How can i have it so when JRiver starts it launches directly into live tv (preferably the last channel viewed)
Wow. This question opened a can of worms for me.
First, the command "/mcc 30002,0" was, in the past at some time, supposed to start Live TV at the previously played channel. But then
that stopped working at some time.
So,
the work around was to use the command "/mcc 30002,#", where # was the channel number you wanted to start playing. This is what I initially did, using the command "/mcc 30002,2" programed to the "Live TV" button on my remote control.
Then in
MC20.0.81, and new MCC Command, 10064, was introduced to allow flicking back to the previous TV Channel. This could be programed to a remote control button, to make it easy to jump back and forward between two stations. If you were already in Theatre View, which I always was on my HTPC, the command also started Live TV playback, in addition to switching to the Previous Channel. I reprogramed my "Live TV" button to do just that. Neat.
Which brings us to now. Some things have been fixed.
The "/mcc 30002,0" command, programed into the remote control button, will start Live TV and take you to the previous channel that was played.
The "/mcc 30002" command, programed into the remote control button, will also start Live TV and take you to the previous channel that was played. The ",0" is assumed.
Those functions were broken previously, which is why I used the work around and then the 10064 command. Someone fixed these, but I haven't seen anything about them mentioned in the build threads.
As the older 30002 command had been fixed, I tried removing the specific command programing from the "Live TV" button on my remote control. Low and behold, the Live TV button still starts Live TV in the previously playing channel, just as the 10064 command did. I suspect the default MC command associated with the Live TV button on an MCE remote is, in fact, "/mcc 30002" or "/mcc 30002,0" both of which now work.
So I am back to a more default Remote Control setup, which means less maintenance for me during major version upgrades, as the remote button command customisations included the MC version, in the form of the command; "Run: mc21.exe /mcc 10064". Even better.
So now to the question at hand, but from the point of view of starting MC using a Windows Shortcut, rather than a Windows Task Scheduler task.
On a MC Server PCI couldn't get Imugli's solution to work on my Server at all, when running it from a Windows shortcut or command file directly. It started the MC UI, because I had the Media Server running, and started Live TV on the previously played channel, but MC started in and stayed in Standard View, rather than switching to Display View (full screen TV) as it should have. I suspect Imugli's solution would work if run from the Windows Task Scheduler, but as I was running it from a Desktop icon, using a cmd file to run the commands, just as he described, it didn't want to play ball. So I played around for a while and came up with an alternative that works from a desktop icon;
start "Starting Media Center" "C:\Program Files (x86)\J River\Media Center 21\Media Center 21.exe"
timeout /T 4
mc21.exe /mcc 30002Notes:
1. You need to use the "start" command to call the full Media Center program first, and you must supply a heading in quotes for the window the cmd file opens. I used the name "Starting Media Center" as the name in the command above.
2. You need to allow a pause between starting MC, and issuing the command to start Live TV. On the server I used 4 seconds, which was sufficient.
3. The exit command isn't needed when using a shortcut or cmd file to start MC this way.
4. This can't be done just in a Windows Shortcut, and needs the Windows command file to run the two distinct commands, with a delay between them.
On a MC Client PCThe situation changes again on a MC Client PC, and the Client doesn't save the Previous Channel in the registry or elsewhere, as the Server does. So you can't start Live TV from a Windows Shortcut plus Windows Command file. But you can start Live TV on a specific channel. So for a MC Client, the Windows Command file needs to be;
start "Starting Media Center" "C:\Program Files (x86)\J River\Media Center 21\Media Center 21.exe"
timeout /T 6
mc21.exe /mcc 30002,#Notes:
1. The "#" denotes the channel you wish to start Live TV on.
2. You still need to use the "start" command to call the full Media Center program first, and you must supply a heading in quotes for the window the cmd file opens. I used the name "Starting Media Center" as the name in the command above.
2. You need to allow a pause between starting MC, and issuing the command to start Live TV. On the Client I needed 6 seconds, although I could have maybe used less. A Client takes a while to start and connect to the Server, download the library, and be ready to accept commands. Testing showed 6 seconds was good for my environment.
3. The exit command isn't needed when using a shortcut or cmd file to start MC this way.
4. This can't be done just in a Windows Shortcut, and needs the Windows command file to run the two distinct commands, with a delay between them.
5. I believe that making it possible for a MC Client to store the Previous Channel it played is still on the list of things to do at JRiver. If it uses the 30002 command, then it should also be able to start a MC Client in Live TV showing the Previous Channel.
It is a bit of a shame that a Windows Shortcut can't be modified to use the command;
"C:\Program Files (x86)\J River\Media Center 21\Media Center 21.exe" /mcc 30002
or
"C:\Program Files (x86)\J River\Media Center 21\Media Center 21.exe" /mcc 10064
to start Live TV in the previous channel, at least on the server. But it won't work.
