Firewire DVD changer support...

[bcjenkins]

Originally Posted by Narflex

Well that's interesting. Now there's a way to control the changer outside of MCE. We've actually got one of these at the office; I know
it'll stream DVDs to the extender if there's no CSS protection on the content. (and you map the changer's driver letter to be an import path in SageTV....same trick you use to stream DVD's from an optical drive to an extender).

You could probably fully integrate it by using the Studio, the tool from MediaDogg and bunch of time and the will to do it.

Ahh.. You forgot the Mad Skillz , which I don't. I have one myself, and would be willing to test!

B

[bcjenkins]

BTW - The Sony changer is really a Powerfile C200 in disguise. A while back I emailed their support as I was working on an automated DVD ripping solution to get command line syntax for a Powerfile tool called mm.exe.

It works like so:

Powerfile Tech Support

Using mm.exe
 

The syntax for mm.exe is: mm source & destination

 

The Element Addresses in mm.exe are:

Mail Slot (Front Gate): 1

Drive 1: 2

Drive 2: 3

Slot 1: 4

 

So, to move a disc from the Mail Slot to Slot 1 of the carousel, you would type "mm 1 4" and press Enter. This instructs the PowerFile to open its Front Gate so that a disc may be inserted.

 

The PowerFile should be completely empty before using the mm.exe utility for the first time.


Step 1: Navigate to the mm utility on your system i.e., Programs> PowerFile> PowerFile 5.4 Driver> mm.exe. A DOS prompt will open and mm.exe is now ready to accept your commands.


Step 2: Type "mm 1 4" and press Enter. The PowerFile's Front Gate should open, allowing you to insert a disc. If you do not encounter an error message, then proceed with the next step.

 

Step 3: Type "mm 4 2" and press Enter. The disc will move from Slot 1 to Drive 1.


If you have assigned drive letters, then a refresh of My Computer should reveal the disc name beside the appropriate PowerFile drive letter.


Step 4: To read the disc's root level, type "dir y:" where y: is the PowerFile drive letter that contains the disc.

 

Step 5: Type "mm 2 4" and press Enter to move the disc from Drive 1 back to Slot 1.

 

Step 6: Type "mm 4 1" and press Enter to unload the disc from the PowerFile.

[dagar]

Well, to say this is more than a little interesting [development] and with the progress being made on that utility I feel that there is hope! Now just need some dude who will lay his mad skillz upon this challenge

[Thraxius]

Well. I can say I am willing to donate to the guy that does put his mad skillz on the project. I only know how to program in php and a bit in perl. By the way that is very limited programming too.

All I want to do is.. put 200 of my dvd's in my DVD changer. OH I have way to many dvd's and no I am not ripping them to HD. BLAH BLAH.. HD space is cheap.. Convert the dvd or rip it straight does not suit my setup.

Only have 2 Hard Drives in my HTPC. Both 400 GB... and they are full. except that 80 gig partition I use for recording tv shows. but I am off topic.

Application Feature Request:

1. Inventory all dvd's in the Lib. (Doing it in Sage or import from DVD Profiler... Whatever you choose.. I am with you. In sage would be nicer though.)
2. Place those dvd's in the imported DVD list or make a video lib menu.
3. When you click the DVD to play it mounts and plays the dvd.
4. When you select another DVD it unmounts and plays the new dvd.

Note: I would suggest you keep the dvd in the drive unless you choose a new dvd to lower the amount of movement from the changer. IE.. when I stop the movie to go watch or do something else. It should still be available to come back to it.

But these are just a wish list that I really want and probably will never see. Sad that.

[Katesh]

Seeing as how Microsoft has abandoned all of it's devouted Media Center users and will not give us easy access to HD content, DVD streaming, "soft sled", or even additional codec support I will have to abandon them.

So why is this relavant to any of you? Well SageTV appears to be the closest match for what I need as it has all of the above features: Firewire Tuner support for HD, "soft sled" support, and way better codec support. The only two pieces missing for me are a pretty interface and support for firewire based DVD changers and DVD streaming. Not to mention I can install everything on my Windows Home Server and create a single machine that will be able to do everything I need.

You're probably still asking, what do any of my decisions have to do with you? Well you see I'm an enterprise software architect, with experience with virtually every language and I just so happen to manage an entire software development department for an I.T. services company so I have several resources at my disposal.

So my decision is relavant because I am making it my sole purpose to create a way to easily control my Sony DVD Changer through SageTV, just like my Media Center could do. Additionally I will want to create a way to easily stream those DVDs to the new HD extender, the entire process will most likely be open source and I will welcome anyone who wishes to work with me on the project.

Let the fun begin.

[jeonunh]

I would be very interested in this being a working solution as well. It's the only thing left that keeps me with MCE 2005. I know everyone keeps saying that it's easier to rip the DVDs to a hdd, but I have certain DVD's that I would prefer to have all the special features and such available, and I don't want to use 8 gigs per movie to make a full dvd image. I have almost 2.5tb of hdd space full of movies in divx format and saved tv shows, and adding more space at this point would require replacing my 500gig drives with larger and more expensive 1tb drives. As of right now, MCE is working for me with my xbox extenders, but without the ability to watch my divx movies or my dvds, so a jump to Sagetv with a working dvd changer would be worth the cost. Git er done and I'll have my credit card standing by to buy a couple hd extenders and software.

[Thraxius]

Thank you Katesh,
I love Sage and how it operates. I just disliked how the community viewed using the VIAO Sony DVD Changer. I can't program so I could not do it myself but will assist you in any way I can. I have 3 VGP-XL1B changers connected to my current system. I have only a few issues but it allowed me to load most of my DVD's into the changer and I was happy.

Unlike the above poster I only have 1 TB of disk space and I don't think I will be updating anytime soon. I have only 100 gig free for TV recordings.

Just let me know if you need a beta tester.

[stanger89]

Originally Posted by jeonunh

As of right now, MCE is working for me with my xbox extenders, but without the ability to watch my divx movies or my dvds, so a jump to Sagetv with a working dvd changer would be worth the cost.

Something to consider, a changer won't work with clients/extenders.

[bcjenkins]

Originally Posted by stanger89

Something to consider, a changer won't work with clients/extenders.

It could.. If you use the drive as a video dir share it via unc for client.

changer load disc
refresh media
watch movie

wouldn't this be similar to the iso plugin?

B

[stanger89]

Originally Posted by bcjenkins

It could.. If you use the drive as a video dir share it via unc for client.

changer load disc
refresh media
watch movie

wouldn't this be similar to the iso plugin?

B

Perhaps, but how long does the refresh take? And besides that, discs in the changer are encrypted. And how do you deal with two clients trying to watch different discs at the same time?

[bcjenkins]

I call no fair on the encryption card due to forum rules!

When I hit the refresh media link after loading a new rip it is a matter of seconds before it shows in the list to add imdb and cover art data.

And you're right about the simultaneous drive access, but these are limitations that face changers today as well. It would be cool if they tried to make it a playable channel in the TV guide and set it up as a network encoder. Then any client should be able to tune it in as it is being written to disk. Just delete the files when done with the movie.

B

[stanger89]

Originally Posted by bcjenkins

I call no fair on the encryption card due to forum rules!

When I hit the refresh media link after loading a new rip it is a matter of seconds before it shows in the list to add imdb and cover art data.

Yeah, I've never really bothered trying it, always seemed like it took a while for Sage to rescan my library.

And you're right about the simultaneous drive access, but these are limitations that face changers today as well.

True, but I guess that's kind of my point. MCE really isn't a multi-user system. MCE is basically a single user system where you use the server and there is no client. MCE extenders are really just a hack-on not a replacement for the server like a SageTV Client or Extender is.

Are these even available anymore? Sonystyle says " This product is no longer available for purchase.", Amazon has nothing.

Only place I found any XL1B3s was Ebay and they're $350 (200 discs * 5-7GB/disc 1-1.4TB, you can buy 2TB for $200 - OK I found some for down to $166).

[Thraxius]

I hope you guys are going to help Katesh get this done. With you 2 on the project I bet it will get done in a week.

[hemicuda]

I already know how to get non-ripped DVDs to play on the extenders. A plugin for this would free up soooo much recording space on the server. That is if I could get my hands on the changer.

[jeonunh]

There is quite a bit of disussion about dvd streaming over at thegreenbutton. Seems like I'm not the only one looking to jump ship if this feature is supported... Maybe that will be a bit of motivation.

[BlackArcher]

I just acquired a Powerfile unit and looking at the explanation for mm.exe I was wonderiing if the slots are in numerical sequence i.e would I use mm 203 2 to move a disc from slot 200 to drive 1?