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Launching DVB Viewer from Vista MCE Start Menu


c128

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I don't know if my usage patterns are widely different from everyone else, but I'll confess that I use Vista Media Center for the vast majority of my DVB-S/DivX/Xvid viewing, with DVBViewer used solely for DVB-S duties (and particularly for BBC HD, here in the UK). So, I have Vista Media Center running by default, with everything controlled from the remote. Until recently, I had been resorting to the keyboard to launch DVBViewer, but then decided to have a little fiddle with getting DVBViewer registered with the Vista Media Center start menu. Attached is something (very) simple that does this, based on Aaron Stebner's article here:

 

dvbviewer_vista_mc.zip

 

By unpacking the .zip somewhere permanent, for example in a folder of the DVBViewer installation, and then (with Administrator priveleges) running "register.bat" followed by "regedit.exe /s DVBViewer.reg", you'll get the following in your Vista Media Center start menu.

 

post-39275-1198054518_thumb.jpg

 

You can launch DVBViewer from the menu, Vista Media Center minimizes and DVBViewer starts. When you're finished with DVBViewer, you can just exit as normal and "Green Button" launch back to Vista Media Center. Obviously there's nothing revolutionary/clever in all of this, as it's almost a glorified batch file :) , but I hadn't seen anything mentioned specifically to do this, and I've found it quite handy.

 

NOTE: A default installation of DVBViewer is assumed at "C:\Program Files\DVBViewer", you'll need to edit "DVBViewer.xml" after unpacking the .zip to specify a different location (prior to running "register.bat") if your installation is elsewhere.

Edited by c128
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Ummm...I think calling this a plugin might be a bit strong :) - it's just a tweak to some other chap's Media Center start menu example. I think most of your questions are answered by basically saying that all this does is minimize Media Center and launch DVBViewer as if you were doing it manually - it's just a convenience, and you have to manage what you're doing a bit. In terms of getting back to Media Center, you just exit DVBViewer and then re-launch Media Center (via the vanilla operation of the green button) - if you have DVBViewer running in full-screen HTPC mode, with the MCE remote plugin, it all basically works OK.

Edited by c128
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but how do you exit DVBViewer before the green button press is bringing vmc back again? do you terminate manually, i.e. another button on the remote then click the green button. would prefer a one-click solution.

 

Yes, I terminate manually, as effectively you've just got two separately running applications - personally I use the "Info" button on my MCE remote, and then select "Exit" from the DVBViewer side-menu (if you toggle off the option in the settings, it also won't query you before exiting) followed by the green button - this is the default behaviour with DVBViewer. You could of course just stop whatever you're doing in DVBViewer (audio/visual wise) and then just press the green button - that won't cause DVBViewer to close, but it will bring Media Center to focus. In fact, there's no reason why you can't have both apps running all of the time, switching to DVBViewer with the above start menu icon, and switching back to Media Center with the green button, each app minimizing as appropriate. However, as above, managing what either is doing from an audio/video point of view to avoid conflict would need to be done manually, anything else on this front would require something more substantial, and integrated, than the trivial solution outlined here.

Edited by c128
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  • 3 weeks later...
Yes, I terminate manually, as effectively you've just got two separately running applications - personally I use the "Info" button on my MCE remote, and then select "Exit" from the DVBViewer side-menu (if you toggle off the option in the settings, it also won't query you before exiting) followed by the green button - this is the default behaviour with DVBViewer. You could of course just stop whatever you're doing in DVBViewer (audio/visual wise) and then just press the green button - that won't cause DVBViewer to close, but it will bring Media Center to focus. In fact, there's no reason why you can't have both apps running all of the time, switching to DVBViewer with the above start menu icon, and switching back to Media Center with the green button, each app minimizing as appropriate. However, as above, managing what either is doing from an audio/video point of view to avoid conflict would need to be done manually, anything else on this front would require something more substantial, and integrated, than the trivial solution outlined here.

 

Is it possible to configure DVBViewer so that it will only quit if no othe OSD-Parts are visible? That would be the Case if you are just watching TV. Then you could configure

DVBViewer to quit when hitting the Back-Button. So it would only quit if you hit the Back-Button when in TV mode, if you are in any other OSD-Part of DVBViewer it would just go back

one Level. Is it possible to this that way?

 

Also it should be possible to disable the TV-Part in VMC and to rename the posted Launcher so that it replaces the TV Section in VMC. Using Girder or somthing like that

could also help to use the Buttons on an MCE Remote differently in different situations.

 

Has someone investigated more on that, mean how to integrate DVBViewer more in VMC?

 

I also investigated on doing that with MP (MediaPortal), because the Multimedia Part is superb in MP

but the Television part is not, especcialy when useing the TV3-Server. If using MP it would also be possible to use almost identical Skins like this Skin and that Skin.

 

Regards

Vlaves

 

PS sorry for my bad english :)

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Is it possible to configure DVBViewer so that it will only quit if no othe OSD-Parts are visible? That would be the Case if you are just watching TV. Then you could configure DVBViewer to quit when hitting the Back-Button. So it would only quit if you hit the Back-Button when in TV mode, if you are in any other OSD-Part of DVBViewer it would just go back one Level. Is it possible to this that way?

 

Not in DVBViewer itself. Could be possible with a script or an external application using the COM interface.

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  • 2 months later...

Anyone running DVBViewer alongside Vista Media Center (or MCE, for that matter) may well be interested in LM Remote Keymap.

 

I've recently been using GB-PVR (largely because EVR works better with it for me for stutter free BBC HD) and so had the same "want to use it alongside Vista Media Center with just a remote" issue. Now, that's simply (if trivially) solved with the same Start Menu integration detailed above. However, you still have the issue of Vista Media Center "hogging" the Guide etc. buttons on the remote via ehtray.exe - that's where LM Remote Keymap comes in, although I don't think I would have discovered it if someone on the GB-PVR forums hadn't pointed me towards it. In a nut-shell, it allows you to really simply map all buttons of the remote to specific actions for the currently active applications e.g. pressing the guide button with DVBViewer active leads to its guide being displayed, with Media Center active you get the correct guide there. There's a bit of fiddle to set it up, detailed in this thread, but after that it seems to work really well.

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  • 2 months later...

Thanks for your nice script. It was working very well till the new DVBViewer version.

Since Now I have a problem with focusing the DVBViewer. When i start DVBViewer inside MCE, the DVBViewer Window is not focused and then the remote is not working. If I start DVBViewer normally the remote is working fine.

I think the problem is, that MCE is still minimized. Is there a way to close the MCE also with the shortcut, that DVBViewer will have the focus?

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  • 3 years later...

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