehow.
    I think you can play the main title from a bluray natively in MP2 but the bluray menu won't work (I might be wrong here though). There is currently no way to launch an external player.
    No matter which view I choose I cannot see the images as thumbnails.
    Again, this is supposed to work. I'll check if it is working in the upcoming release.
    Moan 1: Mouse control.
    MP2 is primarily designed for using with a remote and mouse support is highly skin dependent and there is certainly room for improvement.

    As above, I'll check some of the stuff you reported that doesn't seem to be working as expected, it might be that you'll have to hold on until the next scheduled release in a couple of weeks.
     

    ge2301

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    Thanks for the feedback, it helps to improve MP2 further.
    Not only is mouse control no better than the other skins
    The WMC skin is much more mouse friendly compared to the other skins. When you work a bit longer with it I'm sure you will realize. I remember that a few mouse related things were improved further in the soon coming majour release. But I designed too much on WMC, I can not even remember how 2.1.3 was ;)

    WMC had clickable four way arrows on the EPG, for example
    I also used WMC and thats why I started the activity to create a WMC like skin for MP2. Unfortunately not everything can be just copied over, because MP2 has it's own structure, that partly sets limits. On the other hand it also offers opportunities, so some things are better than in original WMC (Menu editor, FanArt support, ...).
    Do you have an image from the clickable 4 way arrow EPG and could you shortly explain the navigation concept? I implemented the 4 arrow concept already in the home menu and can improve also the EPG further. I have WMC installed on my PC and could not find something as you described. Perhaps you talk not about mouse buttons, but remote!?

    but the floating shuttle controls are completely missing from the DVD player (both ripped films and real discs) even though it is right there in the TV viewer
    I never played DVD's with MP2, so I might be not aware of something. What are "flaoting shuttle controls"? If you help with a screenshot or further explannation I can also see what to do.
     

    Lehmden

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    Hi.
    but it would be nice to add a launcher icon for WinDVD Pro inside MP2 somehow.
    This (and much, much more) is possible with the plugin "AppLauncher". It's still working also the original author is no longer around here...

    No matter which view I choose I cannot see the images as thumbnails.
    this is supposed to work.
    It may be supposed to work, but it don't and never did in public builds. There were some older 2.2 test builds where it seems to work but it's broken again since a long time. This week I've reported it broken in the internal forum the last time..
     

    Digsy

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    It may be supposed to work, but it don't and never did in public builds. There were some older 2.2 test builds where it seems to work but it's broken again since a long time. This week I've reported it broken in the internal forum the last time..

    Hi Lehmden, thanks for the replies,

    Will image thumbs work if I turn the creation of the thumbs.db files back on in Windows 7, or is it totally broken at the moment?
     

    Digsy

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    Have you tried reimporting the share?

    MP2 attempts to combine multiple discs into a single media item but it should give you a dialog asking which version to play. It may well be a bug in the last release, there have been many changes incorporated in the next release (which is a couple of weeks away) but I'll double check if the issue is still existing.

    Hi,

    I re-imported the movies tonight and have exactly the same results: "Das Boot" disc one not accessible (no dialogue for merging the two discs during import), and "Downfall" still not visible.

    Sorry for the dumb question, but which of the many log files would I need to upload for someone to take a look at this?

    Thanks!
     

    Lehmden

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    but which of the many log files would I need to upload
    All of them. Best is to use the "LogColletor" tool installed together with MP 2

    However when watching a movie, no matter how much you move the mouse, no controls appear in the actual movie viewer...
    This seems to be a skin issue in WMC Skin as in BlueVision skin this is working. Here as a proof a screenshot with the Win10 Theme for BlueVision:
    Zwischenablage-1.jpg
     

    Digsy

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    OK, here are all my logs. Hope you can find something.
     

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    Lehmden

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    FYI. In the most recent test build of MP2.2 the images have thumbs displayed nicely, if you start from scratch, The issue seems to be caused by upgrading from 2.1.3 to 2.2 somehow. Now we need to find a solution for upgrading properly, if possible. But I can't promise anything...
     

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