INTERACT FORUM
More => Old Versions => Media Center 11 (Development Ended) => Topic started by: Matt on May 12, 2004, 05:00:25 pm
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There's a spiffy new desktop bar from JRiver that gives you quick access to your music (and lots of other useful stuff) at any time.
Check it out here: http://www.musicex.com/mediacenter/mc10/tmp/jrdeskbar.mjp
Installation:
1) Ensure that you have MC 10.0.134 or later installed.
2) Install the above component (right-click > Save As > then run the downloaded mjp)
3) Right-click on taskbar / start menu area and choose Toolbars > JRiver DeskBar (some computers may require a few clicks or a restart for this to show up)
4) Turn off the system clock to save space since the JRiver bar doubles as a clock
5) Use it (right-click on the bar to see commands -- note that you can also just type the commands once you learn them)
Uninstallation:
1) Turn off the toolbar like when you turned it on.
2) Optionally unregister JRDeskBar.dll in the MC directory with regsvr32.exe /u C:\Program Files\J River\Media Center\JRDeskBar.dll then delete JRDeskBar.dll.
3) Restart computer
Make sure you try the calculator -- it does trig, variables, parenthesis, and other good stuff. There's also a number base converter in there for you programmers. Also note that you can use it to run things like regedit.exe or \\Matt. (just use the r prefix for "Run")
If you don't type any prefix, it'll default to a Media Center search + play.
Enjoy :)
DISCLAIMER: This component is a beta. It may not work. It may not be available at a later date. It may not remain free. It may not be included with MC 10. Use it at your own risk. Copyright (C) 2004 JRiver, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Very nice. Also, very similar to Daves Quicksearch Bar. Now, if I could add all search engines from Daves to this bar - or add the play function of the JRiver bar to Daves :-\
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Very nice. Also, very similar to Daves Quicksearch Bar. Now, if I could add all search engines from Daves to this bar - or add the play function of the JRiver bar to Daves :-\
Dave's bar is nice, but it's really slow. And maybe I'm dense, but it seems hard to use. (i.e. click configure and see a javascript file in Notepad)
Anyway, we'll add customization to the JRiver bar if we continue with it. (which depends on if the bar is something people find useful or not)
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Actually, it does calculations, temp conversions, etc. I count 37 shortcuts in just the function directory alone.
Don't get me wrong, I am not putting yours down. I would love to have the play function of yours married to multitude of functions available in Dave's
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How about a picture ?
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How about a picture
Try this:
(http://home.comcast.net/~ebrownstein/toolbar.JPG)
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How do you use variables?
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Thanks for the shot ;D
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It's the box that says "santana". You type in anything and MC will play it by default.
The menu contains the command set available.
To use google to search for Musicmatch, for example, you type "g musicmatch".
(http://www.jriver.com/~jriver/misc/deskbar.jpg)
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Cool 8) 8)
How can I remove it?
Found it :P
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So, what exactly is it supposed to do ?
Other then a bunch of web pages that I don't want it does nothing for me... sorry guys.
Also, how do I uninstall it ?
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this is nice I'll use it for the quick play of my mp3's, but I use slickrun for those other feachers. Great idea guys, and keep them coming.
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Very nice matt. This little thing is fast, and packs a punch. I agree with you on the Daves being slow.
I give it a thumb up, can't wait until we get the options menu.
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Any chance you can display date and day as well as date when bar is inactive [or give an option to display date and day] ?
SlickRun [similar app] allows this.
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Any chance you can display date and day as well as date when bar is inactive [or give an option to display date and day] ?
We'll add a way to get the date, maybe as a tooltip.
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what about a date on hover or something similar. Tooltip is okay too. As it is now, I don't find it that usefull. I Also use google destbar, which is a similar app, though calc is better -- it use the google calc, which is pretty much supperier. Also, why soes the J River calc have to shove a gazzillion zeroes? There's no reason for it. I you care for all the digits after the point, make it do significant figures. Unit convertion would be nice too -- as google does ie if you wrie '32 oz in liters' it'll tell you it's about 0,92 (I think.)
The bar needs to be customizable, ie own links -- again look at google deskbar. Fx I don't want to search using Yahoo! Other might want to do that, but I isn't necessary for me.
Why not make it more incorperated with MC? Currently I already have an MC bar with Mjextman /Pause, /Next , /Previous and /Power, I would like to link the two bars together.
There's defently room for improvement and as it is now I see no reason why to use J River's bar instead of google DeskBar. If you haven't already done, you should defently check it out.
- Rasmus
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Looks like there is space for date alongside time with the current size of the bar.
At the moment it is displaying 17:41
There is room for it to display 13/5 17:41
or 5/13 if you're American!
I can't speak for others but, I always want the date displayed on my taskbar without the need for tooltips. Lots of shareware apps charge $25 for doing not much more than that!
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I'm having a problem downloading the Deskbar. When I click on the ftp address for JRDeskbar I get a Browser message that there is an error and it turns off my internet explorer browser. I've never had difficulties downloading Media Center files in the past. Would appreciate some guidence.
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Try right click, save as.
Then run it from your desktop
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Right click on the file and choose "save as". Then execute the file once it has been downloaded.
I'm not sure why it didn't work.
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Firstly I wanted to thx everyone at JRiver for the toolbar, but to be honest I was really hoping for (in later incarnations of Media Center) something similar to the Windows Media toolbar.
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Firstly I wanted to thx everyone at JRiver for the toolbar, but to be honest I was really hoping for (in later incarnations of Media Center) something similar to the Windows Media toolbar.
Yes, that would be cool!
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? Can't get it to work....
Skylar
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Did you reboot first?
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No I didn't, I didn't see that in the instructions.
I'll try that.
Thanks, Skylar
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::)
No, rebooting didn't help. Don't see time a bar area.
Maybe someone should review the installation instructions.
Thanks, Skylar
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So just to be sure you did everything:
You downloaded the file to desktop,
Ran the file.
Rebooted, (this helped on my work win 2k machine)
right clicked on toolbar - Toolbars - JRiver Deskbar.
You did all that and it still didn't work?
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Just updated the download with a newer version.
It's a work in progress, but it'll give you an idea where we're headed.
Right-click or double-click on the bar to toggle the new dialog on and off.
Notable Changes:
- Unified information / configuration dialog (replaces menu system)
- Shows information about what MC is playing (limited now, but will expand)
- Opens a new browser instead of hi-jacking an existing one for web commands
- Shows date and time when inactive if there's room
- Added configuration area (not currently hooked up though)
Enjoy :)
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make sure mc is runing also, and a empty space in the toolbar to right click on , when you right click look for toolbars then jriver deskbar add a check beside it and it should appear.
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Note: To install today's update, you'll need to:
1) turn off the JRiver Deskbar
2) log off or restart you computer
3) install the update
4) turn the JRiver Deskbar back on
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I can't speak for others but, I always want the date displayed on my taskbar without the need for tooltips. Lots of shareware apps charge $25 for doing not much more than that!
http://www.rcis.co.za/dale/
TClockEX is free and displays the date and/or time in ANY format you specify.
From this website:
Did you know if you make the Windows XP task bar double-height, the standard clock panel also shows the date? This is at least an improvement on earlier versions of Windows, but still no customisation. There is still life for TClockEx yet!
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Did all of the above. Installed thrice -- once on 134 and twice on 136. Restarted every time. A successful installation is reported each time. Still no show on right-click toolbar.
I have Google's bar. Could that interfere?
CVIII
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Is it supposed to pause for about 4 seconds after hitting enter, then beep before doing anything? Please can I turn off the beep?
Also, none of the web commands work. They pause, beep, and that's it. I'm running MyIE2 as my default web browser, but I do have IE6 on the machine.
-John
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Well I for one am blown away by how cool this is.
Once again, JRiver Rocks!
No one was even asking for this, that I read anywhere, and here you guys come up with this slick tool out of nowhere!!
It feels very polished already. I have the version with the tabs, very nice.
I wasn't using anything like this so this is adding a ton of tools to my desktop, and for nuthin! (for now)
I tried googles version of the same thing but I didn't like it. This has googles stuff built in but adds all the MC tools plus all the other good stuff!
I don't understand how others are not blown away by this, even just a little bit.
Good job guys!
Someday I have to come down there and tell all of you that you rock in person.....
I love that i can type 'p smells' and smells like teen spirit just starts playing, like magic.
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here come the requests already....
how about a keystroke to move cursor to the box so we can keep typing without using the mouse?
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Did you right click on the Windows taskbar? Then choose toolbars?
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Yeah, when I attempt to do any of the variable searches, like "g musicmatch" I just get a beep and nothing. My default browser happens to be FireFox.
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more suggestions...
for next use '.' and/or '>' (on the same key)
for previous use ',' and/or '<' (on the same key)
so it's like being able to hit > or < without having type in the whole word next or prev.
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All I am getting are beeps also. None of the web searches work anymore.
MyIE2 is my default browser.
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I can't speak for others but, I always want the date displayed on my taskbar without the need for tooltips. Lots of shareware apps charge $25 for doing not much more than that!
http://www.rcis.co.za/dale/
TClockEX is free and displays the date and/or time in ANY format you specify.
From this website:
Did you know if you make the Windows XP task bar double-height, the standard clock panel also shows the date? This is at least an improvement on earlier versions of Windows, but still no customisation. There is still life for TClockEx yet!
Thanks for the link Fixer.
I've actually got the date on the task bar already and was just looking for the MC taskbar to display date and day, so I could stop using my clock app and save space.
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I couldn't get the update to install - followed Matt's instructions to the letter.
Managed to get it to work by manually copying updated dll over old one and restarting.
BTW, thanks for the date display - you've just made one of my utility apps redundant. Fantastic ;D
Request
If possible, can you manually resize tabbed interface/list of commands. I'd like to be able to see them all at once without having to scroll.
Bug
None of web searches are working on new version. My default is MyIE2.
This looks promising :D
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None of the searches are working here either. Default browser is Firefox... Worked before in the previous version.
Liking what you are doing with this. Any chance that the old style command menu pop up could still be an option? Maybe right click for that and dbl click for the tabbed window??
Cheers
Adam
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Bug
WinXP taskbar is reset so that no toolbars appear when I reboot/log off. [only other taskbar I use is quicklunch]
Doesn't happen if J River toolbar not active at time of reboot/log off.
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search don't work here either using FireFox.
I would be more logical to call the 'dos' command 'cmd' as that is windows default. I would also be nice if you could type in the command in the bar fx dos "ping 192.168.1.1" or "format a:".
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Thank you to all who replied to my question.
I've got the DeskBar installed and working and am very impressed with its simplicity and ease or use.
Thank you all again.
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Okay the instructions state that I can turn off the normal system clock in the task bar to save space in the task bar.
Does anyone know how to do this? I found a website that explained doing it using a registry update (hack) but I thought maybe since no one else has ask that maybe there is an easier way of doing this.
Thanks
Tim H
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Er, you just right-click in empty space on the taskbar, select Properties, and you get a tickbox for enabling and disabling the windows clock!
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I'm such a dope!
I knew that, I guess I was just over thinking it at the time.
You would think that MS would have at least had a check box on the clock setting screen.
I can't believe I even did a yahoo search on that. Strange how none of the sites I looked at even had that info.
Anyway, Thanks for your help Rob L.
Tim
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Did you right click on the Windows taskbar? Then choose toolbars?
That may not be directed at me but it applies ... this is what I get when I right-click:
(http://216.77.188.54/coDataImages/p/Groups/64/64865/folders/86862/1047065toolbar.jpg)
CVIII
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But it's referring to the Windows task bar - nothing to to with IE.
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Duh!!!
Thanks.
CVIII
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It's installed ok, but every time I try to use it, it kicks Explorer out with the following message :-
EXPLORER caused an invalid page fault in
module RPCRT4.DLL at 017f:7fbd0894.
Registers:
EAX=008713ef CS=017f EIP=7fbd0894 EFLGS=00010216
EBX=0086d2b4 SS=0187 ESP=0086d0d4 EBP=0086d2c4
ECX=7713ee58 DS=0187 ESI=00000484 FS=4c0f
EDX=bff76855 ES=0187 EDI=7713ef6e GS=0000
Bytes at CS:EIP:
ff 30 ff 75 d4 8d 85 1c fe ff ff 50 e8 cb 0b 00
Stack dump:
0086d5f8 00000000 00000000 0086d21c 0086d400 00000000 00000000 bff9dfa4 00000000 00000202 0086d1c8 00000001 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000
Jim
Media Center Registered 10.0.136 -- C:\Program Files\J River\Media Center\
Microsoft Windows 98 SE
Intel Pentium III 599 MHz MMX / Memory: Total - 130 MB, Free - 40 MB
Resource Info: System - 58 %, GDI - 75 %, User - 58 %
Internet Explorer: 6.0.2800.1106 / ComCtl32.dll: 5.81 / Shlwapi.dll: 6.00.2800.1106 / Shell32.dll: 4.72.3612.1700 / wnaspi32.dll: 2, 0, 0, 0 , ASPI for WIN32 DLL, Copyright © Adaptec 1995 / Aspi32.sys: N/A
Ripping / Drive D: DVDROM 8X Mode:Normal Type:Auto Speed:Max
Drive E: PHILIPS PCRW804 Mode:Normal Type:Auto Speed:Max
Digital playback: Yes / Use YADB: Yes / Get cover art: No / Calc replay gain: Yes / Copy volume: 32767
Eject after ripping: Yes / Play sound after ripping: No
Burning / Drive E: PHILIPS PCRW804 Addr: 0:1:0 Speed:8 MaxSpeed:8 BurnProof:No
Test mode: No / Eject after writing: Yes / Direct decoding: No / Write CD-Text: Yes
Use playback settings: Yes / Normalization: None
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Same as Sauzee in WinXP with the first version - loss of all toolbars on rebot with JRiver taskbar active. I have not installed the second version.
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Had a few crashes ... Would type something in and MC would crash (latest 137 build) ..
Also, how about some additional functionality for people with more than one line in our taskbar ... I keep mine three rows high ... and i only get on tiny little bar ... How about move the time OUT of the white text area and put the Now Playing ABOVE the bar and the time BELOW the bar ... or something that is useful, cuz I already have a clock
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Mine also performs the disappearing toolbars trick in WinXP :)
crow
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Hi folks,
I just downloaded and tried this little new toy and found a rather strange problem when trying to search+play whole albums. (BTW MATT thanks for the quick search'n play feature !).
Ok, let's say I feel like playing Genesis's"The lamb lies...".
If I use MC main view search fields, I would 1/ select my main library then 2/ type something like "The lamb lies down" then /3 Hit [shift+return] and the album plays just fine starting with track 1.
Now If I use the JR task bar I just type "The lamb lies down" then hit [return] and the album plays but in a completely random sequence (in this case starting with track 12) !!
I have checked the appropriate options :
-I'm not in random play mode
-In "View settings" I've checked the "sort by track# for single album" box
-Everything plays in the correct order from within MC main view
Note that for some albums played from the task bar, the playing order is jusr fine. I tried to relate the played order with the creation or importation date of files but found not corelations so far.
Maybe just a minor thing but it's great sometimes to have the right sequence!
Voila,
Cmagic reporting from his study (Beautiful day in Paris, deep blue sky / 22°C) :)
Ciao,
C.
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The Desk Bar has a lot of potential.
I hope you guys plan on making it as customizable as Media Center.
I'd like to see the following:
1. Make it look a little nicer (the early version is functional but not exactly pretty). It would be nice if it could somehow match the user's installed MC skin...just a thought
2. More "Playing Now" info. Cover art is nice but I'd like to define what it displays and how it displays it. Maybe the user wants the lyrics to scroll through the search window while the song plays...or the track name/artist info scrolls by...the more options the better
3. I'd like the option of searching the MC database without Desk Bar actually launching (playing) the file. I might quickly want to know the name of a song and don't want to start playing it.
It looks like a great start and I look forward to watching it evolve.