Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="Anonymous" data-source="post: 6932">This took me a little longer than I thought.&nbsp; I ran into a slight hiccup with XP, got frustrated, formatted my boot partition, and started from scratch.&nbsp; So here's what I found...Suggested messaging clarifications (usability)1. After I installed MP, I couldn't get it to boot.&nbsp; Either the app or the config.&nbsp; I kept getting a .NET framework error (I think.)&nbsp; I quickly realized I forgot to load the PVR350 drivers.&nbsp; Loaded them and all worked fine.Perhaps the app could display a message to say &quot;Hey moron, I couldn't find a capture device!&nbsp; Ensure your capture card and drivers are properly installed&quot; when no capture device is found?2. In the weather plugin, instead of mystifying the user with an image of Germany perhaps we can display a message that says &quot;No radar image defined for this location.&nbsp; Edit the weather setting for this city to define an image location.&quot;Performance improvements1. Already mentioned the TV channel change time.2. It takes a long time to load the app (approx 10 - 15 seconds).&nbsp; I noticed most of that time is spent on inititalizing the skin engine.&nbsp; Perhaps the skin engine needs some streamlining?&nbsp; It &quot;almost&quot; seems like it take longer for MP to load than it does for XP to boot. 3. On most modules, it takes some time to load them when you select them from start.&nbsp; I was surprised how long it took to enter MyNews and I only have one feed defined (slashdot).&nbsp; It took about 5 seconds.&nbsp; Same with MyTV and MyRadio.&nbsp; &nbsp; MyWeather seems pretty quick (more expected behavior) at about a second or less.4. I have a lot of internet radio stations defined (shoutcast.)&nbsp; I'm pretty sure this isn't a MP issue but I'll discuss it anyway.&nbsp; It takes anywhere from 3 to 20 seconds for a shoutcast stream to start.&nbsp; Sometimes they don't start at all.&nbsp; I've never used shoutcast before so I think I am going to load the Nullsoft Shoutcast player on my other system and see if there is a difference.StabilityOther than the skin engine issue... I've got nothing.&nbsp; It seems pretty stable to me.&nbsp; I do have a suggestion on how to handle new plugins with the skin engine so that a skin does not have to be customized to the plugin.&nbsp; I will post that suggestion in one of the development threads.Overall, good work.&nbsp; I had one of my die hard techie friends over last night that &quot;was&quot; going to buy XP MCE 2005.&nbsp; I only had it half configured and he was impressed.&nbsp; &nbsp; I know my fellow MP users will throw stones for saying this but I feel I need to say it.&nbsp; Compared to other open source HTPC initiatives, this one is developing and maturing at a MUCH faster rate with a fraction of the developers.&nbsp; Perhaps you might want to think about slowing down a little so you don't burn yourselve out?Please let me know if this feedback helped.&nbsp; If so, I will continue to provide it.&nbsp; Otherwise I will shut up.&nbsp;&nbsp; :wink: Ciao!BTW - I'm running on a P4/2.5Ghz and 512mb RAM.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Anonymous, post: 6932"] This took me a little longer than I thought. I ran into a slight hiccup with XP, got frustrated, formatted my boot partition, and started from scratch. So here's what I found... [b]Suggested messaging clarifications (usability)[/b] 1. After I installed MP, I couldn't get it to boot. Either the app or the config. I kept getting a .NET framework error (I think.) I quickly realized I forgot to load the PVR350 drivers. Loaded them and all worked fine. Perhaps the app could display a message to say "[i]Hey moron, I couldn't find a capture device! Ensure your capture card and drivers are properly installed[/i]" when no capture device is found? 2. In the weather plugin, instead of mystifying the user with an image of Germany perhaps we can display a message that says "[i]No radar image defined for this location. Edit the weather setting for this city to define an image location[/i]." [b]Performance improvements[/b] 1. Already mentioned the TV channel change time. 2. It takes a long time to load the app (approx 10 - 15 seconds). I noticed most of that time is spent on inititalizing the skin engine. Perhaps the skin engine needs some streamlining? It "almost" seems like it take longer for MP to load than it does for XP to boot. 3. On most modules, it takes some time to load them when you select them from start. I was surprised how long it took to enter MyNews and I only have one feed defined (slashdot). It took about 5 seconds. Same with MyTV and MyRadio. MyWeather seems pretty quick (more expected behavior) at about a second or less. 4. I have a lot of internet radio stations defined (shoutcast.) I'm pretty sure this isn't a MP issue but I'll discuss it anyway. It takes anywhere from 3 to 20 seconds for a shoutcast stream to start. Sometimes they don't start at all. I've never used shoutcast before so I think I am going to load the Nullsoft Shoutcast player on my other system and see if there is a difference. [b]Stability[/b] Other than the skin engine issue... I've got nothing. It seems pretty stable to me. I do have a suggestion on how to handle new plugins with the skin engine so that a skin does not have to be customized to the plugin. I will post that suggestion in one of the development threads. Overall, good work. I had one of my die hard techie friends over last night that "was" going to buy XP MCE 2005. I only had it half configured and he was impressed. I know my fellow MP users will throw stones for saying this but I feel I need to say it. Compared to other open source HTPC initiatives, this one is developing and maturing at a MUCH faster rate with a fraction of the developers. Perhaps you might want to think about slowing down a little so you don't burn yourselve out? Please let me know if this feedback helped. If so, I will continue to provide it. Otherwise I will shut up. :wink: Ciao! BTW - I'm running on a P4/2.5Ghz and 512mb RAM. [/QUOTE]

Verification