INTERACT FORUM

Windows => Third Party Plug-ins, Programs, and Skins => Topic started by: kensn on October 13, 2013, 10:22:29 pm

Title: JRiver Plugin for LCDSmartie (Windows)
Post by: kensn on October 13, 2013, 10:22:29 pm
Plugin Download: Bottom of this post

Requirements:

The Download is a zip file containing 8 files:

Features:


Audio 1      (http://www.pix01.com/gallery/FDD1A3A6-26F8-4D79-887E-7B1C6A626A7F/MCLCD/418835315_orig0.jpg)   

Audio 2      (http://www.pix01.com/gallery/FDD1A3A6-26F8-4D79-887E-7B1C6A626A7F/MCLCD/418835315_orig2.jpg)

Movies       (http://www.pix01.com/gallery/FDD1A3A6-26F8-4D79-887E-7B1C6A626A7F/MCLCD/4188353151.jpg)

TV Shows  (http://www.pix01.com/gallery/FDD1A3A6-26F8-4D79-887E-7B1C6A626A7F/MCLCD/4188353153.jpg)

Plugin        (http://www.pix01.com/gallery/FDD1A3A6-26F8-4D79-887E-7B1C6A626A7F/MCLCD/418835315_orig4.jpg)


Screen settings in settings.txt are for 4 x 20 Display

audio format (shown in plugin picture in User 1 Field) is a custom Field of mine

Zip file contains 32 bit (JRMCLCD.exe) and 64 bit (JRLCD64.exe) versions
Title: Re: JRiver Plugin for LCDSmartie (Windows)
Post by: HTPC4ME on October 13, 2013, 11:11:37 pm
assistance please
we own this unit - http://www.iboyds.com/thermaltake-dh-202-htpc-case-vj80011n2z.aspx

will this display work with your plugin?
If not, is there a new display i could buy and install that would work in my case to get access to this awesome plugin?
Thanks
Title: Re: JRiver Plugin for LCDSmartie (Windows)
Post by: kensn on October 13, 2013, 11:42:23 pm
will this display work with your plugin?

The easiest way to tell is get LCDSmartie and see if it works with your display. It's free and a stand alone program (no install required), just unzip and run it. It has a screen configuration that lets you pick from a variety of display drivers.

I am currently using this display http://www.eio.com/p-18952-lcdmod-u204mbb1-usb-4x20-character-lcd.aspx (http://www.eio.com/p-18952-lcdmod-u204mbb1-usb-4x20-character-lcd.aspx), easy install in my HTPC case. Had a single internal USB connection to plug into an onboard header. Had to jump through hoops to get the driver in though....

You would have to look at specs of your case opening to see what is available for it.

Ken
Title: Re: JRiver Plugin for LCDSmartie (Windows)
Post by: scomed99 on October 14, 2013, 10:15:33 am
assistance please
we own this unit - http://www.iboyds.com/thermaltake-dh-202-htpc-case-vj80011n2z.aspx

will this display work with your plugin?
If not, is there a new display i could buy and install that would work in my case to get access to this awesome plugin?
Thanks

My Zalman HD503 use same iMON LCD display and it doesn't work, I think the only way to go is to change the display.....
I've take a look on this
http://it.rs-online.com/web/p/vfd-vacuum-fluorescent-display-display-a-illuminazione-fluorescente/6659778/
that have same external dim. of iMON LCD.
Title: Re: JRiver Plugin for LCDSmartie (Windows)
Post by: kensn on October 14, 2013, 07:57:06 pm
Corrected error.... :-[

Ken
Title: Re: JRiver Plugin for LCDSmartie (Windows)
Post by: kensn on October 14, 2013, 08:16:26 pm
It seems the Media Lab and Imon display could be based on the same hardware. There seems to be some sucees using these with LCD Smartie according to this thread:

http://forums.lcdsmartie.org/viewtopic.php?t=1460 (http://forums.lcdsmartie.org/viewtopic.php?t=1460)

Not sure if this applied to both the VFDs and LCDs though.. hard to tell but might be worth a try...
Title: Re: JRiver Plugin for LCDSmartie (Windows)
Post by: scomed99 on October 15, 2013, 02:44:32 am
Thanks!

With lcdsmartie 5.x I can't load the imon_OEM_lcd plugin.
I place this plugin on lcdsmartie plugin folder but I can't see it on "display setting"-->"plugin".

What am I doing wrong?


EDIT: The imon_OEM_lcd plugin must be put in "display" folder  :)
Title: Re: JRiver Plugin for LCDSmartie (Windows)
Post by: scomed99 on October 15, 2013, 03:42:50 am
This is a neverending story..... ::) ;D

If I leave the "config" file as default the display now works,
if I try to modified the "config" file (copy and paste a command line of your jriver plugin into lcdsmartie's "screen settings") an error command line come trough (see attached file)


EDIT (SOLVED):

Sorry, I have forgotten to put in the lcdsmartie plugin folder the jrinfo.dll file.
Title: Re: JRiver Plugin for LCDSmartie (Windows)
Post by: scomed99 on October 15, 2013, 08:28:00 am
And finally.....don't work  :(

This iMON LCD is good for doing nothing!

Title: Re: JRiver Plugin for LCDSmartie (Windows)
Post by: kensn on October 15, 2013, 09:17:12 am
And finally.....don't work  :(

What did not work... Above you said the display was working...

Ken
Title: Re: JRiver Plugin for LCDSmartie (Windows)
Post by: scomed99 on October 15, 2013, 09:45:55 am
The plugin works fine (no error) but the LCD display show only date/time.

Latest iMON driver with lcd display haven't sg_vfd.dll file.
In IMON folder there's sg_vfdu.dll file, il you rename sg_vfdu file to sg_vfd file lcdsmartie work fine (no command "hw not found"), but the lcd display show date/time all the time (imon manager uninstalled)

Title: Re: JRiver Plugin for LCDSmartie (Windows)
Post by: kensn on October 15, 2013, 02:23:53 pm
One last thing you may try, if you want to, is to "reboot" the screen by unplugging it and then plugging it back in. Make sure there are no other programs try to control the display. I remember in the LCDSmartie forum the uer basicaly rebooted the whole machine and disabled some softweare to get it to work. may want to look at that again.

Ken
Title: Re: JRiver Plugin for LCDSmartie (Windows)
Post by: scomed99 on October 15, 2013, 03:59:49 pm
Thanks for your help!

I will try again asap, but if imon manager is not running why the display show time/date? (Also with SO And PC off)
Title: Re: JRiver Plugin for LCDSmartie (Windows)
Post by: kensn on October 15, 2013, 05:06:20 pm
Thanks for your help!

I will try again asap, but if imon manager is not running why the display show time/date? (Also with SO And PC off)

Hard coded into the firmware...
Title: Re: JRiver Plugin for LCDSmartie (Windows)
Post by: scomed99 on October 15, 2013, 05:24:38 pm
Yes!
Power off the display and now works!
Only 1x16 caracter, but works!

EDIT:

With 02rev (not 04) of iMON_OEM dll the display become 2x16 caracter, not bad.
Title: Re: JRiver Plugin for LCDSmartie (Windows)
Post by: kensn on October 16, 2013, 08:57:01 am
Fantastic... Glad you have it running.... ;D

Ken
Title: Re: JRiver Plugin for LCDSmartie (Windows)
Post by: scomed99 on October 16, 2013, 10:18:38 am
Thanks Ken!

Next step is to change the cheaper iMON lcd display with a cool VFD 2x20 large character display. (see attached pic)
The display is a Futaba that works fine with parallel port of my tower PC.

Unfortunately my HTPC MOBO (Asrock Extreme 4) don't have a parallel port.
I try with this adapter
http://www.sybausa.com/productInfo.php?iid=607&currentPage=0
but it doesen't works......

Do you have some idea or some kind of adapter that might works?
Title: Re: JRiver Plugin for LCDSmartie (Windows)
Post by: scomed99 on October 16, 2013, 10:48:38 am
Ken, now all works fine!

The PCI card adapter works if you put in the LCDSmartie startup parameters the first address of the parallel port "$xxxx".

Ciao
Title: Re: JRiver Plugin for LCDSmartie (Windows)
Post by: dfroula on February 01, 2014, 07:16:28 am
Thanks for this plugin!

I have a dozen or so Noritake CU20025ECPB-W1J vacuum fluorescent displays that I wanted to use with the JRiver Media Center. The VFDs are nice, as they emulate the common Hitachi LCD controller parallel interface. I built up a simple "backpack" that emulates the Matrix Orbital command set using a PIC16F628 microcontroller and a MAX233 serial port level converter and PIC code developed by Matt Crowley. This works great with LCD Smartie and this plugin.

I housed the display circuit in a simple black enclosure that matches a headphone amp and crossfeed circuit I built. I have LCD Smartie set up to alternate between displays showing the track name/track timing and Artist/bitrate/sample rate using the LCD Smartie "enallax" plugin. I use the plugin's "IsAlive" function to blank the screen whenever a track is not playing by switching to an empty LCD Smartie screen.

The only issue I have had is that LCD Smartie does not notice that JRiver has exited and blank the screen unless the Stop button is pressed before exiting the program. The "IsAlive" function in the LCD Smartie plugin component does not detect that JRiver has exited. This is a minor inconvenience, though.

It would be nice if the plugin recognized Matrix Orbital button presses to control JRiver transport controls. Any chance of adding spectrum analyzer capability, as Winamp supports?

Regards,

Don

(http://projectmf.homelinux.com/cmoy/IMG_8032.JPG)
(http://projectmf.homelinux.com/cmoy/IMG_8036.JPG)
Title: Re: JRiver Plugin for LCDSmartie (Windows)
Post by: kensn on February 01, 2014, 10:30:36 am
Don,

Thanks for the kinds words, I'm glad you put it to use. I will look at the "isalive" function to see if I can see a problem. As for the Matrix Orbital buttons I don't think I will go down that road.

I would also like to get a spectrum analyzer, but I did not find a way to retrieve the info from JRiver for this.

Enjoy the plugin....


Ken
Title: Re: JRiver Plugin for LCDSmartie (Windows)
Post by: dfroula on February 02, 2014, 02:27:37 pm
Ken,

Why you're looking at the code, I just recalled a few other issues:

The JRiver plugin offers two parameters for indicating the track position: "Position" and "Position Raw". The LCD Smartie "Bar" function expects a position percentage from 0-100 as an argument to properly display position on a bar graph. An additional parameter with a scaled position percentage would help, as there's no way to have LCD Smartie calculate the percentage from the Position and Duration parameters.

The Scroll Divider field sometimes works with special character codes, sometimes not. Spaces seem to be a problem for it as well.

These are minor nits. It's a great piece of work!

Don
Title: Re: JRiver Plugin for LCDSmartie (Windows)
Post by: madman1887 on March 09, 2014, 02:08:34 pm
This is a neverending story..... ::) ;D

If I leave the "config" file as default the display now works,
if I try to modified the "config" file (copy and paste a command line of your jriver plugin into lcdsmartie's "screen settings") an error command line come trough (see attached file)


EDIT (SOLVED):

Sorry, I have forgotten to put in the lcdsmartie plugin folder the jrinfo.dll file.

Hi guys, I seem to be getting the same problem as this chap. I have definitely put the JR_Info.dll in the correct place (plugins folder un LCDSmartie) but i still get errors when running LCDSmartie and it reads cannot load plugin.

Hope someone can help.I am using the latest version of lcdsmartie. It also says I'm missing msvcr71.dll and i tried getting it and it said that the plugin was no good.

Im on Windows 7 32bit.
Title: Re: JRiver Plugin for LCDSmartie (Windows)
Post by: madman1887 on March 10, 2014, 06:58:21 pm
Also, I have installed net framework which did not solve the problem.

Would really appreciate it if anyone can help.
Title: Re: JRiver Plugin for LCDSmartie (Windows)
Post by: madman1887 on March 15, 2014, 07:03:39 pm
Never mind, installed Windows 8 and all seems to be fine now. Thanks for a very useful plugin, it's much appreciated.
Title: Re: JRiver Plugin for LCDSmartie (Windows)
Post by: kensn on March 15, 2014, 11:20:53 pm
Sorry I missed your post Madman.. Glad you have it working..

Ken
Title: Re: JRiver Plugin for LCDSmartie (Windows)
Post by: Matty70 on October 10, 2014, 03:21:34 pm
Hi all,

I just tried to install the MCLCD-Plugin with Media Center 20.
Unfortunately the plugin is not recognized by MC20.

Is there anybody who has experiences or suggestions?

Thanks in advance
Matthias
Title: Re: JRiver Plugin for LCDSmartie (Windows)
Post by: kensn on October 10, 2014, 03:26:24 pm
Let me look into it this weekend. I have it running in MC20, but I also had it running in previous versions. Let me try an install on a fresh MC20.

Ken
Title: Re: JRiver Plugin for LCDSmartie (Windows)
Post by: deceptive on October 24, 2014, 06:24:27 am
I have the same problem as Matty70 as in I cannot get it to show up in MC20.

Any news on this?

Thanks

Andy
Title: Re: JRiver Plugin for LCDSmartie (Windows)
Post by: skanet on November 14, 2014, 03:01:09 pm
Same problem in MC20, the plugin is not recognized, may be because the default installation path is under c: \ program files \ JRiver 19 \ plugins \ mclcd, even if i changing the path for JRiver 20 does not work.

any news?
Title: Re: JRiver Plugin for LCDSmartie (Windows)
Post by: thedon_1989 on March 17, 2015, 02:53:48 pm
Same problem in MC20, the plugin is not recognized, may be because the default installation path is under c: \ program files \ JRiver 19 \ plugins \ mclcd, even if i changing the path for JRiver 20 does not work.

any news?

Did you manage to get MC20 to recognise the MCLCD plugin?
Title: Re: JRiver Plugin for LCDSmartie (Windows)
Post by: thedon_1989 on March 17, 2015, 02:54:28 pm
I have the same problem as Matty70 as in I cannot get it to show up in MC20.

Any news on this?

Thanks

Andy

Did you manage to get MC20 to recognise the MCLCD plugin?
Title: Re: JRiver Plugin for LCDSmartie (Windows)
Post by: alspoll on June 09, 2015, 07:36:52 pm
Same problem in MC20, the plugin is not recognized, may be because the default installation path is under c: \ program files \ JRiver 19 \ plugins \ mclcd, even if i changing the path for JRiver 20 does not work.

any news?

Any updates getting this to work with MC20?
Title: Re: JRiver Plugin for LCDSmartie (Windows)
Post by: Spacebug on August 24, 2015, 09:25:38 am
Hello!
I'm late to the party it seems,  got a quick question regarding this plugin.

Is it possible to display jriver audio volume info on the lcd?
Volume is not in the standard fields,  can it be made in the custom user fields?
Can the volume info be retrieved via the JR_info.dll?

I don't have an lcd display yet but if this is possible I will get one.
I need to find a way of seeing jriver volume as I run jriver as a background program for audio processing.
A vfd or lcd display showing it would be neat.
Title: Re: JRiver Plugin for LCDSmartie (Windows)
Post by: kensn on October 11, 2015, 08:14:51 pm
Updated Install for MC21.

Will look into volume question.

Ken
Title: Re: JRiver Plugin for LCDSmartie (Windows)
Post by: kensn on October 11, 2015, 11:05:20 pm
Hello!
Is it possible to display jriver audio volume info on the lcd?

This is now supported. Can be viewed as a number, or used as a percentage bar using the $Bar command in LCDSmartie.  :)

Ken
Title: Re: JRiver Plugin for LCDSmartie (Windows)
Post by: Spacebug on October 12, 2015, 04:54:07 am
This is now supported. Can be viewed as a number, or used as a percentage bar using the $Bar command in LCDSmartie.  :)

Ken


Thanks, but as I wrote in the PM I have already got the imon display instead, sorry I didn't mention this before.
Hopefully though more users might think the feature is useful :)

/Henrik
Title: Re: JRiver Plugin for LCDSmartie (Windows)
Post by: kensn on October 21, 2015, 09:09:49 pm
Updated install routine and plugin due to not installing correctly on a couple of machines.

Ken
Title: Re: JRiver Plugin for LCDSmartie (Windows)
Post by: dfroula on October 25, 2016, 03:31:35 pm
Ken, any chance for an update for Media Center 22? When I point the MC21 version to the MC22 Plugins folder, the files get installed but the plugin cannot be accessed from within Media Center.

This plugin is great. I use it to drive a homebrew VF display connected via serial port to LCD Smartie.

Best,

Don
Title: Re: JRiver Plugin for LCDSmartie (Windows)
Post by: Quagis on October 28, 2017, 06:10:16 pm
Hi Kensn, I was wondering if there is a chance to upgrade the lcd smartie plugin for JRiver 23. I think many have asked this question, and I think you are the only one who can help us. Thanks in advance.
Title: Re: JRiver Plugin for LCDSmartie (Windows)
Post by: kensn on November 03, 2017, 10:28:35 pm
The zip file now contains a 64bit version for MC23.

Seems to be working here. Feedback welcome.

Ken
Title: Re: JRiver Plugin for LCDSmartie (Windows)
Post by: Quagis on November 04, 2017, 05:29:51 am
Great!!!  ;D I'll try it right away. Do I have to install JRiver x64?
Title: Re: JRiver Plugin for LCDSmartie (Windows)
Post by: Awesome Donkey on November 04, 2017, 05:42:26 am
Looks like it works with both the 32-bit and 64-bit builds of MC. So it's up to you whether or not to use the 64-bit MC build. :)
Title: Re: JRiver Plugin for LCDSmartie (Windows)
Post by: kensn on November 04, 2017, 08:38:48 am
I did not try to install on 32bit. I wrote and tested on the 64bit version. The 32 bit version in the zip file is the original 32bit one.

Ken
Title: Re: JRiver Plugin for LCDSmartie (Windows)
Post by: dfroula on November 04, 2017, 05:08:31 pm
The zip file now contains a 64bit version for MC23.

Seems to be working here. Feedback welcome.

Ken

Thanks, Ken!

Would it be difficult to compile for MC22?

It seems odd that MC seems to require update plugins for every release!

Best regards,

Don
Title: Re: JRiver Plugin for LCDSmartie (Windows)
Post by: kensn on November 04, 2017, 05:13:10 pm
I think it is due to where the registry entries are located. I'm not sure how to get the version of MC at the time of install to put them in the proper place. There are registry entries for each version..  MC21, MC22 MC23.

Were you using the LCD plugin in MC21?
Title: Re: JRiver Plugin for LCDSmartie (Windows)
Post by: JimH on November 04, 2017, 06:03:51 pm
I think it is due to where the registry entries are located. I'm not sure how to get the version of MC at the time of install to put them in the proper place. There are registry entries for each version..  MC21, MC22 MC23.

Were you using the LCD plugin in MC21?
You could probably make an MJP file (Media Jukebox Package file!) that would install it.  Just download any of the MC plug-ins and take a look at it.  I believe it's a zipped file with an executable and instructions on what MC should do with it.  If you do that, you can just execute the MJP file and MC will do the rest.
Title: Re: JRiver Plugin for LCDSmartie (Windows)
Post by: dfroula on November 04, 2017, 06:43:44 pm
I think it is due to where the registry entries are located. I'm not sure how to get the version of MC at the time of install to put them in the proper place. There are registry entries for each version..  MC21, MC22 MC23.

Were you using the LCD plugin in MC21?

Yes, I was using the posted version with MC21. When I upgraded to MC22, the installer created the directory in the plugins folder for MC22, but the plugin did not appear in MC itself.

Best,

Don
Title: Re: JRiver Plugin for LCDSmartie (Windows)
Post by: dfroula on November 04, 2017, 07:10:33 pm
You could probably make an MJP file (Media Jukebox Package file!) that would install it.  Just download any of the MC plug-ins and take a look at it.  I believe it's a zipped file with an executable and instructions on what MC should do with it.  If you do that, you can just execute the MJP file and MC will do the rest.

Manually duplicating the MC21 JRMCLCD registry entry for the plugin in the MC22 hierarchy does not allow the latest update to appear in MC22, even though it installs in the proper directory if the destination is manually changed from the installer.

Best,

Don
Title: Re: JRiver Plugin for LCDSmartie (Windows)
Post by: kensn on November 04, 2017, 08:36:38 pm
You could probably make an MJP file (Media Jukebox Package file!) that would install it.  Just download any of the MC plug-ins and take a look at it.  I believe it's a zipped file with an executable and instructions on what MC should do with it.  If you do that, you can just execute the MJP file and MC will do the rest.

Thanks Jim... I'll definitively give it look.
Title: Re: JRiver Plugin for LCDSmartie (Windows)
Post by: kensn on November 04, 2017, 10:46:20 pm
Don,

There seems to be a bit more than just the registry entry under JRiver.

I'm trying to work on a solution.

Ken
Title: Re: JRiver Plugin for LCDSmartie (Windows)
Post by: dfroula on November 05, 2017, 08:43:30 am
Don,

There seems to be a bit more than just the registry entry under JRiver.

I'm trying to work on a solution.

Ken

Thanks, Ken.

I delved into this as deeply as I could a year ago when I upgraded to MC22. I don't recall details, but there is some kind of version indicator in the dll itself that will prevent MC from loading a plugin unless compiled for that version. Lacking the source code, I was unable to go farther, although I did find some threads elsewhere in the forum that touvh on the issue.

It seems strange MC enforces version checking on its plugins. A developer must provide a new version of the plugin for every release, even if the code has not changed.

Best regards,

Don
Title: Re: JRiver Plugin for LCDSmartie (Windows)
Post by: dfroula on November 05, 2017, 08:49:52 am
Don,

There seems to be a bit more than just the registry entry under JRiver.

I'm trying to work on a solution.

Ken

I suspect that this has something to do with the version issue:

https://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=31946.0


"Register for COM Interop"

"Information"

"In order for the plugin to be registered with Media Center two things must occur.
First of all the appropriate registry settings must be created which tell Media Center
that a plugin exists, information about that plugin such as who made it and what it's called,
and also the ProgID which Media Center will use to access the plugin.
Secondly the plugin must be registered in such away that the registry can correlate the
progID to a specific DLL.  This is all related to the Component Object Model (COM).
In order for a .NET assembly to be registered in this way, it must use something called
COM Interop.  To allow Media Center to see the plugin we must Register the plugin for COM Interop"

"The method of doing this normally is through a command line utility called REGASM.
The Innosetup script does this when a plugin is being installed.
When developing Visual Studio does allow you to Register the plugin everytime it is rebuilt.
The template comes with this setting turned on."

Best,

Don
Title: Re: JRiver Plugin for LCDSmartie (Windows)
Post by: JimH on November 05, 2017, 09:05:43 am
I started a thread on the MJP package format here:
https://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php/topic,113070.msg781975.html#msg781975

MC owns the mjp file type so clicking on it will cause MC to try to execute it.  If successful, the plug-in will be installed.
Title: Re: JRiver Plugin for LCDSmartie (Windows)
Post by: dfroula on November 05, 2017, 10:26:21 am
Don,

There seems to be a bit more than just the registry entry under JRiver.

I'm trying to work on a solution.

Ken

Hey Ken!

I actually managed to get the MC21 version of the plugin to run on MC22!

I installed the MC21 version of the plugin on MC22 by changing the destination directory in the installer. As expected, this created the JRMCLCD directory with DLLs and an uninstaller. However, MC22 did not display the plugin in the Services area when started.

I opened the unins000.dat file in the JRMCLCD MC22 directory and saw that the MC22 directory was referenced correctly everywhere but in the Wow6432Node registry area, where it was apparently hard coded to the MC21 directory path. The Wow6432Node area is used by 32-bit applications running on a 64-bit version of windows (my case).

Using REGEDIT, I compared the MC21 and MC22 areas under HKLM-Wow6432Node and saw that the installer never created the JRMCLCD key in the Wow6432Node-MC22 area when I installed it.

I exported the Wow6432Node-JRMCLCD to a .reg file using REGEDIT's export file. I opened the file with a text editor and changed the destination to put the key into the MC22 Wow6432Node hierarchy. The file looked like this after the MC22 edit:

===================================

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\JRiver\Media Center 22\Plugins\Interface\JRMCLCD]
"IVersion"=dword:00000001
"Company"="Kensn"
"Version"="1.0.0.0"
"Copyright"="Copyright (c) 2015, Kensn"
"PluginMode"=dword:00000001
"ProdID"="JRMCLCD"

======================================================

I saved the file as "jrmlcd22.reg", double clicked on it, and saw a duplicate JRMCLCD key was created in the Wow6432Node MC22 area.

When I relaunched MC22, the JRMCLCD plugin was now visible and usable in the "Services & Plug-ins" area.

I'm guessing the same procedure would work to install the MC21 32-bit version on MC23.

I'm not sure how any of this applies to the 64-bit version, if at all.

Best regards,

Don

Title: Re: JRiver Plugin for LCDSmartie (Windows)
Post by: Awesome Donkey on November 05, 2017, 10:46:39 am
The likely 64-bit MC23 location would be...

Code: [Select]
Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\jriver\Media Center 23\Plugins\Interface
EDIT: Looks like there's some forum autocorrect going on - the location isn't JRiver as listed above with the forum autocorrect, but J+dot River instead.

Here's a Pastebin of the actual location just in case the above isn't clear: https://pastebin.com/mqfzRcNJ
Title: Re: JRiver Plugin for LCDSmartie (Windows)
Post by: kensn on November 05, 2017, 10:49:32 am
Great detective work Don. Glad you have it running.

Ken
Title: Re: JRiver Plugin for LCDSmartie (Windows)
Post by: dfroula on November 05, 2017, 01:05:30 pm
Great detective work Don. Glad you have it running.

Ken

Thanks, Ken. I'm not sure if you plan to change the code to make the registry entries match the installation version.

If not or not feasible, I have put the registry workaround files up for download for both MC22 (32-bit) and MC23 (32-bit).

http://projectmf.org/jrmlcd22.reg

http://projectmf.org/jrmlcd23.reg


To recap, the LCDSmartie plugin installer for 32-bit MC21 (JRMCLCD.exe) is written for only MC21. It can be installed on MC22 and MC23 (32-bit versions only) by changing the default installation path to point to the MC22 or MC23 installation directory. However, the plugin will not be recognized by MC, even though the installation appears to have been successful. This is because certain registry entries are hard-coded within the installer to the MC21 registry hierarchy.

A workaround is  to install the MC21 32-bit version of the plugin as above, then run the either the jrmlcd22.reg (for MC22) or jrmlcd23.reg (for MC23) to create the needed registry key. Once run, the plugin magically appears when MC22 or MC23 is relaunched.

One caveat, if you use the plugin uninstaller from MC22 or MC23, it will leave behind the registry entries created by the workaround files. It will also disable the plugin from MC21, if you have it installed, as it will delete the needed MC21 registry values!

None of this applies to the 64-bit version of the plugin, as MC23 is the first Windows 64-bit release. I think the problem is only seen when running the 32-bit plugin on a 64-bit Windows version.

Regards,

Don
Title: Re: JRiver Plugin for LCDSmartie (Windows)
Post by: Quagis on November 25, 2017, 01:03:34 am
The plugin works perfectly. Thanks so much. You are the number one
Title: Re: JRiver Plugin for LCDSmartie (Windows)
Post by: kensn on November 25, 2017, 01:38:34 pm
Thanks for the feedback...

Ken
Title: Re: JRiver Plugin for LCDSmartie (Windows)
Post by: matrixdefalco on March 28, 2018, 05:43:30 pm
Thanks to all for the help, I finaly have a vfd that is working thanks to you.
Just a question my display is 2x16 and the time is not correctly visualized...should be better in the format 00.00.00:00.00.00
could you help me if is possible to change this configuration?
Kindest regards Saniele
Title: Re: JRiver Plugin for LCDSmartie (Windows)
Post by: dfroula on October 15, 2019, 12:48:20 pm
Thanks for the feedback...

Ken

I recently upgraded to the 64 bit version of JRiver 25/26. The instructions for modifying Ken's 32-bit plugin for a more recent version also works for the 64-bit version. Just adjust the 64-bit program path in the edited REGEDIT file.

Regards,

Don
Title: Re: JRiver Plugin for LCDSmartie (Windows)
Post by: BCoulas on August 04, 2020, 09:41:44 pm
New to JRiver

Thanks for instructions. Worked perfectly for MC26 64bit
Title: Re: JRiver Plugin for LCDSmartie (Windows)
Post by: kensn on August 04, 2020, 09:43:15 pm
It lives on!
Title: Re: JRiver Plugin for LCDSmartie (Windows)
Post by: Holgy67 on November 14, 2020, 10:08:30 am
It lives on!

Hello, I use an LCD display hd44780 2x16 on LPT1 under Windows 7 (64Bit) with JRiver 26 (64 Bit). So far everything has worked great. The JRiver titles were also displayed correctly.

The display has recently started showing utter nonsense. When I open the program LCD-Smartie, everything is displayed correctly there. Unfortunately not on the display!

I've tried everything on the software side. Unfortunately without success. Maybe it is a hardware problem?

Would be great if you could help me!

Thank you!!!
Title: Re: JRiver Plugin for LCDSmartie (Windows)
Post by: kensn on November 15, 2020, 11:58:55 am
If the data is being pulled into the plugin correctly, it seems there is a problem getting the data to the LCD. If you have not changed anything and it stopped displaying correctly I would check your wiring to the LCD, and the settings in LCDSmartie. Can you get the display to show anything directly from the LCDSmartie program by itself?

Ken
Title: Re: JRiver Plugin for LCDSmartie (Windows)
Post by: dfroula on November 16, 2020, 10:18:07 am
I'm using the 64-bit plugin with Media Center 26 and a serial port-connected 2x20 VFD display. It works fine (with my registry hack - see above). It's possible something affected the configuration of your parallel port, scrambling the display.

BTW, I created a repository of registry fix files in Github at: https://github.com/donfroula/Jriver_LCD_Smartie_Plugin_Fix

These fixes allow older versions of the 32-bit and 64-bit plugin to work on newer Media Center versions by creating the correct registry entries. If you attempt to install an older version of the plugin on a newer Media Center revision, it will install but not run, as the registry entries are hard coded to the older hierarchy. These files create the proper registry entries, allowing the older plugin to function on a newer MC revision.

Regards,

Don

Hello, I use an LCD display hd44780 2x16 on LPT1 under Windows 7 (64Bit) with JRiver 26 (64 Bit). So far everything has worked great. The JRiver titles were also displayed correctly.

The display has recently started showing utter nonsense. When I open the program LCD-Smartie, everything is displayed correctly there. Unfortunately not on the display!

I've tried everything on the software side. Unfortunately without success. Maybe it is a hardware problem?

Would be great if you could help me!

Thank you!!!
Title: Re: JRiver Plugin for LCDSmartie (Windows)
Post by: kensn on November 16, 2020, 11:23:45 am
Hey Don, thanks for the assist!!

I have personally have not used my plugin for a couple of years. It appears some people are still using it though.

Ken
Title: Re: JRiver Plugin for LCDSmartie (Windows)
Post by: dfroula on November 16, 2020, 03:00:00 pm
Hi, Ken. You’re quite welcome. The registry hack is the easiest way to keep the plug-in functional for a new release of MC without you having to recode. I extended the RegEdit scripts out to MC28 for the 32 and 64 bit versions both.

The tech is ancient, but still remarkably useful. I use it daily. It’s a nice, configurable setup. I was able to customize the 2x20 display to my exact liking.

Best,

Don

Hey Don, thanks for the assist!!

I have personally have not used my plugin for a couple of years. It appears some people are still using it though.

Ken
Title: Re: JRiver Plugin for LCDSmartie (Windows)
Post by: dfroula on March 28, 2022, 07:08:58 am
Hey Don, thanks for the assist!!

I have personally have not used my plugin for a couple of years. It appears some people are still using it though.

Ken

I found that JRLCD64 works fine with MC29. I am still using MC with LCD Smartie and a homebrew VF display that emulates an Orbital Matrix unit.

A few changes in the published plugin need to be made to work with each new revision of MC.

When installing with the JRLCD64.exe installer, be sure to change the default installation path to that of the current MC release.

However, the plugin will still not be accessible, as the installer places some registry data in the incorrect location. The attached registry file will install the correct registry settings for MC29.

Note that if this file is opened with a text editor, the contents may be edited:

Code: [Select]
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\JRiver\Media Center 29\Plugins\Interface\JRLCD64]
"IVersion"=dword:00000001
"Company"="Kensn"
"Version"="1.0.0.0"
"Copyright"="Copyright (c) 2017, Kensn"
"PluginMode"=dword:00000001
"ProdID"="JRLCD64"

The line "[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\JRiver\Media Center 29\Plugins\Interface\JRLCD64]" may be edited to reflect the registry path for any future versions of MC.

One side effect of this hack is that the uninstaller for the plugin will not remove the registry entries for the new version of MC. If the plugin is uninstalled, that must be done manually with regedit.

Best,

Don