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[Messiahs]

Hi AoXoMoXoA,

the only reason cause i removed the login is that i don't had the time to test this feature with the new version.

Markus

[Messiahs]

just some hints:
- you can start xpTunes minimized -> "xpTunes.exe -min"
- now you can use xpTouch on your G1 phone
- Add xpTouch to your iPod/iPhone Homescreen
- try the following iPhone/iPod touch gestures:
   - move up -> shows playing now
   - move down -> back
   - move over fullscreen down -> main screen
   - move left/right -> browsing
- tab on Album (screen "playing") -> shows all album files
- tab on artist name (screen "playing") -> shows all songs from this artist


How to add xpTouch to your homescreen:
Launch Safari on your iPhone
Browse to xpTouch
Click the Favorites (+) button at the bottom of Safari
Click "Add to Home Screen"
Click the "Add button"
   
gallery:
http://pix01.com/ca@Kg4c

 

[Doof]

I'm having a problem with this version where every time I start it, it's forgotten all of my settings and I have to set them back every time. So every time it starts I have to set the IP address and the Autostart settings. Also, the Autostart with Windows still doesn't seem to do anything, although maybe whatever bug is preventing it from writing its registry settings is responsible for that as well? I've even tried "Run as administrator" to make sure it was UAC getting in the way of writing to the registry, but still no dice.

When I installed this version, I realized I still had the demo license key entered, so I put my personal license key in. This isn't being saved from session to session either.

Another thing I've noticed is that I always have to set the IP address twice before it will take. So every time I start this, I have to click Settings, then set an IP address, then click Save, see that the IP address box is still empty, then click Settings again, pick the IP address, click Save, and then it's set.

[Sheugel]

Waow!
The improvements of the new version are amazing... The touchscreen gestures are great.
Keep up the good work. Thanks.
Sheugel

[Messiahs]

@Doof

Another thing I've noticed is that I always have to set the IP address twice before it will take.

can you try to use the dropdown "IP address" to choose your ip address ? or is your ip address not shown ?.
Are you using two network cards (perhaps one network card enabled on the motherboard ) ?

What happens, when you only start the settings page and save the default values ?

@Sheugel

The touchscreen gestures are great

Thanks  . I really love them too.
Did you have any problems with 'settings' ?

Markus

[Sheugel]

Did you have any problems with 'settings' ?

No, my settings (setup and registration) were as before. I'm under Windows XP SP3.
Also, I must tell that the "autostart with Windows" option works for me (minimized in tray!).
BTW, it's nice that album art displays nicely now.
Thanks again,
Sheugel

[Doof]

@Doofcan you try to use the dropdown "IP address" to choose your ip address ? or is your ip address not shown ?.
Are you using two network cards (perhaps one network card enabled on the motherboard ) ?

What happens, when you only start the settings page and save the default values ?

Looks like it might be running into a permissions/UAC problem. I tried deleting all of its settings from the registry and then re-ran it. I entered in my settings, saved, ran the server, then quit. I checked the registry and it hadn't created a key for itself. So then I right clicked on it and "Run as administrator", set all of the settings, and this time a key in the registry was created. But if I then run it normally, it can't read those registry settings and I'm stuck with all of the default settings again. If I "Run as administrator" again, then it finds all of my settings and works fine. The weird thing is, I wasn't having this problem with the previous version, so has something changed that could be causing this? The permissions on the registry key are set so that Users have Read permissions and Administrators have write permissions. I would think that, at the least, it should be able to load the settings from the registry with these permissions. Regardless, I gave "Everyone" Full Control over the xpTunes key and now it's able to read and write settings correctly.

But beyond that... I just wanted to say that the new iPhone skin and the swipe controls are AWESOME. I'm really glad I decided to buy this instead of rivermote.

[AoXoMoXoA]

When I am using the iTouch skin, when the Play button is clicked to Pause, it vanishes leaving only RW - Stop - FF and no way to restart play/cease pause.

If I go to the Titanium skin and click the Play button to Pause it reverts to a Play button so I can resume.

How do I resume playback in the iTouch skin?

[Messiahs]

@Doof
Thanks for your detailed report. I will take a look to this problem.

@AoXoMoXoA ,
it's a bug.
please overwrite the iTouch files with:
http://www.alice-dsl.net/markuslipp/xpTunes/ITouch.zip

[steveklein]

messiahs... you truly are a messiah. a god amongst men. thank you so much for listening to our feedback and  giving impeccable user support for such a nifty piece of software. my user experience with xpTunes and personal support received from the developer has been second to none.

however, as i believe doof is reporting... i have to change my settings twice for them to stick. and then it later forgets them. the minimize to system tray works very nicely, though.

[steveklein]

After some time using the latest version, I have to be honest... I feel like a couple steps backwards were taken.

(This applies to controlling the software from an iPhone)

I find it more difficult to browse through my music collection. I used to be able to touch a button near a playlist and it would play. This doesn't seem to work anymore. There is no pause button on the playing now. There is stop/play, but I really wish that I could just tap play and toggle between play and pause. It doesn't appear to be present. I also find it kind of annoying how clicking on a lot of links on the phone opens them in new safari browser windows. This might just be something I'm not used to and something that will grow on me, but I'm not sure. Dealing with multiple windows is kind of annoying and just feels clunky.

Is there a way I can use the 1.5 PC software with an older version of the HTML files/interface/navigation?

[Messiahs]

I Steve,

first i have to thank you for this great feedback  .

now to your problems:
"Safari opens in a new windows"
This never happened in my environment (iPod touch & firmware 2.2.1).
What skin you are using (xpTouch or iTouch? I recommend xpTouch) and what firmware is installed on your iPhone.
Did you add xpTouch to your homescreen ? Can you tell me a link which opens a new safari window ?

"pause button"
Did you try to click the "play" button again to pause a song ?

"touch a button near a playlist "
works with my environment.

"older version of the HTML files"
please let us find frist the problem.

best regards,
Markus

[steveklein]

Markus,


Again you are right.

I was used to using the XpTouch skin and I had unknowingly switched to the iTouch 0.3 skin.

This fixed all the issues I reported earlier.




Currently my main problem is with my settings taking two saves to remember, and then xpTunes forgetting them after I close the program.

The only other bug I have to report is that occasionally in the currently playing now page, the number of stars occasionally shows up incorrectly. I've got a playlist called 3+ stars that plays all my music rated at 3 or more stars. It plays all the songs in te playlist correctly, but some of the songs show up as 2 stars when they are in fact rated 3 stars.

Other than this, the only suggestion I have is that when I navigate through my playlists, only 5 are showing up on a page. 10 will fit, so i have 37 playlists that should fit on 5 pages but instead seem to unnecessarily take 10

[steveklein]

One other suggestion would be (and this may not be possible) would be if I browse to a playlist containing video files (All my movies are on my hard drive in a playlist called Movies), if XpTunes could somehow detect that the file was video and not audio and then when played instead of doing it quietly in the background, it actually played the video file in full screen mode. I think this would be difficult to implement, and probably not too useful for most of your audience, but I think it would be pretty neat.

[Doof]

Currently my main problem is with my settings taking two saves to remember, and then xpTunes forgetting them after I close the program.

Did you try setting permissions on the registry key like I mentioned in my post above? That took care of the forgetting settings problem I was having.

[steveklein]

Did you try setting permissions on the registry key like I mentioned in my post above? That took care of the forgetting settings problem I was having.

I have not yet. To be honest, I got about 20% into your post and you started talking about editing the regitsry and I just moved on since the only thing I know about registry editing is that if you don't know exactly what you are doing, then to stay out. However, I just read your post in its entirety and see that maybe all I have to do is set to run as administrator? I will definitely try this when I get home this evening. Thank you!

[Messiahs]

hi steve,

This fixed all the issues I reported earlier.

glad to hear this. i thought i'm in trouble ;-)

only 5 playlists are showing up on a page

i forgot to change this...
pls open "xpTunes/html/xpTouch/playlists.html" and just change "showmaxitems=5" to "showmaxitems=10".
This will solve your playlist problem.
Of coure the next version will include this fix.

number of stars occasionally shows up incorrectly

I will take a look. Should not be a big problem.

One other suggestion (play video in fullscreen mode)

It's not a big problem, but at this time xpTunes and my developments are focused on music files.

Markus

[Mike Noe]

Is there a limitation on the demo license?  I can't get any connection at all to the MC Library Server from my web browser (FF) on the same machine.

Does the port on library server and xpTunes have to be the same?

Thx

[Doof]

I have not yet. To be honest, I got about 20% into your post and you started talking about editing the regitsry and I just moved on since the only thing I know about registry editing is that if you don't know exactly what you are doing, then to stay out. However, I just read your post in its entirety and see that maybe all I have to do is set to run as administrator? I will definitely try this when I get home this evening. Thank you!

You can just run it as administrator every time, but if you change the permissions on the registry you won't have to. It's really not hard and the change I'm talking about isn't destructive in any way.

If you want to give it a shot, just do the following:

1. Fire up regedit.exe
2. Navigate the tree on the left to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\JRiver\Media Jukebox\Plugins\Interface\xpTunes.
3. Right click on xpTunes and choose "Permissions".
4. Click "Add"
5. In the box that comes up, type "Everyone" and click OK. You should now see "Everyone" listed in the box labeled "Group or user names".
6. Now all you have to do is click on Everyone in that list, and down below check the box to Allow Full Control. The box for Allow Read should automatically check as well.
7. Click OK and you're done.

xpTunes should now be able to read and write its own settings. It actually sounds more complicated then it is.

[adamsp70]

Hi Markus - just upgraded to the new version and none of the commands on the default skins (e.g. black & white) work any more.

So it displays everything fine, but if you try and play an album, or pause the music etc then nothing happens.

Any idea why?

Thanks....
 

[steveklein]

You can just run it as administrator every time, but if you change the permissions on the registry you won't have to. It's really not hard and the change I'm talking about isn't destructive in any way.

If you want to give it a shot, just do the following:

1. Fire up regedit.exe
2. Navigate the tree on the left to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\JRiver\Media Jukebox\Plugins\Interface\xpTunes.
3. Right click on xpTunes and choose "Permissions".
4. Click "Add"
5. In the box that comes up, type "Everyone" and click OK. You should now see "Everyone" listed in the box labeled "Group or user names".
6. Now all you have to do is click on Everyone in that list, and down below check the box to Allow Full Control. The box for Allow Read should automatically check as well.
7. Click OK and you're done.

xpTunes should now be able to read and write its own settings. It actually sounds more complicated then it is.

After doing all of this, the problem still wasn't solved. The boxes that were supposed to automatically check did, so I know I did it all right. However, I still have to manually tell xpTunes twice before it remembers the settings, and it still forgets upon exiting

[BradC]

Hi Markus

I really find xptunes useful and it seems a better solution than the other options out there.

I have installed the latest xptunes, but would like a little more info on the improvements.

I see that the tap album and artist (in the playing window) bring up the list of songs as described, but this only works in the itouch skin and not in the xptunes skin (which I find easier to use).

Also could you please describe in more detail the functions of the gestures.

I could not get the move left, right up or down gesture to do anything.

Finally, is it possible to implement finger scroll of pages (eg song lists) instead of having to tap the arrow at the top the page  (ie 1 of 10)?

Brad

[Messiahs]

@all
of course i will take a look to the 'settings' error.

@paul
what mc version / browser and os you are using ?
is an error thrown ? Perhaps not connected to a network drive ?

@brad

tap album and artist

sure ? can you test this with another album. I never had problems with this feature and i use it every day (xpTouch)...

gestures

You are using an iPhone/iPod touch ?
Perhaps you need a firmware update ? I only have an iPod touch for testing (fw 2.2.1).

finger scroll of pages

it's possible and i already tried it, but believe me it doesn't makes fun. Safari needs to much time for rendering the pages.

Markus

[Sheugel]

Hello,
I'm trying the Track Info feature of xpTunes in MC13. I get it working but can't access the options in fullscreen as they're masked by the MC13 controls as shown in the image below.
Do I have to edit some values in the files?
Thanks,
Sheugel

[lpr]

Hello,

I'm testing this new version on my iphone and it's great.

I would have a suggestion for a possible future release.

Would it be possible to have the option to see on the playing now screen, the "genre" and maybe the "year" of the track?

I'm a big fan of "random" music, and having the "genre" would help me quickly jump an unwanted genre or spot a wrongly classified track.

It's a great app.

Take care.

[Messiahs]

@Sheugel 
i see the problem, thanks for this hint.
I can't disable the MC player, but i can move the menue a little bit more to the bottom.

@IPR
To add Genre and Year is no problem, the only problem i see is the small space i can use in playing now... i will take a look.

Markus


 

[Messiahs]

Version 1.6 is available:
http://rapidshare.de/files/47012742/xpTunesV1.6.zip.html
http://rapidshare.com/files/228820658/xpTunesV1.6.zip.html

changelog:
- "settings save" bug hopefully solved
- demo is now limited to 25 files
- some iTouch skin changes
- now 10 playlist entries in xpTouch
- playlist bugfix
- trackinfo fixed

[steveklein]

The settings bug has essentially been fixed. It still took two times for it to remember my settings. However, it did not forget them upon exiting the program. The playlists do display 10 per screen now. thumbs up

[lpr]

Hello,

I made a shortcut with the xpTouch skin on my iPhone and I also made a shortcut for the iTouch skin so I can switch interface depending on my mood. The only problem I'm having is with the iTouch skin. when i click on any other icons (playing now, playlists, genre, etc...), it loads the page on Safari as a new windows (not in fullscreen and in very small fonts) with the title "fileTable". I'm using v1.06... I know that the iTouch skin used to work great at one point, I'm not sure what broke it.

Thanks for your time.

[lOth]

strange request maybe: I have a jailbroken iPhone 3g (2.2.1) and I use the backgrounder application. It doesn't seem to interact too well with the xpTouch skin when it's launched through a shortcut (no problem when it's open through Safari). Now, I know that most applications are not designed to run in the background, but Safari does and I was wondering if there would be a way to prevent the instance of Safari launched through the xpTunes springboard shortcut from closing when I press the home button.

[AoXoMoXoA]

Having xpTunes set to "Start with Windows" causes a need to disable MC's setting of "Run Media Server at Windows Start-up" or you get an error message from MC stating that it is already running.

Is there some way to have xpTunes make the Media Server icon appear in the system tray as MC would do if it had been set to start Media Server?

[Messiahs]

@lpr 
fixed in the next version

@lOth
there is no possibility to catch the home button event at this time... Could you describe a little more your problem, perhaps i will find another way.

@AoXoMoXoA
i never saw this message... do you start MC with a autostart entry? perhaps it's possible to start xpTunes with a small delay ?

Best regards,
Markus

[AoXoMoXoA]

@AoXoMoXoA
i never saw this message... do you start MC with a autostart entry? perhaps it's possible to start xpTunes with a small delay ?

Best regards,
Markus

I had MC set in it's options "Start Media Server with Windows Start" and also had xpTunes to "Autostart with Windows" and "Autostart Server"

I will try a delay on xpTunes and see if it acts the same or no.

[adamsp70]

@paul
what mc version / browser and os you are using ?
is an error thrown ? Perhaps not connected to a network drive ?

OK - here's my test trying to take as much "variation" out of the equation.

On a single machine running Windows XP i have MC 13.0.119 and xpTunes.
Running IE 7.0.5730.11 on the same machine i go to the black & white interface - everything shows up fine and i can navigate playlists and albums etc. But if i press play or any other command to launch/play/pause/stop music - nothing happens! No errors reported as far as i can see.

Any ideas?

[Messiahs]

Hi Paul,

strange behaviour.
I use nearly the same environment (WinXP SP3, MC 13.0.169 and IE 7.0.5730.13) and everthing works perfect.
At this time i have see two sources of trouble:
- security settings in IE
- screen resolution
 
One thing.. can you pls start the b&w skin and then change the track in JR -> does the track in b&w skin changes too?

If not, is it possible to try another browser like FireFox portable (http://portableapps.com/apps/internet/firefox_portable
(This version doesn't install anything to your registry) and try it again.

one more question:
Is it possible to change the file rating or to encrease the volume ?

thanks
Markus

[adamsp70]

- security settings in IE

Definitely not - i only used that as a simple example - i use Chrome on a different machine usually, with same results

- screen resolution

Again, don't think this is it as the issue is the same over different machines
 
- One thing.. can you pls start the b&w skin and then change the track in JR
- does the track in b&w skin changes too?

Yes it does - it reflects what is playing perfectly

- If not, is it possible to try another browser

see above

- Is it possible to change the file rating or to encrease the volume ?

How strange - didn't tried that - yes those both work. As does forward/back tracks. So it's play/pause and starting new albums/playlists etc that doesn't work.

[Messiahs]

I think i found the bug (it seams that JR changed something).

to be sure can you please test:
- start a song in MC
- then press pause, not "stop" (in MC)
- after this please press "play" in the "b&w" skin


Thanks for testing
Markus
 

[AoXoMoXoA]

@AoXoMoXoA
i never saw this message... do you start MC with a autostart entry? perhaps it's possible to start xpTunes with a small delay ?

Best regards,
Markus

That did the trick, added a delay to the start of xpTunes and no more error message from MC.

thanks

[adamsp70]

I think i found the bug (it seams that JR changed something).

to be sure can you please test:
- start a song in MC
- then press pause, not "stop" (in MC)
- after this please press "play" in the "b&w" skin

OK i did that - pressing play had no effect.

[ph0n33z]

I just stumbled upon this application. Thank you so much for this! It solves the issue of how to use my iPod Touch with my whole house audio setup. However, like any new user, I do have a suggestion/complaint...

    I have some members in the household who do not have the best sight for reading. Due to this, the two iPhone skins' fonts are slightly too small to read. Would it be possible to create a version with a larger font?

    Lastly, is it possible to add zone control to the iTouch skin (the one that was made by a user and not part of xpTunes)? It is an awesome skin, but useless to me without zone selection.

    Once again, thank you so much for your hard work on this application! If these things get met, I shall be purchasing it soon.

[steveklein]

Any body else experiencing the bug that I reported earlier?

Sometimes (Frequently, I'd say), the song ratings on my iPhone display are displayed incorrectly (displayed as 2 stars, when the song is clearly rated 3 stars in MC)

[Messiahs]

hi Steve,

your right, it's a bug.
It's fixed in the new version.

@ph0n33z
"Would it be possible to create a version with a larger font? "
Of course it's possible, the skins are pure webpages (html and javascript), so every user can make his own skin or extend the existing skins.

"Lastly, is it possible to add zone control to the iTouch skin"
pls see my comment above... if i will find some time, i can add this feature, but i think, that i have to remove the video feature.

@adamsp70
not the result I expected... let's test again with the new version.

Markus

[steveklein]

version 1.6 is the latest, right? i still have the incorrect rating bug with this version.

edit: i realize after posting this you may mean it will be fixed in the next build. thanks!

[Mysticeti]

<snip>

"Lastly, is it possible to add zone control to the iTouch skin"
pls see my comment above... if i will find some time, i can add this feature, but i think, that i have to remove the video feature.

<snip>

I'm very interested in giving xpTunes a shot but the lack of Zone support is a deal breaker for me. 

Thanks!

[Messiahs]

@Mysticeti
you can just try another skin (like b&w or xpTouch) with zone support ;-)

Markus

[lOth]

is this indeed an issue caused by xpTunes and more importantly, is there a way to fix it?:

(from the MC iTunes Synchronizer thread):

Now, the issue I have is that I also use xpTunes and it seems that it doesn't play well with MC iTunes Synchronizer. Whenever xpTunes is running MCiS is unable to find MC. Same thing if I close xpTunes: it leaves an instance of MC running that MCiS can't recognize (stuck on "Looking for MC 13") and that can't be closed either. The only way to get rid of it so that MCiS can run another "clean" instance of MC -and by that, I mean an instance it can recognize to start the sync- is to kill the Media Center process in the task manager.

Not much I can do about that - must be something to do with the internal workings of MC and/or xpTunes. All I am doing at that stage is requesting a COM interface to MC, if MC denies the request or doesn't respond there's very little I can do.

I'm also using Girder and I ran in a problem that could be related. When xpTunes is launched (MC not running) MC appears as a hidden window in Girder's window picker and the executable is MEDIAC~1.EXE If MC is launched on its own (xpTunes not running), the executable is Media Center 13.exe. It looks like MC iTunes Synchronizer will only work if it sees Media Center 13.exe, not MEDIAC~1.EXE

[Messiahs]

@lOth

i think it's not a xpTunes problem.

"MEDIAC~1.EXE in Taskmanager /Girder"
if you start MC with a com-object call ( "CreateObject("MediaJukebox Application")"), this is a normal behaviour.
If you start "iTunes Synchronizer", the name will be the same. You can change the name by editing regedit:

Look at the key:
{572802D5-FBF6-4C30-89CA-BDF2CE4AEC2B} / LocalServer32 /

and change the entry  to something like this:
Default: "C:\Programme\J River\Media Center 13\Media Center 13.exe"

now you will see "Media Center 13.exe" in the taskmanager.


"Problems with iTunes Synchronizer"
I have the same problems with iTunes Synchronizer.
To test the behaviour, i created a test.exe with a simple com-object (MC) call.
This exe can connect to MC without problems, even MC was started by xpTunes.
So i think the problem must be something with MC or/and iTunes Synchronizer.

Workaround:
First start MC, then wait 10 sec then start xpTunes and iTunes Synchronizer.
I think you can do this with a simple cmd-file.

If you have any question, please feel free to ask.

Markus

[prod]

I agree that it is most likely not an xpTunes problem.

I've elaborated here.

[AoXoMoXoA]

Is there a way for me to edit something so this works with MC14, or must I wait until a later version is released for this to be possible?

[Messiahs]

Hi AoXoMoXoA,

you can use xpTunes with all MC/Jukebox Versions > 12.x .
Do you have any problems ? I'm using MC 14 with no problems.

Markus