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[Jamil]

This trick I always use under Windows does not appear to be working for me under Linux to restore ModernCard Dark the way it has always been since using MediaCenter.  One suggestion I have for the developers is to create new skins instead of making drastic changes to skins your users are used to.  I  think the changes really look bad, but that is my opinion.

Under:

/usr/lib/jriver/MC27/Skins/Standard View

I deleted the ModernCards Dark directory and all files within.  I then copied my backed up version prior to the changes to /usr/lib/jriver/MC27/Skins/Standard View

this is not working as it did under Windows.  Is there something else needed to revert the skin?

[Awesome Donkey]

They need to go into the ~/.jriver/Media\ Center\ 27/Skins/Standard\ View folder in your home directory (it's a hidden folder).

I'd just fork the skin so MC updates don't override it. Fortunately I've already done this and renamed the old Dark Edition skin to Dark Legacy Edition before the updates to the Dark Edition skin were made, because I could see this as a potential issue for some users of the old skin. The changes (or overhaul) was made to fix a couple issues in the Dark Edition skin, for example an issue where leftover lines that could be seen mousing over items in the tree and scrolling in the panes views.

Download of my pre-changes Dark Legacy Edition fork is here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/wa7mxy22so5tfyc/ModernCardsDarkLegacy.zip

But what exactly about the changes looks bad to you? The changes are actually kinda minor, mostly a few fixes for a couple issues + fix the tree icons to better fit a dark theme (green icons to grey icons).

[Jamil]

Thank you for sharing the link.  I downloaded it then copied it in.  To my surprise after restarting MC27, my backed up copy is now taking effect.  I see the previous version of the skin now without switching to the Legacy version I copied in.

Spooky.

[Awesome Donkey]

Keep in mind, unless the skin is forked/renamed, MC updates will override the old skin's files with the new ones hence why forking it, renaming it (which I did to Dark Legacy Edition) and using the forked skin will prevent that issue.

[Jamil]

Thanks.  Linux is all manual so far, which I prefer.  I have to manually update, so I will know to manually preserve changes to skin.

It looks like skins are locked down and changes do not get picked up automatically.  This was why my revert attempts were not working.  A change was forced to my local client that resulted in it being picked up, it seems.

[Jamil]

But what exactly about the changes looks bad to you? The changes are actually kinda minor, mostly a few fixes for a couple issues + fix the tree icons to better fit a dark theme (green icons to grey icons).

It looks like you edited your post. Otherwise I would have answered this question.

There was nothing wrong with the old skin. Now it has turned into an unreadable mess. Seriously. This does not look like professional software.

I will show screenshots as soon as my system image backup is complete. I am actually surprised you do not notice this breaking change yourself.

[Awesome Donkey]

No, I meant what exactly is wrong with the new one? The *only* thing I can see looking at both of them is perhaps the blue font used might urk some people.

[Jamil]

The change that I don't like is the flashing dark gray shown for import on the lower left. This stands out right away and was the first thing I noticed wrong about it. The previous version of the skin does not do this. The darkness of the theme is undesired for me.

The second issue is the removal of the input shown for Now Playing. Some car radio image gets displayed instead. I prefer my feature as opposed to images that appear for one second prior to starting playback.

[JimH]

Try adusting your display.

[Jamil]

My display is Adobe color calibrated. That isn't the issue.

[JimH]

The change that I don't like is the flashing dark gray shown for import on the lower left.

That only happens on initial import and it's meant to get your attention.  After 45 seconds, it's over.

It happens in all skins.

[Jamil]

That only happens on initial import and it's meant to get your attention.  After 45 seconds, it's over.

It happens in all skins.

This is incorrect.

This happens now 100% of the time with all imports. This is a result of the previous perfect skin change.

[mwillems]

There seems to be a brief single flash for me when I trigger a manual import, but it lasts for less than a second.  Is that what you're talking about or something else?   I think some kind of flash in the import box has been around since I started using JRiver a very long time ago; are you saying you didn't see any flash previously or that it was a different color or something else?

I'm just trying to understand as I've been following this thread and I don't see any persistent flashing during normal manual imports on Linux, just the quick one and done flash which comes and goes pretty quickly (and has, to my knowledge, been the same for a good long while).

[Jamil]

There is a flash that happens continuously while import is happening.

When I revert the changed skin back to the perfect one, this flash is gone completely.

My question that is still did not get an answer to is why add this flash at all? It serves no good purpose other than making text difficult to read.

[Awesome Donkey]

If it's the flash of the import progress in the bottom of the tree that I'm thinking of, it's intended. I believe it was added to MC some time ago (seems like several years at least) as a way to notify and catch the user's attention at what's happening. If it didn't appear in the old Dark Edition skin, that's technically a bug in the skin.

I'll check the old Dark Edition and the new one here in a bit to see if I'm right on that assumption. I'll probably check the other ModernCards skins as well.

[JimH]

If it's the flash of the import progress in the bottom of the tree that I'm thinking of, it's intended. I believe it was added to MC some time ago (seems like several years at least) as a way to notify and catch the user's attention at what's happening.

It should only happen on initial import to alert the user that MC will automatically import files.  If files exist in the library, it should not happen.

[Jamil]

If it's the flash of the import progress in the bottom of the tree that I'm thinking of, it's intended. I believe it was added to MC some time ago (seems like several years at least) as a way to notify and catch the user's attention at what's happening. If it didn't appear in the old Dark Edition skin, that's technically a bug in the skin.

I'll check the old Dark Edition and the new one here in a bit to see if I'm right on that assumption. I'll probably check the other ModernCards skins as well.

The first time ever seeing this was with the change to ModernCards Dark.  I have never seen this until this skin was changed.

If this was indeed an intentional change, then ModernCards Dark (prior to revision) broke it.  This is good, because it is a bad change.

[Awesome Donkey]

It's because all the Modern Cards skins technically have a bug where the intended import flashing isn't shown. I just verified it; all of them (including the default Grey Edition skin) except the new Dark Edition, doesn't display the expected flashing when running an import.

Now that begs the question... should the Modern Cards skins be updated to fix it to display the intended flashing or should the Dark Edition skin be updated to omit it like the others?

I do suspect if it's fixed other users may not like that change. Honestly, I never noticed it was missing, as I'm not really a fan of the flashing on import myself. If the import flashing was optional, that might be an acceptable compromise on both sides of the fence.

[JimH]

It shouldn't flash during import.

[Awesome Donkey]

Okay then, when I get a little time I'll attempt to fix it in the Dark Edition skin and submit a patch (unless marko sees this topic and beats me to it).

[Awesome Donkey]

Okay, looked into it and figured out what causes it.

In main.xml of the Dark Edition skin is this line...

Code: [Select]

<Entry Name="Template" Bitmap="ActionWindow_Template.png" Margins="2,4,2,2" InternalMargins="1,0,1,0" VerticalSpacing="0" HeaderHeight="24" HeaderOnly="1" />
If HeaderOnly="1" is present, the import will blink (in any skin with this present, mind you). This also includes other skins that come bundled with MC including Noire, Noire Glass, Black on Black, Pearl Bailey and Purity. Importing media will blink with all of those skins when an import is running. However, if HeaderOnly="1" is removed, it a) stops the blinking and b) changes how the action window and importing media areas look. Also explains why the other Modern Cards skins don't do this, it's commented out in those.

So, I'm stumped at the moment. Currently trying to figure out a way to maintain how it looks now without the flashing. Is this a MC bug? I seem to recall it was intentional.

[Matt]

Good find.

Coming next build:
Changed: Skins without a Template in the Action Window would not blink.

[Awesome Donkey]

The blinking issue should be fixed in 27.0.29 and newer. It'll only blink during import if your library is empty, but it won't if it's not regardless of skin.

[marko]

Okay then, when I get a little time I'll attempt to fix it in the Dark Edition skin and submit a patch (unless marko sees this topic and beats me to it).

Lagging badly here....
For quite some time now, I've been avoiding dealing with an MC issue I've been expreiencing, wherein, if any audio were playing, any changes to the library or views, meaning, really, any... tag changes, file deletion, view column add/remove... etc would not happen until playback was stopped. The ridiculous queue of tasks would inevitably result in MC crashing and all changes lost...

I uninstalled ESET AV and exhaustively set exclusions in Defender's options, but still, the problem persisted. I got frustrated. My Windows installation is was many years old, spanning many major updates, so I wiped the lot and clean installed 20H2... Getting things back the way I like them, even with plenty of backup cover, is time consuming for me, so, I may be some time...

The MC issue is cured... testing regularly as stuff is put back in place, and no change in the default Defender settings either... fingers crossed.

Linux makes me nervous anyway... did anyone ever get to the bottom of why, only in Linux, there is no Volume slider visible on my Black & Blue Too skin?

Okay, looked into it and figured out what causes it.

In main.xml of the Dark Edition skin is this line...

Code: [Select]

<Entry Name="Template" Bitmap="ActionWindow_Template.png" Margins="2,4,2,2" InternalMargins="1,0,1,0" VerticalSpacing="0" HeaderHeight="24" HeaderOnly="1" />
If HeaderOnly="1" is present, the import will blink (in any skin with this present, mind you). This also includes other skins that come bundled with MC including Noire, Noire Glass, Black on Black, Pearl Bailey and Purity. Importing media will blink with all of those skins when an import is running. However, if HeaderOnly="1" is removed, it a) stops the blinking and b) changes how the action window and importing media areas look. Also explains why the other Modern Cards skins don't do this, it's commented out in those.

So, I'm stumped at the moment. Currently trying to figure out a way to maintain how it looks now without the flashing. Is this a MC bug? I seem to recall it was intentional.

Good find indeed, respect

-marko

[Awesome Donkey]

did anyone ever get to the bottom of why, only in Linux, there is no Volume slider visible on my Black & Blue Too skin?

Didn't even know that was a thing, when I get a chance I'll go take a look.