In this release we again managed to fix several nasty issues, such as memory leaks. These fixes have increased the stability of the entire application even more.
We also made a small change which will make reporting bugs or posting support request threads a LOT easier for our great community.
Important changes since 1.1.0 RC2:
* [reworked] reporting bugs is now a lot easier
* [fixed] upgrade of Tv-Server can result in a crash
* [fixed]several issues which could prevent an upgrade or a clean installation
* [fixed] Stopping video playback can cause crash to desktop
* [fixed] several memory leaks
* [fixed] Animations using conditional visibility
* [fixed] MyVideos reloads the contents of a folder when stoping playback (which could cause that MP does not respond for quite a time)
* [fixed] last.fm lookup creates a lot of temp files which are not deleted
* [fixed] Some H264 recordings do not play
* [fixed] Pulse and Loop animations do not work
* [fixed] tvservice would sometimes hard crash when writing dx error to log
* [fixed] TeVii issues with graph building and very long tuning using diseqc
* [fixed] RTSP streaming doesn't work after sleep, when re-init TVService is enabled
* [fixed] Unable to tune same ATSC channel/subchannel consecutively
* [fixed] stream interuptions/stuttering
* [fixed] Weekly schedules appear 1 (or more) day off in EPG when using SQLServer with certain regional settings01-06-2010
We decided to release 1.1.0 RC4 earlier than planned, to give us more time to test a few changes we have done.
The most important fix is about the issue some users experienced where the installer was not able to stop the TV Service properly.
This resulted in the problem that the new version could not be installed and the TV-Server failed.
Important changes since 1.1.0 RC3:
* [fixed] IMDB grabber script was broken - use the "update grabber scripts" button in MediaPortal Configuration if you upgrade from a previous version of MP!
* [fixed] installation of TV-Server failed in a few cases because TV-Service could not be stopped
* [fixed] RSS plugin did not work
* [fixed] installation of an MediaPortal Extension might fail
* [fixed] Various tuning problems with DVB-T cardsRC5 was planned to be the last Release Candidate for MediaPortal 1.1.0 final.
However, the fix of a major issue related to the detection of a timeshift
buffer file being video or radio makes us believe that a big field test is
required to ensure that 1.1.0 final will be the most stable release in
MediaPortal´s six year history.
If all goes according to plan, then this "slide-in" RC6 release will not
delay the final version of 1.1.0, which is planned for release around
the 16th of July.
We need the help of our great community to ensure
the fix does not cause any unwanted side effects.
RC6 is as close to the final release as it can get.
[B]Changes since 1.1.0 RC5:[/B]
* 0002953: [fixed] Some TS files are wrongly detected as video/radio
* 0002883: [fixed] Pulse and Loop animations do not work because
conditional animations do not work
* 0002950: [fixed] Video thumbnails are not being generated and do not
display in RC5
* 0002802: [fixed] B3 skin does not show recorded TV thumbs in list viewsWith the release of Mediaportal 1.1.0 RC2 we are one step closer to the final release.
The changelog will become smaller and smaller with every RC release, because the number of issues will decrease as well.
Important changes since 1.1.0 RC1:
* [fixed] Random crashes when starting / stopping playback
* [fixed] several memory leaks
* [fixed] several issues in the TvGuide which caused that scheduled recordings were not displayed correctly
* [fixed] Channel Linkage Scanner did not work anymore since Premiere change its name to Sky Germany
* [fixed] Issue with Technotrend where CI MEnu could trigger a crash
* [fixed] Stuttering on tv channels from the ProSieben/Sat.1 Mediagroup
* [fixed] removed blacklisting of FFDShow in TsReader - now it can be used again for the TV-feature and playback of ts files - make sure you use the latest version of ffdshow!
* [fixed] several issues with tv channels which are using dual-mono audiotracks.
* [fixed] various issues with the MTN - video thumbnail creator
* [fixed] Playback of recorded radio is not working
* [fixed] Changing audio language to AC3 does not work
Community Skin Designers should review the list of skinchanges since 1.0.1 .
There were some changes done which require Community Skins to update to be fully 1.1.0 RC2 compatible.Last week we released 1.2.0 final which has been a huge success already! The Team could have taken a break after the hard work on 1.2.0, and relax a bit, but we did not.
During the last week we have been working on a 1.2.1 hot fix, that will address a few issues in 1.2.0. The focus of this release is on major issues. The hot fixes to come later will contain more fixes and also address some minor issues.
Changelog:
3715 - MediaPortal crashes on exit
Under some circumstances it is possible that MediaPortal.exe crashes when you close it. Mainly systems running for a very long time are affected.
3688 - scanning for analog radio stations makes TV-Guide unusable
3718 - under special circumstances, TV-Service will crash on start up
This occurs if the WMC plugin for the Hauppauge Colossus or HD-PVR is installed.
3720 - update of satellite transponders inside TV-Server Configuration is not working
We previously grabbed the transponder lists directly from the FastSatfinder.com website. Due to load issues this cause for FastSatfinder.com, this is no longer possible, and when you attempt to update them in 1.2.0 or ealier, all your transponder lists are deleted.
The team from fastsatfinder has kindly agreed to continue support for us with updated transponder lists which we will host on our own web servers. So 1.2.1 will now download the transponder lists directly from our server.
1.2.1 has the latest Transponder lists integrated.
3723 - default graph behaviour for TV-Cards entering idle state is "pause" instead of "stop"
In 1.2.0 we introduced a new feature that can decrease the time required to tune/change channels by not destroying the graph when the card enters idle state. The related "Advanced Tuning" options are "pause" (keep the graph) and "stop" (destroy the graph). Sadly, during a clean installation of 1.2.0, the default option was set to "pause". Although the "pause" option does give you the speed improvement, it is not supported by many TV-cards (drivers issue). Thus, in 1.2.1 the safer "stop" option is now set as the default. If you did a clean installation of 1.2.0 and now upgrade to 1.2.1, the current setting will change to "stop" for all your TV-Cards. This should ensure maximum stability for all users. If you want to use "pause" instead of "stop", then you have to reset that option in TV-Server Configuration.Written by infinite.loop | 23 December 2011
1.2.2 is the first MediaPortal release which was developed using GIT. The learning curve is very steep, but the benefits are great!
We are very happy to present you this new release which focus is to increase the stability of MediaPortal 1.2.
[Music] Music Setting Screen needs updating (jameson_uk) - resolved.
[MPEI] MPEI Maker doesn't accept current directory on create (jameson_uk) - resolved.
[MediaPortal 1] File existance cache issues (SilentException) - resolved.
[MediaPortal 1] WindowPluginBase incorrectly sets GuiProperties when it is not the ActiveWindow (SilentException) - resolved.
[MediaPortal 1] Menu dialog does not reset selectedItemLabel (SilentException) - resolved.
[WatchDog] WatchDog should restore the taskbar when MP crashes (Migue) - resolved.
[MediaPortal 1] Unable to type non-english characters in virtual keyboard (SilentException) - resolved.
[MediaPortal 1] Remove redundant logging (jameson_uk) - resolved.
[MediaPortal 1] 'Hide taskbar in fullscreen mode' option does not hide Start Button in Win7 (Migue) - resolved.
[Music] Track thumbs are not shown in shares view (jameson_uk) - resolved.
-[Music] Save playlist requires playlist name to be retyped (jameson_uk) - resolved.
[Music] Wrong Artist Info Displayed (jameson_uk) - resolved.
[Music] #play.next.duration in wrong format (jameson_uk) - resolved.
[Music] Playback of Multi File Cue Sheets starts at wrong position (hwahrmann) - resolved.
[Configuration] Upgrade movie covers tool (from older MP versions to 1.2.0) in Configuration cause crash. (deda) - closed.
[Videos] Back function in some cases produce corrupted VideoInfo screen, also can lead to unusable My VIdeos plugin (deda) - closed.
[Videos] My Video do not position on first page with custom view title sort by date (deda) - closed.
[Videos] Filename and path casing causing minor problems in My Videos (especially with DVD rips) (deda) - closed.
[Videos] Video Plugin thumb & icon problem as folder.jpg not visible on network shares root (deda) - closed.
[Videos] In My Videos Group view (genres, years..) after selecting move and view it's info, user review field is empty. (deda) - closed.
[MediaPortal 1] Video frame size change on TV channel change fails with some decode filters (Owlsroost) - closed.
[Configuration] Using tab key to navigate config codecs section is inconsistent (jameson_uk) - closed.
[Weather] Weather plugin is not working (jameson_uk) - closed.
[MediaPortal 1] Daemon not UNMOUNTing DVD .iso file and crash MP (sebastiii) - closed.
[Configuration] Cyberlink PDVD (DXVA/HAM/SW) codec version 10/11 not setting available (sebastiii) - closed.
[Configuration] On clean installation DSP folder is not created causing configuration.exe not to work (arion_p) - closed.MediaPortal 1.2.3 RELEASED!
We are very happy to present you this new release which is focused on increasing the stability of MediaPortal 1.2.
Some significant improvements include:
Updated versions of MediaInfo and sqlite. This should give increased stability.
Updates to TsReader.ax, which should give smoother TV playback.
Updates to TsWriter.ax which allow decoding of EPG data for DVB-T HD channels.
Full Changelog:
0003738: [MediaPortal 1] Operand size mismatch in the 'PresentImage' callback parameters from dshowhelper to MP
0003737: [MediaPortal 1] Video frame size change on TV channel change fails with some decode filters
0003769: [general] Building MediaPortal in x64 environment fails
0003804: [TV / Full Screen] Under certain circumstances the wrong teletext subtitles are shown
0003828: [Videos] Update sqlite to latest version
0003827: [Videos] Update MediaInfo to 0.7.54
0003733: [Music] Next track skin properties are not updated if playlist is changed
0003830: [Music] Wrong skin properties can be shown when using BASS player
0003739: [MPEI] MPEI randomly hangs when installing fonts
0003770: [general] Debug build script for MediaPortal fails to build
0003791: [Music] Music label 2 is not validated
0003792: [Videos] TMDB images search fail (changes in TMDB returned xml)
0003809: [Videos] Media description file (*.mds) cause double entry on movie scan
0003810: [Music] Cover art grab does not work for music albums
0003719: [Music] Album view does not drill down
0002914: [Streaming] When using RTSP, audio/video format change may cause video playback to hang in a loop
0003806: [TsReader] Black screen on TV start or channel change
0003780: [TsWriter] TsWriter passes incomplete PMT to managed TV Server code
0003782: [TsWriter] PID PMT descriptor size too large for TsWriter
0003829: [TvServer] Prevent "IndexOutOfRangeExceptionin" PatchPMT_AstonCrypt2 code
0003717: [TsWriter] EPG grabbing from DVB stream does not work for Freeview HD (UK) channels
0003831: [TvServer] Update tuning details for 1.2.3
0003732: [TvServer] Digital Everywhere can cause locked CAM
0003811: [TvServer] Building TvServer in x64 environment fails
You can review the complete change log for 1.2.3 by using the following links:
Changelog: MediaPortal
Changelog: TV-Server
Changelog: Installer - DeployToolChange Log :
Updated versions of MediaInfo and sqlite. This should give increased stability.
Updates to TsReader.ax, which should give smoother TV playback.
Updates to TsWriter.ax which allow decoding of EPG data for DVB-T HD channels.MediaPortal 1.3.0 Alpha Released
Written by infinite.loop | 10 July 2012
We are very proud to announce that the first Alpha Version of our new major release, MediaPortal 1.3.0 is now available for download!
In this new version we again introduce many exciting new features which will enrich your Home Theatre experience.
Adding new features and fixing bugs means that we had to do significant changes to MediaPortal's source code. So the purpose of this Alpha release is to get all those great new features and bug fixes tested by the community, and fix the remaining problems, to work towards the final release version.
Please be aware that this is Alpha Software - so expect it to have some problems and quirks. Make sure that you read the instructions at the end of this article regarding installation, upgrade and extension compatibility.
Now let's get to the changes we did.
Highlights of this release:
Enhancements to the skin engine and default skin
The following significant skin engine enhancements have been made to improve the usability and extensibility of the MediaPortal user interface:
Skin themes - Skin designers may offer themes for their skins. By convention, a skin theme should be selectable from the Settings -> General window where the skin selection is also made. Skin themes provide the ability of the skin designer to offer such features as colour changes, font changes, layout changes or any combination of these or other special skin appearance or function related changes.
New menubutton control - A new versatile button control for displaying a list of selectable items.
TV guide genre/custom colouring - Provides the ability to highlight programs in the TV guide using colours.
Skin settings - Skin settings provide skins with user-definable (by the skin designer) property settings that can be leveraged for many purposes including making logical decisions about when or how controls are displayed and what the controls display. Skin settings add the capability to have significant design control over GUI customization.
Skinners should carefully review all changes related to the skin engine; see Skin Related Changes in 1.3.0.
Note: As a result of these changes, plugin developers will need to make a few minor changes to their skin files. Of course, skinners will need to make the same changes for all plugins to support their skin.
The default skin has been updated to use these new control, and many graphical enhancements have been made so that it looks much nicer!
Coloured EPG (program guide) including customisable colours and colouring of programs by genre
The EPG is now heavily customisable. Programs can be coloured by genre if this data is provided in your EPG, and the various colours can be mapped to different genres.
IMPORTANT: In this first version, EPG genres cannot be configured on multiseat network clients. This is because the configuration application cannot connect to the TV database over the network. The best way to configure a multiseat setup is to make the changes on the TV server, open the MediaPortal.xml configuration file and copy the sections that look like this
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<section name="genremap">
<entry name="0">arts/culture (without music, general){education/science/factual topics (general){social/political issues/economics (general)</entry>
<entry name="1">childrens's/youth program (general)</entry>
<entry name="2">movie/drama (general)</entry>
<entry name="3">music/ballet/dance (general)</entry>
<entry name="4">news/current affairs (general)</entry>
<entry name="5">leisure hobbies (general){show/game show (general)</entry>
<entry name="6">sports (general)</entry>
</section>
<section name="genreoptions">
<entry name="specifympaaratedasmovie">yes</entry>
</section>
into the same file on the client. This assumes that you have MediaPortal installed on your TV server. If you do not, you will have to edit the MediaPortal.xml file manually to assign genres. This will be fixed.
Big rework of My Videos
Many new features and enhancements are included. Some highlights:
Folders view screen:
Watched time in percentage for videos,
Watched count,
Media info icons,
View video-info first on click (configurable) - override with play button for instant play,
Scan new movies without need to position on folder(s) to add them into video database (MP will scan for new videos only shares checked for scanning in the Video Database Configuration),
Handling and scanning Blu-ray folder rips or ISOs like it handles/scan DVD images and folders now.
Default Grabber selecting and Grabbers update
Fanart support on movie folders
Added #hideinfo (true/false) skin parameter which can be added in skin control visibility condition to hide info labels and values for videos not in the database
Database view screen:
Media info icons,
View video-info first on click (configurable) - override with play button for instant play,
Scan new movies to add them into video database (MP will scan for new videos only shares checked for scanning in the Video Database Configuration),
Rename movie Title,
Watched time in percentage,
Watched count,
Search movie by name,
Search actor by name.
Default Grabber selecting and Grabber update
Fanart support on movie groups (Year, genres, actors...) - randomly selected fanart for movie inside group following rule for movies
restricted by PIN
Repaired last selected item positioning in list
Split actors view in Actors and directors,
Many new views added (Indexed views -> actors, titles, directors, recently added/watched...)
Movie info screen:
Media info icons,
Watched counter,
Cast list rework, can be browsed with actors Picture,
Refresh menu command has 2 functions, 2nd function is triggered if you are in cast list and it refreshes actors for movie and update their roles for the movie (this will not download their info or pictures) (only if Movie have IMDBid),
Click on actor/actress will update his/her info and Picture (if available) if actor was not queried before and will open actor/actress info screen (only if movie have IMDBid),
Rename movie title.,
Actors internally uses actorIMDBid to prevent possible mistake to fetch wrong info, roles and movies.
Added writers and studios fields
Added Fanart refresh in context menu (MP will download randomly new FA)
Actor info screen (new screen works only if movie info have IMDBid, otherwise old screen will be visible):
Full fanart support ( fanart varies on place from where you enter this screen),
Actor thumb file names are unique (no more overwriting actors pictures with the same name),
Full rework of that screen, list of actor movies with covers and short movie info,
Play trailers for selected movie in movies actor list (needs online videos),
Auto update of missing info (in background),
Manual update of entire actor/actress movie list (refresh all movies and info in case you want to have latest changes on IMDB),
Visible mark for movie you have in video database (can be played from here),
All info and covers are saved and will not be fetched next time, even if we are on different actor and he/she participate in already fetched movie.
Configuration + Scan:
Actors info fetch while scan movies is discarded and replaced with new function in Movie Info screen,
Actors and roles for movie will be fetched internally if scanned movie info have IMDBid,
New views: Date Added (database view for easy find and play recently added videos with configurable number of days to limit how many days to look back), and Date Watched (database view for easy find last watched videos with configurable number of days to limit how many days to look back),
User groups and rules added
Fanart support rework for database movies
Changed fanart handling so that fanart will be unique per movie (uses Mp video database movieId for fanart file name),
Movies with the same name will not have any more problems with overwriting fanart for previous movie with the same name (case when you have movies with the same title but different versions or years),
One fanart covers both share and database views (less space needed),
Shared folders which contains database movies in share view will show fa for one of those movies inside that folder on select folder,
Database group views (Year, Genre, Actors) will show fanart for one of the movies inside the selected group,
Full support for protected content (no fanart visible for locked movies) from any view,
Users who not use video database do not need to worry for their custom fanart, they still will be visible.....
Development diary with screenshots
Wiki links:
GUI
Config
Skin changes
Blu-ray support
However, the biggest enhancement is Blu-ray support. MediaPortal can now play most (not all, see notes below) of your Blu-ray discs, including the menus, extras, etc! Development will still be ongoing because BD-J (Blu-ray Java discs) aren't supported (yet...) but for now you can enjoy the best video & audio quality right within MediaPortal, without the need of an external player.
Notes:
BD-J based menus aren't supported - all BD-J based Blu-ray disks need to be played in title based mode.
Text based subtitles aren't supported - only a small minority of Blu-ray disks seems to use text based subtitles.
MediaPortal now fully supports playing unencrypted Blu-ray discs (with the exception of BD-J discs using Java menus - for which MediaPortal will display a list of titles for the user to access instead of displaying the Java menus), if the user wishes to play a commercial disc, then they will need to use a 3rd party on-the-fly decrypter such as AnyDVD HD or DVDFab HD Decrypter.
Enhanced out of the box experience (LAV Filters)
Starting with MediaPortal 1.3.0 Alpha, we will give our users the option to install the LAV Filters. This is a very powerful actively developed open source set of a v...http://www.videohelp.com/download/MediaPortal_Setup_1.2.3_FINAL.exe