Stuart's Blog - All Comments

re: Windows 7 Media Center, Music Library re-building problem.

cw-kid — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 11:05:43 GMT

Hi, it's not normal, I don't remember seeing this in Vista. And if it is normal then its very poor indeed.

Everyone who is having this issue should please head over to the below thread on TGB and post a reply and a bit about your system, do you have WHS or it is stand alone 7MC etc.

Thanks

thegreenbutton.com/.../84855.aspx

re: Windows 7 Media Center, Music Library re-building problem.

Mynstrel — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 09:59:10 GMT

MIne does this every time, TBH i thought this was normal (embrassed look)

re: How to create an Internet Explorer icon in Media Center

cw-kid — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 17:37:28 GMT

Someone asked me the question does this work on Media Center Extenders? The answer is no.

"No this will not work on an XBOX 360 Media Center Extender. If you want to hide your Internet Explorer icon from Media Center when on an extender session use Media Center Studio, click the Entry Points arrow down at the bottom, find your IE icon and double click it. Then select the Console check box under Required Capabilities and save. This will hide the IE icon on extenders."

re: How to launch 3rd Party MCE add-in with a Logitech Harmony remote

cw-kid — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 04:08:49 GMT

Regarding creating the relationship between the remote and the autohotkey it's the same as what's covered in the blog post when using windows shortcuts.

This is my commands in my Autohotkey script to launch My Movies

^!m::

IfWinExist Untitled - My Movies

WinActivate

else

Run %windir%\ehome\ehshell.exe /entrypoint:{8984aed5-7c9d-42f0-b2ad-c39bbcf04a25}\{810d7b87-1300-4aed-a700-1c6179f8f14b}

return

This part: ^!m:: means ctrl+alt+M

So I still have to teach the Harmony the keyboard shortcut ctrl+alt+M as shown above.

re: How to launch 3rd Party MCE add-in with a Logitech Harmony remote

blbarge — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 17:36:15 GMT

Ok thanks. Yes, I realize the keyboard shortcuts will not work. I didn't read the update at the top of your page so it wasn't until I got to the bottom that I noticed your update regarding the autohotkeys instead of keyboard shortcuts. I do have a non-microsoft IR keyboard that I was hoping would be recognized by my usb IR reciever that I could use to learn the shortcuts & sync with my remote but I cannot get this other IR keyboard to work so I'll have to play around with autohotkeys.

The part that I'm confused about with autohotkeys is creating the relationship between the remote & the hotkey. Do I have to assign the autohotkey to an unused button on my remote (ie the # button or something I don't use) or can I create my own button. I think I can figure out how to get the script written, just not sure how to teach these scripts to the remote.

re: How to launch 3rd Party MCE add-in with a Logitech Harmony remote

cw-kid — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 10:52:41 GMT

I don't really know Autohotkey either, all I did was select yes when it asked me if I wanted to create a sample script in my documents folder during the installation, I then edited that script and added my commands for My Movies, RadioTime and Heatwave. I then just selected reload script from the Autohotkey icon in the system tray and I added AutoHotkey to my startup folder. That was it, you can see the script on my skydrive there is a link somewhere above.

But like I said you still need an IR keyboard to teach the Harmony remote the keyboard shortcuts.

The reason I switched to using Autohotkey was so I could use the keyboard commands when media center had already launched and was in full screen mode.

re: How to launch 3rd Party MCE add-in with a Logitech Harmony remote

cw-kid — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 10:40:25 GMT

If you use desktop shortcuts with keyboard shortcuts assigned as in the blog post or the autohotkey script I wrote after you still need an MS IR keyboard to teach the Harmony remote control what Ctrl+Alt+M is for example. You might be able to use other IR keyboards for this such as a logitech one but I've not tried it.

re: How to launch 3rd Party MCE add-in with a Logitech Harmony remote

blbarge — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 10:01:44 GMT

The directions you've created are great. I need to accomplish two things from my Harmony Remote.... 1. Open My Movies & 2. Close Media Center. I was hoping I could use short cut commands (create my own for My Movies (Ctrl + Alt +M) and use default Alt + F4 to close). I followed your step to create the shortcut commands. The commands work from my logitech keyboard but unfortunately I don't have a mircrosoft IR keyboard. So now I need another solution. Now that I'm at the bottom of your post, it appears using AutoHotKey could be my work around for not having an IR keyboard... Is that correct?

For the life of me I cannot figure out how to write & run the scripts for AutoHotKeys. Can you help me figure out how to do my two requests using autohotkeys & a logitech remote (keeping in mind that I do not have an IR keyboard available).

I did read somewhere that a script can be written into an .exe file & that file then placed in the StartUp folder, so the .exe is automatcally running... is that correct?

re: I love Media Browser but this is a show stopper!

cw-kid — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 12:25:49 GMT

I've switched back to My Movies since version 3 was released, My Movies supports this feature.

re: I love Media Browser but this is a show stopper!

noob — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 22:54:47 GMT

I love MediaBrowser.

More important though, my girlfriend LOVES media browser. Media browser is why she actually SUPPORTS my HTPC efforts and may happily let go of the Tivo. None of my other attempts has come close winning her over.

- BeyondTv

- MythTv

- Etc, etc, etc.

That having been said, i can see how the lack of this feature will soon start driving me nuts. With the price of hard drives having fallen through the floor over the last year i'm looking at my DVD binder (500+ already backed up on 4.7gb media) and thinking that for a bit over $100 i could transfer most of those directly into my HTPC...

I've just started using MediaCenter now that win7 has come out. I grabbed a student upgrade at $30 and now have it up and running on an older system (Win7 Home Prem 64bit on a single core AMD @ about 2ghz with 1.5gb Mem). Ive used

re: How to launch 3rd Party MCE add-in with a Logitech Harmony remote

Mike.Clarke — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 04:41:02 GMT

yo yo

you could try starting using a batch file. something like this:

start /max d:\MameUI32\MameUI32.exe

that is what i do to start mame maximized.

re: How to launch 3rd Party MCE add-in with a Logitech Harmony remote

cw-kid — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 03:58:31 GMT

Mike,

thanks for the tip, I've started using AutoHotKey and I have deleted the desktop shortcuts I created in as above.

My AutoHotKey script can launch the following:

My Movies - Ctrl + Alt + M

HeatWave - Ctrl + Alt + H

RadioTime - Ctrl + Alt + R

You can download my AutoHotKey script from this link

cid-3c26ff3a8c4b8643.skydrive.live.com/.../AutoHotkey.ahk

This does work and I can now press these buttons on the Harmony remote control (When MCE is in full screen mode) and the 3rd party add-ins load up ok.

However I have one issue with RadioTime when this loads it does not load properly into full screen and looks like this screen shot:

cid-3c26ff3a8c4b8643.skydrive.live.com/.../RadioTime.jpg

I've tried this on two PC's and it does the same on both.

re: DVD -> DVR-MS - How to video

jetbootjack — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 18:33:14 GMT

I seem to get no audio until 1:58 into the video....

re: My Shark 007 Win7 Codec Configuration

cw-kid — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 02:40:51 GMT

Just read the release notes for ATI CCC 9.11 this is listed as an outstanding unresolved issue:

"Some video artifacts might be noticed when playing HD video files in fullscreen under Windows MCE or Windows Media player"

This happens in Windowed mode as well however.

re: My Shark 007 Win7 Codec Configuration

cw-kid — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 01:54:44 GMT

I have an ASRock Nettop with the Nvidia chipset and I do not ger the green blocks on the video like I do with the ATI. Must be an ATI problem!

re: My Shark 007 Win7 Codec Configuration

mvanzante — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:40:22 GMT

Concerning the DivX Tech Preview -- I haven't extensively tested this, but on my Nvidia Win7 PC (running the DivX Tech Preview) my 1080p MKV files are beautiful. However, on my ATI Win7 PC (also running the DivX Tech Preview) I get the same green blocks you do.

As for Xbox 360 MCX, using the tech preview lets me play most files, but some of my 1080p MKVs play with extremely muted colors. Others will not play at all.

re: My Shark 007 Win7 Codec Configuration

DallasKnox — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 12:45:13 GMT

"The only thing I’d like to be able to do is encode on the fly MKV’s with AAC to AC3 but I haven’t figured this out yet. What are you doing with MKV’s that have AAC audio tracks?"

The only way I have found is to use a program like handbrake to convert the AAC to AC3.

re: My Shark 007 Win7 Codec Configuration

cw-kid — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 10:02:05 GMT

Just been testing some other video file / container types, two issues M2TS files don't play properly and WMV-HD files have no sound.

But I could play .MOV, .MP4, .DVR-MS, .WTV, .FLV, .MPEG2, .WMV seemingly OK.

re: ASRock NetTop packs a punch!

cw-kid — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 05:46:02 GMT

I don't see why it wouldn't support multiple monitors.

re: ASRock NetTop packs a punch!

jbworks — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 19:28:23 GMT

Will the onboard video support multiple monitors?

re: How to launch 3rd Party MCE add-in with a Logitech Harmony remote

Mike.Clarke — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 20:57:14 GMT

FYI I was able to make my own shortcuts that work while in media center using Autohotkey:

www.autohotkey.com/.../Hotkeys.htm

They worked great.

re: How to launch 3rd Party MCE add-in with a Logitech Harmony remote

Mike.Clarke — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 04:56:23 GMT

I have also noticed that the shortcuts keys don't fire when in media center full screen mode.

I wanted to use a key to run a script in the background but the script wouldn't fire unless media center is not in full screen mode.

Any info on fixing this would be great!!!

re: How to launch 3rd Party MCE add-in with a Logitech Harmony remote

cw-kid — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 04:17:07 GMT

Just an update on a couples of things, first I managed to sort out my LCD display and re-order the items as I required.

Secondly I've noticed that when pressing these new commands I've created on the remote control when Media Center is in full screen mode they don't work / do anything. I guess it's because Media Center is already open and effectively our keyboard shortcuts are trying to launch Media Center (ehshell.exe) again in to a certain entrypoint.

However if Windows Media Center is in windowed mode I'am able to press the new commands on the remote control and Media Center will jump into My Movies and RadioTime and vice-versa.

I've also added a new command to launch the Heatwave weather add-in.

So I guess my summary is if you just want a button(s) on your Logitech remote control that will launch Media Center in to a certain add-in then this works great.

But if you wanted to use the same buttons to jump around in Media Center once it's launched in to full screen mode it then kinda doesn't work unless you are in windowed mode.

If anyone has any ideas or comments please feel free.

re: How to launch 3rd Party MCE add-in with a Logitech Harmony remote

cw-kid — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:31:09 GMT

I tried what you suggested but my LCD on the remote was still not as I want it. Its the device options I want to change not the activity.

I press the device button, then select Media Center and then I see the options and pages, it's this I need to change.

re: How to launch 3rd Party MCE add-in with a Logitech Harmony remote

Mynstrel — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 13:53:10 GMT

HI, the option to change what appears in the remote control is fairly staright forward.

It depends on if you wish to change the order of you activites or the option that appear for the device once you in the activity.

I going to assume you are in an activity, so you will need to go into the device menu on the logitech software and then choose the option, which I think is additional buttons and you can move them up and down in there.

(why do I know this, because i like all my device power options to appear on my LCD and they never do by standard setup:-) )

re: Media Center 7 - Which file types and containers?

EZRyder — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 11:40:10 GMT

How do you down load the update for the xbox - do you need to be logged in to xbox live? I've never joined xbox live, and all previous dashboard updates, such as NXE have worked without being an account holder.

re: How to move the Netflix & Internet TV 7MC start menu icons

cw-kid — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 06:22:51 GMT

Hmm seems you can't move these promo icons to the My Movies 3.0 menu strip:

The below is from Advent regarding MC Studio.

"The My Movies strip would be a registry-based custom strip, which can only accept registry-based tiles - the promo tiles are native tiles and so are not accepted.

Basically, Media Center Studio can only add native tiles to custom strips that you create with Media Center Studio. So you can create a new custom strip with Media Center Studio, then drag all the tiles from the My Movies strip onto the new custom one, and then you should be able to add whatever you want."

re: How to move the Netflix & Internet TV 7MC start menu icons

cw-kid — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 04:48:16 GMT

I've just tried moving the Netflix icon to the My Movies 3.0 custom menu that doesn't seem to work at the moment.

re: 7MC new Internet TV with wait for it…. Flash!

JohnCz — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 19:57:41 GMT

Fantastic update. I'm particularly excited to see Zune represented in the new Internet TV.

re: 7MC new Internet TV with wait for it…. Flash!

cw-kid — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 15:52:14 GMT

Seems the new Internet TV does not even show up on my XBOX 360. I knew I was getting too excited with wishful thinking. ASRock NetTop anyone?

re: 7MC new Internet TV with wait for it…. Flash!

Dangelus — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 13:18:28 GMT

Followed the instructions but no joy for me in the UK yet...

re: 7MC new Internet TV with wait for it…. Flash!

cw-kid — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 12:37:20 GMT

Read this here: thegreenbutton.com/.../397087.aspx

Just do an update from the Media Center settings.

re: 7MC new Internet TV with wait for it…. Flash!

njandtmp — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 12:33:18 GMT

I'd be happy to test here in the US, How did you receive the update, via Windows update or part of a beta program?

re: 7MC new Internet TV with wait for it…. Flash!

cw-kid — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 12:26:56 GMT

The problem I have is I am not in the UK or US, so I would have to setup either a Linksys router with DD-WRT firmware and a VPN client setup or setup windows Internet connection sharing with VPN on the Media Center PC and have the XBOX go via that for it's Internet connection. Both methods work I have tried them before.

re: 7MC new Internet TV with wait for it…. Flash!

cw-kid — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 12:23:09 GMT

I have not tested but I would say very likely !

re: 7MC new Internet TV with wait for it…. Flash!

JayC — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 12:13:17 GMT

Any idea if flash will work on Extenders now?

re: ASRock NetTop packs a punch!

cw-kid — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 03:53:39 GMT

Not sure what the RRP is? We bought two at trade price from an ASRock distributor. Just had a quick look on Google, Scan in the UK are selling the non Blu-ray version for just over 200 quid.

www.scan.co.uk/.../Asrock-NetTop-ION-330-System-Black-Intel-Atom-330-2GB-DDR2-320GB-HDD-HDMI

re: My Movies 3.0 – It’s finished!

cw-kid — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 01:14:03 GMT

On my XBOX 360 the UI was pretty slow but I put that down to it being wireless and not wired. I'd have to hook up a cable to test it out some more.

re: My Movies 3.0 – It’s finished!

IR1SH SN1PER — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 14:35:50 GMT

That's great news.

The screen shots I've seen so far look nice.

What's the performance like on an extender?

re: ASRock NetTop packs a punch!

jonathand — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 12:39:43 GMT

What kind of price are we looking at for one of these?