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MPTVAdmin2 Beta - Import Dreambox channels into MediaPortal

Mon, 07 Feb 2011 19:24:00 +0200

A bit longer then a month ago I posted my “early” alpha version of tool which can import Dreambox channellists into MediaPortal TV-Server. While this tool, was just a try-out if it was possible and lacked all the error handling it was still a small success. I decided to start over (with a bit of the old code :-)), so I created MPTVAdmin2, which should be more stable and easier to use. It is still a beta, but I like to hear your comments on it. You can find the tool in this thread on the MediaPortal forums.

Import Dreambox Channel Lists Into Mediaportal Tv Server

Fri, 24 Dec 2010 20:08:14 +0200

This blog is short and especially for people who have a MediaPortal TV-Server running with DVB-S(2). When you have a satellite dish with multiple LNB’s pointing at different satellites you probably end up with a lot of channels.

MediaPortal can handle this perfectly, but the All Channel groups is getting slow and it takes a lot of time to group your channels in handy categories.

A college of me pointed me to some list which is created for the Dreambox, which can be imported in a Dreambox and create nice channel groups. (He told me that you even don’t have to scan for channels). The link he gave pointed to the Hensat list, which he used.

Besides that scanning for channels can take a lot of time it is not a real problem for me, because it is just one click and it does the job.

Creating the channel groups is a whole different story, create groups for your provider isn’t that hard, but create groups by genre, like “Music”, “Movie”, etc. takes a lot of time, cause there are a lot of FTA channels out there and it would be a nice to also add them to the right groups.

So I decided to take a look at the “Henksat” list and try to create an import tool for MediaPortal for it. Since I succeeded by doing this, I got some friends also asking for it. First I was a bit skeptic, because it is created in a quick and dirty way, like no exception handling at all.

So before you download and use this tool a few things you should know; - The import folder must end with a “”. - You can select channels with the right mouse button. - deselect/select the checkbox is with the left mouse button. - Always make a back-up of your working configuration - Please remind that this is just a very basic test-version created for myself. - Last but not least, I’m not responsible for any damage caused by this program!

Download MPTVAdmin

Windows 7 Media Center Suprisingly Good

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 20:16:51 +0200

My parents have a mediacenter which I build for them a few years ago. My parents don’t need a lots of functions and watching TV, having an EPG, and be able to watch a dvd so now and then would satisfied them. So I installed Windows Vista MCE for them and configured it.

Unfortunately there where some issues; so now and then the sound would stutter, the tv quality was poor, and once in a year it just crashes and needed a reinstall. A reinstall would take half a day cause driver issues and setting it up as best as possible. About two months ago, it crashed again and I thought why not give Windows 7 a try.

I use Windows 7 at work since the beta and I like it (even when I’m typing this on a Linux distro). So I put in the DVD and installed Windows 7, I set the refresh rate right and started MCE. All drivers where correctly installed and even almost all OS settings where good. I run through the setup of Windows 7 and I don’t know why, the image quality was way better then in Vista. The whole GUI runs smoother, the audio was working perfectly and they are running it now for about three weeks and their first impressions are very good, hopefully it stays running this way, but for now it is definitely worth trying if you don’t want the hassle you (can) have with MediaPortal or other systems and of course are satisfied with the minimum of options and plugins you get with Windows 7.

Mymovies Import Plugin for Gcstar

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 19:18:50 +0200

I’m running Linux for about one year now and I definitely felt in love with it. The only thing that was missing was my DVD-collection which I managed with MyMovies, a great tool, but it has no real alternative for Linux. So after searching for a while I found GCstar, it is a bit more basic then MyMovies, but it works good and it is very fast compared to MyMovies.

The only problem was, I have quiet a big collection about 1300 DVD’s and I was not planning to add them manually to GCstar. This problem was not as easy solved as I wish it would be, cause there was no MyMovies import plugin. So I had no other option than write my own import plugin, quiet a big step when you don’t have any knowledge about Perl, but I managed it with a bit sneak and peak and a bit help from the author of GCstar with some array reference troubles.

So here it is.

Mythbuntu 804 Versus Windows Media Center Vista Xp

Thu, 15 May 2008 19:16:19 +0200

As some you may have read in one of my previous posts, I really was tired of using Windows Media Center. At that moment I decided that I was going to take a look to other Media Center software. After looking around for a while and find some great projects, like Elisa and Media Portal I decided to use Mythbuntu. As you can guess a combination of Ubuntu and MythTV.

I’ve been running a dedicated HTPC for about 5 years, first with Windows XP Media Center after that I used Vista Media Center for about a year and since three weeks I’m running Mythbuntu. So I think I can give a fair opinion between Windows Media Center and Mythbuntu. It is still an opinion, so you don’t have to agree with me.

Installation

Let’s take a look at the beginning the installation. Both products have an easy to follow installation and I think everyone with a bit knowledge about computers can install both products even if you don’t have any knowledge about Linux. In my opnion both products scores equally at this point. If I really had to pick one it is going to be Mythbuntu, cause the driver installation was very very easy with the restricted driver setup.

Configuration

After the easy installation it was time for configuration of both products and I really have to say, even that I’m a bit of a Linux fan, the Windows configuration was much easier then the Mythbuntu configuration.

At first the electronic program guide(EPG) was much easier to configure in Windows, I typed in my zip-code and that was it. Because I live in the Netherlands I had to use a so called grabber to grab my guide information from the Internet and with some reading it wasn’t really hard to configure but it sure takes a lot more time than the configuration of the EPG in Windows.

Another point that was not really hard, but took me a little time to figure out was that you can use different sound systems for each plug-in, so for MythTV you can use another device than for playing music. So when I thought I had running my system I could watch TV and change the sound volume, but when I was listening to some music, I couldn’t. This was easy to solve, but I it is a bit annoying if you run a dedicated system and thought you were done with the configuration.

VGA-RGB scart, I have an old television, such thing with a really big tube at the back, so not an LCD or plasma. So to gain the best picture quality I used a VGA-RGB scart cable, but since the TV cannot display standard computer resolutions, I need to configure so called custem resolutions. F or Windows there is a tool called Powerstrip to accomplishes this, but in Linux I need to configure xorg.conf and after trying this for more than 15hours I gave up, this is so much easier to do with a graphical tool like powerstrip which let you see the effect of the changes immediately. I know, not really a fault of Mythbuntu, but I struggle more with it, then I did with Windows and Powerstrip.

Further there were some small things that could have done better, like browsing to the right media folders instead of typing the complete path.

If you read this, I guess you may think Windows will easy win this point, but that is not completely true. Mythbuntu and then especially MythTV is much harder to configure then Windows, but I think this is a side effect of all the extra possibilities that MythTV has. I think if Mythbuntu / MythTV will gain more standard users, that this is a point really need some work, for example a basic set-up and an advanced setup.

Working

Both products are stable and that is really important for a dedicated mediacenter, there is nothing such annoying as a reboot during that great film.

So here Windows forgets one big thing I don’t want to reboot my system while I’m watching a film or listening to some great music. When Windows got some automatic updates it gives me a question if I want to reboot or not. So I choose not, but after an hour or so, Windows is still going to reboot, this time without a question!

Also is the speed of Windows compared to Mythbuntu slow, I’ve a lot of albums and movies and if I want to browse through them in Windows Media Center, it is real slow especially compared to mythbuntu.

Both products have an easy to follow menu, but the interface of Vista Media Center is more smoother and dynamic than that of Mythbuntu. I think this has something to do with the themes that are available within Mythbuntu.

I also did the girlfriend and mother proof and for some reason they feel more comfortable with controlling the Vista Media Center than Mythbuntu, I guess this is caused by the smoothness of Vista.

Conclusion

After all this it is still hard for me to say which one wins and I think it has also something to do with your needs and capabilities.

Windows Media Center has some advantages if it comes to simplicity and looks. It is easy to configure and it wins the girlfriend, mother proof test. The biggest disadvantage for me were the reboots even if I said that it may not reboot also the speed and the incapability I had after replacing the motherboard is still on my mind (see my previous post), I want control about my system. Another thing I miss is the central-server (back-end) with multiple front-ends set-ups.

Windows Media Center gives you all the basic needs for a Media Center, but if you want more you still need to look for third-party plugins.

Mythbuntu on the other hand is easy to install, but can be a bit tricky to configure, the interface is a bit simple compared to Windows, but it offers a lot more features, especially the Picture in Picture function, the MythWeb plugin and the back-end/multiple front-end setup are very cool features. It also response much quicker than Windows Media Center especially when using a folder that contains a lot of music or films.

I should say if you really want control over your system and looking for some real cool features you should definatly choose Mythbuntu. If you want a simple and easy to configure system pick Windows.

For my the choice is easy I like to have control over my system and I really like the features of Mythbuntu so that’s going to be my choice even if it takes a lot more time to configure.

A small sidenode, Mythbuntu is free and so you can give it a try if you are not sure which one to choose.

Vista Is Losing It Again

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 20:33:13 +0200

I’m running a dedicated media center for more then 4 years now and I started with Windows XP Media Center Edition, this was at that moment one of the best products available for a dedicated Media Center. About a year ago I decided to update the machine to Vista Media Center (VMC), everything was fine, the update went great and I have to say VMC is an outstanding product.

But, last weekend my powersupply of the MC, decided that it was enough and he hadn’t any power left. Instead of a nice and still suicide, he decided that the mobo had to die too. So I went to a good friend of mine, to see if he had any Socket 775 motherboards and I take one home and after rebuilding the machine and booted it up. GUESS WHAT, Vista decided that it won’t boot with another mobo and also the repair function (on the bootup) decided that a new mobo was just to much. This was enough and I was very angry that there was just no way I could get around the BSOD, why do we take all this suffering from MS.

So after my laptop and desktop, Linux takes over my Media Center. I already have played around with Mythbuntu on my laptop and everything was easy to configure except for the EPG, but with some good tutorials on the net I figured it out. So now I’m going to install my MC and see what troubles I get, I’m very curious :) I already know two things I need to figure out, I’ve an old TV (no LCD or Plasma) and uses a VGA -> SCART cable to get a nice and clean view. In Windows I used powerstrip for custom resolutions. I also used AnyDVD to spindown the DVD player and I’m sure I will bump into some other problems, but I’ll keep you informed at this moment I’m just a bit tired of the Windows OS.