MediaPlayer Plugin/STV Import: Winamp Media Player Plugin - Page 17

geogecko · #**321** 08-07-2006, 04:07 PM

That's a new one. I'd try restarting Sage, if you're getting that error. If using Sage service, I'd restart that as well.

CPA · #**322** 08-07-2006, 06:24 PM

I figured it out. I am trying to play flac files, and while I did add it to the list of extensions (seeker/music_library_import_filename_extensions=), I had not added it to the media_player_plugin_class/flac=WinampPlugin line. That took care of it. False alarm.

litkaj · #**323** 08-19-2006, 04:28 PM

First off, let me say that this is possibly one of the best plugins around. I love being able to play lossless audio on my media center system (because, for some reason, Sage STILL doesn't play Audio CDs).

However, I'm having problems with one artist in particular that is causing Sage to pitch a fit when you try to play a track. It seems that either Sage or this plugin (Winamp plays them fine) don't like accented characters like "é" (as in "Béla Fleck & The Flecktones").

I should be able to edit the tags and file names to get around this, but does anyone know of a way to fix this without mangling my audio files?

geogecko · #**324** 08-19-2006, 05:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by litkaj

First off, let me say that this is possibly one of the best plugins around. I love being able to play lossless audio on my media center system (because, for some reason, Sage STILL doesn't play Audio CDs).

However, I'm having problems with one artist in particular that is causing Sage to pitch a fit when you try to play a track. It seems that either Sage or this plugin (Winamp plays them fine) don't like accented characters like "é" (as in "Béla Fleck & The Flecktones").

I should be able to edit the tags and file names to get around this, but does anyone know of a way to fix this without mangling my audio files?

Yep, you are correct. It is SAGE that has a problem with this. I found out, because I had a playlist that had a funky character in it like that, and the playlist would never show up. (I generate all my playlists using iTunes, because of the smart playlists, and then export them as a m3u file for Sage.)

Basically, what I did, was rerip the offending CD, and edited the title of a song that contained that strange character, then updated my playlist, and all was well.

So, to answer your question, I'd just edit the ID3 tags and file names. That's the only way I know, since we can't get Sage to implement odd characters. It might however, be a good idea to submit a bug report about it.

Opus4 · #**325** 08-19-2006, 05:13 PM

I can't remember whether such characters are already handled for v5.1 (since none of my music uses those characters), but if you have music files that don't import correctly, it never hurts to let SageTV know about it in case they can make a change to fix that issue.

- Andy

geogecko · #**326** 08-19-2006, 06:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Opus4

...already handled for v5.1...

- Andy

Where can we download 5.1?

Opus4 · #**327** 08-19-2006, 08:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by geogecko

Where can we download 5.1?

I looked, but I'm not sure where that download is. I think WinAmp is at v5.24 now. I didn't see a download for v5.1.

- Andy

geogecko · #**328** 08-19-2006, 08:54 PM

LOL, Oh, I thought you meant SageTV 5.1!

But I thought it was something to do with Sage, since custom characters in the Playlists keep the entire playlist from showing up.

Opus4 · #**329** 08-19-2006, 09:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by geogecko

LOL, Oh, I thought you meant SageTV 5.1!

You mean in terms of possibly reading in those accented characters in the tags? I was.

Oh! You mean you were asking about downloading SageTV v5.1?? Wow, I must be losing it tonight... or something.

- Andy

scm · #**330** 08-21-2006, 11:30 AM

I have a dedicated server that only runs the sage service. I do not run the GUI on this machine. When I install this plugin, can I just modify my sage.client.properties files on the client machines, or do I still need to also change sage.properties file on the server?

JDizzy · #**331** 09-24-2006, 07:21 PM

I am running the current version of Sage and MC and am considering taking the plunge to install this plug in.

I was using J River for the visualizations but it takes the focus and when exiting the visualization you end up in JRiver program from which you need a mouse to exit. (I am using the Hauppauge 45 button remote).

From reading the 17+ pages here it sounds like by installing this plugin I can play FLAC files and not even notice that Winamp is playing them nor that I have left Sage.
I will also get the fullscreen visualizations automatically while still being able to use my existing Happauge remote...
Does this sound right?

Do the FLAC files show up in the Sage library so you can pick them for playing?
And once you choose a song for playing do the visualizations automatically start and continue through multiple songs? (I am not so concerned with listing song info as much as having it easy to use and bullet proof).

Whatcha think?
JD

geogecko · #**332** 09-24-2006, 08:54 PM

That's about how it works. When you add the flac file extension so that Sage recognizes it, then it will play in Winamp (although you can't tell from looking, as it looks like Sage is playing it). The visualization does NOT automatically start, you have to go to "Now Playing" and then "Visualization" in order for it to start, but once you start it, it will continue with all the songs in the playlist. To get out of the visualization, you just use the key mapped to the "Back" command.

dflachbart · #**333** 09-24-2006, 09:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by geogecko

That's about how it works. When you add the flac file extension so that Sage recognizes it, then it will play in Winamp (although you can't tell from looking, as it looks like Sage is playing it). The visualization does NOT automatically start, you have to go to "Now Playing" and then "Visualization" in order for it to start, but once you start it, it will continue with all the songs in the playlist. To get out of the visualization, you just use the key mapped to the "Back" command.

Yeah, but currently Sage neither reads FLAC tags nor uses the directory structure to generate the Album/Artist/Song info. The files end up flat in the library, and this makes FLAC playback pretty much useless for me at the moment, and I continue to use Meedio for my music.

It has been announced that Sage 5.1 will support FLAC tags, and then this will be a whole different story ...

Dirk

geogecko · #**334** 09-24-2006, 09:25 PM

My bad, sorry for my, somewhat misinformation.

So whatever happened to that mysterious 5.1? Maybe this week...

JDizzy · #**335** 09-25-2006, 08:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by geogecko

My bad, sorry for my, somewhat misinformation....

Well, thanks for any help...

Wouldn't you know I would have trouble installing this.... don't know why it is that what is described to do is not present on my screen...

I made it as far as importing the STV with Studio....then when going to edit the first item "scroll down to "SongsbyArtist" ...there wasn't anything with that title... there was "Songs By" and in expanding that menu I got deeper and deeper..but nothing described in docs was there....nor did I see any of the other "albumsdetailpage", "musicbyartist", or "musicsongtitle"...
so, Number 4 was as far as I made it on the Studio edit list...

Where it stands is:
Winamp loads and plays the music on playlist created with stock MC menus
(Winamp remains behind Sage. It sounds better than stock player and also loads flac files now)
When choosing the visualize option I get a message in upper left corner that says "visulzation running" (or something like that)
Then, in frustration I found hitting the 'back' button on remote will load the visualization fullscreen (in front of Sage)....sweet.... BUT, I'm trapped...no way out other than hitting escape on the keyboard (which is not acceptable as keyboard is miles away and not what this is all about anyways).

BTW - In the newest version of Winamp, when right clicking on icon in tray, there is no "playlist window", only "playlist editor" and "main window".

Help me mister wizard...
JD

geogecko · #**336** 09-26-2006, 11:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JDizzy

Well, thanks for any help...

Wouldn't you know I would have trouble installing this.... don't know why it is that what is described to do is not present on my screen...

I made it as far as importing the STV with Studio....then when going to edit the first item "scroll down to "SongsbyArtist" ...there wasn't anything with that title... there was "Songs By" and in expanding that menu I got deeper and deeper..but nothing described in docs was there....nor did I see any of the other "albumsdetailpage", "musicbyartist", or "musicsongtitle"...
so, Number 4 was as far as I made it on the Studio edit list...

Where it stands is:
Winamp loads and plays the music on playlist created with stock MC menus
(Winamp remains behind Sage. It sounds better than stock player and also loads flac files now)
When choosing the visualize option I get a message in upper left corner that says "visulzation running" (or something like that)
Then, in frustration I found hitting the 'back' button on remote will load the visualization fullscreen (in front of Sage)....sweet.... BUT, I'm trapped...no way out other than hitting escape on the keyboard (which is not acceptable as keyboard is miles away and not what this is all about anyways).

BTW - In the newest version of Winamp, when right clicking on icon in tray, there is no "playlist window", only "playlist editor" and "main window".

Help me mister wizard...
JD

Make sure that you follow these steps to a T, otherwise you may get the issues with the visualization that you describe. I just recently installed the newest version of Winamp on my system, and had to reconfigure all the settings, due to a corrupt installation of Winamp (had to uninstall, delete the Winamp directory, and reinstall to get it working again).

Quote:

7) Ensure that Winamp is configured for use with SageTV. To do this, all you need to do is:

.....a) click "Options --> Preferences --> General Preferences"
.....b) remove the checkmark for the "Taskbar" toggle of the "show Winamp in" section
.....c) ensure that there is a checkmark in the "System Tray" toggle of the "show Winamp in" section
.....d) ensure that there is a checkmark in the "disable always on top while fullscreen applications are focused" toggle
.....e) click on the "Plug-ins" section and REMOVE the checkmark (if there is one) from the "auto execute visualization plugin on playback" toggle
.....f) click on the "Visualization" section of the "Plug-ins" section, and (if you are using Milkdrop or Geiss2) click "Configure" and ensure that:
..........i) in the "fullscreen" section it is set to use "fake fullscreen"
..........ii) in the bottom section it is set to use "start fullscreen"
..........iii) in the bottom section it is NOT set to "minimize winamp when going fullscreen"
.....g) right click the Winamp (lightning bolt) icon in your system tray and ensure that there is a checkmark beside "main window" and "playlist window" (and nothing else)

JDizzy · #**337** 09-26-2006, 10:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by geogecko

Make sure that you follow these steps to a T, otherwise you may get the issues with the visualization that you describe. I just recently installed the newest version of Winamp on my system, and had to reconfigure all the settings, due to a corrupt installation of Winamp (had to uninstall, delete the Winamp directory, and reinstall to get it working again).

Like I said, there is no 'Playlist Window' when right clicking on the winamp icon in tray... closest thing is 'Playlist Editor' which I have checked.

Basically the only thing I have not done is firing up Studio which I'm a bit weary of..... when I looked in there for the text that needed to be expanded I could not find them (but I sure would like the visuals associated with Winamp)...

At the moment I choose a song to play and Winamp plays it in the background while I use Sage to choose the songs and control Winamp (which is the way it seems like it should work).. I have found though that if Winamp is not already running when choosing a song my system will lockup and I have to reboot to recover....yuck!

All in all I am happy with what I have but wish I could figure out how to get the visuals without knowing what I am doing in Studio..
JD

geogecko · #**338** 09-26-2006, 10:29 PM

Guess I'm confused with what the problem is.

Quote:

At the moment I choose a song to play and Winamp plays it in the background while I use Sage to choose the songs and control Winamp (which is the way it seems like it should work).

That is correct.

Quote:

I have found though that if Winamp is not already running when choosing a song my system will lockup and I have to reboot to recover....yuck!

Hmm...thought that was fixed, and that it would automaticlly launch Winamp, but maybe not. I put Winamp in the startup folder, so it's always launched at startup, so I never have to worry about it.

Quote:

Like I said, there is no 'Playlist Window' when right clicking on the winamp icon in tray... closest thing is 'Playlist Editor' which I have checked.

What do you mean, do you expect the playlist in Sage to show up in Winamp? I don't think that's how it was designed, Sage takes care of the playlist, and Sage just sends the song to play to Winamp.

Quote:

but wish I could figure out how to get the visuals without knowing what I am doing in Studio.

I don't think you have an option to not use Studio, unless you use SageMC 16x9, with support already built-in. If you try and force the visualization when playback starts, you'll find that you are then stuck in the visualization, and won't be able to get out of it.

JDizzy · #**339** 10-06-2006, 07:58 PM

I guess with the addition of FLAC supprt in Sage v6 that this mod isn't needed anymore...

But, I might still keep it as I love the visuals!

Anyone running v6 using the Winamp Player and have you run into any problems?

BTW.... I finally got this palyer to work and once I did...well...I was sooo happy!
JD