Stability Release (2 Viewers)

[Smirnuff]

Sorry that you've taken offense at my post. It wasn't intended as an attack on anyone,

Mark I haven't, nothing you have said is in the least bit offensive.

that's why I'm making the comment that we need a bit more guidance

Turn to the almighty google and search for guidance, if google were a paid service I'd be a very poor man.

 

[wietze]

Test Plan And new Features

Hello, i just love media portal and the work that the dev's are doing is fantastic. I had some little problems in the begining but managed to overcome them with a lot of test work on codecs en reading on this forum.

About a stability release, i voted yes because there are a lot of people having problems with the software, i think that most problems are related to hardware that is not suitable for Media portal and incorect installation of the program, codecs and plugins.


In my opinon there must be a few simple rules

1) make a list of supported hardware, and add only support for new devices. Also let MP only support hardware of main brands. i sugest to get rid of support for hardware thats not compatible with MP.

2) Make a wishlist of features that can added to the program in the next months, this results in a clear path to walk thrue the programming, and users have something to look out for. the features that will be added to MP sould be limited so that the programmers have time for their reletives and can work on isues in the program. If you know whats coming than you can setup a testplan for a few months. I think that the first item to add is a single file installation of the software so that all files nessesary for MP are instalated in the right way. Second thing is to get rid of codecs supplied by others. I heard that the team is making codecs themself, and i think that this is a lot of work, but solves manny problems.

3) Select a number of users to test the program intens


Features to add must in this stage replace items that now are done by third parties.

EPG Graber, Codecs a.o.


Finaly i would like to say that the programmers do a fantastic job, and we as users must be grateful for that. I am a computer reseller in holland and i want to deliver the media centers to the customers with Media Portal. At this time i give to options 1 with MCE2005 and 2 WinXP with MP. MP is only for people who wants to do things by them self and realyse that the software stil is in BETA fase.



greetz Wietze

 

[infinite.loop]

but as there is no list of changes to the CVS written for the perspective of an end user, I am stuck with installing CVS updates on the offchance.

If there was a thread in one of the forums giving a brief list of what has changed in each release, then it would be easier for users to provide feedback

the cvs you can download at www.myshare.de are no official releases!

they are just snapshots of the current version (work in progress). this means there is no changelog for every cvs-snapshot.

changelogs are only written for official releases.
and you must not post issues of cvs-snapshots in the forum. you can contact a develeoper on IRC and tell him the issue.
as far as i know, some issues (broken cvs) are caused by compiling the (scheduled) cvs-snapshot during someone is working on the code.

if you want to know what has changed in the cvs you can have a look here.
http://sourceforge.net/mailarchive/forum.php?forum_id=40259

 

[infinite.loop]

Re: Test Plan And new Features

3) Select a number of users to test the program intens

that brings us back to the main problem iam talking about all the time.
this team of testers needs a Leader who is able to setup the first testplans.

 

[elliottmc]

the cvs you can download at www.myshare.de are no official releases!

they are just snapshots of the current version (work in progress). this means there is no changelog for every cvs-snapshot.

I fully appreciate that these are not official releases. From my point of view, version 0.1.3.0 had major performance issues in myTV. Only updates since this release are the CVS snapshots, so that this is the only place to look for fixes. Presumably since MP is a team effort, the developers must have some way of keeping track of what changes have been made, and for what purpose.

if you want to know what has changed in the cvs you can have a look here.
http://sourceforge.net/mailarchive/forum.php?forum_id=40259

I have looked at this several times. For some of the fixes, there is a comment in the Log Message, but generally not. As there is no way I am going to understand the code, this is not helpful to me as a user (but thanks for pointing it out).

changelogs are only written for official releases.
and you must not post issues of cvs-snapshots in the forum. you can contact a develeoper on IRC and tell him the issue.

I am not posting issues with CVS snapshots on the forum. I merely posted a comment that things seem to have got much better in recent CVS builds.

What would be great is a simple statement from the team stating

"We are aware that myTV has performance issues, and we are working to fix these in version 0.2.0.0"

or

"myTV works fine on our machines. Please give us the following information so we can start looking for the problem"

Smirnoff did make a comment a while ago that the myTV does seem to work fine on the development team's machines. It seems crazy to keep going round the houses on this one.

Can I make a suggestion? If you have an issue with the performance of myTV, please do the following.

Install a fresh copy of MediaPortal 0.1.3.0 (not the current CVS, so we are all working from the same base).

1. Reboot your machine.

1a. Make sure the renderer setting for myTV is set to Overlay.

2. Control-alt-delete to bring up the Windows Task Manager.

3. Start Media Portal and go straight to myTV. When the TV is playing, make a note of the average CPU usage.

Run through these steps with the renderer set to VMR renderless.

Run through these steps with timeshifting on and off to see if that makes a difference.

Then do the same, and start recording. Note any difference in CPU usage.

Keep this information very succinct, and email it, along with the following information about your system.

Motherboard
CPU
TV Tuner
Graphics card

to

I will try to collate this information and forward any useful trends to the developers.

If anyone wants to try to reproduce the improvements which I have seen in the latest CVS, feel free to include this information. If enough people report that things are greatly improved, we can all stop moaning!

Mark

 

[wietze]

I think that the programmers are overloaded with ideas and requests. We all benefits from their work, the testing must be something what a select group of serious users must do. The testers must have a testplan for start and there must be a user who does that in his/her daily work. If the experiance is not at a high level this is a change to build that up. But the important mater is that the developers are pleased with this help.

The next step is that we stop talking and ask who is able to write a testplan and who would like to help testing. Then the word is to the developers if they agree with the help and select the testers.

Also if there is a "manager"who can coordinate the whole thing, and have contact with the dev team please offer your help.

 

[Sub Zer0]

I'm not using MP for a long time now (I don't even have everything for my Media Center what I want to have, but it's coming together :wink: ). But I will think about the testing tonight at work. I'm going to see what I can do for you. That's the least I can do. I hope more people will do the same. 'It's time to get busy'

 

[wietze]

I use Media portal for about 8 months and reading this forum since the begining. Writing in english is not my strongest point, and there are probebly a lot mistakes in these messages

 

[infinite.loop]

The next step is that we stop talking and ask who is able to write a testplan and who would like to help testing.

i dont know how many times i have asked this here

 

[wietze]

The next step is that we stop talking and ask who is able to write a testplan and who would like to help testing.

i dont know how many times i have asked this here

Do You want to help?