New user looking for plugin advice

[barnabas1969]

I use Avast for anivirus and ZoneAlarm for firewall on all my PC's... except my HTPC. On that one, I use Windows Firewall and Microsoft's free A/V software (can't remember the name at the moment).

Their firewall, by default, is pretty wide-open... but I don't browse the Internet much on the HTPC... and when I do, it's always a well-known website. If you want to have fewer problems, use M$'s firewall and A/V.

[mattiedread]

I have Media Browser and Media Center Master installed. I've been playing around with MC Buddy 2.1.4 with little luck (2 out of 10 or 12 recordings is without problem, several have 0 viewable frames, audio is non existent on others).

I like the concept of MC Buddy batch processing .wtv files into mp4 w/o commercials in MCM compatible format and moving to Media Browser folders, at least for my kids' shows. However, if I can't get it to work, I have similar feelings to others in this thread, why bother with these pluggins? Are they really creating a better experience or just complicating the matter? Even worse, breaking it in some cases.

My problems with MC Buddy may be my problems, or, a bad install. I'm curious as to whether or not anyone is using it and happy with it. A search for 'Buddy' in this forum turned up nothing.

[highsky]

Hello,

I am currently running PlayOn with vmcPlayIt v2.0.2.0 and I am having trouble with queuing, it only records 30 secs of a show.

I set my settings according to an earlier post :

Change settings -> Gallery settings -> View content as: "List"
Change settings -> Streaming settings -> Additional buffering: "5 MBytes"
Change settings -> Playback settings -> Enable playback queue (checked)
Change settings -> Playback settings -> Create WTV output (checked)
Change settings -> Playback settings -> Playback video directory (enter the path to the place where vmcPlayIt should save your movies for later playback)

What am I doing wrong?

TIA

[lucasbuck]

This was one of the bugs I was having that made me build a new PC. I asked about it earlier here .

Sorry to say, totally new PC and Windows install, same problem. Give or take, it usually records exactly 16,640 KB of the content then quits. Happens in Netflix and Hulu.

One thing I did notice, it still has problems accessing my Netflix user queue. Sometimes I have to close WMC, open it back, then it's there. I wonder if it would be a firewall setting or something. All I'm running is Win firewall and Securities for antivirus. On both installs, first build and second, I noticed a popup about allowing WMC Extendibilities (or something), and just clicked okay to allow access. Didn't read it all, but not sure if that has anything to do with it.

So I could use some help too!

[highsky]

I tried turning off my firewall, and antivirus, and there was no change.

I've also tried changing the directory the recording is stored to,, making sure it was on PC hard drive running WMC and vmcPlayit - still no luck.

I never received any messages regarding WMC Extendibilities.

Would love any suggestions

[barnabas1969]

I hadn't used "add to queue" for a while, so I tried it. It used to work for me just fine. It now stops at exactly 16.5MB like it does for you guys. I'm betting that PlayOn figured out how to detect when you do this via PlayIt, and they cutoff the stream. They probably want to force us to buy "Play Later" from them. Someone else mentioned that they forced TubeCore to stop offering a similar feature. I guess if you want to download and play later, you need to either pay PlayOn for the feature (which may not work in PlayIt, since PlayIt was written before this "PlayLater" feature existed), or you could actually watch the video and use something like VLC to capture the stream.

[barnabas1969]

Confirmed. Read the link below:

http://www.playon.tv/forum/media-device ... -supported

And, after further research, I found that if you purchase "Play Later" from MediaMall, those videos are recorded in a format that is not compatible with Media Center... and they contain DRM that prevents them from being played anywhere else.

It might be time to find a new DLNA server that can access NetFlix and Hulu and tell PlayOn to go stick it where the sun don't shine.

[barnabas1969]

Interesting... Even when I installed vmcPlayIt on a PC on the network (NOT the one that is running the PlayOn service), PlayOn somehow detects "Add to queue". Not sure how they're doing this, but I suspect that PlayIt sends something unique in the request to PlayOn when you "add to queue". If I get time, I might log the network traffic to see what's the difference. There are ways to change a network packet in transit... so it may be possible to fool PlayOn into thinking that you're just watching the movie/show. I've done this in the past... so that my son could use a hacked PS3 to play on the PlayStation Network and fake them into thinking that it's a legitimate PS3 with the latest updates, etc.

[lucasbuck]

Thanks barnabas, I couldn't find that info anywhere. Thought I was going nuts. I had went with vmcPlayit because of the add to queue feature. Now that that isn't an option, is there anything (features\performance) that would be worth switching to Tubecore. I don't mind paying for it, if it does anything extra or smoother (I know I can't playback with Tubecore).

Another question. I just got my new PC built and setup last night. I see a netflix icon on my Movies strip. Either I'm stupid, or it wasn't there on my old install. Did something add it? Does it work for netflix better? And if so, where is it going to put the temp files so I can make sure it's moved off the SSD.

[barnabas1969]

First, the Netflix plugin gets installed when you load Media Center updates. It works pretty well, but not on extenders. It delivers a much nicer experience than PlayOn does (better video quality and a familiar interface). However, as I'm sure others will tell you... it won't give you 5.1 audio (stereo only... same as PlayOn, BTW), nor will it give you subtitles. And, if it breaks, neither Microsoft nor Netflix will help you troubleshoot the problem... even though it was developed as a joint effort between M$ and Netflix.

I've only had one problem with it... and it was self-inflicted.

If you moved your Temporary Internet Files as I described in another thread, then you've already moved the temp files for the Netflix plugin.

I've done some more testing with the vmcPlayIt plugin tonight... and I'm not a happy camper. A while back, I did a LOT of "add to queue" to save a bunch of kids' movies for my 5 year old step daughter. However, tonight, I've found that not only does "add to queue" stop after 30 seconds, but so does "Play Stream". I'm running vmcPlayIt version 2.0.2.0. It used to work very well. Apparently, it hasn't been working for quite a while, and my kids didn't bother to tell me about it.

To further test this, I tried using one of my BluRay players that also acts as a DLNA client... and it worked OK. I could watch a movie without interruption via the BluRay player connected to the PlayOn server. I also tried two of my HP X280N extenders (the X280N extender has a built-in DLNA client that works outside of Windows Media Center)... and they work fine too.

So... it seems to be simply a problem between PlayOn and vmcPlayIt... which is very disappointing because any DLNA-compliant device or software should work fine.

I'd like to try TubeCore. I don't know if there is a free trial.

Lucas, can you "Play Stream" for more than 30 seconds???

[lucasbuck]

No, it just plays the first 30 then sits there. Same on Hulu or Netflixs. I do believe TubeCore has a trial. I might try it. I want a clean install so I think I'm going to try a few different plugins, format the SSD (tell me it won't wear it too much so I don't feel so bad), then just set everything up again. I already have all my install files for updates, drivers, plugins, etc. on a flash drive so it will be easy.

So if you move the temp folder, the plugin won't work? That stinks, I already moved it to save wear on the drive.

Does the Netflix web app play in 5.1? It would be nice if there was something to minimize WMC, pull up a web browser to Netflix, then go back to WMC.

If you get a chance to try Tubecore let me know what you think. I want to pick some solution before reinstalling.

[barnabas1969]

I just tried the TubeCore free trial. Works fine, but no "Play later" (unless you buy "Play later" from the makers of PlayON... more on that below). I guess I'll have to spend the $9.99 for TubeCore. Honestly though, I liked vmcPlayIt better. It was more responsive... and didn't require MS SQL Server Lite in order to run.

You don't need to do a fresh install of Windows... just un-install vmcPlayIt in the control panel, and install TubeCore. Also, if the un-install doesn't remove the PlayIt service as it should... you may need to set the service for PlayIt to "manual" so it won't try to start automatically after the un-install. A fresh install of Windows should only need to be done when you have MAJOR problems.

If you moved the Temporary Internet Files as I described in another thread, then the NetFlix plugin works fine (only on the PC... not on the extenders). I'm not sure why you thought I meant that it would not work if you moved the folder.

No, the NetFlix web app does not allow you to get 5.1 audio. NetFlix blocks 5.1 audio from all PC streaming. I don't know why. However, you can get subtitles in the web app, but not in the plugin.

If you are using a decent AVR, stereo audio from NetFlix should be decoded as Dolby Pro Logic... which sounds pretty good in my opinion. Not as good as true Dolby 5.1 or DTS, but pretty good.

As for PlayOn's new PlayLater feature... I'm really pissed off at them. They took away a feature I had before (for free)... and substituted it for their new "service" that puts DRM on your recordings... and only allows you to play the recordings via a DLNA device (like TubeCore) or Windows Media Player (not Windows Media CENTER). In my opinion, this is really, really stupid of them. In addition, if I'm correct... if you use PlayLater for a year, and then cancel your subscription, you won't be able to watch the recorded shows you made while your subscription was active. So, you're a slave to Media Mall for as long as you want to keep your recordings (for a fee of $49.99 per year)! I really think that the DLNA client (in this case vmcPlayIt or TubeCore) identifies itself to the PlayOn server. I bet this could be hacked. I may still look into this! I'd really like to be able to add movies and shows to a "Queue" and save them for later... without paying MediaMall $49.99 per year.

I'm beginning to think about cutting the cord and getting rid of cable TV... and PlayOn will be a big part of my solution if I go forward with that idea. I'm going to scream loudly at them... but I don't know if that will help.

[lucasbuck]

I thought moving the temp folder was the problem you mentioned right above that, the self inflicted one.

And you're right, $50 is pretty steep, but I really wanted that function. It should be a one time cost, or cheaper. If you do figure out a way around the identification, let us know. If I remember right about Sage, you could just hit record when the streaming file was finished. Seems like there would be an automated way to do that nightly.

So I'm assuming with Tubecore and Playlater you could still play them on extenders.

Speaking of Sage, I really appreciate all the help you've given me in my 100 threads. It's been hard after to many years to get all the Sage stuff out of my head and migrate. I appreciate everyone's patience.

[barnabas1969]

If you move the Temporary Internet Files folder by using Internet Explorer's "Internet Options" dialog, you should be fine.

If you buy PlayLater from Media Mall, you will see your recorded shows as a separate "channel" in TubeCore (or any other DLNA-compliant device, except vmcPlayIt apparently). So when you want to watch your recordings, instead of choosing "NetFlix" or "Hulu" inside TubeCore, you would choose "PlayLater". Yes, you can watch the recordings on an extender. However, it seems that you will need to use the PlayLater software to find shows to record... I don't think you can queue the recordings from an extender... or even from Media Center.

I played around with TubeCore last night on my HTPC and on one of my extenders. It worked fine in both places.

I'm just a little miffed that Media Mall specifically excluded a DLNA-compliant software player (vmcPlayIt) and forced the maker of TubeCore to remove the "Watch Later" feature so that they could sell a "new" feature that already existed for free.

I've been thinking about it... and I bet that the vmcPlayIt binaries could be changed so that vmcPlayIt pretends to be some other player. I'm not very experienced with doing something like this, but I'm sure it can be done. I'll see what I can figure out. I need to do some research on the subject.

[lucasbuck]

If you get anything figured out, let me know. I wonder where PlayLater saves to? And if it will be a problem with temp files.

[offroad]

The 64 bit version of Vmcplayit is 2.0.1.0

Tubecore costs $14 now so Vmcplayit is a little more cost friendly being free. The download link previously posted works fine, so grab it while you can. My setup refuses to put it on the main menu strip, but have had issues with this before.

Tried to use the latest trial version of tubecore and had problems with screen stuttering while trying to watch an AMAZON VOD video. The FAQ for Tubecore mentions you need a system that can run at 3ghz or better and is a quadcore or better. That's too costly for me. Other video apps under PlayOn, like REVISION 3 work fine. Tech support at TUBECORE had no answers yet.