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[haggis999]

I'm creating a PowerPoint presentation that will contain some selected examples of classical music in DSF format. PowerPoint can't handle DSF files but it will let me open MC where I can select any of my SACD rips in the normal manner (this is all legal and above board, as my music society pays annual fees for Phonographic Performances and Performing Rights Society licences).

However, I don't really want to display the full MC interface to my audience. Is there a simpler way to select a predefined playlist?

[haggis999]

I have now found a good starting point for answering my own question via the command line version of MC. I can set the Run Program links in PowerPoint as follows, and thus automatically open specific playlists. My next step is to find a way to a way to force the use of a simplified view. 

MC26.exe TREEPATH=Playlists\MyPlaylist1

MC26.exe TREEPATH=Playlists\MyPlaylist2

[haggis999]

I'm struggling to find a way to control the view used by MC when I trigger the playing of a playlist via PowerPoint. I'm using the guidance provided at https://wiki.jriver.com/index.php/The_Command_Line but it doesn't work for me. MC always opens in the full standard view.

Is there an issue with the syntax of the following command? 

MC26.exe /Mode Minime /PlayReplace TREEPATH=Playlists\MyPlaylist1

[JimH]

You could use Theater View's Playing Now.  You could set MC to start in Theater View on Startup.

[haggis999]

You could use Theater View's Playing Now.  You could set MC to start in Theater View on Startup.

That doesn't work. I suspect that the command line version of MC ignores the normal Startup view setting but the command line mode settings are also being ignored. Despite both settings being set to Theater view, MC still starts in Standard view when I use the following command.

MC26.exe /Mode Theater /PlayReplace TREEPATH=Playlists\MyPlaylist1

[Matt]

Try issuing commands one at a time instead of grouping everything into one command like that.

[haggis999]

Try issuing commands one at a time instead of grouping everything into one command like that.

I had to set up two clickable images on my PowerPoint slide to split the commands as you suggested (I could have added a third one to handle /PlayReplace but it didn't appear to be necessary). This did indeed fix the problem, so thanks for that 

Trying to trigger the Mini view via /Mode Minime, as described on the Command Line Wiki page, still didn't work but I was successful with /Mode Mini. That typo needs fixing!

[RoderickGI]

Trying to trigger the Mini view via /Mode Minime, as described on the Command Line Wiki page, still didn't work but I was successful with /Mode Mini. That typo needs fixing!

Done, with some other changes. That "Minime" and "Megame" always annoyed me! What is "Megame" supposed to be, really?

Matt, note that Fullscreen and Windowed, both of which appear to be Display View maximised and at the previous window size respectively, aren't working correctly at the moment, in that Visualisations don't run. In fact, while changing Visualisations is only available when the view isn't maximised, Fullscreen shows Cover Art if that is the current Visualisation selected, but won't change Visualisation. Windowed doesn't show or change Visualisation at all. Both show a message at the bottom of the screen, "The display for this zone is owned by a different window" even when there is only one window open and one Zone available. Both will play what is in Playing Now, and playback controls work.

[Matt]

Matt, note that Fullscreen and Windowed, both of which appear to be Display View maximised and at the previous window size respectively, aren't working correctly at the moment, in that Visualisations don't run. In fact, while changing Visualisations is only available when the view isn't maximised, Fullscreen shows Cover Art if that is the current Visualisation selected, but won't change Visualisation. Windowed doesn't show or change Visualisation at all. Both show a message at the bottom of the screen, " The display for this zone is owned by a different window" even when there is only one window open and one Zone available. Both will play what is in Playing Now, and playback controls work.

I just turned on 3d visualizations and tried:
MC26.exe /Mode FullScreen
MC26.exe /Mode Windowed

And both kept showing the visuals fine.  So I need more help reproducing.

Thanks.

[RoderickGI]

Also, I ran my tests using batch files rather than editing the Windows shortcut for MC, as it looked like the /Mode command was not being honoured on a shortcut.

Actually though, it was just that the "/Mode Theatre" parameter was never working at all, in a batch file or on a shortcut.


PS: On Fullscreen the current Visualisation did display, but I couldn't change Visualisation. I just had Cover Art set so that is what displayed.

I'll see if I can produce some more information.

[Matt]

Actually though, it was just that the "/Mode Theatre" parameter was never working at all, in a batch file or on a shortcut.

I would think you'd need to say "theater" because we're in America!

[RoderickGI]

I would think you'd need to say "theater" because we're in America!

    Quite correct. I thought I had, but I hadn't.    That works now.

[RoderickGI]

Okay, the problem may be specific to my system, but so far I have no idea why.

It comes down to the message "The display for this zone is owned by a different window". When I click Play in the window that opens using Windowed mode, what is in Playing Now for the default Player Zone plays fine, and the Display Text at the top doesn't indicate MC is using a different Zone at all, but the Display View Visualisation seems to think it is in another Zone.

I'll run a log and see what I can find.

[RoderickGI]

After I have started playback, with no Visualisations showing in Windowed Mode, when I switch out of Display View and back to it (i.e. by pressing Ctrl+2 then Ctrl+3), the Visualisations immediately start.

Also, MC knows it is in Display View, as indicated in the View Menu.
It also shows that it is using the default Player Zone in the Player > Zone menu.
Switching Zones (I started my HTPC so its Zone would show up) doesn't start Visualisations, but it does make Cover Art show, even though a 3D Visualisation is selected for display.

Also, when Visualisations aren't working, right-clicking in the display area where Visualisations should appear does nothing.

I created a second local Zone. Switching to that worked as above for the HTPC Dynamic Zone; Cover Art showed up, but Visualisations still didn't work. Right-clicking in the display area for the new Zone worked, but not in the Player Zone when I switched back to it.


So it seems that MC thinks some other window owns the Player Zone display window. Maybe that is related to how MC cleans up old Zones that are created and then deleted? I've done a bit of that on this Workstation, and in this Library.

I'll try a log now.

[RoderickGI]

And both kept showing the visuals fine.  So I need more help reproducing.

Ah, I have been testing without MC already running, so that the shortcut or batch file is launching MC as well as selecting the Mode.

When I leave MC running and then use the Windowed or Fullscreen shortcuts, Visualisation start immediately I hit play, as expected.

[RoderickGI]

Here is the difference:

With MC already running, this is the only log entry that includes the word "Windowed".

0000016: 6244: General: Launcher: Command Line: /Mode Windowed

With MC not running there are four log entries that include the word "Windowed". MC seems to be missing the /Mode part of the parameters, and treating the /Windowed part as a file.

0000312: 13648: General: CMCPlayerApp::ExecuteCommandLine: Command Line: /Windowed
0000312: 13648: General: CMCPlayerApp::Play: Start
0000312: 13648: General: CMCPlayerApp::Play: Command line: /Windowed
0000312: 13648: Database: CDataHolder::Load: Field: Filename; Files: 4149; Pointer bytes: 33480; Data bytes: 410696; Elapsed ms: 1.242
0000312: 13648: Database: CDataHolder::Load: Field: Album; Files: 4149; Pointer bytes: 33480; Data bytes: 32904; Elapsed ms: 0.587
0000312: 13648: Database: CDataHolder::Load: Field: Track #; Files: 4149; Pointer bytes: 9405; Data bytes: 16488; Elapsed ms: 0.445
0000312: 13648: Database: CDataHolder::Load: Field: Name; Files: 4149; Pointer bytes: 33480; Data bytes: 82056; Elapsed ms: 0.665
0000312: 13648: Database: CDataHolder::Load: Field: Artist; Files: 4149; Pointer bytes: 33480; Data bytes: 16488; Elapsed ms: 0.524
0000312: 13648: Database: CDataHolder::Load: Field: Genre; Files: 4149; Pointer bytes: 11085; Data bytes: 16488; Elapsed ms: 0.481
0000312: 13648: Database: CDataHolderLookupMap::Load: Field: Filename; Elapsed ms: 4.921; Data bytes: 196792
0000328: 13648: Database: CMediaDatabase::AddFile: JRAnalyzer: 0x237b6d51f60
0000328: 13648: Database: CMediaDatabase::AddFile: Calling JRAnalyzer::Open
0000328: 13648: Import: JRAnalyzer::Open: Start
0000328: 13648: Import: JRAnalyzer::AddFile: Start
0000328: 13648: Import: JRAnalyzer::AddFile: Filename: /Windowed
0000328: 13648: Import: JRAnalyzer::AddFile: Start
0000328: 13648: Import: JRAnalyzer::AddFile: Filename: /Windowed

I've attached the full log files as they are very small.
The 13:29 log is when MC is not already running, and Visualisations don't work.
The 13:40 log is when MC is already running, and Visualisations work.

The shortcut is using the command:
C:\Windows\System32\MC26.exe /Mode Windowed

Windows picked up the "C:\Windows\System32\" directory when I entered the "MC26.exe /Mode Windowed" command, if that makes a difference.

[JimH]

  Quite correct. I thought I had, but I hadn't.    That works now.

We should probably support either spelling.

[Matt]

I don't think I can reproduce anything.  I set visualizations on, launch MC cold with MC26.exe /Mode Windowed and it just shows up in windowed mode and I press Ctrl+P and it starts playing and showing the visuals.

Running MC26.exe /Mode Windowed from a cold start or if it's already running are working.

Any other clues?  Thanks.

[RoderickGI]

I can't find anything more that would be causing the different behaviour, so I've made a little video showing what I am doing and what I see. I'll message you a link to the video Matt.

I've added the log files I made during the video. The original "/Mode Windowed" command appears at the end of the Previous Log, and the first bit looks okay:

0008672: 22616: General: CMCShutdownHelper::Cleanup: Source: CMainFrame - WM_DESTROY
0008672: 22616: General: CMainFrame::OnDestroy: Finish (0 ms)
0008672: 22616: General: CMCShutdownHelper::Cleanup: Deleting global objects
0000000: 5144: General: Launcher: Command Line: /Mode Windowed  {Note: That seems to be correct.}
0000016: 5144: General: RunProgram: Start
0000016: 5144: General: RunProgram: Filename: C:\Program Files\J River\Media Center 26\Media Center 26.exe / Parameters: /Windowed  {Note: That does not seem correct.}
0000016: 5144: General: RunProgram: Performing ShellExecute...
0000094: 5144: General: RunProgram: Running process...
0000094: 5144: General: RunProgram: Finish (78 ms)

As far as I can tell, what is in the Log file looks correct, except that the word "Windowed" appears four times in the log, and it doesn't look correct when it does.

The correct Zone is being selected, although that seems to happen in a different thread to the playback thread, which may be an issue.

Display ownership is a little unclear though. There is a line:
0000625: 17872: Playback: CPlayerZone::CreatePlaybackEngine: Updating display owner
which had me suspicious, but that actually seems normal. It doesn't tell me which owner was assigned either, so the message doesn't help.

The first Track in Playing Now is 'F:\JRiver MC AMINTHA Local Media\Music\Pet Shop Boys\Actually\01 - One More Chance.flac', and all the log entries look fine against that, I think. The Analyzer does check it multiple times though, and Import seems interested in it, but I think that is normal.

I've tried a few other things; Updated the shortcut to explicitly reference the mc26.exe in the MC directory, disconnected my webcam which MC saw and could have considered in some way, checked that launching via the bach file still works the same.

If there is some way to show what owns that Display when MC initially launches, let me know and I'll check it out.

[Matt]

Try closing all the tabs in Media Center and keep only the Start page showing.  Then run the shortcut.  Does that make any difference?  I'm wondering if one of the tabs is owning the display.  Thanks.

[RoderickGI]

That produced a slight change.

With MC on the Start tab, the only tab open, when I closed it, then on restarting MC using "/Mode Windowed" the Cover Art showed up when I used Ctrl+P to start playback. It should have been one of the Visualizations though.

With MC on Playing Now when I closed it, Cover Art didn't display when I started playback.

So the right idea, but still not the answer.

Is there no way to tell what owns the Display? An MCWS command or similar?

I tried http://localhost:52199/MCWS/v1/Playback/Info?Zone=-1 which gave:
<Response Status="OK">
<Item Name="ZoneID">0</Item>
<Item Name="State">2</Item>
<Item Name="FileKey">6456</Item>
<Item Name="NextFileKey">6457</Item>
<Item Name="PositionMS">73499</Item>
<Item Name="DurationMS">330533</Item>
<Item Name="ElapsedTimeDisplay">1:13</Item>
<Item Name="RemainingTimeDisplay">-4:17</Item>
<Item Name="TotalTimeDisplay">5:30</Item>
<Item Name="PositionDisplay">1:13 / 5:30</Item>
<Item Name="PlayingNowPosition">0</Item>
<Item Name="PlayingNowTracks">32</Item>
<Item Name="PlayingNowPositionDisplay">1 of 32</Item>
<Item Name="PlayingNowChangeCounter">2</Item>
<Item Name="Bitrate">1015</Item>
<Item Name="Bitdepth">16</Item>
<Item Name="SampleRate">44100</Item>
<Item Name="Channels">2</Item>
<Item Name="Chapter">0</Item>
<Item Name="Volume">0.28</Item>
<Item Name="VolumeDisplay">28% (-26.0 dB)</Item>
<Item Name="ImageURL">MCWS/v1/File/GetImage?File=6456</Item>
<Item Name="Artist">Pet Shop Boys</Item>
<Item Name="Album">Actually</Item>
<Item Name="Name">One More Chance</Item>
<Item Name="Status">Playing</Item>
</Response>

Also http://localhost:52199/MCWS/v1/UserInterface/Info which gave:
<Response Status="OK">
<Item Name="Mode">2</Item>
<Item Name="InternalMode">-996</Item>
</Response>


Maybe that internal mode means something?

[RoderickGI]

Okay, new information.

If I close MC with "Player" selected in Playing Now, and then restart MC using the normal shortcut without the /Mode parameter, the problem still happens.

Starting Playback displays the Cover Art in Playing Now, rather than the selected Visualisation, which I checked under the menu "Player > Display Options >3D Visualisations". I still get the "The display for this zone is owned by a different window" message in the display area of the Playing Now tab. Switching Zones and back again fixes the display issue, and the fix sticks once I have done that.

So this is not a problem with the "/Mode Windowed" command, but with my environment.

I have been pursuing this because I have long thought that Zones on this PC have been messed up at some stage, as indicated with some DLNA and Remote App connectivity issues. This seems to be another symptom of that, in that the Player Zone has somehow selected a different (non-existent) windows to assign its display to.

I have been reluctant to completely uninstall MC including settings and then reinstall with settings, because I suspect the settings in the backup I used would be the same as the settings currently in the Registry, which is probably the source of the issue. I don't know if the Backup or Restore does any checking or cleanup of settings.

What do you think? Would a complete un/reinstall fix this sort of issue?

[Matt]

Backup, then reinstall fresh and restore the library but not the settings.  Then test and see.  It's easy to restore everything later if needed.

[RoderickGI]

So I completely uninstalled MC25 and MC26, including Registry entries and Library files.

Then I reinstalled MC26 and Restored my latest backup with only the Library and Playlists selected. When I tested the problem above did not appear.

So I Restored the Backup again, this time with settings as well. The problem reappeared.

So there is something in my settings that is causing the problem. But I can't find out what that is. That means that I would have to recreate all my settings from scratch to avoid this issue in future. Surely there is some way to diagnose a problem like this? Something is assigning a non-existent display window to my Player Zone. Are there specific Registry settings that I could edit or delete to fix the problem? Would MC recreate the basic Zone settings if I deleted Zones in the Registry? Would deleting the Player Zone and recreating it work? Would a recreated Player Zone have the correct ID and act as default, as it does normally?

Before I start hacking my installation, any hint appreciated.

[Matt]

Restore settings then make a new zone and test that.  Try resetting the settings for the display window if that doesn't work.  We'll get there eventually.

[RoderickGI]

Restore settings then make a new zone and test that. 

Well, that revealed some inconsistent results. But I think I found the pattern after many tries. I loaded the new Zone with tracks and tested using the normal startup shortcut, and the shortcut with Mode command.

1. First, the visualisations only fail on first starting MC. Failure will continue for multiple attempts until a fix is applied. Once fixed, by any means, visualisation work after that, until I close MC.
2. Failure is always accompanied by the "The display for this zone is owned by a different window" message.
3. Starting MC with or without the Mode command, the Visualisations fail using the default Player Zone.
4. There were a couple of occasions where starting without the Mode command on the Player Zone failed, but then stopping playback and starting it again saw the Visualisations work. But this was not consistent. Switching to the new Zone then back to the Player Zone always fixed the issue.
5. Starting in the new Zone, without the Mode command, always seemed to work.
6. Starting in the new Zone, with the Mode command, always failed. However pressing Stop and then Play after a failure always worked, without the need to apply a fix like switching Zones first. I tested using Windowed and Fullscreen parameters.

So that it seems like the original /Mode startup parameter does some effect on the issue.

Try resetting the settings for the display window if that doesn't work.  We'll get there eventually.

Sorry, I don't know what "resetting the settings for the display window" means, or how to do it, unless you mean editing the "User Settings.ini" file.

I tried "Options > Tree & View > Advanced > Reset window position settings" just because it had reset in the name... but I didn't expect that to do anything and it didn't. Also tried "Options > Video > Display Settings" which is normally Custom, setting this Off and On, but the problem still occurred.

I can't think of or find any other function to reset display settings.


I'm going to attach a copy of the "User Settings.ini" file from my MC26 backup. If you could have a quick look at the Zones sections in it and let me know if anything looks unusual.

If I have to hack the MC26 installation, this looks like the right place to start. The file contains lots of Zone definitions that are no longer valid, both static Zones created by me, and Dynamic Zones created by connections to various devices. There are many references to duplicate GUID and uuid values. The same actual Zones have been created with different Zone ID's multiple times in the 10,xxx number range.

I'm thinking this proliferation of Zone IDs is related to this problem, and possibly to Remote App connection issues I have seen and still not solved. (Gizmo not connecting to my Workstation MC Server until I run Bingo SSDP first... although that seems to have stopped working consistently now a well.  ?)

As always, thanks for any insight Matt.

[Matt]

Is it any visualization or only certain ones?

[RoderickGI]

Well, I have been testing mostly with the Picture Terrain Visualisation, but it seems to be any. Just checked a couple more, the same issue.

The issue is that the display for the zone is owned by a different window, so a Visualisation would be playing in that other window, theoretically.

[Matt]

I'm riddled.  It didn't happen on a fresh install so it must be a setting.  You now closed all the extra tabs and split views, right?  Keep thinking with me.

[Matt]

Maybe send me a library backup and I'll test with your settings?  Matt at jriver.  Thanks!

[RoderickGI]

You now closed all the extra tabs and split views, right?

I thought you were on to it there.

I had closed down to just one tab, but I hadn't checked Split Views. I found I had a second View hidden to the right, it was displaying Playing Now for the default Player Zone, and it was locked. That would have been there for ages.

So I unlocked the View 2 and changed back to "Show 1 View". Same problem, but now it is limited to when I use the /Mode command. So closing that locked View has fixed the issue with the default Player Zone, when starting MC using the normal shortcut. But starting MC with the /Mode command, and using either the default Player or new Zone (called non-default BTW), the problem persists.

So I guess it is a bit of a different issue now. Something to do with the /Mode parameter, which results in the Zone being opened without its display, resulting in the "The display for this zone is owned by a different window" message.


I'll email you my Library backup anyway. Maybe that will show something.

[RoderickGI]

I just ran the "View > Add View > Reset All Library Views To Default" function, just to be sure.

Same problem when using the /Mode command.

[Matt]

Thanks for the backup.  Found the problem!

We would jump to Playing Now even though the program was sitting in Display View.  Doing that made the ownership go to the background Playing Now.

So next build:
Fixed: Jumping to Playing Now no longer triggers if the program is already in Display View (so the display ownership stays correct).

Thanks a lot for all the help.

[Matt]

This took some back and forth, but should be solved here:
https://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php/topic,124712.0.html

Thanks for the help.

[RoderickGI]

Always good to solve a problem.

Back to the original issue in this thread, Haggis999, it looks like you can't pass two Command Line switches on the one line as you tried, but you could create a batch file which has two calls to MC26.exe and link that to a clickable image in your Powerpoint, such as;

@echo off
MC26.exe /Mode Mini
MC26.exe /Replace TREEPATH=Playlists\WhitePlaylist

If you run that batch file hidden or minimised, or maybe link to a shortcut that is run minimised and have that shortcut call the batch file, you shouldn't even see a disruption to the PowerPoint.

[haggis999]

Always good to solve a problem.

Back to the original issue in this thread, Haggis999, it looks like you can't pass two Command Line switches on the one line as you tried, but you could create a batch file which has two calls to MC26.exe and link that to a clickable image in your Powerpoint, such as;

@echo off
MC26.exe /Mode Mini
MC26.exe /Replace TREEPATH=Playlists\WhitePlaylist

If you run that batch file hidden or minimised, or maybe link to a shortcut that is run minimised and have that shortcut call the batch file, you shouldn't even see a disruption to the PowerPoint.

Hi Roderick,
Thanks for reflecting once again on my original problem now that your recent bug-squashing activities have reached a satisfactory conclusion. As it happens, I realised a couple of days ago that batch files would enable the running of multiple MC commands via a single click in PowerPoint.

Batch files also solve another issue. If you put an MC playlist command directly into the Run Program action in PowerPoint, then all the backslashes in the playlist path get changed to forward slashes as soon as you save the file. The action then no longer works. PowerPoint doesn't do this with the path to a batch file, so it doesn't appear to recognise that TREEPATH is a similar animal.

I had also addressed how to remove the brief flash to the command window when executing the batch file. Running minimised didn't fix this for me but I found a script solution here: https://www.winhelponline.com/blog/run-bat-files-invisibly-without-displaying-command-prompt/

My PowerPoint Run Program action is now 'C:\Users\HTPC\Documents\PowerPoint\MyMCCommands.vbs' and that VBS file encapsulates my BAT file as follows.

Code: [Select]

Set WshShell = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
WshShell.Run chr(34) & "C:\Users\HTPC\Documents\PowerPoint\MyMCCommands.bat" & Chr(34), 0
Set WshShell = Nothing

My batch file is essentially the same as yours except that I didn't include the '@echo off' statement. It's been a very long time since I last wrote a batch file and I'd forgotten all about @echo. However, that doesn't appear to serve any useful purpose in this context.

My MC setup for PowerPoint uses the 'View/Always on Top' option for the Mini view. I have also chosen the option 'Tools/Options/General/Interface/Make inactive Mini View transparent'. I then have a compact set of media controls always visible (and moveable) sitting on top of the PowerPoint slides that play my DSF audio clips. It provides a very slick solution for my needs. 

[RoderickGI]

Excellent.

There is (nearly) always a way to make software do what you want. Sounds like you have nailed it.

[haggis999]

Excellent.

.... Sounds like you have nailed it.

Well, almost...

I decided to duplicate my PowerPoint 365 and MC 26 installation on an old Windows 7 laptop as a backup to the original setup on my Windows 10 Intel NUC, a process that took several hours to complete. Just as before, the media files played via PowerPoint are stored locally on the laptop. The MC 26 setup was completed by restoring a library backup that had been saved on the NUC. After watching the contents of the playlists disappearing on the laptop, I realised it was necessary to turn off the ‘Fix broken links’ option on the NUC before making the backup. I then had to fix the media paths using the Library Tools/Rename, Move & Copy Files facility (all it needed was a change to the user name in the paths).

My PowerPoint presentation now works fine on the laptop, with one exception. Whenever I press the button that triggers the playback of a DSF file via MC I get the following warning message. Sometimes the DSF file then plays (but not always) and the warning message is an unwanted irritation.

Problem Running Media Center 26
Media Center 26 is running, but there may be a problem. Possible causes:

• The program is also running under a different user account.
• Media Center 26 and Media Server are both in Windows Startup. You must remove one.
• The program is not responding for an unknown reason.

Please try rebooting the computer. Verify that no other user accounts are running the program.

Needless to say, causes 1 and 2 don't apply and rebooting made no difference. Where do I go from here? 

[RoderickGI]

Hmmm. Difficult.

That message most often happens for me if I have closed MC and then reopened it too quickly, not having allowed enough time for all MC components to close first. Typically the "Media Center Service" hasn't closed, as it can take a while, and it can also get "stuck" running, requiring a forced close.

I'm not sure why you would see a difference in Windows 7 versus Windows 10 on this though.

Make sure you are using the mc26.exe program in your scripts, which I believe you are, rather than the "Media Center 26.exe".

For testing, before clicking on the clickable links for the first time, check Task Manager to confirm that no components of MC are running, if you haven't opened MC before starting the presentation.
If there are any earlier versions of MC installed on the laptop, completely uninstall them. Check File Associations in Windows are now pointing to MC26 and not an earlier version.

If the issue won't go away, start MC minimised before starting the PowerPoint presentation, perhaps.

See if any of that highlights or solves the problem.

[haggis999]

I am indeed using MC26.exe commands and no MC service was shown as running in Task Manager before invoking my PowerPoint presentation. I took your advice to uninstall MC 25, though I have never previously hit any issues with more than one version of MC being installed. I doubt if file associations are relevant here, as I am requesting that MC should open my DSF files, rather than leaving the operating system to decide what app to use. However, I did check this and found that the .dsf file type was associated with Windows Media Player. I've now changed that to MC26.

None of that made any difference, so I tried your final suggestion to open MC before running PowerPoint. That did the trick. I then realised that my MC installation on the Intel NUC was set up to automatically start Media Server on startup. Doing the same thing on the laptop appears to have made my problem go away for good.

Many thanks for your help on this.   

[haggis999]

For reasons I don't quite understand, closing the Mini view by clicking its own Close icon doesn't actually close MC; it opens up Standard view instead. That's not something I want to happen during a PowerPoint presentation, so I added a button to my PowerPoint presentation to execute the MC26.exe /Close command.

However, I've just realised that this command closes Media Server as well as MC. Is there a command that will just close MC? 

[RoderickGI]

For reasons I don't quite understand, closing the Mini view by clicking its own Close icon doesn't actually close MC; it opens up Standard view instead.

I noticed that as well. MC switches to Standard View on clicking the Windows close button. I have no idea if that is intentional or not.

Can you just minimise the Min View instead? That works fine, even when the Mini View isn't in focus and is transparent.

[haggis999]

Minimising the Mini view doesn't really work for this purpose, as I may need to bring it back again when playing another DSF track later in my presentation and the Windows Taskbar is not normally visible when viewing PowerPoint. Closing the Mini view does not create the same problem, as another MC26.exe /Mode Mini makes it easy to bring it back.

To be honest, the fact that trying to close the Mini view via its own Close button just brings up the Standard view looks like a bug to me...

[Matt]

It's by design but maybe it could be an option?

[haggis999]

It's by design but maybe it could be an option?

Hi Matt,
Making it an option would certainly solve my problem.

Just out of interest, what is the reason for the current behaviour?

[RoderickGI]

It's by design but maybe it could be an option?

It did seem a bit strange to me, so probably. My expectation was that clicking close would close the GUI and leave the Media Server running if it was already running, just like Standard View. If I want to jump from the Mini View to Standard View I use Ctrl+1 or the right-click View menu. Given that selecting File > Exit or using Alt+F4 also switches to Standard View, I would say that response doesn't follow Windows Conventions, which isn't really good.


Haggis999, while running MC26.exe /Mode Mini after minimising MC it doesn't maximise the Mini View again, running MC26.exe /Replace TREEPATH=Playlists\WhitePlaylist or similar command that starts playback of a new Playlist does maximise it, so should do what you need.

It still seems a bit strange to me that you need to have Media Server running for the MC26.exe /Mode Mini command to work as you want it. I don't have Media Server running on my Workstation where I have been testing, just a shortcut that is set to run minimised and points to a batch file, and that always works.  But I am not testing from within PowerPoint, and I am not using a VBS script, which may make a difference.

[haggis999]

It did seem a bit strange to me, so probably. My expectation was that clicking close would close the GUI and leave the Media Server running if it was already running, just like Standard View. If I want to jump from the Mini View to Standard View I use Ctrl+1 or the right-click View menu. Given that selecting File > Exit or using Alt+F4 also switches to Standard View, I would say that response doesn't follow Windows Conventions, which isn't really good.

I had the same thought regarding a lack of compliance with Windows UI conventions.

Haggis999, while running MC26.exe /Mode Mini after minimising MC it doesn't maximise the Mini View again, running MC26.exe /Replace TREEPATH=Playlists\WhitePlaylist or similar command that starts playback of a new Playlist does maximise it, so should do what you need.

When I used MC26.exe /PlayReplace TREEPATH=Playlists\... to start playback of a new playlist it failed to bring Mini view back from its minimised state. /PlayReplace is claimed to be identical to /Replace.

It still seems a bit strange to me that you need to have Media Server running for the MC26.exe /Mode Mini command to work as you want it. I don't have Media Server running on my Workstation where I have been testing, just a shortcut that is set to run minimised and points to a batch file, and that always works.  But I am not testing from within PowerPoint, and I am not using a VBS script, which may make a difference.

I have now experienced the 'Media Center 26 is running, but there may be a problem' warning when running my PowerPoint presentation on no less than three computers (without starting Media Server in advance), but its appearance is not entirely predictable. Sometimes it happens every time I try to play a playlist via MC26.exe commands, while at other times it doesn't happen at all. So far, I have failed to find any pattern in this behaviour. 

[RoderickGI]

I just tested a bit in PowerPoint.

Once a set my security software (Norton 360) to allow scripts in Powerpoint, and then to allow cmd.exe in PowerPoint, I found using the batch file with;

@echo off
MC26.exe /Mode Mini
MC26.exe /Replace TREEPATH=Playlists\WhitePlaylist

linked to one image, and then a second image that launched a shortcut with just;

MC26.exe /Replace TREEPATH=Playlists\WhitePlaylist

next, MC worked fine. Clicking the first image launched MC in Mini mode and played the Playlist. After stopping the Playlist I minimised MC, then clicking the second image maximised MC in Mini mode and played the Playlist.

Of course, I wasn't using a VBS script so I got the PowerPoint warning about opening files that may contain viruses ( I didn't change the security settings inside PowerPoint), plus I saw the CMD window popup despite using the shortcut that was supposed to start minimised. But otherwise, it worked, so if security was set correctly and I used a VBS script, I would expect it to work without the interruptions.

You may want to try that.


PS: I am using the /Replace parameter. Perhaps that does make a difference.

PPS: Is the security software set up on each computer the same? Have you allowed for the above security issues?

PPPS: I am using PowerPoint 2010 and Hyperlinks, rather than using "Run Program" linked to an image.

[RoderickGI]

I just quickly tried using the "Run Program" method of launching MC. Once I got around the security issues again, clicking the first image which points to the batch file via a shortcut worked, but clicking the second image which just points to a shortcut with the commands alone in it, and no associated batch file, did not work.

So try using a Hyperlink instead of the "Run Program" method for the subsequent MC launches.

[haggis999]

Hi Roderick,
Given the time difference between Australia and here in the UK, I was safely tucked up in bed by the time you made your last two posts, but here is my reaction to your various comments and suggestions.

• I was using Office 2016 until 3 weeks ago when I started a free 30 day trial of Office 365 (I plan to sign up when the trial expires, as the price seems reasonable and you can install it on all your PCs - unlike Office 2016). Your copy of PP is now 10 years old, so this may partly explain why we don't get quite the same results in our tests.
  
  
• I don't have any third party security product like Norton 360. I just use the standard security controls provided by Windows 10, and they don't interfere with the operation of PowerPoint 365. However, all recent versions of PowerPoint have Run Programs disabled by default. You have to add a new registry entry to enable this feature.
  
  
• I was rather surprised that PP's Hyperlink action can also run a BAT or VBS file rather than this being restricted to the Run Program action. However, it doesn't actually help in my case. Like you, I got a security warning, but it still doesn't make a minimised MC visible.
  
  
• All my batch files start with the MC26.exe /Mode Mini command just in case MC has previously been closed. If MC is already open it doesn't really do anything. I was therefore not surprised that temporarily removing it from my second batch file made no change to its behaviour when MC was open and minimised. The new playlist started playing but the minimised Mini view still failed to reappear.
  
  
• If I use /Replace instead of /PlayReplace in my second request to play a playlist, MC just stops the current playlist and fails to start the new one.