WMC on Windows 7 migrating to Media Portal on Windows 10 (1 Viewer)

Percy

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May 7, 2019
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No doubt I am not the first to make this journey so hopefully all can be achieved.

So in short I have been running WMC for 8 years now and its the main TV/server and is used daily.

Specs
AMD A8-7600 + 8GB RAM
128gb SSD
4TB HD
Antec Case with iMon display (also handles MCE remote)
Logitech hamoney remote (currently cloning MCE remote)
Blu-ray and HD-DVD drive (only used for HD-DVDs now, blurays and DVDs on a standalone 4K player)
Creative sound blaster 7.1 (to amp)
6 Black Gold TV tuners (4x DVB-T2, 2x DVB-S2)

Basic Setup
WMC
Recorded TV HD Plugin
Youtube (intergrated using chrome and kiosk mode)
TMT5
My Movies (lookup database to tell me where to find disc)
DVBLink server to merge tuners into one source (Combine DVB T2 and S2 channels) with virtual tuners which WMC uses.
My Channel Logos Plugin

Had a quick install and poke around with both media portal 1 and 2 and got so far.

So my plan is to keep things working as well as possible, and so far I have come up with:
My Films Plugin for MP1 for movies (nothing in mp2? can use My Movies program separately if its a matter of time for mp2)
Tv Server can tune and merge my tuners (seems to work ok).

Questions.
Media Portal 1 or 2 (seems a lot is missing in 2 but it seems better)
How do I get the imon display working (including remote support)
Can I do the same with youtube or similar (works well on chrome its the same interface as smart TVs etc)
HD-DVD playback? (Can close and exit to TMT5 if needed its not a deal breaker but would be nice if it just works).
Is there a recommended skin (doesn't need to me an MCE clone but something as simple would be nice).
How do I get channel logos working?

Important issues:
Any way to import my Recorded TV from media center keeping some of the organisation/meta data?
Do the recorded TV interfaces sort by series etc?

Noob question: I see extensions listed but no download links on the site on in Media Portal, what am I missing.

My last thought, is it a good idea to install side by side with my current MCE install on windows 7 and when happy upgrade to windows 10 (nuking MCE), will media portal be ok with this, or should I do a separate install on another hard drive (as all media is on the 4TB HD) and keep swapping to setup/test?

Once everything is working is it best just to leave everything alone or continue to upgrade MP and plugin/extensions.

Sorry a lot of info and questions in one post, hoping just to get this right first time to minimise frustration and questions along the way.
 
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HTPCSourcer

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    Media Portal 1 or 2 (seems a lot is missing in 2 but it seems better)
    "A lot" depends on what you want. MP2 offers you a complete movie and series management (and much miore) without the need to install any additional plugin.

    How do I get the imon display working (including remote support)
    The display will require the use of MP1. MP2 is not supporting he displays given that modern cases become smaller and smaller.

    Can I do the same with youtube or similar
    MP2 brings OnlineVideos, whih supports YouTube (and many other online sources. You can install this as a separate plugin in MP1 too.

    HD-DVD playback? (
    Integrated on both MP1 and MP2. You don't need to but can use TMT5, however, currentlyonly in MP1.

    Is there a recommended skin
    MP2 offers the "WMC" skin, which is very similar to the true MS WMC.

    How do I get channel logos working?
    MP2 brings logos out of the box without any additional customization. MP1 requires he installation and customization of a special plugin.

    Do the recorded TV interfaces sort by series etc?
    In MP2 you will see an auto-grouping, i.e. everything with the same show name will be grouped into a pseudo-folder.
     

    ajs

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  • February 29, 2008
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    Media Portal 1
    IMHO 1
    How do I get the imon display working (including remote support)
    Look Cyberdisplay/Minidisplay + iMon VFD/LCD (+remote) : solution database
    Can I do the same with youtube or similar (works well on chrome its the same interface as smart TVs etc)
    Look for OnlineVideo plugin OnlineVideos
    HD-DVD playback? (Can close and exit to TMT5 if needed its not a deal breaker but would be nice if it just works).
    Try Internal Player or Use External (TMT5) - DVD Discs Images Player or Total Media Theater 5
    Is there a recommended skin
    I use Titan, other use Apollo or DefaultWide HD or PureVisionHD - PureVisionHD 1080 :)
    How do I get channel logos working?
    Look for LogoManager 1.0.0.1 [23-11-2015]
    Noob question: I see extensions listed but no download links on the site on in Media Portal, what am I missing.
    Look Installing Extensions
    My Films Plugin for MP1 for movies
    For Movies i use standart MediaPortal plugin - MyVideo Videos , other MovingPictures Moving Pictures or MyFilms My Films ...
     

    joecrow

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  • August 9, 2012
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    I went on this journey too and have to say that it can be a frustrating trip. On one hand MP1 has many more options than WMC but that then requires much more user involvement and it is different, but to my mind well worth it.
    Noob question: I see extensions listed but no download links on the site on in Media Portal, what am I missing.
    Once installed MP1 has an Extensions Manager program which displays supported plugins and will download and install any you select, there is a plugin page, if you click on "download" the hover the mouse over "download" again you should get a drop down with Pugins and skins on it for this page.

    My last thought, is it a good idea to install side by side with my current MCE install on windows 7 and when happy upgrade to windows 10 (nuking MCE), will media portal be ok with this
    I did the same and can't recall any problems either with MP1 or WMC.

    TMT did not work with earlier versions of Win 10 and I suspect it still won't but given you have a stand alone Bluray player and MP 1 will play DVDs (not sure about HD-DVDs) you may not need it. TMT can be used as an external player in MP 1 so initially will be ok with win 7.

    Welcome and good luck.:)
     

    CyberSimian

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  • June 10, 2013
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    is it a good idea to install side by side with my current MCE install on windows 7 and when happy upgrade to windows 10
    One caution: WMC and MP (1 or 2) cannot share the tuners. If you wanted to continue recording using WMC, and also schedule new recordings using MP1 or MP2, you would need to re-allocate your tuners. Example:

    Allocate to WMC: DVB-T/T2 tuners 1 and 2, plus DVB-S/S2 tuner 1.
    Allocate to MP1/2: DVB-T/T2 tuners 3 and 4, plus DVB-S/S2 tuner 2.

    I think that re-allocating the tuners in WMC will cause all of your WMC recording schedule to be deleted :eek:, which you may not want to do just yet (it is verging on the "no going back" choice).

    My view: you need to use media-center software for several weeks before you can decide whether it is a good match for your requirements. A quick one-hour test does not reveal all of the little quirks and inconsistencies that might, over time, come to irk you :mad:. So you really need to have two separate HTPC systems that you can run side by side.

    -- from CyberSimian in the UK
     

    Percy

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    May 7, 2019
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    I am still here, thanks for the input, so I have now settled on mp1, I am not afraid of a lot of tweaking.

    Good news on tuners is I can run side by side with my WMC setup, as my tuners are using DVBlink to combine channels for WMC, so WMC is using 8 virtual tuners from DVBlink while MP is using the tuners directly. Of course they are using the same tuners but they don't know it (of course I could still run out of tuners).

    So now getting to grips with the tuner config and merging my tuners (S2 and T2), now trying to figure the best epg,I currently use digiguide in WMC and it seems it may be possible to keep using it which is nice.

    So the plan (going back though the suggestions above):
    Sort TV channels/guide/logos
    Sort recorded TV in series
    Get imon working/MCe remote
    import film database from my movie
    Look at skins (current default wide HD)
    Figure best youtube integration
    Get HD-DVDs playing (worse case I do have the HD-DVD addon for the 360 in the cupboard)

    So once the main TV and control elements are working I will introduce it to the mrs and go from there, hopefully all will be fine and once happy upgrade to windows 10 and say goodbye to WMC, its served me well but nothing lasts forever.
     

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