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More => Old Versions => Media Center 11 (Development Ended) => Topic started by: Matt on August 12, 2003, 01:12:45 pm

Title: Media Center 9.1.231 beta available
Post by: Matt on August 12, 2003, 01:12:45 pm
Please read VERY carefully. This is a BETA version of 9.1.  If you expect things to work, please download the latest 9.0 build from this thread:      
     
http://www.musicex.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=MediaCenter;action=di splay;num=1054751628
     
but if you're patient and willing to help us work out some of the bugs, you can download 9.1 here:  
     
ftp://ftp.jriver.com/pub/downloads/music/MediaCenter91231.exe    
 
(backup your library before installing)    
   
Please report any 9.1 problems in this thread.  Keep a list of problems and if they aren't fixed in the next build, please post the list again.  
 
History:
1. Fixed: Dragging files to a playlist in the tree didn't work properly.
2. NEW: Added "Action Picker" page to Action Window.
3. NEW: Action Window > Playlists now shows track listing.
4. NEW: TV recording now allows user selectable audio compression.
Title: Re: Media Center 9.1.231 beta available
Post by: Rands on August 12, 2003, 01:26:28 pm
TOO MUCH SO FAST OVERLOAD DOWNLOAD
Title: Re: Media Center 9.1.231 beta available
Post by: Polonio on August 12, 2003, 01:31:01 pm
Cooooooooooooooool!!

And it seems so obvious solution.
Title: Re: Media Center 9.1.231 beta available
Post by: Rands on August 12, 2003, 01:33:44 pm
Genius.  A "home page" for the action window.  Awesome.
Title: Re: Media Center 9.1.231 beta available
Post by: jleerigby on August 12, 2003, 01:47:53 pm
Should I report bugs from the last build?

Cross Fade is no longer working.  Set to cross fade smooth at full 16 secs but the new track does not kick in until the old one has completely faded out.  If you don't let the old track fade out but double click to play a new one then you do get some cross fade.  This problem appeared from v228.

Helllllllllllllp!  Everyone has their own opinion of what is a minor, medium or major bug I know.  Let's just say that this one's catastrophic for me!  Somebody please comment as I'm beginning to think I'm alone with this issue.  If it's a bug DJ's will be mortified.

Title: Re: Media Center 9.1.231 beta available
Post by: Polonio on August 12, 2003, 01:54:22 pm
Some issues:

-System info is not working
-Locate on disk (external) does not work

Title: Re: Media Center 9.1.231 beta available
Post by: Ingo on August 12, 2003, 02:07:53 pm
oh no. Everyone seems to be happy about that home page thing.... so there's probably no hope for a toolbar...

Ingo

p.s. shouldn't you have noticed: I don't like this home page thing... It's too many clicks on a _moving_ target.
p.p.s.: can you at least move the home button/toolbar to the bottom? this would make it stay where it is.
Title: Re: Media Center 9.1.231 beta available
Post by: jleerigby on August 12, 2003, 02:11:23 pm
Quote
Some issues:

-System info is not working
-Locate on disk (external) does not work

Both these are working for me Polonio.  Can you tell us more about what the problem is.
Title: Re: Media Center 9.1.231 beta available
Post by: Bartabedian on August 12, 2003, 02:16:28 pm
Quote

-System info is not working
-Locate on disk (external) does not work


These work for me too.
Title: Re: Media Center 9.1.231 beta available
Post by: jleerigby on August 12, 2003, 02:21:37 pm
Quote


These work for me too.
And crossfade? ....
Title: Re: Media Center 9.1.231 beta available
Post by: Bartabedian on August 12, 2003, 02:24:42 pm
Yes, crossfade works for me as well.

Very cool McWindow functions! ;D
Title: Re: Media Center 9.1.231 beta available
Post by: jleerigby on August 12, 2003, 02:31:13 pm
Thanks Warren.  Can I just clarify - Is that with same settings and by allowing track to end naturally?
Title: Re: Media Center 9.1.231 beta available
Post by: nila on August 12, 2003, 02:36:57 pm
Cool - homepage idea is smart.

A few suggestions:

Title: Re: Media Center 9.1.231 beta available
Post by: bennyd on August 12, 2003, 02:37:23 pm
Like the Action Picker thing,

way cooooool

:-)
Title: Re: Media Center 9.1.231 beta available
Post by: Polonio on August 12, 2003, 02:39:28 pm
Quote

Both these are working for me Polonio.  Can you tell us more about what the problem is.


When I click in Help/System Info I get a message box saying "An invalid argument was encountered". Other people reported same error.

When I select a song and click in "Locate/On Disc (external)" I get a message box saying "File 'C:\My Music\Queen - Made in heaven\' not found". It happens wtih every song. The songs exist, and I can play them normally. It happens with every song.

I use XP Pro. Spanish version. My machine have not anything special.

Title: Re: Media Center 9.1.231 beta available
Post by: JimH on August 12, 2003, 02:48:07 pm
Quote


When I click in Help/System Info I get a message box saying "An invalid argument was encountered". Other people reported same error.

Polonio (and JLee), Please start new threads on these.  They could be bugs, but I'd like to keep this thread for certain bugs.

Thanks.
Title: Re: Media Center 9.1.231 beta available
Post by: Doof on August 12, 2003, 02:58:48 pm
The Action Window is really starting to shape up. I like it.

But one suggestion... the Tools window seems a little misleading. I understand now that it's just setting the drop target, but it kind of comes across as a shortcut that's going to actually send the selected files to that tool. I'm not sure if that's what Nila meant, but if so, I agree with him.

And the Home icon is nice. It only takes you to one place now, so the resizing isn't as big of a problem, but when you have a huge playlist open, then click Home, it's a little jarring to suddenly have everything so far down.
Title: Re: Media Center 9.1.231 beta available
Post by: Matt on August 12, 2003, 03:09:55 pm
Naming and grouping is open for discussion in the Action Window.

Some of the other things that could be improved:

Title: Re: Media Center 9.1.231 beta available
Post by: NoCodeUK on August 12, 2003, 03:38:18 pm
Like the idea of the nwe action window...just a couple of things.

The new home button is great but for options where you navigate through a couple of options could there also be a back button eg playlists. back button would take you back to the list of playlists. The home button takes you all the way back to the menu...

The new playlist file view is great.  Could this be done for CD burning too??

Could there be a separate image option not in properties which shows the image of the currently playing track rather than the selected one.  I can understand the one in stats should relate to the selected file but it would be ncie to have an image that follows the playing track...(this doesn't need to have any options, just display the image...)

The movement/bouncing can still be a bit disconcerting.  Would be nice to have the option of locking the action window at a certain height...

Adam

Title: Re: Media Center 9.1.231 beta available
Post by: Quisp on August 12, 2003, 03:46:49 pm
I'm assuming this is a bug/inconsistency, but if I select a playlist in the action window I get a list of songs, YeehaW! When I double click a song, it plays again, Yeehaw...however, this only seems to occur if I'm in the media library part of the tree. If I'm in playing now and do this, the current song in playing now is added (in other words repeated) to playing now no matter what song I select in the playlist.

This also happens if I drag and drop...
Title: Re: Media Center 9.1.231 beta available
Post by: NoCodeUK on August 12, 2003, 04:00:24 pm
Still getting the scroll error in the add rule dialog.  Can anyone else confirm this or is i just my crazy system.  I posted a pic before.  Basically if you use the mouse wheel to scroll in this dialog you end up with the scroll bar repeating as you scroll.  So you get like 4 or 5 horizontal scroll bars evenely spaced in your file window...

Adam
Title: Re: Media Center 9.1.231 beta available
Post by: cct1 on August 12, 2003, 04:19:03 pm
Ok, this is probably asking for too much, and not everyone may like this idea, but one thing that would be awesome would be an option to put your playlists/smartlists themselves on the toolbars--you could chose which one--man that would be sweet!

Probably not doable though...  

I'm really loving the way 9.1 is coming along--outstanding job!
Title: Re: Media Center 9.1.231 beta available
Post by: JimH on August 12, 2003, 04:33:48 pm
A lot of work still needs to be done on the Action Window, so don't give up on it.  It's nice to hear that many of you like it.  It raised the level of respect I get around JRiver.
Title: Re: Media Center 9.1.231 beta available
Post by: Charlemagne 8 on August 12, 2003, 04:58:17 pm
Quote
It raised the level of respect I get around JRiver.


Yeah. Like that's really hard for you to get.

I also like the Action Window or whatever you choose to call it.

CVIII
Title: Re: Media Center 9.1.231 beta available
Post by: Markeau on August 12, 2003, 05:00:11 pm
OK here is an odd problem.  As I reported in an earlier post, sometime starting with 9.1 my XPpro will not properly do a Power Schemes > Turn Off Monitor when set for 5mins ... At the timeout period the monitor turns off for a moment but then turns back on.  This only happens when MC9.1 is running or has been closed, never happens with any other app.  Only a reboot will fix it.   And, it does *not* happen when the timeout is 3mins or just 1 min (haven't tried anything higher, yet).

Media Center Registered 9.1.231 -- C:\Program Files\J River\Media Center\

Microsoft Windows XP  Workstation 5.1 Service Pack 1 (Build 2600)
Intel Pentium 4 1992 MHz MMX / Memory: Total - 261 MB, Free - 62 MB

Internet Explorer: 6.0.2800.1106 / ComCtl32.dll: 5.82 (xpsp1.020828-1920) / Shlwapi.dll: 6.00.2800.1106 (xpsp1.020828-1920) / Shell32.dll: 6.00.2800.1233 (xpsp2.030604-1804) / wnaspi32.dll: Internal ASPI Layer

Ripping /   Drive R:   Copy mode:ModeBurstBigBuffer   CD Type:Auto   Read speed:Max
 Drive W:   Copy mode:ModeBurstBigBuffer   CD Type:IDE   Read speed:Max
 Digital playback: Yes /  Use YADB: Yes /  Get cover art: Yes /  Calc replay gain: Yes /  Copy volume: 32767
 Eject after ripping: Yes /  Play sound after ripping: Yes  Soundfile:   chord.wav

Burning /  Drive W: YAMAHA   CRW2200E      Addr: 1:0:0  Speed:4  MaxSpeed:20  BurnProof:Yes
 Test mode: No /  Eject after writing: Yes /  Direct decoding: No /  Write CD-Text: Yes
 Use playback settings: Yes /  Normalization: None

Title: Re: Media Center 9.1.231 beta available
Post by: Rands on August 12, 2003, 05:02:57 pm
Loving the Action Window more and more.  

One small suggestion (don't hit!):  it'd be nice to have a proper context menu for whatever the current action item is (if one exists).  For example, after dragging a bunch of MP3s to my iPod, I have to then dig the iPod up from the Handhelds tree to upload and eject.  It'd be nice to just be able to right click on the action-pane and do it all from there.

It's not a big deal but it seems like a nice addition even as a submenu of the current action window menu.
Title: Re: Media Center 9.1.231 beta available
Post by: gkerber on August 12, 2003, 05:15:49 pm
Quote
A lot of work still needs to be done on the Action Window, so don't give up on it.  It's nice to hear that many of you like it.

I like it too, and you were worried about me...
Title: Re: Media Center 9.1.231 beta available
Post by: lalittle on August 12, 2003, 05:30:57 pm
Ragarding the Action Window, it would also be nice to have faster access to what it displays rather than having to navigate multiple levels of drop down menus just to quickly do something like check statistics.  The way it is now, checking stats requires you to go through a couple drop down levels, select statistics, than once again go through a couple levels of drop downs to get back to where you were.

Larry
Title: Re: Media Center 9.1.231 beta available
Post by: Markeau on August 12, 2003, 05:59:28 pm
I LOVE the Action Pane!  Now I can see a Playlist's contents while browsing and listening to Library tracks.  Can we have 2 of them? :)  ...  (Seems like the icons in it could be smaller or more tightly packed or let the user choose).
Title: Re: Media Center 9.1.231 beta available
Post by: Markeau on August 12, 2003, 06:15:17 pm
Quote
Ragarding the Action Window, it would also be nice to have faster access to what it displays rather than having to navigate multiple levels of drop down menus just to quickly do something like check statistics.  The way it is now, checking stats requires you to go through a couple drop down levels, select statistics, than once again go through a couple levels of drop downs to get back to where you were.


Like maybe a "Back" button or something.

I also envision a hotspot that when hovered over a larger popup displays showing everything (no traversing thru cascading menus) for instant selection, then the popup disappears after a selection has been made.
Title: Re: Media Center 9.1.231 beta available
Post by: JimH on August 12, 2003, 06:16:36 pm
Quote
Seems like the icons in it could be smaller or more tightly packed or let the user choose.

The icons are just place holders right now.  We'll have better ones in a few days and we'll continue to fine tune it.

User selected would be even better, but it won't happen in this version.
Title: Re: Media Center 9.1.231 beta available
Post by: gkerber on August 12, 2003, 06:19:39 pm
Quote

The icons are just place holders right now.  We'll have better ones in a few days and we'll continue to fine tune it.

User selected would be even better, but it won't happen in this version.


Please, keep the text for the icons...  That way the icon people and the text oriented people can live together in harmony.  Which ones are the litttle trolls living under the bridge??
Title: Re: Media Center 9.1.231 beta available
Post by: gkerber on August 12, 2003, 06:27:38 pm
Sometimes (not sure the sequence yet) where I can have PlayingNow showing in the Action Window and then click the playing now button on my toolbar and the lists in the Action Window and in the main track listing area are different.  And the list in the main track area is correct, not the action window.
Title: Re: Media Center 9.1.231 beta available
Post by: GRAYDOG on August 12, 2003, 06:33:51 pm
I think you guy's have hit pay dirt with this Action window  ;D
Title: Re: Media Center 9.1.231 beta available
Post by: Cindy_B on August 12, 2003, 06:34:16 pm
I'm hoping the action window icons can be control just like the top and bottom toolbars.  

This way if I choose to hide something on the top toolbar it would be pointless if it shows up in the action window.  ;D

I absolutely love the new look.   You guy's are the best!
Title: Re: Media Center 9.1.231 beta available
Post by: Shelly on August 12, 2003, 07:24:24 pm
Very nice progress on the new window!  Would love to see file property groupings return, especially if the groupings could be based on the type of media.  

It's likely that this bug has been previously reported but just in case:  
The number of imported files scanned is always 1 more than the number of files imported, which is the correct number.

(http://imagestation.com/picture/sraid73/pe343e7ee36b7fd970eb27488995302ae/fb6722c9.jpg)

Shelly
Title: Re: Media Center 9.1.231 beta available
Post by: RemyJ on August 12, 2003, 08:10:58 pm
If you select Playing Now off the action window's home page the title becomes "Add to Playing Now".  If you select Playing Now from the right click menu, it's just "Play".

A few times now, the playing now count in the action window title bar has been correct but there were no tracks in the list.  If you drag something into the window at that point, it replaces what's actually in the real playing now instead of adding to it.

During an import, the action window flickers constantly.  When it's finished, the title bar shows a count in recently imported but there are no details.

Hmmm.  After the import, I can now only get details in the action window if the same files are in the main details window.

I really miss being able to manually resize the action window when in image preview mode.
Title: Re: Media Center 9.1.231 beta available
Post by: Soundman on August 12, 2003, 08:29:08 pm
Hi.

Action Window is a good idea.  I do have some concerns though:

1. I frequently switch between "File Properties / Detailed Info" and "File Properties / Playlists" view.  In the "pre-Action Window days", I could toggle between these with one click.  Now, it takes at least three clicks to navigate back and forth.  This makes me grumpy, as I need to do it all the time.

2. Perhaps an MRU would help here?  Or, better yet, a Favorites list that I can control myself.

3. The "File Properties / Detailed Info" seems to only be displaying a subset of the file properties.  In particular, custom fields are not shown.  Do I need to change some configuration option, or is something not yet implemented here?

4. This is, perhaps, related to #1, but I am not totally comfortable with having multiple levels of Action Window things.  I think one-level list would be better, but would that get too long?  Don't know.

5. Someone suggested a back button to help with multiple levels.  I think this would certainly help if no feasible way can be found to flatten the list.

6. I still want to be able to open multiple instances of the Action Window.  If this is out of the question, then say so and I'll pipe down about it.

Thanks!
Soundman
Title: Re: Media Center 9.1.231 beta available
Post by: BuiltToSpill on August 12, 2003, 08:29:15 pm
Quote
Still getting the scroll error in the add rule dialog.  Can anyone else confirm this or is i just my crazy system.  I posted a pic before.  Basically if you use the mouse wheel to scroll in this dialog you end up with the scroll bar repeating as you scroll.  So you get like 4 or 5 horizontal scroll bars evenely spaced in your file window...

Adam



I'm having a scroll problem too, but not exactly like that. In the action window, when i either drag the scroll bar down, or use the wheel, the bar will move down a little bit and then shoot back up very quickly. I cannot view the other icons below... :-/ The window just seems to shake very rapidly.

-----------------------------------------------------------------
Media Center Registered 9.1.231 -- C:\Program Files\J River\Media Center\

Microsoft Windows XP 5.1 Service Pack 1 (Build 2600)
Intel Pentium 4 1793 MHz MMX / Memory: Total - 260 MB, Free - 96 MB

Internet Explorer: 6.0.2800.1106 / ComCtl32.dll: 5.82 (xpsp1.020828-1920) / Shlwapi.dll: 6.00.2800.1106 (xpsp1.020828-1920) / Shell32.dll: 6.00.2800.1233 (xpsp2.030604-1804) / wnaspi32.dll: 4.60 (1021) , ASPI for Win32 (95/NT) DLL, Copyright © 1989-1999 Adaptec, Inc. / Aspi32.sys: 4.60 (1021)

Title: Re: Media Center 9.1.231 beta available
Post by: matshif on August 12, 2003, 09:18:14 pm
Quote
Very nice progress on the new window!  Would love to see file property groupings return, especially if the groupings could be based on the type of media.  

It's likely that this bug has been previously reported but just in case:  
The number of imported files scanned is always 1 more than the number of files imported, which is the correct number.

(http://imagestation.com/picture/sraid73/pe343e7ee36b7fd970eb27488995302ae/fb6722c9.jpg)

Shelly


I suppose that if your files are in a map, the map itself is counted as one :P


Mats
Title: Re: Media Center 9.1.231 beta available
Post by: DJ_Hazelwood on August 12, 2003, 09:48:12 pm
The action window is getting better and better. I like it very much.

The action picker is a very comfortable way to navigate within the action window. Cool.

The bug i reported for version 9.1.230 is still there:
Within the action window, if you are in playing now, then change to a playlist and then change back to playing now, the list is empty. Closing and re-opening the action window brings the list back.


Title: Re: Media Center 9.1.231 beta available
Post by: Marty3d on August 12, 2003, 11:04:41 pm
Quote
Very nice progress on the new window!  Would love to see file property groupings return, especially if the groupings could be based on the type of media.  

It's likely that this bug has been previously reported but just in case:  
The number of imported files scanned is always 1 more than the number of files imported, which is the correct number.

Shelly


If you use XP, there's an explanation. There is a hidden file called thumbs.db in every folder you have graphics in and ever viewed as thumbnails. For some reason MC doesn't choose to ignore this file.

/Martin
Title: Re: Media Center 9.1.231 beta available
Post by: lalittle on August 13, 2003, 12:11:35 am
Since this upgrade my iPod no longer shows "artists."  I looked at the files on the iPod through MC and the artist column is completely blank.  I tried both the 9.0.43 "Portable drive" plug-in and the 9.0.38 "iPod" plug-in.  They both result in the same issue (and the "cut off" problem still exists as well.)

I tried a complete restore, but it didn't help.

Larry
Title: Re: Media Center 9.1.231 beta available
Post by: lalittle on August 13, 2003, 12:17:18 am
Regarding the missing "artisit" information, I tried manually adding an entry to the artist field on one of the songs on the iPod, and it took it just fine.  The problem seems to be in the transfer -- i.e. this field is stripped off when synching.

Larry
Title: Re: Media Center 9.1.231 beta available
Post by: Phil Lee on August 13, 2003, 04:07:56 am
Initially I didn't like the Action Picker but then I realised I was using the Brushed Metal skin and I didn't have the home icon everyone was mentioning. Once I'd switched to PixOS it becamse obvious how things were working. I also edited the main.xml for Brushed Metal to enable the home icon but think I'll stick with PixOS during these developments.

I find the easiest way to use the action window is to have the action window toolbar button as the only button on the bottom toolbar. I can use this to toggle the window really quickly and think this should be the default toolbar arrangement with the other buttons back on the top toolbar where they belong.

The action picker shows six icons on my PC along with a scrollbar. The scrollbar doesn't work but suggests that there may be additional icons I'm not seeing. How many icons should there be in the action picker?

I'd also like to echo the request for a forward and back button on the action window. They would eliminate a lot of unnecessary clicks.

The drag and drop option for burn CD is nice but should show a list of the files like the playing now view does. There should also be a way to get to the main burn page using a button or link on the CD burn section of the action window to allow you to start burning quickly. You should also be able to clear the burn list from the action window.

If you click on the Handhelds icon in the action window and there are no handhelds connected you get an error dialog saying "no handhelds available" and the action picker goes blank. The action picker should not go blank under this circumstance, it should stay on the home page. The error message should probably have a capital n on the no but that's just me nit picking.

Moving on to the playing now section, it should update after each track has been played so that it shows the current file being played and the files in the queue to be played. It should also be possible to switch to the main playing now view using a button or link in the action window. It should also be possible to clear the playing now list from the action window. Finally it should be possible to access the options in the playing now right click menu from the action window. I would suggest doing this using the drop down menu on the right hand side. In fact I think the contents of this menu should change depending on what's shown in the action window.
Title: Re: Media Center 9.1.231 beta available
Post by: Shelly on August 13, 2003, 07:28:40 am
Quote
Very nice progress on the new window!  Would love to see file property groupings return, especially if the groupings could be based on the type of media.  

It's likely that this bug has been previously reported but just in case:  
The number of imported files scanned is always 1 more than the number of files imported, which is the correct number.  

Shelly


If you use XP, there's an explanation. There is a hidden file called thumbs.db in every folder you have graphics in and ever viewed as thumbnails. For some reason MC doesn't choose to ignore this file.

/Martin


I do use XP, but I have folder options configured to show hidden files and there isn't a thumbs.db in these particular folders.  Also,  the only files that should be scanned for import are the ones which the user highlights.  

Shelly
Title: Re: Media Center 9.1.231 beta available
Post by: NoCodeUK on August 13, 2003, 07:58:12 am
Shelly,

You have fallen foul of the famous hidden MS files!!  Even with hidden files set to show these files do not show up.  Neither do MS cover art files that WMP creates.  The only way I have found that you can see them is if you navigate to the folder using Nero.  Then you can delete them. (But don't delete the thumbs file.  Just believe me that it is there ;D)

Adam
Title: Re: Media Center 9.1.231 beta available
Post by: Pensive_Chimp on August 13, 2003, 08:03:55 am
You can see thumbs.db (and other hidden files) if you have "show hidden files" turned on and "hide protected operating system files" turned off.
Title: Re: Media Center 9.1.231 beta available
Post by: jleerigby on August 13, 2003, 08:49:15 am
Development on the action window gets a big thumbs up from me.  I've read and commented on some of the suggestions on the 'Stirring it up' thread but on the whole I'm very happy.  I know you will look to further improve the navigation so we can quickly select the window we want.  Whichever way it goes I have one suggestion that you could implement to make life easier for many of us:

Add to the list of available toolbar buttons ALL of the different views of the action window  e.g.
Action Picker - Playing Now
Action Picker - Properties, Detailed Info
Action Picker - Properties,
Action Picker - Properties, Image

etc etc.  I know that no one in their right mind would add all the buttons to their toolbar, they'll just add one or two.  I for example would settle for the first two I listed above 'cos those are the main ones I use.

The only other 'minor' change I would suggest, and I've suggested it many times before, is that you enable toolbar buttons for the various play types, clear playing now, reshuffle and other commonly used functions. A simple change that would please everyone and hurt no one.