MediaPlayer Plugin/STV Import: Winamp Media Player Plugin

[sonoman]

Is there any way to get gapless playback (ie. Pink Floyd) using this plugin. Using Winamp plugin in_mpg123 and read ahead set to 500ms I can get very good gapless playback within Winamp on lame encoded mp3s albums that have songs that merge into each other. Unfortunately, sage seems to only call for one song at a time so I believe Winamp does not have the next song in que to obtain read ahead data from. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,

sonoman

[mikesm]

Originally Posted by CadErik

There is really not much missing to make it decent! The picture section is quite good and with music, the playlist stuff is not bad... I think it is just missing few tweaks here and there.

One option I'm considering is Beyond Media from snapstream which even has Naspter integrated. I'm still curious to know how SageTV + Beyond + girder would work together...

But if I can have one way to play all my wma files including DRM ones I'll be happy. I did not have much success with the winamp plugin, winamp seems to freeze after waking my pc from standby and then this freezes SageTV so I gave up.

Erik.

You should compare it against mediaportal or XBMC to see what you are missing...

Thanks,
mike

[deria]

Originally Posted by sonoman

Is there any way to get gapless playback (ie. Pink Floyd) using this plugin. Using Winamp plugin in_mpg123 and read ahead set to 500ms I can get very good gapless playback within Winamp on lame encoded mp3s albums that have songs that merge into each other. Unfortunately, sage seems to only call for one song at a time so I believe Winamp does not have the next song in que to obtain read ahead data from. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,

sonoman

You are correct. SageTV does not tell the mediaplayer to play a playlist, it tells it to play individual songs. The mediaplayer in turn wells Winamp to play the songs. Winamp doesn't know (because the MediaPlayer doesn't know) what the next track will be. So, to answer your question, its just not possible.

[GKusnick]

deria, would you consider writing up a short summary of some of the pitfalls you encountered on this project and how you worked around them?

Old quote from early in this thread:

Originally Posted by deria

I've received some feedback from Narflex @ Sage regarding the playlist not automatically moving to the next track when it should. I'll work on it more later tonight and hopefully have a fix soon.

Basically what I'm looking for is any additional info you might have on how to code to the sage.MediaPlayer interface, beyond what's in the rather sketchy published doc. This could be extremely helpful to other people trying to implement that same interface for other players.

Thanks.

[deria]

Originally Posted by GKusnick

deria, would you consider writing up a short summary of some of the pitfalls you encountered on this project and how you worked around them?

Old quote from early in this thread:


Basically what I'm looking for is any additional info you might have on how to code to the sage.MediaPlayer interface, beyond what's in the rather sketchy published doc. This could be extremely helpful to other people trying to implement that same interface for other players.

Thanks.

The plan was to actually release this plugin as open source, but I've never quite gotten around to it.

The version that is being distributed is not the version I actually use on my system (mine is newer, and arguably not better). I may still do an open-source release though so that people can see what is involved in implementing the interface.

In the meantime, I'll probably make a post in this thread with a link to the source download so that you can take a look at it. Its pretty heavily commented and goes into why I did things the way I did as much as possible. I've been hesitant to release the source because if I do its going to serve (for better or worse) as an example and if I've done things incorrectly its going to lead others to also do things incorrectly. The comments for this plugin have ranged from "its great" to "its frustratingly bad" -- so you might not be doing yourself a service by following the same path I followed. Still, I'd like to see more development on this front so I'll certainly post the code (or at the very least email it to you). Send me a PM with your email address please.

[mahcsm]

I am trying to play some wma files with the latest Winamp plugin I just downloaded. I have follwed the intructions and have ensured that they will play if I select the file via Winamp, but when I select the file in SageTV I get an endlees loop (my prgram freezes) in my log files such as the one below.

Has anyone seen this?

Sun 2/19 14:01:05.590 WINAMP_PLUGIN: In getState() now.
Sun 2/19 14:01:05.591 VIDEO FRAME EXCEPTION THROWN:java.lang.UnsatisfiedLinkError: WPStatus
java.lang.UnsatisfiedLinkError: WPStatus
Sun 2/19 14:01:05.591 at WinampPlugin.WPStatus(Native Method)
Sun 2/19 14:01:05.591 at WinampPlugin.getState(WinampPlugin.java:228)
Sun 2/19 14:01:05.591 at sage.VideoFrame.gA(Unknown Source)
Sun 2/19 14:01:05.591 at sage.VideoFrame.gL(Unknown Source)
Sun 2/19 14:01:05.591 at sage.VideoFrame.run(Unknown Source)
Sun 2/19 14:01:05.592 at java.lang.Thread.run(Unknown Source)
Sun 2/19 14:01:05.592 WINAMP_PLUGIN: In getState() now.

[Ryokurin]

Originally Posted by sonoman

Is there any way to get gapless playback (ie. Pink Floyd) using this plugin. Using Winamp plugin in_mpg123 and read ahead set to 500ms I can get very good gapless playback within Winamp on lame encoded mp3s albums that have songs that merge into each other. Unfortunately, sage seems to only call for one song at a time so I believe Winamp does not have the next song in que to obtain read ahead data from. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,

sonoman

Theres a new version of winamp version 5.2 that supports gapless playback it was finished today and will show up on the main source in a day or two. for now you can get it from here. http://forums.winamp.com/showthread.php?threadid=238648

Keep in mind that I have not tested it with sage as I have never resolved the visualization issue that I had a while back. It shouldn't break anything but you never know.

[mahcsm]

Originally Posted by mahcsm

I am trying to play some wma files with the latest Winamp plugin I just downloaded. I have follwed the intructions and have ensured that they will play if I select the file via Winamp, but when I select the file in SageTV I get an endlees loop (my prgram freezes) in my log files such as the one below.

Has anyone seen this?

Sun 2/19 14:01:05.590 WINAMP_PLUGIN: In getState() now.
Sun 2/19 14:01:05.591 VIDEO FRAME EXCEPTION THROWN:java.lang.UnsatisfiedLinkError: WPStatus
java.lang.UnsatisfiedLinkError: WPStatus
Sun 2/19 14:01:05.591 at WinampPlugin.WPStatus(Native Method)
Sun 2/19 14:01:05.591 at WinampPlugin.getState(WinampPlugin.java:228)
Sun 2/19 14:01:05.591 at sage.VideoFrame.gA(Unknown Source)
Sun 2/19 14:01:05.591 at sage.VideoFrame.gL(Unknown Source)
Sun 2/19 14:01:05.591 at sage.VideoFrame.run(Unknown Source)
Sun 2/19 14:01:05.592 at java.lang.Thread.run(Unknown Source)
Sun 2/19 14:01:05.592 WINAMP_PLUGIN: In getState() now.

Deria - This seems like it was related to the DRM fix you had in v1.4. I assume that the v I have is 1.9 since I just downloaded it last week. I am trying to play the wma files I have downloaded from MSN Music. Am I missing something here? Any comments from any one?

Mike

[deria]

Originally Posted by mahcsm

Deria - This seems like it was related to the DRM fix you had in v1.4. I assume that the v I have is 1.9 since I just downloaded it last week. I am trying to play the wma files I have downloaded from MSN Music. Am I missing something here? Any comments from any one?

Mike

I'm not sure, actually. I have no trouble playing Non-DRM WMA files, or the DRM'd WMA files that Windows Media Player creates when you select the DRM option when ripping a CD. Perhaps try the diagnostics section of the user's manaual for this plugin and see where that leads you. Its pretty step-by-step, and the information that it asks you to provide will help me figure out what might be going on for you.

[bbig119]

I know its not currently supported, but I'll ask the question.

I've started using FSE in Sage because it appears to improve HD playback which has been very choppy previously for some reason.

Is there a way, and what would it take to have visualization be supported in FSE?

Thanks for your hard work on the plugin.

[Flips]

I believe the answer is still a firm no. This doesn't have anything to do with the plugin, but how the visualization is programmed. From what I have read, FSE won't share with anything 3D. Are there other viz plugins for winamp that don't cause this issue? I've only tried the best (milkdrop).

I'm in the same boat as you though, I HAVE to use FSE on my 6600GT or HD doesn't look near as good. I love the plugin, but I can't put it above smooth HD.

What I usually do is exit out of FSE mode and then start the plugin from there. I have a couple of problems with this though. For whatever reason, sometimes when I go back in to FSE mode I get the standard error about directx not able to play back the stream. I don't know what's causing this or how to fix it. Any ideas? Also, it's another step (could be built into the plugin - nudge, nudge) to do, with makes it more complicated. And finally it was a non-starter with SageMC since I couldn't find where to exit FSE in SageMC. Any clues on that one?

Here's a option that I was playing around with, but I'm not sure it's even possible. The 6600GT has both a DVI output as well as a RGB output. What I was thinking would be nice, is to have DVI be the main Sage interface and then when you hit visualization it starts up on the RGB output and then you just have to change inputs on the TV. Anyone think that has any possiblity? I tried it a bit on a different graphic (but similar) card, but no luck. I was able to get the viz to open on the other display, but still have the 3d memory issue.

Also, has there been any progress on the ability to play a shoutcast file through the plugin? I believe that was an issue due to how Sage handles the media file. I am able to get it to play for a couple of seconds, but then it goes to the next file. That would be very cool if that worked.

Keep up the great work Deria! It's very much appreciated!

Thanks,
Flips

[steingra]

he he ooops I meant overview of Visualization Support. Duh!

OK, so I followed all the instructions, and I have SageTV playing my music library just fine using the Winamp plugin. Very nice to have. Now I just gotta figure out how to properly use it.

1. I dont understand how to choose which visualization will play when you play a song in SageTV (using Winamp plugin)

2. And I dont know how to tell SageTV to turn on/off using a a Visualization. Sometimes I might want them on, and other times not.

3. I have a Haupaugge 45 button remote working with sageTV server, and am wondering if it would work the same when using Winamp plugin with the SageTV Jukebox. Like to goto next song, previous song...pause, vol up vol down, etc

I cant seem to find answers in this thread yet, but I will keep looking though.

[deria]

Originally Posted by bbig119

I know its not currently supported, but I'll ask the question.

I've started using FSE in Sage because it appears to improve HD playback which has been very choppy previously for some reason.

Is there a way, and what would it take to have visualization be supported in FSE?

Thanks for your hard work on the plugin.

Hi,

It's not technically doable, unfortunately. If you use FSE, you're pretty much out of luck on visualizations. I wish I had better news for you.

EDIT: For the techincally inclined, the reason why it is not doable is that the E in FSE stands for exclusive. This means that the 3D device is exclusively owned by SageTV in this mode and no other application can use it There's nothing wrong with that -- in fact its the way most games work. When you ALT+TAB out of the game, the game will minimize. The visualizations in Winamp (that don't suck) are Direct3D based and -also- FSE, so the two will not co-exist nicely together. The FS part of FSE stands for full-screen -- which means that even if your visualization was not an FSE module, or Direct X based at all, it in all likelihood would appear BEHIND the SageTV interface (which doesn't do you much good). So, in short, FSE is really what it says it is. Full screen and exclusive.

[bbig119]

Originally Posted by deria

Hi,

It's not technically doable, unfortunately. If you use FSE, you're pretty much out of luck on visualizations. I wish I had better news for you.

EDIT: For the techincally inclined, the reason why it is not doable is that the E in FSE stands for exclusive. This means that the 3D device is exclusively owned by SageTV in this mode and no other application can use it There's nothing wrong with that -- in fact its the way most games work. When you ALT+TAB out of the game, the game will minimize. The visualizations in Winamp (that don't suck) are Direct3D based and -also- FSE, so the two will not co-exist nicely together. The FS part of FSE stands for full-screen -- which means that even if your visualization was not an FSE module, or Direct X based at all, it in all likelihood would appear BEHIND the SageTV interface (which doesn't do you much good). So, in short, FSE is really what it says it is. Full screen and exclusive.

All this is clear to me, but what is the possibility of forcing sage to minimize when activating visualization. Likewise it can be done with winamp....enter visualization and then exit it. Upon exit it will maximize sage to full screen.

Would this work with an external accessory program?

[lerivin]

I've installed the winamp plugin, which works fine. If I browse to a .flac or .shn file through SageTV, the files play just fine. However in my Music library the files are not picked up. Im assuming this is because the Meta-data on .flac and .shn are not ID3.


Has anyone has success import these type of files into SageTV 4.0?

[mikesm]

Originally Posted by lerivin

I've installed the winamp plugin, which works fine. If I browse to a .flac or .shn file through SageTV, the files play just fine. However in my Music library the files are not picked up. Im assuming this is because the Meta-data on .flac and .shn are not ID3.


Has anyone has success import these type of files into SageTV 4.0?

FLAC isn't supported. Hard to believe, but Sage really isn't a real media center yet.

Thanks,
Mike

[Keith]

Why is FLAC a big deal? A clue for the clueless?

[johnnytyler]

Originally Posted by mikesm

FLAC isn't supported. Hard to believe, but Sage really isn't a real media center yet.

Thanks,
Mike

I've got flac working in SageTv with winamp, you have to have the flac encoder and player plugin setup in winamp, then set up flac as a file in your seeker setting in sagetv. The songs come up but the metadata is in vorbis and needs to be changed to id3. If people are interested I can outline how I did it.

[mikesm]

Originally Posted by johnnytyler

I've got flac working in SageTv with winamp, you have to have the flac encoder and player plugin setup in winamp, then set up flac as a file in your seeker setting in sagetv. The songs come up but the metadata is in vorbis and needs to be changed to id3. If people are interested I can outline how I did it.

Interesting. You are saying you changed the medtadata to id3 format, kept FLAC format compatibility, and got Sage to read the meta data properly?? It would be great if you could outline it.

As for why FLAC is important, it's the most popular of lossles codec formats, and is available on a wide variety of devices and operating systems.

Thanks,
mike

[dflachbart]

I never got Sage to import any FLAC files. I didn't change the Metadata though (but I edited the seeker property), but Sage didn't import anything, not even just the filenames. I gave up and am now using Meedio for my music files ...

Originally Posted by mikesm

As for why FLAC is important, it's the most popular of lossles codec formats, and is available on a wide variety of devices and operating systems.

Exactly ...


Dirk