Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[DonP]

Although I've been testing Media Center for only a short while, I have installed several different versions as they have become available and am now on build 12.0.515. I noticed that with each reinstallation, the View Scheme seems to revert to some default.

In fact, I have had no end of difficulty in getting a view that makes any sense, especially on compilation CDs. I don't quite understand the settings and there are no examples of what different choices will provide on the screen downstairs (and I am a little too old to keep running up and down the stairs!). Have you thought of having a "preview" setting in the View Scheme panel or a GUI where a view can be created while actually seeing its appearance? It might be something to consider.

Otherwise thanks for a great application!

Don

[JimH]

Custom view schemes should be preserved unless you're uninstalling each time.  No uninstall is needed.

[DonP]

I didn't UNinstall. I simply ran the installation for the new version and let it do its thing.

[DarkPenguin]

In fact, I have had no end of difficulty in getting a view that makes any sense, especially on compilation CDs. I don't quite understand the settings and there are no examples of what different choices will provide on the screen downstairs (and I am a little too old to keep running up and down the stairs!). Have you thought of having a "preview" setting in the View Scheme panel or a GUI where a view can be created while actually seeing its appearance? It might be something to consider.

You might ask people in the forums for a view that does what you want.  Some of our users are extremely good at this stuff.

Of course after I type that I see that you have been doing this.  Never mind.

[DonP]

That's what I thought I was doing but I was also hoping that by learning how the settings worked I could do it myself. I am an IT and computer professional but these settings make little sense as what I get seems different than what I selected.

To outline, since so many of my CDs are collections with multiple artists (and even multiple genres on one disk), I would like to view by album name and genre, and view the album contents from there. I would also like to view by artist but when selecting a song from a genre, I would like to see the whole collection, not just the single song, then choose to play the song or the whole album from there. Using one of the defaults (to quickly fix it after it reverted to some other default after an update) it lists the albums and it also lists the genre, and it lists a column of the alphabet which seems to also be the genre. However, when I select the genre it lists all the songs without any relation to the album they are from.

Does that make any sense? It seems as convoluted in trying to say it as the program's View panel itself!

Don

[Matt]

Try using File > Library > Library Manager to make (and use) a library in a folder you know you have control over, like "My Documents\Media Center Library".

This way, we'll rule out the problem of a roaming profile or some other complication tampering with the library.

After each install, the player should still be using the custom library, and the library should be untouched from before the install.

[DonP]

Yes, thanks, that was the first thing I did when I initially installed Media Center so it was pointing to the proper root folder.

However, when I looked just now I see that that folder is still there as Default but there is a Default (1) that I did not create pointing to the Windows media folder under my system account which I never use. It refuses to be deleted although it gave no errors the first time I tried. When it didn't go away, I tried again but got an error that it could not be deleted (I am a system administrator). After closing and reopening Media Center though, it is deletable and seems to have remained deleted.

There is also a "Search for Library Servers" entry which can be deleted but which returns on its own when Media Center is closed, then reopened. I don't want or need it to look anywhere but in the folder I've specified.

Don