STV Import: MovieTimes Movie Listings Import v0.57 Beta

[Polypro]

I'm not having any luck. here's what I did:

Downloaded the .zip file and extracted to D:\Program Files.

Selected D:\Program Files\mplayer\mplayer.exe in the Movie Times config.

Added -fs -monitoraspect 16:9 to the command line switches.

When I click on "Play Trailer", nothing happens. When I choose any other media player, it works. Also, as a test, I went to a trailer and used "Open With" ---> mplayer.exe...and it played. Using the Command Line also will play a trailer. Any ideas?

Thanks,

P

[geogecko]

Based on the fact that you installed mplayer into /Program Files, did you also do the same with the MovieTimes application? Or is it just on the C: root directory?

If you installed it in /Program Files, these are some important steps, but not sure it's your problem.

20. The first thing you will need to do is to tell MovieTimes where the mtsa program is. Select
“Modify”, then in the popup, select “Choose A New MovieTimes Executable”. Then navigate to and
select the mtsa.exe program (default is “C:\MovieTimes\mtsa.exe”).
21. If you did not install to the default folder, make sure to change the last three items (folder
selections). Also, given that trailer playback is not currently working, you may want to select
“None” for “Trailer quality”. This will speed up the mtsa updates.

Otherwise, sorry if I pointed out the obvious...

[kricker]

-Polypro
All I can think of off the top of my head is that it doesn't like your path for some reason. I have mine in "C:\Program Files\mplayer\mplayer.exe". I see your is in "D:\Program Files\..". Have you tried launching it without any switches?

[aperry]

Originally Posted by popechild

2) My wireless internet connection's been a little flaky lately, and every couple of days it appears that the connection is down when MTSA tries to run its update. Unfortunately, when this happens, it seems to leave empty data somewhere or other that Sage is trying to pull from and I no longer have the "List Theaters" or "List Movies" options on the main page anymore, just "configure" and "go back" as if it's never been configured. The only way to correct it at this point is to manually re-run the MTSA program when the internet connection is working properly, which will cause Sage to get all the correct info again. Assuming this isn't really a "bug" but is just a limitation of the way it's currently designed, I'd suggest a change where a failure to get updated data doesn't automatically wipe out whatever was there before but just leaves it alone until new data can be successfully downloaded. Would this be possible? Does this jive with the way the program seems to work for other people?

I think that the files may be getting deleted. Perhaps key_master can shed some light on this, but I know that part of what it does when downloads is to remove listings and trailers for movies that are not currently showing any more.

I wonder if since it is failing, there are no active movies, so it deletes everything?

That's the only thing I can think of.

And for your first item, yes, that is a problem with the current release and will be fixed soon.

[aperry]

By the way everyone, if you want to start using the new MTSA program, you can get it from the site in key_master's signature. Just overwrite the old one and you should be good to go.

There is nothing in the import that would preclude you from using this later version of MTSA.

The next version I post to the Sage site will include this version of MTSA.

[gplasky]

Originally Posted by Polypro

I'm not having any luck. here's what I did:

Downloaded the .zip file and extracted to D:\Program Files.

Selected D:\Program Files\mplayer\mplayer.exe in the Movie Times config.

Added -fs -monitoraspect 16:9 to the command line switches.

When I click on "Play Trailer", nothing happens. When I choose any other media player, it works. Also, as a test, I went to a trailer and used "Open With" ---> mplayer.exe...and it played. Using the Command Line also will play a trailer. Any ideas?

Thanks,

P

Turn off FSE (Full Screen Exclusive) in Sage. Sage doesn't seem to release the screen when it is in FSE.

Gerry

[key master]

RE: issue #2, after you next realize the connection failed, please attach here the resulting log.txt file and the moviedata.xml file. This will help determine where to go from there.

-Jim

Originally Posted by popechild

A couple of issues:

1) I seem to be having a new problem with not having the theater list using my preferences correctly. I have about 8 of 15 local theaters "highlighted" and organized, but when I go to the main theater list page to see what movies are playing, all 15 theaters still show up, and they're all listed alphabetically instead of in the order I arranged them in. Not sure if this is related to #2 below...

2) My wireless internet connection's been a little flaky lately, and every couple of days it appears that the connection is down when MTSA tries to run its update. Unfortunately, when this happens, it seems to leave empty data somewhere or other that Sage is trying to pull from and I no longer have the "List Theaters" or "List Movies" options on the main page anymore, just "configure" and "go back" as if it's never been configured. The only way to correct it at this point is to manually re-run the MTSA program when the internet connection is working properly, which will cause Sage to get all the correct info again. Assuming this isn't really a "bug" but is just a limitation of the way it's currently designed, I'd suggest a change where a failure to get updated data doesn't automatically wipe out whatever was there before but just leaves it alone until new data can be successfully downloaded. Would this be possible? Does this jive with the way the program seems to work for other people?

[Polypro]

Thanks for the tips. I havn't played with it since I posted, but it's probably FSE like Gerry said. The path to any other media player didn't matter...I have all my programs on D:\ and WMP, MPC, Quicktime (that's on C:\), and JetAudio all launched and played (*with* FSE enabled). I'll disable FSE and give it a shot...but that's not really a solution as I need FSE to drive the 37" Sceptre without tearing. Playback quality with the other apps was bad though...catch22 I'll try bumping the trailer quality down. Thanks again.

P

[popechild]

Originally Posted by key master

RE: issue #2, after you next realize the connection failed, please attach here the resulting log.txt file and the moviedata.xml file. This will help determine where to go from there.

-Jim

Will do.

[Polypro]

Gerry gets the cigar! MPlayer won't work with FSE. I have a few ideas I'm going to try now...

P

Edit: ...and they didn't work (-ontop) Best solution for those that use FSE is Media Player Classic. I've got mine set to Always On Top, Remember Window Size & Position, VMR9 Renderless, Double Window Size-Stretch to Window. Command Line Options of /play /close. This puts up an approx 1280x720 video that plays with FSE enabled. There's some tearing with the high quality trailers, but it's watchable. Uncheck everything under the View menu, and all you see is the trailer...no menu's or buttons.

[popechild]

Originally Posted by key master

RE: issue #2, after you next realize the connection failed, please attach here the resulting log.txt file and the moviedata.xml file. This will help determine where to go from there.

-Jim

Okay, looks like it did it again last night, so here's the resulting log.txt file. It obviously shows an internet connection error and has erased all of the previous theater and movie info that was in the log file from the last update.

I don't see a moviedata.xml file, so either that got erased when it couldn't find an internet connection, or I'm looking in the wrong places for it.

EDIT: I just re-ran it manually with an active internet connection, and in addition to the accurate log file it also created a moviedata.xml and moviedata.xsd file. Neither of these was present after the attempt with no internet connection, which I assume is what is causing the problem.

[key master]

OK, I posted a new version which fixes this. Give it a shot - see link in my signature. You will have to run it manually first if you do not already have an existing moviedata.xml file.

-Jim

Originally Posted by popechild

Okay, looks like it did it again last night, so here's the resulting log.txt file. It obviously shows an internet connection error and has erased all of the previous theater and movie info that was in the log file from the last update.

I don't see a moviedata.xml file, so either that got erased when it couldn't find an internet connection, or I'm looking in the wrong places for it.

EDIT: I just re-ran it manually with an active internet connection, and in addition to the accurate log file it also created a moviedata.xml and moviedata.xsd file. Neither of these was present after the attempt with no internet connection, which I assume is what is causing the problem.

[popechild]

Originally Posted by key master

OK, I posted a new version which fixes this. Give it a shot - see link in my signature. You will have to run it manually first if you do not already have an existing moviedata.xml file.

-Jim

As far as I can tell (from manually disconnecting the internet connection then running the mtsa program) that does the trick!

Thanks!

[mkanet]

I just updated mtsa.exe and now almost all trailers are being downloaded! I am curious when we might see a fix to fix the theater listing order. Other than that, I'm a happy camper!

PS: What is quiet.exe??

[geogecko]

In addition, I also included a file called "quiet.exe" which when placed in the same directory as mtsa.exe, you can optionally run that instead in a scheduled-task situation to have it silently run in the background as a process without displaying a command prompt box. Include any switches as you would with mtsa.exe.

-Jim

[mkanet]

Thanks!

[BBCritical]

Tried to install this on a client pc and ran into issues. The config files exist fine but nothing is showing up when I select Load theaters. I just keep getting the " No theaters avaible...." message. Any ideas?

[mkanet]

Maybe I misread a previous post, but I thought that there was going to be an update to fix this theater order bug. Love using this addon!

-Michael

[aperry]

The fix for the theater order is still in the works. I'm trying to also incorporate flachbar's stuff so that this import does not have to be installed over a "clean" SageTV. Plus, I'm reworking a few other things.

But, given work being very busy, and I've had lots of company visiting (who were not too keen on me working from home), I have not really had too much time to mess with it.

Hopefully, I'll have something new soon.

[Humanzee]

Aperry,
I frequently use your plug in just to preview the new movies that are out. WIth commercial detection we miss a lot of commercials and promo's for new movies. Kind of feel out of the loop. Anyway, the "movie times" function of your plug in is less important to me than the preview, and plot summary features.

It would probably be a big pain in the butt to re-organize this, but when you click on movie times it asks you if you want to "list movies" or "List Theaters". If I click on "List Movies" one could assume that I am more interested in what movies are playing vs. finding whats playing a my closest theater. So as you'd expect the next screen is the list of movies. Great But after you select a movie to find out more info about, it forces you to select a theater. Thats not what I am insterested in just yet. I want to read about it, watch the preview, and then decide if I even want to see it.

I would prefer a "List Theaters" button off of the movie details page vs. a showtimes button. I.e. Check out the movie, then check out the theaters, then check out what times its playing. Or. keep the showtimes as a button, but just list all the show times for all the theaters on one page that you can scroll through. It just seems like more of a natural progression that way.

Love the plug in otherwise. Thanks for the hard work.