Quoting mediadogg:

Quote:
Quoting tvande:

Quote:
I created a blank text file of the appropriate names and that seemed to clear the notifications but I'm now wondering if this is going to be a booby trap that I've laid for mayself. I do NOT have any of the changers that you support so don't see that I will need those functions.

Thanks again for the help!

Tom

You're welcome. Guess I missed this post in time to issue a Green stamp.

Ayway, which files? All required files are supposted to be copied into your folder if not there, or created in not found. If maybe you had a very old version of LoadDVD installed without uninstalling before the new one???? All that code is getting a bit rusty on me now, since Ken has effectively put me out of business since 3.5.

Says the version is 1.50 when I view plugins.

I got the feeling it was config files for the various players you support. I had NOT (that I can remember) installed LoadDVD before (wanted .net, didn't have it, never installed that until recently).

CX995vmap.txt
VGPXL1BMap.txt

I believe those are the 2 I added in your plugin directory and it quit showing the error (can't find file...) after that. Error  happened (I think) when starting DVDProfiler and when doing any config on your plugin.

Sorry for the delay in answering you, been busy typing and getting the entries in/updated.

Tom

v1.51 works for me!

Two minor things
#1 if no discs, then no icon on the menu.
#2 when changing options: change something and %5 is reset to "Title"... or that's what I think it's doing. I just go in a second time and just change %5 back to Sort Title.

Revised PlayFromDisk.bat:

Quote:

@echo off
:This batch file uses SET features available in WINXP and later
:This batch file uses features available in Daemon Tools Commandline
:
set SourceDir=\\msi7309\
set VirtualDrive="C:\Program Files\DAEMON Tools Lite\daemon.exe"

:FindPlayer
set Player="C:\Program Files\CyberLink\PowerDVD8\PowerDVD8.exe"
set PlayerCommand=%%drive%%
:if exist %Player% goto :FindVideo

set Player="C:\Program Files\InterVideo\XPack\WinDVD.exe"
set PlayerCommand=%%drive%%
:if exist %Player% goto :FindVideo

set Player="C:\Program Files\Windows Media Player\wmplayer.exe"
set PlayerCommand=/prefetch:4 /fullscreen /device:dvd "%%drive%%"
if exist %Player% goto :FindVideo

echo Can't find player
pause
exit

:FindVideo
: %1 DescriptionSideA
: %2 profileid - this is usually the UPC code
: %3 disc#
: %4 slot# or collection#
: %5 Title or Sort Title or Label Side A
: %6 filepath
: %7 mediatype = "DVD", "HD" or "BluRay"
: %8 and thereafter - remainder of Location field
echo.variables:
echo.%1 %2 %3 %4 %5 %6 %7 %8 %9

set DescriptionSideA=%5
set DescriptionSideAx=%DescriptionSideA: =_%
: "DescriptionSideAx" is the description with the spaces replaced by underscores("_")

set mediatype=%7
if "%mediatype%"=="" goto :NotFound
set iso="%SourceDir%%mediatype:~1,-1%\%DescriptionSideA:~1,-1%.ISO"
if EXIST %iso% goto :iso
set iso="%SourceDir%%mediatype:~1,-1%\%DescriptionSideAx:~1,-1%.ISO"
if EXIST %iso% goto :iso
set play="%SourceDir%%mediatype:~1,-1%\%DescriptionSideA:~1,-1%\VIDEO_TS\VIDEO_TS.IFO"
if EXIST %play% goto :video
set play="%SourceDir%%mediatype:~1,-1%\%DescriptionSideAx:~1,-1%\VIDEO_TS\VIDEO_TS.IFO"
if EXIST %play% goto :video

:NotFound
echo.%play%
echo NOT FOUND
pause
exit

:video
echo %play%
%play%
exit

:iso
Echo Mount ISO
if exist %VirtualDrive% goto :DaemonMountISO
echo Can't find Daemon Tool
pause
exit

:DaemonMountISO
%VirtualDrive% -get_letter 0
set /a ErrorLevel=%ErrorLevel%+1
set Drive="ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
Call Set Drive=%%Drive:~%ErrorLevel%,1%%:
%VirtualDrive% -unmount 0
%VirtualDrive% -mount 0,%iso%
Call Set GoPlay=%Player% %PlayerCommand%
echo %GoPlay%
%GoPlay%

:I decided it's probably best to unmount the image...
%VirtualDrive% -unmount 0

Quoting bspeng:

Quote:
v1.51 works for me!

Two minor things
#1 if no discs, then no icon on the menu.
#2 when changing options: change something and %5 is reset to "Title"... or that's what I think it's doing. I just go in a second time and just change %5 back to Sort Title.

Glad it works!

Oh, this is too ironic - Mr. "I don't need no discs" now complains that there is no icon! 

Seriously, I don't think I want to put a disc icon when there is no disc. You know there is still a toolbar entry, right? It does not have a graphic icon, but you can click on it. The text says "Play from the default drive.".  Maybe I can find some kind of different "default drive" picture that is not a disc, and now that I think of it - I had really intended to say "default path" not "default drive".

The other problem is not a problem. You are describing what happens when there is a disc. What is in %5 is always Sort Title (in V1.51) when there is no disc. Otherwise it is controlled by the options. In the next release, even the no disc case will also be affected by the Options Panel, to give the same flexibility for .bat files.

Quoting bspeng:

Quote:
Here's ironic... i'm going to use the location/slot for archival reference of the physical media, so the issue is mute.

Version V1.52 Available

Well, the issue may be moot, but I've already spent the time. It was a good idea you had about executing the default path, but trust me, I have better things to do than to write useless code. I thought it was really important to you.

Anyway then, you will have little need for V1.52 which adds:

- Icon for default path when no discs are present
- Full set of parameters passed to the .bat file, except location and slot which by definition are blank in this case
- Removed some code that might have been causing the previously reported exception conditions.

By the way, yes people really do use changers:

They used to be cost competitive just a few short years ago. My Sony VAIO changers cost about $1 per disc, and then there is the cost of media if you want to use them for data as well as DVDs. Today, you need only about 8/1000 of $90 or about $0.72 to store a maxed DL movie, so I would not get the Sony's today on the basis of cost alone. (Edt: with hard drives, you also need to factor in the cost of the server, electricity, software and time to rip and manage the data. Changers require very little electricty and maintenance).

Now, the Sony CX995V 400 disc changer is still a good deal. At about $0.75 per disc, you get to store them and select them, plus you get a superb upscaling DVD player with HDMI/1080p.

The disc carousels, such as the Dacal or Ziotek units, go for $0.50 - $1.00 per disc. They store the discs, and can retrieve them for manual playing.

The whole idea of LoadDVD was to eventually not care where the media is. Click on the icon, and it appears - after significant preparation of course.

Quoting EdwinK:

Quote:
I pay €99 for a Dacal which can hold 150 discs, so it is indeed very cheap storage A normal keep case is, relatively seen, more expensive. Now I only need a place to store 127 of those carousels

Yeah, I like the Dacal unit also, but it still comes out to about $0.85 / disc, which is more than the Sony 400 disc changer, and you have to manually handle the disc to play it. You can store, control and play 1200 discs in 3 of the Sony changers for less money and less space than the 8 Dacal units required for storage and retrieval only. But Dacal is a good solution for storing Blu-ray until changer/players become affordable.

(Edit: Holy Smoke, Batman: Sony 400 Disc unit now down to $273 on Amazon. I just got another one! That's less than $070 per disc, less than hard drive space. I will upgrade LoadDVD to use another type of blaster as well as USBUIRT in the future, becasue I already own a couple of MCE style blasters.)

The issues are:

- Region coding of the discs vs. the Sony code. There is no all-region hack for them that I know about.
- LoadDVD can only handle 3 Sonys = 1200 discs. On the other hand, it will control 127 x 150 Dacal discs!!! 

By the way, I'll add a note on the cost/disc discussion.  I have my collection on hard drives, which -- for DVDs -- is a very competitive way to store them (not so much so for BluRays, which require a LOT more space).  If you compress every DVD to single-sided size (4.35GB) you can store ~ 320/1.5TB drive -- a cost of $0.41 per disc not counting the base cost of the server PC (This could be as little as $500, although I spent a bit over $1,000 for the one I built ... not counting the hard drives).  Of course, once the server's built, the incremental cost of additional storage is just the cost of another drive.

However, as you've noted, this requires (a) a computer to hold and manage all those drives (I built a dedicated server box with ten 1.5TB hard drives, and room for ten more);  (b) a computer at the media device to play the DVDs (this COULD be the same PC if you just need one location for playing); and of course it does consume notably more power than a changer does.  The advantage, of course, is that I can play any of my DVDs at any location in the house [Primary HTPC, secondary HTPCs at two other locations;  my computer; my wife's computer; our laptop; the computer in the guest bedroom] -- and all seven of those locations can be watching a DVD (the same one or different ones) all at the same time (clearly not possible with a changer).

Another "cost" is the time to rip your collection; catalog it in Profiler; set the play path; etc. -- I figure I spent ~ 750 hours doing all this for my collection !!  Keeping it up-to-date is MUCH easier ... but still not as simple as just adding another disc to a changer 

@garycase - wow, what a setup! Wish I had put all the goodies you need into LoadDVD before you did the work. But the way things work is that the pioneers suffer the pain, so the followers will gain. So now, you can eliminate "play", and if you use collection number as your index, you don't even need to code the path. The whole deal can be done inside the script by keying off the collection number, profile id and disc info.

Edit: By the way:
- thanks for info on the bug and perfomance testing (I did make changes specifically to address bioth)
- You compress your DVDs?????? Shame on you. HTPC is a great way to upscale - not the opposite!
- If you don't have one, your media player PCs should have HDMI out. I found that, at least on my system, I got a great quality boost over VGA when playing a well coded DVD or HD trailers.

@EdwinK - seems like you've also been smitten by the HTPC bug. My house is beginning to look like the Star Trek set (garycase is clearly already there). I suspect you are either in, or soon to be, the same boat! 

Quoting bspeng:

Quote:
The need for "Play" is eliminated.

Ha ha! And it's all your fault!!!