Topic: Portable installation (for a USB stick or iPod ...) in MC 12.0.428 (Read 8366 times)

JimH · « **on:** January 25, 2008, 05:07:24 pm »

Matt likes surprises. Here's one I got by e-mail tonight:

Quote

Jim,

Tonight's build has the ability to do a portable install.

Run the installer with a /Portable after it to try.

It requires a licensed Media Center to install a portable version, and it puts a
special copy of your license on the portable drive. All system file and
registry access is redirected to the drive.

Some things are still problematic like several plugins that use COM.

It's ragged, but feel free to release it to the beta board if you get bored.

-Matt

Nice job, Matt!

Edit -- For instructions, please see johnnyboy's post below.

gappie · « **Reply #1 on:** January 25, 2008, 05:30:27 pm »

yeah. boring. really something for a rainy sunday.

very sweet indeed.

johnnyboy · « **Reply #2 on:** January 25, 2008, 05:51:39 pm »

whats that word :-
Saweet!!
Can add it to my collection of valuable tools I keep on my 8Gb drive now

KingSparta · « **Reply #3 on:** January 26, 2008, 08:26:01 am »

What Is A Portable Install?

And Why?

Not Sure I Understand What It Should Do For Me.

My Music Is On A Portable Drive Now (USB, And Firewire 800) And It Works Fine.

JimH · « **Reply #4 on:** January 26, 2008, 08:30:08 am »

You can put the player itself on a USB stick. It can then be used on any compatible PC anywhere without installing the player on the PC.

As Matt said, there are still a few loose screws, but it works well for me.

KingSparta · « **Reply #5 on:** January 26, 2008, 08:35:31 am »

Oh, interesting, I think this was on a request list sometime back.

Mastiff · « **Reply #6 on:** January 26, 2008, 02:11:08 pm »

Very cool! That one I've got to try!

JimH · « **Reply #7 on:** January 26, 2008, 04:37:14 pm »

Right now, I think that the drive will need to appear as the same letter on the machine you play it on. I believe that's what Matt meant when he said:

Quote

Some things are still problematic like paths not being relative ...

Griff · « **Reply #8 on:** January 27, 2008, 12:19:01 am »

Got some time tonight (well its morning now) to play with this.

Very coooooool

MC on a stick

Thought it would be very very slow, but it wasnt.

Just selecting stuff it would hesitate.

Put Kid Dynamite on it and that ran pretty good.

Thanks

gappie · « **Reply #9 on:** January 27, 2008, 06:24:49 am »

a rainy sunday it is.

but it is very impressive this portable version. installed it on a external drive i use for backing up images. installed it with my own skins. attached the disk to a machine without mc. worked beautifully. all the images got imported. the thumbs are on the disk, so it loads very quickly.

indeed the drive need to be the same letter. otherwise some funny things can happen.

congrats. great new tool on its way.

gab

Mastiff · « **Reply #10 on:** January 27, 2008, 01:06:55 pm »

Quote from: Griff on January 27, 2008, 12:19:01 am

Put Kid Dynamite on it and that ran pretty good.

So would I. Run if you put on Kid Dynamite, that is...

(OK, I'm old - metal to me is doom, black, straight metal, pretty much anything witnout the words "nu" or "core" in them!)

Griff · « **Reply #11 on:** January 27, 2008, 07:47:11 pm »

Quote

So would I. Run if you put on Kid Dynamite

Kid Dynamite= Obsidian dynamite skin (vid background for Theater View).

Guess I picked up the name off that old TV series "GOOD Times"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmie_Walker

So, have you tried MC on a stick?

johnnyboy · « **Reply #12 on:** January 30, 2008, 07:06:52 am »

Hi guys,
trying to get Portable MC working so I can use it on a friends machine to convert some of their files for them and having problems.
I cant get it to work with their lossless wma files.
It's complaining about unsupported type.

I managed to get up some message about running it at least once with power user priviledges but I'm logged in as an Admin privileges account already (XP).

How can I get it working properly with wma files?

Thanks

LonWar · « **Reply #13 on:** January 30, 2008, 07:59:17 am »

Hello All.... Ok I thought I was pretty good with computers until I came across this post.

Run the installer with /Portable ??

Ok, I don't get it.... Can you walk me through this?

I tried adding the word /Portable after the .exe in the file name... But that didn't work...

Thanks,

gappie · « **Reply #14 on:** January 30, 2008, 09:55:27 am »

Quote from: imjustagamer on January 30, 2008, 07:59:17 am

Hello All.... Ok I thought I was pretty good with computers until I came across this post.

Run the installer with /Portable ??

Ok, I don't get it.... Can you walk me through this?

I tried adding the word /Portable after the .exe in the file name... But that didn't work...

Thanks,

you could run the exe from the command com. but what i do is making a shortcut to the exe, in the properties i put /Portable in the target behind the link (also behin the last " with a space behind it)

Code: [Select]

"E:\software\jrivers media centre\MediaCenter120424.exe" /Portable
hope it helps

hope that helps

JimH · « **Reply #15 on:** January 30, 2008, 07:20:18 pm »

Relative paths should now be working in build 425, so this should begin to be useful. Matt installed it on an iPod and I put it on a Sony micro vault USB stick, and it works pretty well.

Matt · « **Reply #16 on:** January 30, 2008, 07:26:45 pm »

I'm not sure the installer with 425 is creating folders like it should on a fresh install.

Matt · « **Reply #17 on:** January 30, 2008, 08:16:44 pm »

This is a little off-topic, but the 4 GB Sony Micro Vault I ordered showed up today.

It was really slow after I formatted it using FAT32. So I enabled write caching in device manager and reformatted as NTFS.

Now I'm getting about 1.4 MB/sec transferring. I tried all sorts of different USB ports, but they all give me the same speed.

This seems slow. Anyone have any tips?

raym · « **Reply #18 on:** January 30, 2008, 08:57:06 pm »

Quote from: Matt on January 30, 2008, 08:16:44 pm

This is a little off-topic, but the 4 GB Sony Micro Vault I ordered showed up today.

It was really slow after I formatted it using FAT32. So I enabled write caching in device manager and reformatted as NTFS.

Now I'm getting about 1.4 MB/sec transferring. I tried all sorts of different USB ports, but they all give me the same speed.

This seems slow. Anyone have any tips?

Are you testing this under Vista? I get really bad transfer speeds too but only with Vista. Under XP it seems way faster. Apparently this is a known issue (based on what I've read).

johnnyboy · « **Reply #19 on:** January 31, 2008, 04:13:20 am »

Anyone - Matt? Jim?
Can you help with this please??

JimH · « **Reply #20 on:** January 31, 2008, 06:59:22 am »

You might need a more up to date version of Windows Media on the machine. Installing MC12 trial on the machine should take care of that.

johnnyboy · « **Reply #21 on:** February 01, 2008, 12:05:03 am »

I've been trying to use the Portable install so I could do some conversion on my dad's PC and haven't exactly had the easiest of times with it.

One big problem I ran into last night, is I tried to convert the wma files to mp3's and when I tried to choose mp3 as the format to encode in, it started saying it had to go online to download the encoder.

I checked the plugins folder and there was an in_mp3.dll and an enc_mp3.dll (think those were the names) in there so I dont know what it was trying to download.

I think with a portable installation of MC, the assumption has to be made that the user wont necessarily have internet access and so the install should be complete and not dependant on any downloads to make it work.

the ability to encode files to mp3 or whatever format should be setup as default into the portable install so the user doesn't run into what I ran into and get stuck with no internet access and this copy of MC on a stick they're trying to use as their tool to solve their issues.

Alex B · « **Reply #22 on:** February 01, 2008, 05:14:38 am »

Quote

I checked the plugins folder and there was an in_mp3.dll and an enc_mp3.dll (think those were the names) in there so I dont know what it was trying to download.

The dll files are just a part of what is needed for MP3 encoding:

http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=40964.msg279698#msg279698

Matt · « **Reply #23 on:** February 01, 2008, 08:48:46 am »

Encoders may not work right on a portable install yet even if you download the needed encoder.

Encoders, remotes, and visualizations all use COM which doesn't play nicely with this new system.

Baby steps.

johnnyboy · « **Reply #24 on:** February 01, 2008, 07:42:13 pm »

Quote from: Matt on February 01, 2008, 08:48:46 am

Encoders may not work right on a portable install yet even if you download the needed encoder.

Encoders, remotes, and visualizations all use COM which doesn't play nicely with this new system.

Baby steps.

Thanks for the update - more than happy to wait, just didn't know they still had issues you were aware of.
The mp3 encoder is just passing it to a .dll though to do the work though isn't it?

Anyway, loving the portable idea and hope you guys fully pursue it

JimH · « **Reply #25 on:** February 02, 2008, 09:23:33 am »

AoXoMoXoA · « **Reply #26 on:** February 02, 2008, 11:02:29 am »

When I posted this on the ~~"MC13 Wish List"~~ "MC13 Dream List" thread I was not fully expecting it to be considered

all I can say is THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

And not to be too greedy, but will this ability also be inherited by MJ12 at some point?

JimH · « **Reply #27 on:** February 02, 2008, 11:07:23 am »

Quote from: AoXoMoXoA on February 02, 2008, 11:02:29 am

When I posted this on the ~~"MC13 Wish List"~~ "MC13 Dream List" thread I was not fully expecting it to be considered

all I can say is THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

And not to be too greedy, but will this ability also be inherited by MJ12 at some point?

Probably not.

You're welcome. It's not complete yet, but it plays well.

JustinChase · « **Reply #28 on:** February 02, 2008, 01:26:04 pm »

Sounds great. Any chance of this eventually working on my HTC phone? I'd really like to get rid of Windows Media Player.

I tried to map the storage card as a drive (or the phone as a whole), but can't make that work.

Here's to hoping.

rjm · « **Reply #29 on:** February 02, 2008, 01:41:36 pm »

Very cool idea.

Does install automatically copy to the portable drive everything not stored in the library such as registry settings, thumbnails, and screengrabs?

JimH · « **Reply #30 on:** February 02, 2008, 02:28:56 pm »

Quote from: JustinChase on February 02, 2008, 01:26:04 pm

Any chance of this eventually working on my HTC phone? I'd really like to get rid of Windows Media Player.

It doesn't run ON the device. It runs FROM the device. So you have to plug the device into a Windows PC that can see the device as a drive.

You can also put your own media on the device and MC can play it. It's just another drive at that point.

All your configuration settings are saved on the device.

So this could allow you to install on a USB stick, an iPod, a phone, a camera, a portable hard drive, and so on.

It may solve the problem for people who can't install software on their work PC's.

JustinChase · « **Reply #31 on:** February 02, 2008, 02:42:15 pm »

Sounds like I'm a bit unlucky, in that my phone is not recognized as a device. i can navigate to it, and MC can sync to it; but I can't install to it, which means I'm still stuck with Windows Media Player.

I was really hoping to be able to rate/update songs on the phone while listening at work, but alas, it seems not.

AoXoMoXoA · « **Reply #32 on:** February 02, 2008, 02:49:40 pm »

I love the idea of installing it on my portable USB drive, using the files stored on it as a portable library.

This is excellent as that drive is one of my music backups. My entire library could become 'plug-n-play'

benn600 · « **Reply #33 on:** February 02, 2008, 04:05:24 pm »

Quote

And not to be too greedy, but will this ability also be inherited by MJ12 at some point?

Why would you care? I paid the bargain price for MC and one upgrade and I would think that you did, too, right? Why would you want such a feature added to MJ? As far as I'm concerned, I want the latest and greatest from J River no matter what the cost. So if they release:
Media Center Home Basic, Free.
Media Center Home Premium, $20.
Media Center Business, $40.
Media Center Ultimate, $15/month.

I would definitely choose Ultimate. Whatever they got is what I want. And I know they'd never charge that much for their top of the line so I'm not going to contemplate if I really would find it worth that...but I would.

benn600 · « **Reply #34 on:** February 02, 2008, 04:17:20 pm »

I can't get it to work. Am I supposed to add /Portable to the MC Installer or the actual run file for MC?

JimH · « **Reply #35 on:** February 02, 2008, 04:31:01 pm »

Quote from: gappie on January 30, 2008, 09:55:27 am

you can run the exe from the command line. but what i do is making a shortcut to the exe, in the properties i put /Portable in the target behind the link (also behin the last " with a space behind it)

Code: [Select]
"E:\software\jrivers media centre\MediaCenter120424.exe" /Portable
hope it helps

benn600 · « **Reply #36 on:** February 02, 2008, 06:03:34 pm »

I saw that previously but couldn't get it. I tried again and it worked this time.

Thanks.

robydago · « **Reply #37 on:** February 04, 2008, 04:53:33 am »

I did this:

- on my main pc
> run setup to upgraded from MC12.0.4xx (don't remember exactly which version i was using) to MC12.0.428
> rerun setup with /portable options and installed it on C:\my\JRMediaCenter
> run MC from C:\my\JRMediaCenter and it runs a licensed copy of MC

- on my laptop
> copied \\mainpc\c$\my\JRMediaCenter to \\laptop\c$\my\dir1\dir2\JRMediaCenter

Now on the laptop:
- if I run MC12 from c:\my\dir1\dir2\JRMediaCenter. it starts in 30-day trial mode
- If I move the JRMediaCenter dir to c:\my\JRMediaCenter (the same dir where I installed it on my main pc), it starts in trial mode anyway

So whatever I do I get an unlicensed version on my laptop: am I supposed to do anything to activate a license on the portable install?

JimH · « **Reply #38 on:** February 04, 2008, 06:22:31 am »

Quote from: robydago on February 04, 2008, 04:53:33 am

I did this:

- on my main pc
> run setup to upgraded from MC12.0.4xx (don't remember exactly which version i was using) to MC12.0.428
> rerun setup with /portable options and installed it on C:\my\JRMediaCenter

If you do that and target the portable drive, it should work.

Quote

> run MC from C:\my\JRMediaCenter and it runs a licensed copy of MC

- on my laptop
> copied \\mainpc\c$\my\JRMediaCenter to \\laptop\c$\my\dir1\dir2\JRMediaCenter

That won't work. You have to use the command line with the \portable option.

We'll make this easier in a future build.

benn600 · « **Reply #39 on:** February 04, 2008, 09:05:42 am »

When I finally got it to run it said my 30 days had expired. Is it locked to the drive it is originally installed to?

robydago · « **Reply #40 on:** February 04, 2008, 09:13:46 am »

Quote from: JimH on February 04, 2008, 06:22:31 am

If you do that and target the portable drive, it should work.That won't work. You have to use the command line with the \portable option.

sorry but i don't get it:

- "/portable" is a switch of the setup program to create the portable install, correct?

- once installed somewhere, all I need to run it is to double clink on "Media Center 12.exe" (no options needed), correct?

- the portable install directory could be copied\moved anywhere using any tool (including windows explorer) and still work, correct... or not? in the end I moved it to a different machine but even using the same absolute path it didn't work...

johnnyboy · « **Reply #41 on:** February 04, 2008, 09:37:19 pm »

Easiest way:

Copy the MC setup file to the root of the C drive.
Open a command prompt at the C:\
Type: MediaCenter120428.exe /portable
in the command prompt.
Specify the install path to the portable drive.
Then to launch it just go into the path you specified and double click the 'Media Jukebox 12.exe'

Just to clarify to some of the above posts - this lets you run MC FROM the drive/phone/mp3 player/etc not ON it. You still have to plug it into a computer somewhere and it will then run ON that computer.
You cant use it to manage music on the device you install it onto.

INTERACT FORUM

Author Topic: Portable installation (for a USB stick or iPod ...) in MC 12.0.428 (Read 8366 times)