Control of Windows Media Center/TMT

[jrlewis]

Those of you who are using Media Center in your setups will be interested in this thread (http://www.vidabox.com/forum/showthread.php?t=435) on the Vidabox forums. There is a version of the VMC AddIn created by Jonathan that has been extended to natively coordinate starting, playing, and controlling movies using the Windows Media Center/TMT combination. There are 32 bit versions for both Vista and Windows 7. There will be no support for 64 bit.

The installers include an additional tray app called WmcController and that is the application the associated driver (Windows Media Center - Dev) connects to. The WmcController monitors the status of Media Center and provides that as a Power field in the CQC driver. The Power field is read/write and can be used to start/shutdown windows media center. When media center is starting it takes a little while for the addin to register so an additional boolean field (IsReady) monitors when media center can be controlled via the driver. Field writes occuring when either Power or IsReady are False will be ignored by the driver. If you send a PlayDVD command to start a movie the addin will automatically determine if the content is a regular dvd or a blue-ray/hd dvd based on its file structure. If the content requires TMT it will automatically start it and all transport commands will be directed at TMT. Any command that is meant for Media Center that is sent while TMT is active will cause TMT to close and will bring media center to the foreground. The new add in and driver eliminate the need for any use of app server to coordinate starting and stopping the various media players.

There are templates in the thread that demonstrate the logic interacting with the driver. If you have any questions/comments about the templates and addin please direct those to the vidabox forums. Any questions/issues with the CQC driver can be addressed there or in this thread.

Posted Version 0.33
0.31 Beta
0.32 Added support to use CurSliderPos to set movie position when viewing movie via windows media center.
0.33 Added SendString command

[Mark Stega]

Yep, That's the VMC driver package documented here: http://www.charmedquark.com/vb_forum/showthread.php?t=7336 (http://www.charmedquark.com/vb_forum/showthread.php?t=7336)

After writing the driver and using VMC my conclusion remains that IR is better.

[jrlewis]

Actually it isn't that package in that thread. The driver and addin are different animals than what you will find in that thread. This solution is a little more robust and with the direct integration of TMT it simplifies things greatly. Certainly once a movie is going transport control and all is easier with a remote, but if you want to use some type of touchscreen to view and select movies this solution works very well.

[Mark Stega]

Oops - Sorry - I presumed that VB was still using the driver that I built, I didn't research enough!

[jrlewis]

No worries. It is still an imperfect solution, but it gets a little closer.

[Mark Stega]

Out of curiosity, is the media sink part of the add-in or is there a different way of getting the media status? The separate communication with the sink always seems pretty kludgy to me...

[jrlewis]

The sink is the same as the original. The fact that aspect wasn't included in the API is beyond me. It is a major complication to something that should be very simple. And the data from the sink does tend to be pretty useless.

[jrlewis]

The CQC driver required a couple of changes to better handle the media center startup/shutdowns. Odds are you haven't noticed the associated issues, but this should fix them.

[Mark Stega]

I don't actually use MC in my home so the driver written for VB did not receive extensive testing by me. Sergio never indicated an issue but I am sure your 'real life' experience is far better than our test bed testing.

[jrlewis]

That last message was actually referring to an update for the driver I just posted. The one you did worked with what all you had setup as far as I know. The sink used for the metadata has always been flakey and unreliable as far as I know though.

[VidaBox LLC]

Mark, the packages you put together for VB always worked really well. We really didn't have any issues. The only "issue" I had was that the setup and installation of the various components was really complicated and not something I wanted to hand off to a dealer. This was really my fault in way because I told you that it could be left that way. Also, it was a really pain to manage the two seperate drivers from CQC to control TMT or VMC depending on wich one was running and stuff. So Bob condensed everything into one package so it is much easier to install and to then develop templates in CQC for VMC and TMT control.

We wanted to post it back to the community for others to use because we personally have used many drivers from others on this forum so we wanted to give a little something back. If it works for others in the community, great! If not, then at least we tried.

I just want to make sure you know that the work you did on the VMC end works really well and continues to work in many different CQC installs that our dealers have done.

[ukbjorn2000]

Hi Sergio,

I'm spending time getting to grips with your template specifically the VMC component. I installed the tray app for Win7 (32 bit) and the CQC drivers, but each time I issue a command from my CQC template (basic naviation stuff), I get a $LostCommRes. Not sure what I may have done wrong, any thoughts ? Thanks in advance, love what you have done, I have watched all your You Tube videos :))

Second question, assuming I can get it working, I don't use TMT, I use PowerDVD 9. Can you guide me to any code that needs changing ? Thanks...

Bjorn

[VidaBox LLC]

Hi Sergio,

I'm spending time getting to grips with your template specifically the VMC component. I installed the tray app for Win7 (32 bit) and the CQC drivers, but each time I issue a command from my CQC template (basic naviation stuff), I get a $LostCommRes. Not sure what I may have done wrong, any thoughts ? Thanks in advance, love what you have done, I have watched all your You Tube videos :))

Second question, assuming I can get it working, I don't use TMT, I use PowerDVD 9. Can you guide me to any code that needs changing ? Thanks...

Bjorn

I'll let Bob answer your issue with CQC as he is the one that edited the driver and he also worked on the media center controller software.

With regards to controlling Cyberlink PDVD9, that is not possible and not in our development pipeline. Arcsoft is the only one we support. Unfortunately, there is nothing you can do on your end to make it work.

[jrlewis]

Bjorn,

A few questions first. Does the version of windows you are using have media center included? Did you install the correct version of the addin on the computer where media center is located? Is the driver installed on this same machine (while not required it would be best to do so as that will eliminate firewall issues and such)? If the driver is running on a separate machine than the media center pc check that the firewall exceptions are set up for ports 40499, 40400, and 40500 on the media center pc. The addin installer should have taken care of this, but it should still be checked.

Now on to the trouble shooting. First check that things are working from the admin interface without using any templates. With the addin installed and the driver installed open up the admin interface and field browser on a different computer than the media center pc. Select the driver from the list in the field browser and make sure it is Connected. If Connected and the Power is False (i.e. media center is shutdown) set that to True. Once both Power is True and IsReady is True go to the Navigation field and select a value that was causing it to lose its comm resource. Which location is it? Is the driver losing its comm resource? If so once the driver is Connected set its Verbosity to Medium and do the same thing that causes it to lose its comm resource. You will need to go into the logs and find the relevant section and post it here. This driver doesn't have all my logging scheme in it, but there should be enough to track down the problem.

[guysmiley]

I am by no means an expert, but wanted to add that I was getting communication errors, and I went thru it all over again. I have it working steady now with no issues. The VMC installed no problem. I have it on a Win7 pro 32 bit machine. I am on a domain and don't know if that has any issue with it, but I had to go into advanced settings in my firewall and add WMC and put in the ports manually for TCP and UDP. From then on, all nav commands work flawlessly and very, very responsive. I was planning on going IR with this route, but this works great. The only issue I have is sending a play command to WMC. Do we need to have TMT installed, or can we issue a playmedia command to play a video with WMC? If this is in the wrong section, please let me know and I will open a new post.

Phil

[jrlewis]

For setting up with CQC you don't need the UDP exceptions as it isn't using it. Theorectically you don't need to have TMT installed, but I haven't tried it specifically. You need to use the PlayDVD command and send it the path to root folder for the movie. If it is a blue-ray or hd-dvd and you don't have TMT installed you will see a splash screen that says its starting the movie, but this will go away after ~15 seconds and media center will come back to the foreground. Note that whatever user is logged into the media center pc will have to have permissions to access the movie you are trying to play.

[guysmiley]

Thanks for the reply, so I can shut down UDP then.

As for the playdvd function, I installed TMT because I figured it was needed. Either way, is there any lit. or instructions on how I would go about sending the play command along with the location of the file. The logged in user does have rights to the NAS, as any movie can be played directly with WMC.
I have my movie browser template loaded connecting to MyMovies driver. When a movie is pressed, my popup comes up and onload%(GVar:CurColCookie) for my different media widgets. How would I envoke my "play movie" button to load that movie in WMC. I tried FieldWrite(WMCLiving_CQC.PlayDVD, %(GVar:CurColCookie), True. Does WMC need to be at a specific area as in: My Movies, TMT, Movies, or basic page?

I apologize if this is basic questions, as I am new to CQC and still learning. Tuturials are great and have helped out alot. Just wish there were more hours in the day to play around. I just need a poke in the right direction.

Phil

[potts.mike]

you need to pass it the location of the movie. In your repository it should be in unc format, something like \\server\movie\etc.... I believe this is in the mediartv:LocInfo cookie. you would need to pass this to the popup just like the collection cookie.

[jrlewis]

If you just want to play a movie from the movie browser in the OnSelectCollection you would use FieldWrite(Moniker.PlayDVD, %(MediaRTV:LocInfo,"^1")) where Moniker is what you have named your WMC driver. You can get access to the RTV's (Runtime Values) by right clicking in the text box for the value. You will need to add the extra "^1" parameter. That is required so CQC doesn't try to expand any escaped characters in the value. The escape character is a \ which is what is used for the path separator on a windows machine.

[VidaBox LLC]

You only need TMT if you want to play blu-ray. Otherwise, DVDs will play in WMC. The plugin figures out what needs to be played were.

[jrlewis]

The installers have been updated so that if TMT is required to play a movie and is not installed the splash screen will display "Movie Title requires Arcsoft TMT to play." . The older version would indicate it is starting the movie.

[guysmiley]

I appreciate all the replies and the help I have been receiving. Unfortunately, i'm not sure what i'm doing wrong. I followed the instructions and on my "Play" button I have as follows:

FieldWrite(WMCLiving_CQC.PlayDVD, %(GVar:CurColCookie)%GVar:sLocInfo,"^1"), True

I am receiving an error for: Value written to field WMCLiving_CQC.PlayDVD was rejected by the driver. Error Class: Not Found
Thru admin console, I went to Field Browser. Power and IsReady are both true.
I know somewhere i'm doing something stupid and not passing the correct cookie thru. I have had everything working with TT with the same collection and collection info popup, just changed the actual component to play on. WMC instead of TT. Can I get another shot at some help here. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Phil

[jrlewis]

You are still trying to include the collection cookie. For your case you would use FieldWrite(WMCLiving_CQC.PlayDVD, %(MediaRTV:LocInfo,"^1")). This post (http://www.charmedquark.com/vb_forum/showpost.php?p=125246&postcount=19) explains it.

[guysmiley]

Perfect! Got it to work. Thanks for your patience. I was trying to do that first thru a popup. I just went ahead and wrote the command in the browser for OnSelectCollection and am now able to launch movies. I misunderstood the first time. I sent a pause command shortly after, and my popup now loads with my controls to either choose to continue playing the movie, or exit out and choose another. Is there a difference with mkv and avi files when using this driver compared to the TS_Video files DVD's use. By itself, WMC plays all the files (including mkv's either thru mymovies or movies tabs) I choose. When requesting an mkv file, media center will return a message cannot access the file.
Phil

[potts.mike]

are you sending it the correct path for each of the file types? I know I had to extend my blu ray path all the way to the index.bdmv for it to work. What location are you sending for the .MKV?

[jrlewis]

Using the Vidabox WMC AddIn you only need send in a path to the root directory to the PlayDVD command. It actually has no knowledge of what the file type actually is. If the directory structure doesn't have Video_TS, BDMV, or HVDVD_TS in the root or one below the root the PlayDVD will not work. For Vidabox these are always 1-1 rips so there are never any issues. If you have something other than a 1-1 copy along with the proper directory structure you will get varied results with the PlayDVD depending on how the media center API decides to handle the file.

You can try and experiment with the PlayVideo command as that behaves a little differently and just does a direct pass through on whatever you send, but you won't get the automatic switching between WMC and TMT with that. In all cases the underlying method being called is the MediaCenterEnvironment.PlayMedia (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms814628.aspx) method. I have found that the mediaLocation information listed at the bottom doesn't always behave as they say it does but ymmv.

[Dean Roddey]

Perfect! Got it to work. Thanks for your patience. I was trying to do that first thru a popup. I just went ahead and wrote the command in the browser for OnSelectCollection and am now able to launch movies. I misunderstood the first time. I sent a pause command shortly after, and my popup now loads with my controls to either choose to continue playing the movie, or exit out and choose another.Phil

You probably do want to do it via a popup, so that you don't have to start it playing and then cancel it. Most folks do use a popup for this reason, to show preview info and then decide to start it playing or not, from the popup, which then closes, or upon return from the popup, using a global variable to return a yes/no type of result based on what the user selected.

[guysmiley]

I have not bailed on this yet, and just wanted to post back that I am still looking into getting it operational fully. Thanks for all the feedback. Still no go with a 1 to 1 Blu-Ray rip with all the extras (30+ gigs is alot of space, LOL). Starting a regular DVD works but it starts in the background of Media Center. I have to go into music, or mymovies, then back out to see the "now playing" where the movie starts in. I have my whole setup jumbled up so I want to focus on my IR setup for now, otherwise my wife is gonna kill me. I am operational with media center for the time being with the remote command functions and can get things going that way. I will come back to it once I tie up some other loose ends (IR and Lighting).

Phil

[Hiller]

I started playing with this driver and so far so good but I do have a few questions. While in WMC the navigation controls are working great for what I have tried. The problem I have is once I launch TMT. What controls are actually available at that time? Using the Remote Commands things such as play, next and previous chapter, menu, etc don't seem to respond. I think I could fast forward and rewind but getting back to normal play was a problem. Am I supposed to be using other commands for these actions?

[Dean Roddey]

Unless WMC passes through such transport controls, you'd need the TMT driver loaded, but that might be an issue because the driver wouldn't be the thing starting up TMT, so it wouldn't know to control it. App constrol has to work through the driver starting up the program because it has to attach to that program, it's not like a socket that it can find as long as something is listening on it.

[jrlewis]

When you say "The problem I have is once I launch TMT" are you actually launching TMT on your own? If you have the proper system setup to run with this driver and version of the WMC add in you don't need to do a thing as far as TMT is concerned. You don't need a TMT driver, use of App controller, etc. The WMC add in takes care of which app it is sending commands to internally.

In order for this setup to work for you you must have your movie folder structure set up such that movies that require TMT (Blurays or HD DVD) have BDMV or HVDVD_TS folders in the root of the movie directory or one directory down from the root. If you have this directory structure and you send the PlayDVD command the folder location TMT will automatically be started for you and all transport control will work. If you don't have this folder structure and are trying to start TMT on your own and use this driver/add in combo some transport may work, but not all. If you start TMT on your own and are using the driver to try and control it the underlying WMC addin still thinks it is trying to control WMC.

[potts.mike]

Is there an easy way to create a slider that can be dragged to a point in the video to skip forward? The CurSliderPos would be great but its not writeable.

[jrlewis]

Give 0.32 a go. The CurSliderPos is read/write. It will only work when viewing a movie in media center. It compiles and technically should work, but I haven't tried it. Let me know.

[Dean Roddey]

As usual, don't try to do this using the live drag value of the slider. The whole chain of events cannot react fast enough for that in this type of system. So you'll have to let them do a drag and, when dropped, send the value.

[potts.mike]

That works as expected. It does still show as being ver. .31 though.

[jrlewis]

I didn't get the manifest updated. The posted version has an up to date manifest.

[Hiller]

If you have this directory structure and you send the PlayDVD command the folder location TMT will automatically be started for you and all transport control will work. If you don't have this folder structure and are trying to start TMT on your own and use this driver/add in combo some transport may work, but not all. If you start TMT on your own and are using the driver to try and control it the underlying WMC addin still thinks it is trying to control WMC.

I start TMT from WMC using the MyMovies interface in WMC. Are you saying the controls only work if I launch TMT from the PlayDVD command from the driver? If that's the case I'll see if the TMT driver will control TMT when launched from WMC. I'll give that a shot this afternoon.

[guysmiley]

You shouldn't need the TMT driver. Just the WMC driver and the program installed on the Media Center PC that is supplied in the links at the begining. I had no issues controlling TMT thru the commands. Unfortunately, my 2 media centers are down for other work, and the home theater pc is not setup yet with CQC, so I cant verify if you have any questions or tests needed to run. One should be up by the weekend though.
Phil

[jrlewis]

I start TMT from WMC using the MyMovies interface in WMC. Are you saying the controls only work if I launch TMT from the PlayDVD command from the driver? If that's the case I'll see if the TMT driver will control TMT when launched from WMC. I'll give that a shot this afternoon.

Looking back at the code technically it could work, but it would depend on which player TMT was spinning up when you start the movie as there are a couple it can use. If you just use the PlayDVD command all the right pieces spin up so you don't have to worry about it. The driver/addin combo are designed to handle all the heavy lifting behind the scenes so that makes it nice, but your system has to have the proper folder structure for movies for it all to work like it should.

[SoundVideoDesign]

I installed WmcController on my thin client computer, and imported the driver WMC_3_0_35_V0_31.CQCDrvPack and added the driver to my server with the name CQC_VMC_Cont1.

Unfortunately, when I open the CQC_FieldBrowser it says the CQC_VMC_Cont1 is offline.

What am I missing?

[potts.mike]

Is your thin client a media center pc?

[SoundVideoDesign]

I loaded CQC_VMC_Cont1 on my thinclient computer instead of the server. When I loaded it into the server I was able to control windows media center.

Now I thought that these commands will control both arcsoft and WMC. It seems to only control WMC. If so, then what driver do I use to control arcsoft?

[SoundVideoDesign]

yes, my thin client is a media center pc.

[SoundVideoDesign]

my bad. It actually does control arcsoft. I'll have to play with it some more.

[ukbjorn2000]

Not sure if I'm posting in the right area, but here goes....

Unlike everyone on this thread, I use PowerDVD 9 for Bluray playback, which makes the TMT driver no use to me. I am using the MyMovies Driver with ODBC link to manage my collection and making a play button start powerDVD to play a DVD is easy. He comes my issue, the MyMovies driver exposes the Directory Location of the movie, but to initiate PowerDVD I need the file name not the directory. A DVD is easy, it's always Directory/VIDEO_TS/VIDEO_TS.IFO, but for a bluray the filename could be anything. Is there any way to access the MyMovies ODBC to get the actual filename ?

Before anybody say . But, but... To load a Bluray, I am not passing PowerDVD the ISO filename, I pass it to Virtual Clone Drive :))

Thanks in advance.

[potts.mike]

If it's a Blu ray iso just point to the iso, do the "double click" so that it is mounted and then configure powerdvd to open when a Blu ray is inserted.

[ukbjorn2000]

That I understand, but where/how do I get the filename of the ISO from the MyMovies driver ?

[Dean Roddey]

I think he's only getting the directory in MyMovies, and the ISO doesn't seem to always have the same name, so there's no way to just blindly append a file name to that directory. Can MyMovies be made to automatically point to the actual ISO file so that that shows up in the LocInfo runtime value?

[potts.mike]

Using collection managment you can point directly at the iso file. The location is in one of the rtv's of the driver, the MediaRTV:loc I believe.

[ukbjorn2000]

Hi there,

I tried MediaRTV:Loc, just got an error.

I know (and use the following)

MediaRTVLocInfo - Gives directory Info
MediaRTVLocType - Gives media type
MediaRTVMediaFmt
MediaRTVTitleName

I cannot seem to find an RTV for filename. If there just isn't an RTV for it (which is OK), then is there a way to use the ColCookie info to access MyMovies directly to get the filename ?

Thanks in advance

[Dean Roddey]

The LocInfo is all there is. It will hold whatever is in the repository as the location of the media. If the program you use that manages the media doesn't include the file name, you'll just get the directory. So you'll have to have either a fixed file name generated, so that you can just add it on yourself, or you'll have to have the program include the file name. Otherwise CQC has no way of knowing anything else that would help you.

If you set the media format in the repository, that will be in the MediaType value, which you can use to react differently for different types of media. But you have to insure it's set in the repository, since that's where CQC gets it from. So it'll generally be something like DVD, Blu-Ray and so forth.

[SoundVideoDesign]

I installed QWMCAddIn.msi on my thin client computer, then installed the CQC driver WMC_3_0_35_V0_31.CQCDrvPack and it seems to work, but when I send the command from Navigation MovieLibrary Windows Media Center crashes. I get the message "Media Center has stopped working"

I then installed the newer version of this driver WMC_3_0_35_V0_32.CQCDrvPack and the same thing happens.

Is there something wrong with my setup? I can use the Navigation command to get WMC to show pictures, but not movies.

Has anyone else seen this?

Also. I notice that this driver has to be installed on my server, not the Thin client. Is that right?

[guysmiley]

So, in other words, when you navigate (like a remote) up/down/left/right within your pic library, then back out and goto movies and navigate, media center stops working? Have you tried navigating with the mouse, to see if there is an issue with media center itself? Just to take CQC out of the picture. It sounds like CQC is working properly if you can navigate thru the main menu's within media center.

Phil

[VidaBox LLC]

I installed QWMCAddIn.msi on my thin client computer, then installed the CQC driver WMC_3_0_35_V0_31.CQCDrvPack and it seems to work, but when I send the command from Navigation MovieLibrary Windows Media Center crashes. I get the message "Media Center has stopped working"

I then installed the newer version of this driver WMC_3_0_35_V0_32.CQCDrvPack and the same thing happens.

Is there something wrong with my setup? I can use the Navigation command to get WMC to show pictures, but not movies.

Has anyone else seen this?

Also. I notice that this driver has to be installed on my server, not the Thin client. Is that right?

Does WMC crash when you use the remote and navigate into mymovies? Or does this only happen when you navigate using the driver? If it's the driver, what driver fields are you using that cause the crash.

You need to provide exact steps that cause the crash in order for us to be able help you.

[SoundVideoDesign]

I installed the WmcController program on my Thin Client Computer, and it is running. Then I installed the CQC Driver Microsoft/Windows Media Center - Dev Version .32 on my Server. I installed the driver pointing to the IP Address of the Thin Client Computer using the default ports.

All seems to be running well. For me to figure out how the commands work, I am just using the CQC Field Browser in the CQC Admin Interface to issue commands through the Driver.

I can start WMC and use Navigation to Start, Music - to open the music library, but when I send the command "Movie Library" , Windows Media Center stops working. I have to restart the program to get it going again.
Is this a command that is not implemented? It would be nice to automatically go to My Movies library when WMC opens.

Also, when arcsoftisrunning, I can use the Remote Commands to start, stop, ok, right, left, up, down, and even entering a number will jump to that chapter.

However, pause, skip back, skip forward do not work. Is that the way the driver should work?

Thank you all for your help.

[jrlewis]

First off let me say it probably isn't the best idea trying to run windows media center on a thin client and probably even worse to run TMT and play hi-def movies on it. I would imagine that is pushing it beyond its limits. I guess it depends on the specs of your thin client though.

The command you issued to the Navigation field must have been "MovieLibrary" else the driver would have rejected it completely as that field has an enumerated limit on it. On my test system this brings up the Movie Library in media center. I don't have anything in there currently, but it still navigates to the proper page. Have you tried to just access the movie library directly on the thin client without using the driver? If so does it bring it up without any issues? Bringing up MyMovies from the driver directly really isn't an option as the api doesn't provide that ability (at least I don't think so). Even if it did the driver is really meant to be used in concert with the My Movies driver so you are doing all your movie selection on some type of client. If you are trying to select content using the My Movies interface on the media center you would probably be better off just using a hard button remote to do it rather than using the remote interface on a client.

I tested all the transport commands again just to make sure, but everything is working as it should including the ones you hare having problems with. Not sure what your issues might be. With a movie playing in TMT try to perform those commands directly on the thin client without the driver (CTRL+ F, CTRL+ B, CTRL+ P) and see if they are working properly.

[potts.mike]

What command should be used to play a blu ray?

When I write the path to a blu ray I receive the error "The value written to the field HTPC1.playdvd was rejected by the driver"

[guysmiley]

This is how I was able to separate my blu-ray rips from regular dvd files to play.

OnSelectCollection
If System::Equals
P1=%(MediaRTV:MediaFmt)
P2=DVD

Devices::FieldWrite
P1=WMCLiving_CQC.PlayVideo
P2=%(MediaRTV:LocInfo,"^1")
P3=True

Else
Devices::FieldWrite
P1=WMCLiving_CQC.PlayDVD
P2=%(MediaRTV:LocInfo,"^1")
P3=True

End
GlobalVars::SetVariable
P1=GVar:CurColCookie
P2=%(MediaRTV:ColCookie)

IntfViewer::InvokePopup
P1=\\User\\Movie_Playing_Controls
P2=
P3=-1 -1

Sometimes I would get an error so I just close mediacenter and re-open it again. But that rarely happens. Its been very stable for me. I am using the latest version of MyMovies and TMT3. I've locked everything down now once it works. I have tried to pass the info to a popup with cover art and all the info and a play button. But when I envoke the same command on that screen I get error messages. Ideally thats what I would like to do, but it hasn't worked for me yet. It is something I am doing. In the meantime, I just hit pause on my Movie_Playing_Controls page. I was able to squeeze all the movie information on the same template with the commands.

Phil

[potts.mike]

So you are using playVideo for dvd's and playDVD for blu rays?

[jrlewis]

If you have the proper setup there is no need to use anything but the PlayDVD command by sending it the path to the movie. The proper setup is having the movie folder (Video_TS, BDMV, or HVDVD_TS) in the root of the path or one level below the root. If you are using the MyMovies repo then a command of FieldWrite(Moniker.PlayDVD, %(MediaRTV:LocInfo,"^1")) will automatically spin up whichever player is needed (WMC for DVD's and TMT for BD and HDDVD). If you do get errors take a look at the trace to see exactly what is being sent to the driver for a path and check your movies structure to make sure it conforms to what the add-in is looking for.

[guysmiley]

@Potts.Mike, correct. I know it goes against all the instructions given, but it actually works for me.

@JrLewis, I had that issue with my folder structure because I ripped all my movies into .mkv format and it wouldn't work. So I went back and re-did my whole database of blu-rays to BDMV. Still a work in progress though.

Phil

[jrlewis]

If you have ripped to other than a directory structure that could cause issues alright. The PlayMedia just does a pass through to WMC so at that point whether something will play or not will depend on WMC. It is only on the PlayDVD command that there is an attempt to determine the type of media being played and which program to use.

[potts.mike]

Sorry it took so long to get back....

here is what I am passing to the driver:
\\Server\Videos\DVD\ZOMBIELAND

Here is the rest of the path:
\\Server\Videos\DVD\ZOMBIELAND\BDMV

Should this be working with the playdvd command?

[VidaBox LLC]

Sorry it took so long to get back....

here is what I am passing to the driver:
\\Server\Videos\DVD\ZOMBIELAND

Here is the rest of the path:
\\Server\Videos\DVD\ZOMBIELAND\BDMV

Should this be working with the playdvd command?
You need to "escape" the backslashes otherwise CQC won't pass the correct string to the driver.

Your path should look something like this:

\\\\Server\\Videos\\DVD\\ZOMBIELAND
or
\\\\Server\\Videos\\DVD\\ZOMBIELAND\\BDMV

[potts.mike]

I am pretty sure that I am using "^1" when putting the location info in a gvar. Also it works for dvd's just not blurays. I'll check the path when I get home.

[potts.mike]

The driver is getting passed the full field, Is there a way to copy the action trace?

[Dean Roddey]

Just right click on the trace window and select to copy it.

[potts.mike]

Here is the action Trace. There is me selecting a movie and loading a new overlay equivalent to a pop up and then me selecting the play movie button and it failing.

TRC: Start Action
Global Vars=
GVar:SelectedGenre=0
GVar:WeatherRadarLayer=radar
GVar:SelectedAlbum=0
GVar:MovieLoc=\\SERVER\Videos\DVD\(500) Days of Summer
GVar:WeatherRadarZoom=6
GVar:ThermoPeriod=
GVar:MovieFmt=Blu-ray
GVar:SelectedArtist=0
GVar:MovieColCookie=0,1,1,1

CMD: 001. (0ms) - GlobalVars::SetVariable
P1=GVar:MovieFmt
P2=Blu-ray

CMD: 002. (0ms) - GlobalVars::SetVariable
P1=GVar:MovieLoc
P2=\\SERVER\Videos\DVD\(500) Days of Summer

CMD: 003. (0ms) - GlobalVars::SetVariable
P1=GVar:MovieColCookie
P2=0,1,1,1

CMD: 004. (0ms) - Overlay-Main::LoadNewTemplate
P1=\User\movie overlay

CMD: 001. (218ms) - description::SetCollectCookie
P1=0,1,1,1

CMD: 002. (234ms) - cover art::SetCollectCookie
P1=0,1,1,1

CMD: 003. (390ms) - media format::SetCollectCookie
P1=0,1,1,1

CMD: 004. (422ms) - Title::SetCollectCookie
P1=0,1,1,1

TRC: End Action [Result=Success]

TRC: Start Action
Global Vars=
GVar:SelectedGenre=0
GVar:WeatherRadarLayer=radar
GVar:SelectedAlbum=0
GVar:MovieLoc=\\SERVER\Videos\DVD\(500) Days of Summer
GVar:WeatherRadarZoom=6
GVar:ThermoPeriod=
GVar:MovieFmt=Blu-ray
GVar:SelectedArtist=0
GVar:MovieColCookie=0,1,1,1

CMD: 001. (0ms) - Devices::FieldWrite
P1=HTPC1.PlayDVD
P2=\\SERVER\Videos\DVD\(500) Days of Summer
P3=True

TRC: End Action [Result=Failure]

[jrlewis]

What exactly is in the (500) Days of Summer directory? Is it a blu-ray ripped to a folder structure? If it is it should be working. What did you use to rip the blu-ray? For giggles just open up a command prompt on any pc on the network and telnet into port 40500 on the media center pc and issue the command below to see if it works or not.

play-dvd \\SERVER\Videos\DVD\(500) Days of Summer

[potts.mike]

(500) days of summer is a Blu ray in folder structure ripped using mymovies and anydvd. It plays fine when selected with a remote. I'll try the telnet thing this evening.

[potts.mike]

I should be able to do this with hyperterminal, right?

I connect with hyperterminal and I get some text saying that I am connected but hyperterminal will not accept any commands.

[znelbok]

Hi guys

I am seeing this message a lot in the logs - what does it mean to me?

Seq#1574148 - 01/31 07:46:40-TCHD-1502,CQCServer,CQCDrv_CQC_VMC_Cont05_Thread0
{
CIDSock,CIDSock_StreamSocket.cpp.662,Failed/Not Ready,Error:5025/0/0
The socket is not yet connected.
}

The driver shows as connected.

Mick

[Dean Roddey]

What version of CQC are you on? There were some issues wrt this type of thing prior to the 3.4.8 release. It could make code think that a socket was not closed when it really had been.

[znelbok]

3.3.0

looks like an upgrade

[Dean Roddey]

Just save your current system away and it's pretty risk free if you run into something and need to reconnoiter before going forward again.

[jrlewis]

Mick...did upgrading cqc fix this issue for you?

[znelbok]

Upgrade is happening on Thrudsay - will post the outcome when down

Thanks for the follow-up

Mick

[znelbok]

Still getting this message. Only from one machine now.
Its a VMC machine only, running 3.4.11

02/11 15:23:32-TCHD-1500, CQCServer, CQCDrv_CQC_VMC_Cont15_Thread1
{
CIDSock, CIDSock_StreamSocket.cpp.1241, Failed/Lost Connection, Error: 5025/0/0
The socket is not currently connected
}

As before, driver shows up as connected

Mick

[jrlewis]

How often do you see this?

[znelbok]

every 6 seconds

[VidaBox LLC]

Still getting this message. Only from one machine now.
Its a VMC machine only, running 3.4.11

02/11 15:23:32-TCHD-1500, CQCServer, CQCDrv_CQC_VMC_Cont15_Thread1
{
CIDSock, CIDSock_StreamSocket.cpp.1241, Failed/Lost Connection, Error: 5025/0/0
The socket is not currently connected
}

As before, driver shows up as connected

Mick

Mick could you try turning off the firewall on that system and see if the errors go away?

[znelbok]

Firewall has been off since install to try and resolve this one.

Mick

[Dean Roddey]

What was the driver doing at the point that it got this error? Was it trying to connect, or was it already connected and was polling or something?

[znelbok]

Don't know.

It's connected, and has always created this error in the logs.

I can cycle the service if that helps

[Dean Roddey]

Don't know.

It's connected, and has always created this error in the logs.

I can cycle the service if that helps

Put it into verbose mode and it might give more info when it happens. If you can make it happen, for it to happen and see what kind of info you get around the error.

[znelbok]

With logging set to high (CQC was not cycled)

02/12 10:35:54-TCHD-1500, CQCServer, CQCDrv_CQC_VMC_Cont15_Thread1
{
CIDSock, CIDSock_StreamSocket.cpp.1241, Failed/Lost Connection, Error: 5025/0/0
The socket is not currently connected
}
02/12 10:36:00-TCHD-1500, CQCServer, CQCDrv_CQC_VMC_Cont15_Thread1
{
CQCKit, MEng.System.CQC.Runtime.CQCLogger.266, Status/App Status
CQC_VMC_Cont15.SendMsg: IsWmcReady
}
02/12 10:36:00-TCHD-1500, CQCServer, CQCDrv_CQC_VMC_Cont15_Thread1
{
CQCKit, MEng.System.CQC.Runtime.CQCLogger.266, Status/App Status
CQC_VMC_Cont15.GetMsg: 200 Ok
}
02/12 10:36:00-TCHD-1500, CQCServer, CQCDrv_CQC_VMC_Cont15_Thread1
{
CQCKit, MEng.System.CQC.Runtime.CQCLogger.266, Status/App Status
CQC_VMC_Cont15.GetMsg: True
}
02/12 10:36:00-TCHD-1500, CQCServer, CQCDrv_CQC_VMC_Cont15_Thread1
{
CQCKit, MEng.System.CQC.Runtime.CQCLogger.266, Status/App Status
CQC_VMC_Cont15.GetMsg: .
}
02/12 10:36:00-TCHD-1500, CQCServer, CQCDrv_CQC_VMC_Cont15_Thread1
{
CIDSock, CIDSock_StreamSocket.cpp.1241, Failed/Lost Connection, Error: 5025/0/0
The socket is not currently connected
}

[Dean Roddey]

So it appears to be an HTTP based interface, right? Is it using our HTTPClient to do the work? For whatever reason it looks like the other side is dropping the connection, but it's kind of wierd because it would have to be doing it very quickly, since the whole thing is happening in the same second.

Is there any logging on the other side?

[jrlewis]

That socket error message looks like some sort of bogus message coming from CQC. The message exchange that is showing in the log is happening in the Poll routine. After the "." has been returned the method is no longer trying to communicate on that socket. Even if that exception were actually being generated in the driver it would be logging a message in the Catch block in the Poll method and would look something like ""Line: # Poll(): Error Message". I don't see where that error message is even coming from. After that exchange there are 2 other sockets that are being accessed, but those happen on every poll so it would seem strange that one of those would be producing that. I could add some extra logging in the driver just to see if it actually is hanging somewhere.


Maybe I missed it, but you say the driver is connected. Do the IsReady and Power fields ever go to true?

[Dean Roddey]

Maybe there's a cleanup call being made on the socket after it's closed or something, and I'm not just ignoring that?

[znelbok]

Here is the log from the other end. The failure is not shown there, only on the server

02/12 15:26:51-TCHD-1500, CQCServer, CQCDrv_CQC_VMC_Cont15_Thread1
{
CQCKit, MEng.System.CQC.Runtime.CQCLogger.266, Status/App Status
CQC_VMC_Cont15.SendMsg: IsWmcReady
}
02/12 15:26:51-TCHD-1500, CQCServer, CQCDrv_CQC_VMC_Cont15_Thread1
{
CQCKit, MEng.System.CQC.Runtime.CQCLogger.266, Status/App Status
CQC_VMC_Cont15.GetMsg: 200 Ok
}
02/12 15:26:51-TCHD-1500, CQCServer, CQCDrv_CQC_VMC_Cont15_Thread1
{
CQCKit, MEng.System.CQC.Runtime.CQCLogger.266, Status/App Status
CQC_VMC_Cont15.GetMsg: False
}
02/12 15:26:51-TCHD-1500, CQCServer, CQCDrv_CQC_VMC_Cont15_Thread1
{
CQCKit, MEng.System.CQC.Runtime.CQCLogger.266, Status/App Status
CQC_VMC_Cont15.GetMsg: .
}
02/12 15:26:56-TCHD-1500, CQCServer, CQCDrv_CQC_VMC_Cont15_Thread1
{
CQCKit, MEng.System.CQC.Runtime.CQCLogger.266, Status/App Status
CQC_VMC_Cont15.SendMsg: IsWmcReady
}

The IsReady field is False and the Power field is True.

There are also 0 lost connections.

Mick

[jrlewis]

Again maybe something I missed. Are you able to control media center on that client? Controlling the client is on a separate socket from that status socket.

[znelbok]

I decided to start from scratch again with this machine. I reloaded CQC, re-loaded the drivers and it is not producing errors any more. I doubt we will ever know why, but thanks for the help.

To answer your question, I am pretty sure it was controlling fine.

Mick

[Dean Roddey]

OK, that error is a generic check that's made at the start of any of the methods that require that the socket be connected before it's going to work. If in a previous operation the socket was seen to be disconnected and marked as such, then this exception will occur on the next call that requires it to be open.

UNfortunately the file/line number is for the little helper, not the thing that called it to insure the socket was open, so I can't say what was being called without the socket being open. But I fixed that, so in the future I'll be able to know what was being done.

[guysmiley]

So I received and email stating an update is out. I have all my machines locked down for no updates to either windows,mymovies,TMT3. Anyone install the latest MyMovies update? Does it break anything? I don't know which version I am running now but I know it works. Just curious. I have a test machine I guess I can try it on but Im not sure if it will want to update the server also (running client/server version).

Phil

[rm1759]

The first post states there will be no support for 64 bit, is that still the case? My WMC 7 is 64 bit, and I really do not wish to downgrade to 32...

[VidaBox LLC]

The first post states there will be no support for 64 bit, is that still the case? My WMC 7 is 64 bit, and I really do not wish to downgrade to 32...

We do not have 64bit support planned for the future. 32bit only!

[potts.mike]

I have been having trouble playing blu rays with this driver. I brought it up a few months ago but got busy and am just now getting back to it. The action trace when trying to play a blu ray is below.

Here is the action Trace. There is me selecting a movie and loading a new overlay equivalent to a pop up and then me selecting the play movie button and it failing.

TRC: Start Action
Global Vars=
GVar:SelectedGenre=0
GVar:WeatherRadarLayer=radar
GVar:SelectedAlbum=0
GVar:MovieLoc=\\SERVER\Videos\DVD\(500) Days of Summer
GVar:WeatherRadarZoom=6
GVar:ThermoPeriod=
GVar:MovieFmt=Blu-ray
GVar:SelectedArtist=0
GVar:MovieColCookie=0,1,1,1

CMD: 001. (0ms) - GlobalVars::SetVariable
P1=GVar:MovieFmt
P2=Blu-ray

CMD: 002. (0ms) - GlobalVars::SetVariable
P1=GVar:MovieLoc
P2=\\SERVER\Videos\DVD\(500) Days of Summer

CMD: 003. (0ms) - GlobalVars::SetVariable
P1=GVar:MovieColCookie
P2=0,1,1,1

CMD: 004. (0ms) - Overlay-Main::LoadNewTemplate
P1=\User\movie overlay

CMD: 001. (218ms) - description::SetCollectCookie
P1=0,1,1,1

CMD: 002. (234ms) - cover art::SetCollectCookie
P1=0,1,1,1

CMD: 003. (390ms) - media format::SetCollectCookie
P1=0,1,1,1

CMD: 004. (422ms) - Title::SetCollectCookie
P1=0,1,1,1

TRC: End Action [Result=Success]

TRC: Start Action
Global Vars=
GVar:SelectedGenre=0
GVar:WeatherRadarLayer=radar
GVar:SelectedAlbum=0
GVar:MovieLoc=\\SERVER\Videos\DVD\(500) Days of Summer
GVar:WeatherRadarZoom=6
GVar:ThermoPeriod=
GVar:MovieFmt=Blu-ray
GVar:SelectedArtist=0
GVar:MovieColCookie=0,1,1,1

CMD: 001. (0ms) - Devices::FieldWrite
P1=HTPC1.PlayDVD
P2=\\SERVER\Videos\DVD\(500) Days of Summer
P3=True

TRC: End Action [Result=Failure]

As more and more of our movies move to blu ray the wife wants me to get this working. Months ago when I first reported my issue I was asked to telnet into the machine and see if I could play a blu ray that way. I am not real familiar with telnet, any way I could get some hand holding with that?

[VidaBox LLC]

You need to make sure you pass in the path with escaped backslashes. I don't remmember what you need to add to the GVAR to have it pass the string correctly. Somehow I believe you need to add a "^1" symbol but I'm suffering from the loss of many brain cells.

[potts.mike]

I use the "^1" to pass it the correct path. It plays dvds just fine but I get an error for all blurays.

[VidaBox LLC]

I use the "^1" to pass it the correct path. It plays dvds just fine but I get an error for all blurays.

Do you have any error messages in the logs?

[potts.mike]

Log attached.

I also noticed that the dvd's start in the background and there is no "now playing" tile on the home screen. I have to navigate into something and then use the thumbnail in the bottom left to get to the movie.

[guysmiley]

I too have noticed that with the dvd's when starting to play. I incorporated the back (navigation command) after it plays. If you hit the back button, you exit out of the front of WMC and it takes you to the actual screen where the dvd is playing (now playing). Thats the only work around I found. Not a big deal though.

Phil

[jrlewis]

Mike...Go into the folder [root]\Program Data\Vidabox LLC\Vmc Controller on the pc that media center is running on and open up the AppSettings.xml file in a text editor (e.g., Notepad). Change the Level under logging to 4. Restart media center and then send a play-dvd command. Inside that same folder you should see a log file that has today's date in the name. Grab that and post it. After you are done you can set the logging back to off - 0. Note you may need to change your folder view options to show hidden folders as Program Data is considered a system folder and hidden.

[potts.mike]

I think this is what you want. it was in the program files not program data folder but nothing new showed up in program data.

Thanks for the help

[jrlewis]

Unfortunately that only has some udp messages being sent out from the tray app. That version would overload the logs a bit. Did you send a play-dvd command? I have a different version of the add-in running on my test box so I will have to uinstall it and set it back up with the posted version being ran here. Give me a day or so.

[potts.mike]

I sent a play DVD command to start a DVD and it worked, then I sent a play DVD command for a bluray and got an error.

[jrlewis]

You need to go back and look for the C:\ProgramData\Vidabox LLC\Vmc Controller folder (assuming your roor is c:\) and there is an AppSettings.xml filer there. Set the logging level to 4 in that file. In order to set the logging level you will likely need to open up notepad as an administrator and open the file from within notepad. That settings file is still in the wrong location for that release. Anyhow... restart media center if already started. Once media center starts up and the add-in starts you will see a new file named VmcController.AddIn_2011mmdd.log. Send a play-dvd command to a blu-ray and then grab that log file.

[potts.mike]

I thought had done all that and there was no log file in the program data folder. I will double check when I get home.

[potts.mike]

I did exactly what you said but no log file was created in the program data location.


After that I went into the program files location changed the appsettings.xml file there did a restart and got a log just like the one I posted before.

[jrlewis]

Not sure what to say then. I have a vista and win7 test system set up with the version(s) of the add-in linked to in the first post. Doing as I described both systems create the proper log file. Are you sure the appsettings.xml file is saving properly?

[potts.mike]

After a restart appsettings.XML is still set to "4". I'll try a reinstall once I get home and see if that makes any difference.

[potts.mike]

I have finally had time to revisit this;

I uninstalled the existing vmc controller program and reinstalled the one found here: http://vidabox.com/forum/forum_linked_files/435/WMCAddIn_W7.msi

I tried to play a blu ray and got the same error I was getting before.

I went here: C:\ProgramData\Vidabox LLC\Vmc Controller and changded the log level to 4. rebooted the computer and thentried to play a blu ray and got the same error. no log fille was created in C:\ProgramData\Vidabox LLC\Vmc Controller

what am I missing?

[znelbok]

I need some help with the format of the string to play a DVD/BR

Currently the template is setup to send the "[media location] ^1", and this give something like this
\server\my movies\<movie name> and the driver reports an error.

What is the structure of the string that needs to be sent to the PlayDVD field

Are BR movies also using the PlayDVD field and what is the PlayFile field for?

Thanks

Mick

[Dean Roddey]

It should definitely start with two slashes for a UNC name. I don't know if that's a typo in your post, or if it really is just one slash. If you are using something like:

%(GVar:MediaLoc, "^1")

Then any slashes should be left as is, unless you then subsequently pass this value to yet another action before it gets to the player or something. So make sure that the original has the correct double leading slashes, and that the ultimately value still has them.

[znelbok]

No thats not a typo, using the ^1 yields a path with a single back slash. I am seeing this on my system and other system of various versions.

I usually have to create a local variable and set it to \\\ and then append the global variable with the location. The source (myMoveis) does have the location as \\server... CQC is cutting out the first \. I am seeing this when I write the location to a static text widget (for testing) but the driver is also failing unless I manually add the extra \.

Which reminds me, can we have a prepend option for variables please.

Mick

[Dean Roddey]

Use the ^1 even if just setting it into a variable as well, since any time the value is used in a parameter, it'll get expanded. So do this when you save the value to a variable.

GlobalVars::SetVariable(GVar:SaveLoc, %(MediaRTV:LocInfo, "^1"))

then later, do the same when use SaveLoc somewhere:

Devices::FieldWrite(SomePlayer:Whatever, %(GVar:SaveLoc, "^1"))

So that may be your issue.

[znelbok]

Yes, it is one of my issues - can you solve all my life problems???

Thanks

[jrlewis]

There is an updated version of the add-in/tray app that provides for easier setting and access of the logging. The manner in which media center is controlled has changed a little though so it wouldn't work with the current driver. In the next week or two I will see if I can get around to getting it updated and will post when it is available.

[Dean Roddey]

Oh, I checked the Prepend thing for variables, and it's there effectively. Just do an Insert at offset zero to do a prepend.

[NightLight]

I think this is a stupid question.. We can't use PlayDVD and such fields in Win 7 yet right? Hence the warning on install of the driver and errors I get when I try to send it a string. Am I right?

[potts.mike]

Playdvd should work if you send it a valid location.

[jrlewis]

There is a wierd bug with the current version for windows 7. Or more appropriately it appears there is a bug in the media center api. Sending a local path works fine for dvd's, but using a UNC path will fail. At least on the systems I work with it will. This is why mike's situation is very strange. His behavior is opposite from all systems I have seen with the add-in. For now you can try appending an extra "\\" to the path and it should work. The example shown in the api shows something similar to "DVD://myshare/dvdtitle" as an example, but for win7 I have only found it to work with DVD:////myshare/dvdtitle". The add-in handles flipping the slashes so you can just send it "\\\\myshare\dvdtitle". Also not sure what warning you would be getting on install?

[NightLight]

I take it back... it works! New problem now.

[znelbok]

I see in the logs a persistent "The socket is not currently conencted"

I assume this is because VMC is not running, but the verbosity is set to off yet it is still filling the logs with this error (using version .31)

Anyway to get rid of it?

[Dean Roddey]

This is something that seems to have snuck in in my attempts to get better logging going on for this type of stuff. It's getting logged non-verbosely. I'll have to figure out where that's happening and stop it. I noticed it the other day when working on the Yamaha 1900 driver.

[js19707]

so I just installed the .35 Driver linked in the first message of this thread on the latest (4.1) release version of CQC. that all went great.

unfortunately i had problems installing the WMC AddIn (linked in the referenced post on the Vidabox forum) on windows 7 ultimate x64. it appears to get all the way through the install and at the last step it tells me that the "commit" stage has failed because 'access is denied'.

i tried running as administrator, running in compatibility mode, and disabling AV scan, but nothing seemed to work.

I'm wondering if anyone has had success using the win7 add in?

[potts.mike]

I had the same problem several months ago and just gave up

[js19707]

OK thanks Mike. in a way i guess i'm glad it wasn't just me.

out of curiosity: were you trying this with 32 or 64-bit win7? did you give up on the idea altogether or did you find an alternate way of integrating CQC with WMC and/or TMT?

[potts.mike]

It is 32 bit. I realized no one in the family was using the control so I didn't try real hard to get it to work.

[jkmonroe]

I got the WMC Addin installed. Just rename it to .msi instead of .exe, went right through the whole process. I am running 7 x64 Ultimate and can confirm that the driver connects.

Update: the driver connects just fine, but it doesnt do anything at all. perhaps I am doing something wrong, but using the admin interface and trying to change the field for navigation, wmc just sits there. not sure whats going on.

[jkmonroe]

well, for those who are interested, codeplex has kept up (some) development of the WMC controller, and it is working on x64 with the old driver. i did the best i could verifying the driver was actually controlling the damn thing, and it appears to receive data from WMC as well as control it. this works for both direct control and extenders.

this is the x64 version that i am currently running with some success:
http://vmccontroller.codeplex.com/releases/view/45909

===
further testing - all navigation that *i* currently use work; recordedTV, liveTV, Guide. the media mode switches appropriately. the curcolname also works for both recordedTV and liveTV. now if i can remember how i got the recordedTV into a CAB (or list, i cant remember), life on the WMC front would be pretty good.