xPLRioNet V3.8d Released

["Tony Tofts" <tony@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi all,

The latest beta is now available at www.xplhal.com

Details for upgrading and other info is below.

Please be aware that there are a number of items still to be implemented
for
mvp (see latest to do list) including shoutcast and text-to-speech.

The web interface (and xpl commands) currently only control the music side
of things, xpl/web control of pictures/movies is on the to do list.

Although we'll try to fix any obvious bugs discovered, everything else is
on
hold for a few weeks as i have to fit a new kitchen in my house.

If posting to the list regarding bugs and/or enhancements required etc
please mark the item clearly so we can prioritise the bugs from the
enhancements (please check to do list first though).

Many thanks to John and Ian J for development and testing.

The mvp support does support multiple units. And dhcp will serve them with
ip addresses if you don't have your own dhcp server.

You can have music playing in the background while viewing pictures, and
looking at the movie menu.

To upgrade:

Download the upgrade zip file and helpers zip file

Stop the service

Copy xplrionet.exe and xplrionetconfig.exe to the service program folder

Copy Interop.DexterLib.dll and stdole.dll to the service program folder

Copy the 3 files starting zlib from the helpers zip to the service program
folder

Copy the mvp folder to the install folder (and copy your dongle.bin, dated
10/02/2004, into the mvp folder)

Copy the web\mpv.htm and web\index.htm to the web folder (those with a
modified web will need to add {mvplist} to index.htm instead).

To scanner.xml add 2 lines (or multiple lines for multiple sources) like

<movies path="c:\my movies" />
<pictures path="c:\my pictures" />

You need to replace your existing data.mdb with the new data.mdb and do a
full scan (or import the 'media' table and 'movies'/'pictures' query's into
your existing data.mdb and run a quick scan)

You need to add the following line to xplrionet.xml

<mvp enabled="Y" media="53000"
display="53050" bgcolour="0,0,192"
fgcolour="255,255,255" font="Arial"
fontsize="18" fontbold="N"
fontitalic="N" frametime="0" tvtype="pal"
tvconnect="composite"
tvaspect="4:3" tvflicker="medium" />


The above items can also be accomplished by running xplrionetconfig.exe,
which now supports all the items in scanner.xml and xplrionet.xml

the media= and display= are the start point for a range of free ports

the bgcolour=, fgcolour=, font=, fontsize=, fontbold=, fontitalic= items
control the menu fonts and colours etc

frametime= allows you to set the position within mpeg movies where the
thumbnail should be extracted

the items starting 'tv' are currently ignored

Once all the above is done, restart the service and power up the mvp (with
original software disabled!)

Details of remote control:
2 thru 9 = narrow down menu by music tag/movie filename/picture filename,
menu = display main menu,
ch+/ch- = navigate menus and picture slideshow up/down,
vol+/vol- = navigate menus and volume (might be an issue here!),
back/exit = back one menu level,
yellow = search artist/album/genre etc,
blue = random mode,
green = repeat mode,
stop = stop (needed after a playing a movie to return to menu)
The rest should be pretty obvious (hopefully).

There are sure to be bugs, and there are quite a few things still to be
implemented (like browsing pictures/movies by folder view). But hopefully
this release will get you started, and give us feedback on any major
issues.

The buttons in mvp\images can be redrawn if you prefer, but try to keep to
same size.

The front menu doesnt use the font/font size specified, as any change in
this would effect the album cover artwork being displayed.

Please do not make any major changes to the mvp\images\splash.bmp file, as
this will be detected and mvp support disabled...

This version now has boot logging, which can be enabled in xplrionet.xml

I won't be able to field any questions this evening, but will check my mail
in the morning. Might be an idea to keep a backup of your existing
xplrionet
folder, in case you have problems!

Regards
Tony










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