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[csimon]

I'm looking to create a "clean" HTPC interface, i.e. you don't see MC at all.  When playback is started via a remote app or another instance of MC I just want the audio to play.  Similarly for video.  MC doesn't have the ability to start minimised and there seems to be some oppsoition against the request (I asked for it here last August http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=90662.msg623229;topicseen#msg623229 and someone else who wanted it recently didn't go away happy either (http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=95746.0 ).

So how is it done, am I missing something? I've tried just enabling Media Server on its own on startup but while this allows the audio to work, video doesn't work. The audio is rendered but nothing happens with the video. Or rather, I get a brief full black screen on instigating playback but it then goes back to the empty desktop and the audio starts playing.

Can it be done using detached displays? Or will video only work if MC is running, in which case can we go back to the original request to enable MC to run minimised and stay minimised?

[BryanC]

http://www.autohotkey.com/docs/commands/WinMinimize.htm

You could write a script to check if MC is maximized, and if so, minimize it immediately using AutoHotKey.

[kstuart]

I'm looking to create a "clean" HTPC interface, i.e. you don't see MC at all.  When playback is started via a remote app or another instance of MC I just want the audio to play.  Similarly for video.  MC doesn't have the ability to start minimised and there seems to be some oppsoition against the request (I asked for it here last August http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=90662.msg623229;topicseen#msg623229 and someone else who wanted it recently didn't go away happy either (http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=95746.0 ).

First, where do you see "opposition" ?  You requested 20 items and even you admitted that was a lot.  (In general, if your communication includes a lot of things, people tend to be overloaded and forget the entire list - as opposed to a short communication with one or two things.)

JRiver gets far more requests than they have time to implement, so they usually look for many people requesting the same thing.

Second, in the other thread, the user received the attention of two people for a long period of time, and what he requested could not be done.  His request was far more specific than just "start minimized".

Third, you yourself discovered how to run audio "invisibly".  Running video "invisibly" is a bit contradictory, is it not ?   

[csimon]

First, where do you see "opposition" ?  You requested 20 items and even you admitted that was a lot.  (In general, if your communication includes a lot of things, people tend to be overloaded and forget the entire list - as opposed to a short communication with one or two things.)

I shall post them individually in next year's request thread. They are mostly things that other people have requested too.

Third, you yourself discovered how to run audio "invisibly".  Running video "invisibly" is a bit contradictory, is it not ?   

Aren't you splitting hairs a bit there? I think you know what I meant. It's so that the UI of MC doesn't show. Of course video needs to be seen, that's its whole purpose, but as far as I can see MC UI doesn't need to be un-minimised on the desktop to do that, unless video is inseparable from the UI, which I why I mentioned detached displays, but I can't get it to work that way either.

[mojave]

1.  Tools > Options > General > Interface > Minimize to system tray
2.  Tools > Options > General > Behavior > Jump on Play (video) to Display View (even in Playing Now)
3.  Tools > Options > Startup > Windows Startup > Run on Windows Startup: Nothing
4.  Place shortcut for MC20 in Windows Startup Folder (Start Button > All Programs > Startup)
5.  Right click shortcut in Startup folder and select Properties. Set Run to Minimized.

MC20 will start minimized to the system tray. From my testing, selecting and playing a movie with an app will launch the movie in Display View. Stopping returns you to Standard View and does not minimize the program. The command "MC20.exe /MCC 10014" will minimize it.

[csimon]

OK, thank you, I think I'd tried the Windows shortcut before but the problem was indeed MC coming back restored after stopping. I'm also running VoxCommando, I wonder if there's a way to trap a Stop Playing event in order to issue that command.

[csimon]

<bump>
Request to allow MC to minimise on startup, play the fullscreen video when invoked, and minimise again afterwards.

[sirkus]

I vote for this, too. I use other tools for managing and controlling films and series. I use MC only for playing.

[csimon]

<bump>

The subject keeps cropping up in other threads.

[csimon]

<bump>

The minimise switch it seems has been added at last but there is still no way to keep MC minimised.

[RoderickGI]

Well, JRiver have been good enough to provide half the solution you asked for, with the addition of the /StartMin command line switch.

But I'm wondering if you should go back to your original statement of requirement and ask JRiver how they may do that. Or just look for alternatives, as you have selected one possible solution which may not be the only or best solution.

I'm looking to create a "clean" HTPC interface, i.e. you don't see MC at all.

You see, starting MC minimised, then keeping it minimised, has all sorts of window focus issues to manage, when applied to playing video. Audio is taken care of simply by starting only the server component of MC. Audio then plays, and no part of MC is displayed. Or at least MC can be set to run that way, by setting "Jump on play (audio):" to None.

I did a little testing, and video also plays without the User Interface running. You noted you could hear a video when you hit play, but no display is presented. I started to play a video from a client PC to my server HTPC with the User Interface closed on my HTPC. I could hear the video playing. I then pressed the "Media Center" button on my remote (same as the green button on an MCE remote), once to start the User Interface, and once more to switch to Display View. The video was playing.

So I'm thinking as an alternate solution to starting and keeping the MC User Interface minimised, if the server component could open a Display View window (full screen of course) when a video is played to it, and close that window again when the video is stopped, all your requirements would be met.

Of course this also may not be the best solution, or even possible. But it may be quite simple. That is up to JRiver to say.

I can understand why having a clean display when the screen is not in use would be good, if perhaps security video was being shown normally, or a slideshow effect not available in MC. So I think the idea does have some merit.

Also, it seems to me with a future increased focus on remote control of MC, from remotes and client devices, having the MC server service capable of launching any window without the User Interface being activated makes a lot of sense. In fact, if a developer wants to run an application without a User Interface, and to always run and be available in the background, it is almost always best to design that application as a Windows service, just as with MC Server.

[csimon]

But I'm wondering if you should go back to your original statement of requirement and ask JRiver how they may do that.

Sometimes, they welcome suggestions as to how things might be done, other times they don't as we don't know how MC is programmed and structured.

I think the aim was clear - how to provide a "clean" interface and I asked for ways in which this could be done. I've suggested/asked about two way of doing it (run minimised, detached display). I'm sure there will be other.  Getting the server to open Display View when required and then close it may be another way, in fact that's already been in my notes for a few months for when the next Features Request opportunity comes up), although as noted in other bug reports that don't seem to be getting resolved either, Display View has its own issues when video is started by an external controller, so there's no point in implementing this as a solution because Display View wouldn't work anyway. I don't know what would be the easiest and best way to achieve a clean interface.

Also, it seems to me with a future increased focus on remote control of MC, from remotes and client devices, having the MC server service capable of launching any window without the User Interface being activated makes a lot of sense.

Absolutely, that's what I'm getting at, and this has been the focus of things I've been trying out and testing for the last few years (ahead of the game you see, been trying to get a whole house networked system up and running since 2006 with various pieces of software....nothing out there as yet that does it properly).

[JimH]

Sometimes, they welcome suggestions as to how things might be done, other times they don't as we don't know how MC is programmed and structured.

It's often just a matter of priorities and resources.