Volume Control with Winamp - No effect (1 Viewer)

Jordan83

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I am having an issue where the actual volume doesn't change when I adjust the volume in Media Portal. I assume this is because while Media Portal is open my remote doesn't control Winamp directly. Is this normal? If so, can anyone suggest a workaround for this issue?
 

mm1352000

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    Hello again

    I am having an issue where the actual volume doesn't change when I adjust the volume in Media Portal.
    The actual volume of... what? Music that you're playing in Winamp, or...?

    I assume this is because while Media Portal is open my remote doesn't control Winamp directly.
    With Windows it is common for only the focussed application to receive (or act on) commands from both keyboards and remotes. If Winamp is not focussed then it isn't greatly surprising that Winamp's output volume does not change.

    Is this normal?
    I can't answer this question definitively. Your description of what you're doing and what you're trying to achieve is too limited, and these sorts of behaviours vary depending on operating system, configuration and remote type.

    If so, can anyone suggest a workaround for this issue?
    As above: I can't answer. I also wouldn't say what you've described is a MediaPortal "issue".

    It would really help if you could describe what you're trying to achieve in more detail. These are the sorts of questions that I hope you will answer:
    • Why are you running MediaPortal and Winamp in parallel?
    • What is the role of MediaPortal and what is the role of Winamp?
    • What version of Windows are you using?
    • What type of remote do you have?
    • Do you use EventGhost, HIP, IRSS or any other similar input handler software?
    In general, the more detail you can provide, the more chance there is that I may be able to assist you.
     

    Jordan83

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    Sorry about the vague description:

    Winamp as a plugin is configured as the audio player for Media Portal. I was referring to music playing in the Media Portal application with Winamp enabled as the external player. My dilemma is that adjusting the volume while Media Portal is open has no effect on the volume of the music. The volume bar in Media Portal goes up and down but it doesn't correspond to the volume level of the audio playing.

    To answer your questions:

    MediaPortal and Winamp are running parallel
    MediaPortal is the main Application, Winamp is the external player for audio
    Windows 7 Pro
    A Rosewill MCE RC6 Remote (I have gone to the MediaPortal Configuration and enabled the "Use Microsoft MCE Remote or Keyboard" option)
    I am not familiar with any of that software, I am assuming not
     

    mm1352000

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    Ahhh, okay - the Winamp external player plugin. I wasn't even aware that such a thing existed! ;)

    Looking at the plugin's code...
    I can see that the plugin has code which is intended to adjust the Winamp volume when the MediaPortal volume changes. However, it looks like the plugin was designed to operate with Winamp v1.x. Therefore functions such as volume adjustment are probably hopelessly broken.

    It's unlikely that many people are using the plugin, so I honestly doubt whether it would ever be updated.
    Is there a particular reason you would like to use the Winamp player instead of MediaPortal's music player?
     

    Jordan83

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    I have an LCD display that doesn't seem to be supported by the MiniDisplay plugin. I am using LCD Smartie's winamp plugin to display the spectrum analyzer.

    And I figured out a solution! In the General/Volume options in the MediaPortal settings it was set on "Wave" and I changed it to "Master Volume." Now the remote controls the master volume when the volume is turned up and down. Problem solved!
     

    mm1352000

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    And I figured out a solution! In the General/Volume options in the MediaPortal settings it was set on "Wave" and I changed it to "Master Volume." Now the remote controls the master volume when the volume is turned up and down. Problem solved!
    Nice. :)

    For the record...
    I made a few modifications to the Winamp plugin code to make it more compatible with modern versions of Winamp. Even after making those modifications, adjusting the volume in MediaPortal did not trigger a corresponding volume adjustment in Winamp. After more digging, I discovered that the MediaPortal core player is simply not telling the plugin to change volume.

    In technical terms that @Developers might understand: it appears that g_Player.Volume is completely isolated and disconnected from the Mixer and VolumeHandler volume adjustments. If I'm right, it would seem that g_Player.Volume actually does and controls absolutely nothing. Anybody know how it is meant to work?

    P.S. My modified WinampController.cs code is attached in case anybody wants to pursue this further. Main changes:
    • use C# process class to find the Winamp window or start it - more straightforward and reliable than using native functions to match a specific window name
    • look for winamp.ini in the correct location (this is why Winamp was starting on top of MediaPortal in Jordan83's previous thread)
    • scale the volume value correctly
     

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    • WinampController.zip
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    hwahrmann

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    g_player.Volume has getter/setter for the _player which is an instance of IPlayer.
    In BasAudioEngine i am ovveriding this method and use it to return / set the Volume level for music.

    Never touched the external players tough.
    Since we have ASIO and WASAPI support in bass player i can see no reason for someone still using an external player.
     

    mm1352000

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    In BasAudioEngine i am ovveriding this method and use it to return / set the Volume level for music.
    The Winamp player plugin does the same, but the problem is that the setter is never called when the volume is changed.

    Since we have ASIO and WASAPI support in bass player i can see no reason for someone still using an external player.
    The explanation was given earlier:
    I have an LCD display that doesn't seem to be supported by the MiniDisplay plugin. I am using LCD Smartie's winamp plugin to display the spectrum analyzer.
     

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