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[bob]

This is the latest build of MC31 for Linux.  Please post bugs here.  Please start a new thread for anything requiring discussion.  Non-bug posts will be deleted.

Download:
Linux AMD64: https://files.jriver-cdn.com/mediacenter/channels/v31/latest/MediaCenter-31.0.42-amd64.deb
Linux ARM64: https://files.jriver-cdn.com/mediacenter/channels/v31/latest/MediaCenter-31.0.42-arm64.deb
Linux ARMHF: https://files.jriver-cdn.com/mediacenter/channels/v31/latest/MediaCenter-31.0.42-armhf.deb
Linux i386: https://files.jriver-cdn.com/mediacenter/channels/v31/latest/MediaCenter-31.0.42.deb

Also in the latest repo, note, the BULLSEYE branch.

31.0.42 (8/4/2023)

1. Fixed: Paired square brackets [] in a folder path prevented import of items in that path.
2. Changed: Clicking an empty checkbox field with multiple selections now changes based on the selected item (was using the first item instead).
3. Changed: Removed the drive performance tests from Reporter.

31.0.40 (7/28/2023)

1. Fixed: Local CUSTOMIZATION RESOURCES (like modified FileAssociations.xml) were not being read from the Appdata tree  (~/.jriver/Media Center 31/Data/Custom Resources/)
2. Fixed: Seeking with JRVR could result in some playback glitches since 31.0.35.
3. Changed: Updated Czech translation (thanks Jan Boháč).
4. Changed: Put the playing album at the top during a shuffle albums.
5. NEW: Added New, Popular, and Users categories for Cloudplay Playlists in Theater View.
6. Fixed: Closing the media server would only close one DSP Studio.  Now all of them are closed.
7. Fixed: MCWS was not fully standards compliant with using + to encode spaces in query strings.
8. NEW: Added memory usage and open file handles to Reporter.

31.0.36 (7/20/2023)

1. Fixed: Logging the playback information could lead to crashes in some cases.
2. NEW: Added "Shuffle Albums" to the shuffle menu to keep albums in track order but shuffle the collection of albums.
3. Changed: DSP Studio will be closed when shutting the program down to server mode.
4. Changed: More tuning of the Swap and Unswap expressions.
5. Changed: When clearing playing now, the menu option would enter the MRU list, but then keep working on the cleared zone.  So if you switched zones and picked the MRU, it was a little confusing.  Now it switches.
6. Changed: Made the default for logging to reset after 10 MB instead of to keep everything.
7. Changed: Reworked JPEG rotation so it uses the new EXIF code (testing appreciated).
8. NEW: Support reading and saving EXIF Artist and Copyright fields for images.  These fields will be saved in corresponding image EXIF tags if they only contain ASCII characters (since the corresponding EXIF tags only support ASCII).
9. Fixed: Thumbnail image embedded in an image might not be loaded because the EXIF tagging had a wrong thumbnail data size.
10. NEW: EXIF tags DateTimeDigitized and DateTime can be read into the library if custom fields "DateTimeDigitized" and "DateTime" have been created.
11. Changed: Slovak translation updated (thanks Peter Lukáč).
12. Fixed: Video playback could offset the playback position slightly after seeking.

31.0.33 (7/11/2023)

1 NEW: Support reading and saving EXIF Artist and Copyright fields for images.  These fields will be saved in corresponding image EXIF tags if they only contain ASCII characters (since the corresponding EXIF tags only support ASCII).
2. Fixed: Thumbnail image embedded in an image might not be loaded because the EXIF tagging had a wrong thumbnail data size.
3. Changed: Improved reporting of DSD to PCM conversion in Audio Path.
4. Changed: More work on the Unswap expression.
5. Fixed: Parsing EXIF blocks could enter an endless loop with some images.
6. NEW: The Comment field (if not empty) will be saved in image EXIF tag UserComment.  The Name field will be saved to image EXIF tag ImageDescription if the text is ASCII, otherwise we try to save it into UserComment if UserComment is not already filled.
7. Fixed: Erroneous GPS data was loaded for some images taken with cameras not equipped with GPS.
8. Changed: Better support for commas without spaces in the Unswap expression.
9. Fixed: Improved state tracking during JRVR startup for a potential hang fix.
10. NEW: Added an MCC to seek to a percent (MCC_SEEK_PERCENT / 10072).
11. Changed: Unswap(...) handles double (and more) spaces just like Swap(...).
12. Changed: Updated libplacebo in JRVR, with many HDR gamut mapping improvements.
13. NEW: Added an option to JRVR Advanced settings to allow disabling the histogram in peak detection for improved performance on slow systems.
14. Changed: Drives&Devices, Playlists, Podcasts, Services&Plugins, and Streaming pages use skin background and text colors.
15. Changed: Reworked how the default webpages like Playlists, Drives & Devices, etc. are included (please report any issues).
16. Changed: A little work on the Unswap(...) expression to better support the new Swap(...) expression.
17. Fixed: Video playback could crash in some cases.
18. NEW: Added a setting to control the target contrast when tone mapping HDR to SDR in JRVR.

31.0.28 (6/30/2023)

1. Changed: Triple spaces (or more) were still causing Swap problems.
2. Fixed: Media Center could leak memory when parsing an invalid MP4 file.
3. Fixed: Spotlight was not loading properly.
4. Fixed: Double spaces are removed by the Swap(...) function to avoid problems they cause.
5. Fixed: Improved detection heuristics in black bar analysis for more confident results.
6. Changed: Re-position New and Popular playlist links under Cloudplay title text.
7. Changed: Updated Greek translation (thanks Panagiotis).
8. Changed: Updated Simplified Chinese translation (thanks YanJun Sun).
9. Fixed: The new formatted flag on Playback/Info was not working properly.
10. Changed: Slightly better handling of commas in the Swap(...) expression.
11. Changed: Tuned the Swap(...) expression based on feedback on Interact.
12. Changed: Updated libplacebo with a lot of tone mapping and gamut mapping changes for processing HDR videos in JRVR.
13. NEW: Added new options to JRVR for controlling tone mapping. Output -> Contrast Recovery Strength, Output -> Spline Contrast (advanced HDR settings), Advanced -> Use Tricubic interpolation for gamut mapping.
14. Changed: Black Bar Analysis uses a simple heuristic to improve the quality of the detection, and write a report into the [Video Black Bar Analysis Report] field.
15. Fixed: UI skin issues with Clouplay start page when not signed in.
16. NEW: New EXIF library with full read and write support for much improved JPEG tagging.
17. NEW: Added an option to Tree & View > Advanced to hide tab close buttons.
18. NEW: Added a Dehexify expression function.
19. NEW: Use skin colors for Cloudplay.
20. Changed: Added a "Formatted" parameter to MCWS Playback/Info to allow specifying if the return value should be formatted or not.
21. NEW: Added "Chapter" Mode to MCWS Playback/Position to allow skipping to a specified chapter.
22. Changed: Tuned the Swap(...) expression function to work better with big strings.
23. Changed: Cleaned up the escapement in the Base URL of the links dialog so it should not be necessary (but the search expression still needs escapement).
24. NEW: Added mode to the MCWS Playback/Position and allow passing a percentage (works with relative or absolute seeks).
25. Changed: The "Unlock All Tabs" menu option disables when all the tabs are unlocked.
26. Changed: The "Lock All Tabs" menu option disables when all the tabs are already locked.
27. Fixed: Black Bar detection would not reliably select different points in the video file in some cases.

31.0.24 (6/20/2023)

1. NEW: Added the chapter list to Playback/Info.
2. Fixed: TIFF files with JPEG encoding did not work properly.
3. NEW: Contrast Recovery for tone mapping HDR video in JRVR, which enhances the details of tone mapped video.
4. Changed: Various improvements to JRVR tone mapping, improving perceived saturation and other color issues.
5. Changed: Dynamic Tone Mapping (Peak Detection) in JRVR is now on by default, as well as in the Balanced and Quality presets.
6. Changed: When matching, Spotlight will ignore any extra user data in movie or tv show titles enclosed in brackets.  For example, "Avatar [3D]" will match just Avatar.
7. Changed: Loading and saving views also restores the tab locked state.
8. NEW: If more than one tab is open, the option to lock and unlock all the tabs is in the header menu.

31.0.23 (6/15/2023)

1. Fixed: The "Prefer DVD Order" option for TV Show lookup did not work properly with TheMovieDB lookups.
2. Changed: Black bar analysis skips more frames after a seek for decoding to stabilize before checking for black bars.
3. Fixed: Cloudplay would go to home page when there was an edit in another tab.
4. Fixed: Corrected the typo so the field is now "State/Province".
5. NEW: Added the tags City and State/Province and mapped them to the same IPTC fields for images.
6. Fixed: Seeking a video close to the end would cause playback to stop.

[driblo]

Hi!
Have couple problems on Manjaro KDE, X11, Alsa (default device), running on 6.1.41-1 kernel.
Application works mostly fine, updates are installed with installJRMC - MC installer for Linux script.
Problems persist since 31.0.29.

• Playback of audio suddenly hangs after couple of songs, restart of application needed. Happens on different formats and songs. Happened with and without equalizer preset.
• Search box looses focus when search history/recommended dropdown appears.
• Application is sluggish, scrolling is slow and hangs every sscreen page or so. Library is big, available locally on SSD. Panes display helps a little, caching of thumbnails also helped little.

[JimH]

Could you describe your audio setup?

Are you using Remote Desktop to access the linux machine?

[driblo]

No, it is not remote access.

Audio setup is based on Pipewire, output on active stereo speakers (AudioEngine 5+) directly from integrated sound card.
It works fine in smplayer.

Output of pw-cli list-objects | grep node.name

Code: [Select]

node.name = "Dummy-Driver"
  node.name = "Freewheel-Driver"
  node.name = "Midi-Bridge"
  node.name = "libcamera_input.__SB_.PCI0.D0C0.XHC0-2_1.0-046d_082d"
  node.name = "v4l2_input.pci-0000_09_00.3-usb-0_2_1.0"
  node.name = "alsa_input.usb-046d_HD_Pro_Webcam_C920_F21C11AF-02.analog-stereo"
  node.name = "alsa_output.pci-0000_0a_00.3.pro-output-0"
  node.name = "alsa_output.pci-0000_0a_00.3.pro-output-1"
  node.name = "alsa_input.pci-0000_0a_00.3.pro-input-0"
  node.name = "alsa_input.pci-0000_0a_00.3.pro-input-2"
  node.name = "alsa_output.pci-0000_43_00.1.hdmi-stereo"
  node.name = "Brave"
  node.name = "alsa_capture.VirtualBoxVM"
  node.name = "bluez_output.00_0A_45_1A_05_EE.1"
  node.name = "alsa_playback.VirtualBoxVM"

Node pro-output-0 is active.
Output in MC is default ALSA.

[JimH]

Pipewire?

https://wiki.debian.org/PipeWire#:~:text=PipeWire%20is%20a%20server%20and,between%20different%20pieces%20of%20software.

[Awesome Donkey]

What audio output are you using in Media Center itself? MC's Options > Audio > Audio Device section. Don't use the PulseAudio/PipeWire output, instead use the hw: or front: output if available.

I've noticed no issues under Fedora here while using a hw: output for my DAC. I suppose it *could* be a Manjaro (Arch Linux) related issue, who knows.

[driblo]

Pipewire?

https://wiki.debian.org/PipeWire#:~:text=PipeWire%20is%20a%20server%20and,between%20different%20pieces%20of%20software.

This is more updated wiki and more relevant to Manjaro
https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/PipeWire

[BryanC]

• Playback of audio suddenly hangs after couple of songs, restart of application needed. Happens on different formats and songs. Happened with and without equalizer preset.
• Search box looses focus when search history/recommended dropdown appears.
• Application is sluggish, scrolling is slow and hangs every sscreen page or so. Library is big, available locally on SSD. Panes display helps a little, caching of thumbnails also helped little.

1. Try using a different output to bypass pipewire for testing. Also try checking your system logs (journalctl and dmesg) when this occurs, it could be hardware-related.
2. Probably a window manager or compositor quirk, hard to diagnose and one of those things you'll just have to put up with on an "unsupported" distro as there are too many variables at play.
3. I have the same overall sluggishness on Linux, but it's been present since the beginning. Having the tag editor open is a big culprit. It's just something I've learned to put up with over time, unfortunately. For large tagging sessions I'll usually hop on a Library client and sync changes back to the server since the sluggishness is only present on the server and not on the client, even Linux clients.

[driblo]

What audio output are you using in Media Center itself? MC's Options > Audio > Audio Device section. Don't use the PulseAudio/PipeWire output, instead use the hw: or front: output if available.

I've noticed no issues under Fedora here while using a hw: output for my DAC. I suppose it *could* be a Manjaro (Arch Linux) related issue, who knows.

1. Try using a different output to bypass pipewire for testing. Also try checking your system logs (journalctl and dmesg) when this occurs, it could be hardware-related.
2. Probably a window manager or compositor quirk, hard to diagnose and one of those things you'll just have to put up with on an "unsupported" distro as there are too many variables at play.
3. I have the same overall sluggishness on Linux, but it's been present since the beginning. Having the tag editor open is a big culprit. It's just something I've learned to put up with over time, unfortunately. For large tagging sessions I'll usually hop on a Library client and sync changes back to the server since the sluggishness is only present on the server and not on the client, even Linux clients.

Ok, I switched output from
default [ALSA] output (currently PipeWire Media Server)
to
front: CARD=generic, DEV=0 [ALSA]

Played some HD flac and dsf files, no hangups or freezes, playback is smooth - MC uses from 50% to 100% of a single core in top, but it holds.
I don't have volume control through OS, which is to be expected since it now goes directly to the card through ALSA.
Also automatic downmixing of 5.1 and 4.0 mixes doesn't wok anymore - which is also expected.

I guess problem has to be somewhere in the PipeWire (my config or something still buggy in PW); since first setup was just passtrough from PipeWire to ALSA.

Rest of the problems (searchbox focus and sluggishness) persist.
I will try to see what is happening in journal and to debug it (maybe it will be faster under Wayland?), will respond if I find out anything.

Thanks for the help!

[Awesome Donkey]

When it goes through the default output (ALSA or PulseAudio/PipeWire) it's going through the system mixer (and sometimes there's usually resampling involved, e.g. 48 kHz by default for PulseAudio). The hw: and front: outputs bypass the system mixer and are direct outputs. You can look in the Audio Path when playing back media to see if it's a direct connection or not.

If the sluggishness is what I'm thinking it is, I'm with Bryan as that's something that's been there since day one. It *has* improved over the years, but it's nowhere near Windows when it comes to that. Though last time I used macOS it was even worse there than Linux, so yeah, glass half full.

[bob]

When it goes through the default output (ALSA or PulseAudio/PipeWire) it's going through the system mixer (and sometimes there's usually resampling involved, e.g. 48 kHz by default for PulseAudio). The hw: and front: outputs bypass the system mixer and are direct outputs. You can look in the Audio Path when playing back media to see if it's a direct connection or not.

If the sluggishness is what I'm thinking it is, I'm with Bryan as that's something that's been there since day one. It *has* improved over the years, but it's nowhere near Windows when it comes to that. Though last time I used macOS it was even worse there than Linux, so yeah, glass half full.

I'm not a big fan of the tag window.
It's overly complex and depends on MS Windows API focus and window behavior that's extremely difficult to work into the Mac and linux window API's.

[driblo]

When it goes through the default output (ALSA or PulseAudio/PipeWire) it's going through the system mixer (and sometimes there's usually resampling involved, e.g. 48 kHz by default for PulseAudio). The hw: and front: outputs bypass the system mixer and are direct outputs. You can look in the Audio Path when playing back media to see if it's a direct connection or not.

If the sluggishness is what I'm thinking it is, I'm with Bryan as that's something that's been there since day one. It *has* improved over the years, but it's nowhere near Windows when it comes to that. Though last time I used macOS it was even worse there than Linux, so yeah, glass half full.

MC is much faster on Wayland KDE Plasma.
Scroll sometimes hangs, but overall it is much more pleasant experience.
Search still looses focus, but reacts much faster on typing and clicks.
Haven't been able to find anything in journal about it.

Noticed that MC when "idle" (not playing or in focus) uses 40%-50% single core, even after couple of minutes. Is that normal?

Also, when starting playback i got long error regarding to chromium plugin, VAAPI and nVidia driver.
Playback continues normally, and error is probably connected to Display pane.
I put stacktrace in attachment if it is of any help.