Problems saving IMDb+ options (OUTDATED: Do Not Use Answers) (1 Viewer)

[ejvdh]

Just wanted to say i did a clean instal of MovingPictures today and tried out your scraper, It works GREAT. Thanks.

Did you run into any troubles during setup/install? I'm still working on an easy MPEI package for installation, but it is a slow process, so want to make sure the existing manual installation method is as easy to follow as possible.

I installed the scraper and the plugin, which seem to work, but if I change settings in the plugin they don't seem to get saved if I go back to the main menu. I'm probably overlooking something obvious, but would appreciate your help.

Thanks.
Erik

 

[RoChess]

Re: IMDb+ Scraper (Fix English, Rename+Group, RottenTomatoes, and more) v3.2.5

Just wanted to say i did a clean instal of MovingPictures today and tried out your scraper, It works GREAT. Thanks.

Did you run into any troubles during setup/install? I'm still working on an easy MPEI package for installation, but it is a slow process, so want to make sure the existing manual installation method is as easy to follow as possible.

I installed the scraper and the plugin, which seem to work, but if I change settings in the plugin they don't seem to get saved if I go back to the main menu. I'm probably overlooking something obvious, but would appreciate your help.

Thanks.
Erik

Thanks for reminding me, I forgot to test that scenario.

What is most likely happening is that you have UAC protection enabled. When the plugin tries to write to the file in "C:\" the UAC protection kicks in and blocks access. My original idea was to have the XML files be in the MediaPortal data location, but because this location is different on XP and Vista/Win7 and can also be adjusted by the user, it was impossible for me to do this at scraper-script level.

This is why "C:\" was used as it would exist and be the same for every user.

To fix this properly, I submitted a request at Google Code for: Issue #1048, so that inside scraper script I can access the XML files in a location that belongs to MediaPortal and is fully accessible. PS: If everybody would please vote for this issue, then it might actually make it into a future MovingPictures version.

To solve the problem now, use the following method:

1. Download the ZIP file again from the Google Code project site containing the scraper XML files
2. Unzip the XML files onto your desktop (this created the correct ACL permissions and prevents the creation of the 'High' Mandactory Integrity Control setting)
3. Move the extracted XML files from your desktop to the "C:\" location.

 

[ejvdh]

Re: IMDb+ Scraper (Fix English, Rename+Group, RottenTomatoes, and more) v3.2.5

Thanks for your reply.

I'll try some of that and let you know. On the UAC thing, though: 'disabling' UAC is easy enough (slider down to 'never notify', as mentioned on many websites, but that is already set on my htpc, so that doesn't do the trick. I also still get additional requests for permission when deleting files in Explorer for example. Actually I want to always run as administrator, but that's a Windows issue I'll sort out.

I'll try to change the permissions for just the 3 files and let you know how it went.

regards,
Erik

 

[RoChess]

Re: IMDb+ Scraper (Fix English, Rename+Group, RottenTomatoes, and more) v3.2.5

Actually I want to always run as administrator, but that's a Windows issue I'll sort out.

Try the following article otherwise: How To (Really) Completely Disable UAC on Windows 7 - How-To Geek

You can at least check the registry setting to make sure UAC got disabled.

I personally prefer UAC on a system, but only after I tweak a few ACLs to not get those prompts on folders I adjust a lot that I know will never contain virus-executable files anyway. The hiearchy of ACLs can get very complex, but I've used them since NT4 in the 90ties, so I guess it is easier for me to deal with them.

 

[RoChess]

Re: IMDb+ Scraper (Fix English, Rename+Group, RottenTomatoes, and more) v3.2.5

Darn rookie mistake, forgot the very important /e parameter.

So you need to use: cacls C:\*.xml /e /g everyone:f

If you already ran the command without '/e', then restore original ACLs first by deleting the files and replacing them with fresh ones. You can also inherit the ACLs from root folder, but can't for the life of me remember how right now

The problem relates to Vista/Win7 Mandatory Integrity Control flag.

To get around this, unzip the ZIP file onto your desktop first, and then move the XML files to the "C:\" folder.

 

[ejvdh]

Re: IMDb+ Scraper (Fix English, Rename+Group, RottenTomatoes, and more) v3.2.5

Darn rookie mistake, forgot the very important /e parameter.

So you need to use: cacls C:\*.xml /e /g everyone:f

If you already ran the command without '/e', then restore original ACLs first by deleting the files and replacing them with fresh ones. You can also inherit the ACLs from root folder, but can't for the life of me remember how right now

Didn't use this command in the end, but disabled UAC altogether through security policies (secpol.msc). Finally learned how to do that!

Anyway, the plugin works now!

Btw, wouldn't it be easier to install the xml files in a separate folder, to be made by the user manually or by script, rather than in C:\?

 

[RoChess]

Re: IMDb+ Scraper (Fix English, Rename+Group, RottenTomatoes, and more) v3.2.5

Btw, wouldn't it be easier to install the xml files in a separate folder, to be made by the user manually or by script, rather than in C:\?

If that issue in MovPic was incorporated, then I could tell user to install them in the MediaPortal data folder which has all the correct permissions, but without that value available to the scraper script, the folder location is not the same for XP users, Vista/Win7 users or for custom installations.

However I did some tests just now, and the problem was sneaky. I've been doing ACLs for a long time, but Microsoft implemented a new attribute called "Mandatory Integrity Control", which is not visible via the cacls.exe command-line tool that I'm used to. The icacls.exe tool however shows it just fine, which is how I discovered what was going on.

When you unzip from a ZIP file straight to 'C:\' folder, the MIC value is set to 'High', preventing any changes while in protected mode (UAC enabled).

If however you first unzip the ZIP file content to desktop and then move all the XML files to the 'C:\' folder, then the MIC value is not even created.

So the solution is to either do that, by unzipping to desktop first and then 'move' the files, or by adjusting the MIC values via:

icacls C:\*xml /setintegritylevel M​

This adjusts the MIC value from 'High' to 'Medium' (default) and everything is good to go again. But instead of elevated command-prompt explanations, I'm just going to adjust the install instructions to unzip to desktop first and then move the files.

 

[RoChess]

Re: IMDb+ Scraper (Fix English, Rename+Group, RottenTomatoes, and more) v3.2.5

I'm just going to adjust the install instructions to unzip to desktop first and then move the files.

Ok, first post adjusted and install instructions at Google Code updated.

Maybe via the upcomming MPEI package I can figure out a way to manipulate the scraper script during installation and place the XML files in the proper MediaPortal 'Data' location.

 

[zicoz]

Re: IMDb+ Scraper (Fix English, Rename+Group, RottenTomatoes, and more) v3.2.5

How about moving the xml-files from c:\ to c:\IMDB+ scraper\

Wouldn't that be an easy solution?

 

[RoChess]

Re: IMDb+ Scraper (Fix English, Rename+Group, RottenTomatoes, and more) v3.2.5

How about moving the xml-files from c:\ to c:\IMDB+ scraper\

Wouldn't that be an easy solution?

Just to give you an idea of what's coming, and already done in the v3.3.0 version that I'm working on:

1. DONE: Improved speed on scraper with less memory usage
2. DONE: Limit writer and director to just one name if desired, as some skins would make multiple names horizontal scroll.
3. DONE: Add support for 7 extra languages for summary, certification, spoken-language and genres for: English (default of course), German, Italian, Icelandic, French, Spanish, Portugese, and Swedish.
4. Dutch language support will be added later, have to write a PHP based proxy system first that takes care of API access that the scraper script can not do.
5. Multi-language rename+group support will be added, it will be split between existing English prefix and foreign subtitle. For example: "Star Wars IV: La guerra de las galaxias" for Spanish users.
6. Simplified debugging support to report problems back easier
7. IN PROGRESS: Update plugin+skin to make all the new options fit easier
8. IN PROGRESS: MPEI package to install the plugin very easy
9. SOON: Plugin will install new and auto-update existing scraper scripts while MediaPortal is running

The whole problem with path will be sorted via the install/auto-update system that the plugin will handle, as I will be able to copy the XML files to a proper location and adjust scraper script before importing to point to this location. The MPEI package will make it easier to install everything.

I'm going as fast as I can, so stay tuned