Previous versions of MP1 (1 Viewer)

[wjw]

Hi,

I recently upgraded after a long period and now have V1.30. I was on 1.23 and for various reasons would really like to go back to where I was.

Is it possible to get a download link to older versions somewhere?

 

[doskabouter]

May I ask what the reason for this is? Are you experiencing bugs with the latest version?
If so, can you elaborate on those (including logs) so we could see if those issues can be solved?

Edit: anyway: here it is: MediaPortal 1.23 Final Regeszter Edition - MEDIAPORTAL

 

[high]

Is it possible to get a download link to older versions somewhere?

full list can be found here: MediaPortal - Browse /MediaPortal Setup at SourceForge.net

 

[wjw]

Thanks for these replies.

@doskabouter

I don't think so, but I am having issues that didn't happen before the upgrade. Unfortunately for various reasons this upgrade did not happen in isolation because at roughly the same time I replaced my old AV receiver ( a 15 year old Sony) with a new Denon with much improved functionality that I wanted to take advantage of. Then, of course, there is the constant stream of Windows updates - but I can't really do much about thise

An example issue now (and probably both the most annoying and difficult to understand) is an issue with MP that I suspect is not really not caused by MP at all) is that if the PC has started to record a scheduled programme and I then decide I want to watch something, I find that when I switch the AV receiver and TV on MP is muted. Important note - I am using precisely the same series of commands to do this as before as they have all been set up in the Logitech universal remote that I have been using for years. with the one exception that the AV receiver has been changed. It is definitely NOT the AV receiver that is muted, nor the Windows sound device. I have carefully checked this and it is definably MP that is muted (I use the Windows MCE remote and have checked this by using the Mute button on that device) . The really odd thing is that if MP is not active at the time of switching on then the sound in MP is not muted. Another new problem is that more often that not when going in to watch something at first startup - either a live broadcast or a recording - there is no sound. Exit that selection and then re-select something and the sound is back. There are few other really minor issues that I can live with.

The obvious candidate here is, of course, the new AV receiver - but I am at a total loss as to how that device can have any effect on something running on a PC that it has no connection with other than an hdmi cable carrying the audio and video data-streams that it will process for output only.

So I'd just like to try my previous version of MP just to eliminate possible causes.

 

[CyberSimian]

The obvious candidate here is, of course, the new AV receiver - but I am at a total loss as to how that device can have any effect on something running on a PC that it has no connection with other than an hdmi cable carrying the audio and video data-streams that it will process for output only.

One possibility is whether the device connected to the HDMI cable maintains the connection when in standby:

• My old Toshiba LCD TV does not maintain the connection, which means that Windows can detect that there is no output device available.
• My current Sony LCD TV maintains the connection when in standby, which means that Windows thinks that the output device is connected all of the time, and Windows cannot detect that the device is in standby.

So, perhaps your old AV receiver maintains the connection, but your new AV receiver does not, and this is affecting Windows or MP in some way.

You can check this by using Windows "devcon.exe" to query the device table. Typically there are many hundreds of entries in the device table, but the entry for the output device should be somewhere near the start. So:

• Run "devcon.exe" with the old AV receiver connected and switched on, and direct the output to a file.
• Repeat with the AV receiver in standby, directing the output to a different file. Note: you won't be able to see what you are typing when you do this, since the screen will be blank (assuming that the connections are: HTPC->AV receiver->TV).
• Compare the output files to identify any changes.
• Repeat the previous three steps using the new AV receiver.

If your AV receivers behave differently, you might find:

• The output files for the old AV receiver are identical.
• The output files for the new AV receiver differ, with the AV receiver being absent from the device table when the receiver is in standby.

The command to use is:

devcon.exe status * >devcon.list

The asterisk matches all device names, so you can restrict the list by being more specific. Here are a couple of entries from my HTPC when it was using the Toshiba TV:

DISPLAY\TSB0102\5&8835E1A&0&UID1048849
    Name: Generic PnP Monitor
    Driver is running.
HDAUDIO\FUNC_01&VEN_8384&DEV_7618&SUBSYS_10280215&REV_1002\4&26E0D281&0&0001
    Name: High Definition Audio Device
    Driver is running.

I don't think that "devcon.exe" is installed by default, but you may find that other applications have installed it. On my HTPC, it was included in the driver package for my TBS tuner card; on my laptop, it is included in the Gigabyte ControlCenter application. See this Microsoft page.

My HTPC also has sound problems. Specifically, when I wake it from hibernation and start the MP client, occasionally there will be no sound for live TV, recorded TV, or video. But: the amplifier is not muted, MP is not muted, and Windows is not muted. I eventually found that the way to reset this was to:

• Exit the MP client.
• Start the "Nvidia Control Panel" application.
• Disable digital audio over HDMI and click "Apply".
• Re-enable digital audio and click "Apply".

When the MP client was restarted, there would now be sound. However, the need to reset the audio in this way was quite annoying, as it occurred several times per week, so in the end I stopped using audio over HDMI. Instead, I connected the motherboard's digital audio output to a DAC, and then connected the DAC to my analogue audio amplifier. This never loses the audio, but introduces the possibility of loss of lip sync, due to the audio and video passing through different devices.

I don't know what causes my audio problem, but maybe it is a bug in the Nvidia driver. My new HTPC (when I eventually get around to completing it) will use an AMD graphics card, and it will be interesting to see if that fixes the audio problem, or whether it too suffers from missing sound.

-- from CyberSimian in the UK

 

[wjw]

Wow, so much new information and opportunity. Many thanks for your time and help - which it did.

I cannot do the direct comparison as the old Sony has been sent to recycling heaven - the new Denon was so good at the functions I really wanted it for that there seemed little point in hanging on to the old stuff (my wife says I keep far too much already!). However your references to the issue of keeping the connection open even when in standby just clicked with something that the Denon offers that that the old Sony didn't in that there is a configuration option to turn the Passthrough function on or off. It was on, so I turned it off - and the initial impression is that the problem with the PC.MP being woken from hibernate and being muted no longer happens. More time will be required to fully examine this. There is still the issue of the first item selected to be played will not have sound even though mute is not on. This clearly suggests something else in Windows and/or MP - but not the problem you had since this is simply - but tediously - cured by exiting that selection, returning to Home Screen, repeating the selection and sound will be present. Adding a few new steps to the Logitech remote and staying entirely within MP should fix that to make it fully wife acceptable!!! But I'd still like to know why it happens so I will continue to explore any other changes that I might have made since the upgrade from 1.23.

Again, thanks for your time and help.

 

[rlevis]

I have a similar issue occasionally with MP and a Marantz NR1711 AVR. When MP is not playing video, the AVR status shows the audio source as "Multi Channel PCM In" or similar. When starting a video it should change to Dolby Surround or whatever audio format the video contains. I find that after waking the PC from sleep sometimes, you can hear the MP sound effects from moving within a menu but when starting a video, it is silent because the AVR hasn't switched to Dolby and still shows Multi Channel PCM as the audio source. Sometimes stopping and restarting the video resolves it, but sometimes I have to restart MP or reboot the PC to fix it. I have always assumed a problem with the AVR but I'm not sure since actions are required on the PC. The PC is using built-in AMD graphics. Luckily a reboot only take 15 seconds or so as it's a fast NVMe SSD. Perhaps check your AVR audio source and see if that's what's happening.

 

[wjw]

After lots of trying various configurations I've come to the conclusion that probably the best approach will be to just force a restart of MP once everything has powered up and waiting. One way to do this would be to use the remote to navigate to the Top Bar, choose the Power Down option and then select Restart MP. A little tedious - so can anyone either tell me what the code is the code that selecting the Restart MP option triggers )so that I can program a button on my remote to do this) or is this done by executing a Windows macro?

Or is there a keyboard shortcut that I can use? Or any documentation that I can look up?

 

[CyberSimian]

One way to do this would be to use the remote to navigate to the Top Bar, choose the Power Down option and then select Restart MP.

You mentioned earlier that you have a Logitech remote control which you use with an MCE IR receiver. So you must have programmed the Logitech remote to use the MCE command set.

An MCE remote has all of the standard buttons, plus several others. For example, my Dell MCE remote has buttons for: star, hash, clear, teletext, and enter. So although these buttons may not exist on your Logitech remote, codes for these buttons will exist in the MCE command set, and you can allocate one of these codes to an unused button on your Logitech remote.

Next you need to edit your MP HID configuration and define the action assigned to that button. I have just looked in "MP Config", and sadly there does not seem to be an action for "Restart MP". There is an action for "Shutdown", which (contrary to its name) displays the "Shutdown" pop-up menu instead of actually shutting the system down. One of the selections on this pop-up is "Restart MediaPortal", which I think is what you want. It is the second selection. In the HID configuration for my Dell remote control I have defined the "Teletext" button to invoke the "Shutdown" action:



You might be satisfied with this solution. However, if your Logitech remote supports "sequences" (also sometimes called "macros"), you could define your selected button to send a sequence of MCE commands, which might be:

• Teletext (if you choose that MCE code for MP's "Shutdown" action)
• Down
• OK

This would (I think) give you a "one button press" solution to restarting MP.

-- from CyberSimian in the UK

 

[wjw]

Thanks for the suggestions, and I will be exploring to see what I can get to. My remote does indeed support button allocation, sequences etc. abnd I have been using these.

As you say there is no longer an action for Restart MP. There used to be, as described here - but no longer as I think that was really for actual MCE remotes and sadly not included in the general HID handler that replaced it. That would have been perfect - and suggests that somehow it might be possible to replicate. After all, the function is still contained in MP, it just that now it requires lots of navigation steps to get to that specific action in the Powerdown sub-menu.