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[dfroula]

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

[dfroula]

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

[JimH]

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.

[dfroula]

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

[Awesome Donkey]

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

[kensn]

Great detective work Don. Glad you have it running.

Ken

[dfroula]

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

[Quagis]

The plugin works perfectly. Thanks so much. You are the number one

[kensn]

Thanks for the feedback...

Ken

[matrixdefalco]

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

[dfroula]

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

[BCoulas]

New to JRiver

Thanks for instructions. Worked perfectly for MC26 64bit

[kensn]

It lives on!

[Holgy67]

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!!!

[kensn]

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

[dfroula]

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!!!

[kensn]

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

[dfroula]

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

[dfroula]

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