Forgot to write about it earlier in the week, but on Saturday we all piled up in the car and drove out to MicroCenter.  We have been wanting to ditch the Comcast Digital Voice for a while, but finally decided to do it since they had a nice Vonage promotion going on and T-Mobile wanted a 3-year contract.  We had Vonage in the past and it was OK.  No worse than Comcast’s offering, but it’s also $0 cheaper per month, so we were sold.  If you sign up for a 1-year contract and by a Vonage adapter (we already had one, but they had a $70 rebate on their $79.99 adapter), you get $250 off of any PC or laptop.  Since my wife is starting school soon, she was in need of a new laptop anyway.

We decided to do it and she picked the sub-compact notebook, the Acer Aspire One (150-1570 model).  I also grabbed a 2GB memory module to upgrade it with, but after cracking it open and getting to the mainboard, I decided it was too much trouble.  Some things weren’t coming apart like they were supposed to, so I decided to put it back together and make due with 1GB.  It’s enough for her usage anyway (it’s still on XP, so it’s enough).  I’m going to return the memory to Fry’s and get something else.

I cleaned up the installed junk and added a few things of my own and really enjoyed my time using it.  It’s very small, but not hard to use.  It’s not a speed demon either, but it was plenty fast enough for typical use, which is all that it will be used for (Office, web and email pretty much).  For $100 (we also got the $59 premium warranty), it was well worth it.  I wanted one for myself, but there’s no one for us to get on Vonage.  It’s worth $350, but not for me.

The number is set to transfer next weekend (29th, I believe) and then all we have is Comcast’s Internet package.  We won’t be able to get rid of that, but I’m pretty happy with it.  I’m just not happy with their charges.

I just need to get my rebate in…

OK, here it is…the guide many of you have been waiting for.  This guide will show you how to move the MyMovies database to another location.  However, before I begin, I want to make a few things very clear:

1. Brian Binnerup of MyMovies does not and will not support anything that happens as a result of moving your database.  If you screw things up, you’ll get no help.
2. I claim no responsibility if you screw up your MyMovies installation, database or system.  These directions worked for me, so I’m sharing them - that’s it.
3. I will not respond to emails, comments or anything else related to these instructions.  I’m going to be as clear as possible, but if it’s too complicated for you to follow, then you shouldn’t be doing it.
4. These directions explain the moving of the database only.  I am not going into how to also move the image folders (covers and actors).  I’ll do that later (it’s not hard).

Now that we have that out of the way, let’s move on to what you’ll need to get started:

1. A working installation of MyMovies with a database that is populated and ready to move.
2. An installed copy of Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio Express (x86 or x64 edition).
3. A new location for your new database to go.  I will start by saying that it is preferable that you move your database to a drive with lower latency than the default location.  This, for example, could be a WD Raptor drive or 10K+ SCSI drive.  Moving your database to a thumb drive or network location will make things slower, but if that’s what you want to do, fine.

If you have all of the above, let’s move your database!  The first step is to stop all of the relative services and processes that can cause the movement of the database to not happen.  I am doing my guide on a copy of Windows Server 2003, but you should be able to figure out the respective steps on other OS versions…they’re all similar enough:

1. Backup your database using Collection Management.
2. Backup your database using Collection Management (I’m not kidding).
3. Close Collection Management.
4. Exit the Tray Application by right-clicking and selecting Exit.

Good, now we’re ready to start the SQL Management Studio Express, so find that in your Programs menu and start it up.  Once it starts, it’s going to want a server name, so hit the drop-down selector and you should have an entry that looks like ComputerName\MYMOVIES.  If you do not have this, put it in (ComputerName is the name you assigned the system you are doing this on).  For authentication, make sure that Windows Authentication is selected.

1. Hit Connect.
2. If successful, you should get the Object Explorer pane and Summary tab screen show up.  If not successful, quit here - I’m not troubleshooting.
3. Expand Databases in the Object Explorer pane.
4. Right-Click the My Movies database and go to Tasks -> Detach.
5. Choose Detach.
6. Click OK in the Detach Database Window.
7. The My Movies database will “disappear” if successful, so don’t freak out.

Good.  Now that we have successfully detached the database from the SQL Server, we can physically move the database.

1. Go to C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL.1\MSSQL\Data.
2. Confirm that you have a My Movies.mdf and a My Movies_log.LDF file in there.  If not, something is wrong, so reattach your database (you’ll see how further down) and reboot or something.
3. Select both the mdf and ldf files (CTRL+left-click, for example), hit CTRL+C (copy) and browse to the new location you have picked for your database.  I choose copy so that if something happens during the paste operation, you still have the original copies untouched.
4. Paste your mdf and ldf files to the new location.

Great!  Almost there.  Now we go back to MSSMSE to reattach the database at its new location.

1. Go to MSSMSE and right click Databases in Object Explorer and select Attach.
2. In the Attach Databases window, click the Add button under Databases to attach and browse to the location in the Locate Database Files window.
3. Click OK to add the My Movies.mdf in the new location.
4. In the “My Movies” database details window below, the My Movies.mdf and My Movies_log.LDF should populate.  Click OK.
5. The My Movies database should now be under Databases in the Object Explorer.  If so, you can close MSSMSE.
6. Fire up MyMovies Collection Management (tray application will automatically start).
7. Enjoy using MyMovies with your newly located database!

That’s it!  Hopefully you didn’t run into any issues.  There is one issue I will address if you encountered it on the way.  If after reattaching your database it shows up as (Read Only), contact me either by commenting here or emailing me.  I’ve had that happen before, but only when signing in under SQL Authentication using the login credentials that are located within the MyMovies log file.

Just wanted to leave a quick notice of a few popular Vista Media Center plugins that have ramped up as of late and introduced new versions with some excellent features.

• JackLuminous’ Video Library over at TheGreenButton has re-added movie metadata fetching capabilities now that TheMovieDB.org has a working API.  There has been a lot of updates for this project lately, so check often.
• Sam Saffron’s Video Browser has a new public beta available on his Google Code site.  You can read about all of the new additions here and I have some screen shots of the preceding SVNs a few posts back.  Bill Daugherty II has some additional screenshots (higher res than mine) also.  Head over to his Windows Media Center blog to see them.
• Finally, a new release for VMCNetflix is out (1.1.7) from eluttmann1 at TheGreenButton.  It fixes login issues as a result of changes on the Netflix site.  I’m sire there are some other changes, but you can read about them on the VMCNetflix site.  Support, comments and discussion are available at TheGreenButton.
• MyMovies has also released v2.49 about a week ago.  I was going to hold off since there is going to be another release very soon that will be removing the locked down sort field that I complained about.  But, I’m not sure that it will warrant a new version.  I would wait, personally, for that one to come out if you need to upgrade.  The Windows Home Server version is also now at v1.01.

There are other plugin updates, but these are all that I really use and follow.  I did notice that there is a little spark of life back in the OML project.  There were a few SVN changes during the week, so that’s reassuring.  I believe the volunteers’ real lives have interfered a bit, so hopefully things will progress in the coming weeks.  Keep an eye on them though…it’s eventually going to be a very nice plugin.

I’m planning on posting instructions on how to relocate the default location of the MyMovies database soon.  I’ve come across some interest in that and thought I’d share how to do it.  It’s not a supported “hack”, so I didn’t want to post it on the MyMovies Forum.  I know Brian doesn’t want to deal with any complications that it may bring, so it will be at your own risk.  It’s also a bit involved (if you’re a typical user), so be prepared for some moderately scary stuff if you’re not comfortable with SQL tools.

I’ve never really had this issue since first using  Vista Media Center, but thought I would pass along this little tidbit of information since I’ve seen it on a few different forums lately.

The issue involves the Video Library in Media Center and the inability to remove video locations that you have added (or even default locations).  If you find yourself in this predicament, you may need to refresh your Windows Media Player database.  I don’t want to repeat a good set of directions, so head on over to the Microsoft Knowledge Base and check out KB925718.

A few months ago I posted the culprit that was causing Media Center to resume playback once the screensaver kicked in or after minimizing the Media Center window.  It was KB950126 - the cumulative update for June. Well, on October 14th (I believe), Microsoft released KB955519, which was supposed to fix the mess that KB950126 caused.  However, I have found that if you removed KB950126 and then let KB955519 install, it reintroduces the same damn problem.

So, if for the past few weeks you have issues with videos starting back from the beginning after pausing them (or even if they’re completely stopped) once the screensaver kicks in, or if you minimize your Media Center window - KB955519 is the culprit.

I uninstalled it on my living room HTPC client this morning, but have yet to see if that actually solved anything.  I can only assume that it will.  It did work when I started a video, paused and then minimized the window, so that is a bit reassuring.  I’m going to try a test run and wait for my screensaver to kick in, then I’ll update what happens here.  Check back if this affects you!

Ever since I started using Media Center (even MCE), I’ve felt that the video library plugins available have just been missing something.  MyMovies filled in perfectly in the pre-Vista Media Center days, but it appears when a MCML version for it shows up, Windows 7 will be knocking on our door and who knows if it’ll be compatible.  Then came OML and their open-source offering that got everyone excited.  While it looks great and has features to dream of, it still leaves some of us lacking.  It doesn’t support layered folder structures or TV collections.

I don’t want to take anything away from MyMovies or OML.  They’re both great in their own rights and have huge followings of loyal users.  However, I can’t really wait any longer.  I have a huge collection of movies and TV shows that are folder-based and in a layered directory structure.  It used to not be folder-based, but I changed in order to use a plugin that, at first, I hated to love - Sam’s Video Browser.

Video Browser is a very simple folder-based plugin that requires a folder.jpg image (poster) and mymovies.xml file (metadata) to be present in order to work properly.  A series.xml file and metadata folder (containing individual episode images and xml episode metadata) are used for TV episodes.  It is currently the only plugin that I know of that actively supports both movie and TV collections.  As of late, development has really ramped up to provide some absolutely fantastic features and display options.  I’ve included just a sneak peak of a few of their views below.

Poster view

Poster view with title label

Poster detail view

TV detail view

There are more views available (including a new beta strip view), but I don’t want to give away everything.  You can also change the poster sizes to accommodate more, or less, posters on the screen (less makes them larger).

Other new features include the display of TV show metadata (not just individual episodes anymore), director sorting, separated caching folders (so you can refresh image cache without wiping out your settings) and more.  One of the things that really set Video Browser apart from the others is what most users find most important - they lack a collection management system.  That’s right - Video Browser doesn’t have a single data file, database or any other centralized form of managing your collection.  This is really the beauty of folder-based video collections, however.  When you get a new movie, you throw it in a folder of the same name, generate your metadata, grab your poster, throw it in your library and you’re done!  Video Browser automatically finds it and caches it for your.  The problem I find with plugins that rely on a backend is that if you forget to add the movie or incorrectly link it, you may never notice it’s not actually there or not configured properly (especially if you have a very large collection - even a new movie can easily get lost in the crowd).  If you ever want to remove a movie, it’s as simple as deleting the folder.

Aside from everything I’ve mentioned, Video Browser looks great and is lightning fast.  Initial caching of my top level folder (nearly 900 images) took just seconds.  I highly recommend you take a look at this plugin and drop by their forums to offer your suggestions…I’ve already had two of my recommendations included simply by asking.  The developers are all about providing a plugin that users want.

Great job Video Browser team!

Well, this was the last plugin I expected to spring to life since my last post, but VMCNetflix has a new beta 1.16 available for download.  From the site:

• Fixed issue displaying Instant Queue.
• Fixed issue w/ listing all search items.
• Updates to login page
• Made install check less restrictive, now requires Vista+ instead of requiring Vista-only

I just installed it and tried it out on my bedroom HTPC and noticed right away that the load time (start pulling available covers) was drastically improved for me.  It used to take at least 2 minutes before I could start browsing titles.  This version starting populating movies >30 seconds.

It does appear that this may be the final beta before a rewrite is necessary, however.  It appears the developer needs to rewrite according to Netflix licensing terms since they have finally provided an API.  I think this will be great in the long term though.

Also, from around the house, I setup my NETSVR with the Kiwi Syslog Daemon to grab syslog messages from my unRAID server.  I’ve been having a few issues as of late, but I can never see anything in the syslog since it is reset at every boot.  I believe the mis-matched memory I’m using is causing a reset when copying to certain drives.  I’ll probably just remove that extra 1GB I added since it started happening right around that time.

For the past few weeks, I’ve noticed a very discouraging trend among the majority of Vista Media Center plugin developers - they seem to be at a standstill.  There are a few that still have some life about them - the Video Library that Jack Luminous over at thegreenbutton is working on and myTV both seem to pluggin right along.  Brian Binnerup’s MyMovies is still also undergoing some massive development, but it just seems to never be towards the long overdue MCML interface.

The OML project was steamrolling ahead up until a few weeks ago, then it just seems to have hit a brick wall - in their forums too, which were usually flowing with new threads and posts.  They’ll quickly show up on the forum to tell you that development is not dead, but their SVN updates speak another story.  Video Browser’s SVN has also been quiet now for about 3 weeks.  Nothing on the SVN side and the forum is pretty dead (although it wasn’t that active to begin with).  VMCNetflix seems to have halted at least a couple of months ago with no news anywhere regarding its status.  Finally, there’s MyMovies which is more than an enigma than a stalled plugin.  For nearly two years, perhaps the most popular Media Center plugin of all time, has been plagued by the outdated HTML-based interface within Vista’s Media Center.  The new MCML version has been promised for nearly a year now, but all I’ve seen are mediocre improvements and largely unnecessary additions to the data collection side of things.  The latest venture is the inclusion of a Windows Home Server edition due to popular demand.  Popular demand?  Hello?

There are some other new plugins that have hit the scene as of late, but I can’t call any of them as monumentous as the library-based plugins are.  They mostly fill a specific niche that I just can’t relate to.  So, what do you think is up with the latest “underdevelopment” of Media Center plugins?  Is it the return to school (as many of our developers are students doing this as a hobby)?  Maybe the introduction of the 2008 TV Pack has complicated some things?

In closing, I do want to say that I appreciate everything our plugin developers have done and this was not meant to be a slight against them.  I’m not a programmer so I am no one to criticize what they do for all Media Center lovers.  I do actively participate on most of the forums of the plugins I’ve listed so that I can help in my own way and will continue to do so as long as these plugins are being offered to us.

I got my HannSpree Xv37 LCD TV at a really good price from Buy.com about a year and a half ago.  It’s only 720p, but the picture has been terrific and for $600 shipped, I really couldn’t have asked for much more at the time.  However, the one issue that I have had with it is the way that it changes inputs.  If you use more than one input, you have to push an “Input” button, scroll with the direction pad, then hit “Select” in order to change.  This isn’t a big deal if you use the included remote, but for the Logitech Harmony 670, it has been a nightmare…until a couple days ago.

For the most part, I’ve only used HDMI1 input since I only used the HTPC in the bedroom.  Recently, I got dish and hooked my PVR up to HDMI2.  The way the 670 changes these inputs is to use an “InputNext” command to bring up the inputs menu and then scrolls left until reaching the appropriate input.  The only problem is that it is never right.  For kicks, I decided to change the direction it scrolls from left to right.  To my surprise, it actually works now!  I don’t know why, since the inputs are in the correct order, but I’m not complaining.

So, if you have a HannSpree TV and Harmony remote that has been having issues in switching inputs - change the direction of the scroll.  This may even work with any TV that has a three-selection combination to change inputs.

So, I got really bored with my old theme and decided to go with something new.  I didn’t feel the old theme used enough of the screen real estate, so I’m a little happier with the newer one.  I’m not really sure how well I like the sidebar layout, but I’m going to give it a chance before I start theme shopping again.  Hell, I’ll just let you all choose.  Poll ends in 30 days!

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