Plugin: PlayOn in Online Services (Hulu, Netflix, Amazon VOD, etc.)

[blotzer]

Having problems with the extra SageMC step:

Figure out what the name of the modified default STV you're using is (check the Detailed Setup->Help->System Information->Current STV File)

My Current STV File is listed as:
SageTV3_withinports_sagetv_process_local_ui.xml

I can't locate this file anywhere. Probably a newbie mistake since this is the first import I've ever attempted in SageTV. I had a tough time just getting the Online Services menu to display the PlayON items. I still don't see the Hulu folder so I'm not even sure that piece worked. Anyway, any help would be greatly appreciated. I purchased a PlayOn license 3 weeks ago and can't wait to get this working in SageTV and on my extender...

[corwiniii]

C:\Program Files (x86)\SageTV\SageTV\STVs\SageTV3

I'm using 64-bit OS. For 32-bit drop the (x86); or if you installed Sage in a different location just find ...\SageTV\SageTV\STVs\SageTV3 and continue with the directions.

Originally Posted by blotzer

Having problems with the extra SageMC step:



My Current STV File is listed as:
SageTV3_withinports_sagetv_process_local_ui.xml

I can't locate this file anywhere. Probably a newbie mistake since this is the first import I've ever attempted in SageTV. I had a tough time just getting the Online Services menu to display the PlayON items. I still don't see the Hulu folder so I'm not even sure that piece worked. Anyway, any help would be greatly appreciated. I purchased a PlayOn license 3 weeks ago and can't wait to get this working in SageTV and on my extender...

[blotzer]

Thanks for the quick reply. I just checked the directory you mentioned and also did a full search of my c: drive but no dice.

[corwiniii]

This simply just worked for me first try. I took my time with the setup, followed all the instructions, and so far so good. This is in limited testing. My setup:
Windows 7 Pro 64-bit (fresh install UAC off)
Intel Pentium D 920 (dual core 2.8Ghz)
4GB memory
SageTV, STV, SageMC most current stable releases
HD100 on 100Mbs network

PC playback was so-so. Netflix quality at least was low, but I haven't taken the time to tweak.

HD 100 playback:
I tested Hulu and the quality was outstanding with no choppy video/audio problems. This is AWESOME!

I tested Netflix and ran into two "glitches" which I haven't had time to fix yet - if possible. First, at least one movie doesn't seem to want to start at the very beginning. I haven't seen it before so I'm not sure how far into the movie it started. I sat there waiting and waiting for it to start and then just hit Play on the HD100. It starts at different points each time I start it...Now I realize as soon as the buffer message goes away to hit play.

Second, playback appeared to stutter on the second movie I tried, but again I only gave it like 2 minutes to play and I haven't tried adjusting my system at all to free up resources. Quality on both is very high. SD DVD or so.

EP - I cannot thank you enough! This was a giant leap forward for me and what I want to get out of my setup. I would gladly contribute a few ducketts to the cause.

[wrems]

Originally Posted by tmiranda

Edit: Now that we have easier access to Hulu and I'm tired of looking at the ugly "Online Video" interface, I'm working on something better

That would be awesome keep us informed

[evilpenguin]

If you're having issues, I updated the 2nd post with possible debugging steps.

Please try any that apply to you and post which fail and why.

[Taddeusz]

Uninstalled IE8 and I'm still not getting audio from Netflix videos. I still think it has something to do with an interactive user being logged onto the computer. When I'm logged off video plays smooth but no audio. When I'm logged on remotely I get chirps but video is very choppy.

[skyeclad]

Installed EP's plugin and the Playon plugin tonight. So far so good. One question though, is The Mentalist empty for everyone else?

One more question, is it me or is Amazon VOD kind of expensive? I mean is there a monthly fee or is every show like $2?

[evilpenguin]

Originally Posted by Taddeusz

Uninstalled IE8 and I'm still not getting audio from Netflix videos. I still think it has something to do with an interactive user being logged onto the computer. When I'm logged off video plays smooth but no audio. When I'm logged on remotely I get chirps but video is very choppy.

There are known Netflix problems with PlayON (See bug list in first post).

If you can playback at all then you're good as far as this plug-in is concerned.

[evilpenguin]

Originally Posted by skyeclad

Installed EP's plugin and the Playon plugin tonight. So far so good. One question though, is The Mentalist empty for everyone else?

Yep, CBS doesn't have any full episodes posted yet this season. This PlayON just reflects what's available on CBS's and Hulu's websites, so if you're curious about if something should be there, just check the real websites to verify.

Originally Posted by skyeclad

One more question, is it me or is Amazon VOD kind of expensive? I mean is there a monthly fee or is every show like $2?

Yep, every shows $2-3. I haven't figured out much of a use for it yet, but maybe i'm missing something.

[Thomas Wischgol]

I just finished updating my setup to your new STVi. Great job EP! This really is a big step forward! Installation worked flawlessly here. It took me a little while to add in all my own custom feeds but I created a separate file containing only my feeds so that I can add those in easily whenever there is an update.

Thomas

[ddoell]

I also installed this new STVi today and everything went without a hitch. My wife watched two episodes of Dead Like Me from her Hulu queue on the HD200 extender. Everything went fine with great picture and no stuttering or syncing issues.

The only problem was that both episodes ended about 3-4 minutes too soon and immediately went back to the queue with no opportunity to press play to extend the viewing to see the last few minutes. Not sure if others will see this happen as they watch shows over the next few days or if it is something to do with my setup. I haven't had a chance to test anything else but the Hulu queue so far.

Thanks EP for the great plug in. The WAF keeps going up with SageTV.

[TBS]

This is awsome and it works great with my HD200. However, when I try on my MediaMVP's, the vidoe displays at about 1/4 of the size on the screen with the rest of the screen being black (it does play the video though). Has anyone else had this problem with the MVP's or is there a property file to adjust the size?

[evilpenguin]

Originally Posted by ddoell

The only problem was that both episodes ended about 3-4 minutes too soon and immediately went back to the queue with no opportunity to press play to extend the viewing to see the last few minutes. Not sure if others will see this happen as they watch shows over the next few days or if it is something to do with my setup. I haven't had a chance to test anything else but the Hulu queue so far.

Thanks EP for the great plug in. The WAF keeps going up with SageTV.

Yeah, now that I'm actually using the plug-in rather than writing it, I noticed that too

Shouldn't be too bad though, it looks like its just off by the duration of the commercial breaks that played during the show. I can easily estimate that and compensate. I'll try and drop a fix tomorrow.

[robogeek]

Originally Posted by TBS

This is awsome and it works great with my HD200. However, when I try on my MediaMVP's, the vidoe displays at about 1/4 of the size on the screen with the rest of the screen being black (it does play the video though). Has anyone else had this problem with the MVP's or is there a property file to adjust the size?

I don't see it with all videos, and not as bad as you seem to have, but yeah, I see that too on the MVP. For me, I see some videos with 1/5 to as much as 1/2 of the bottom of the screen black. I found that changing the Video Performance setting in PlayOn seems to affect it as well...I have mine set at High and generally only see about 1/4 to 1/5 of the bottom of the screen black, when I do see it. What it seems like to me is that the content is widescreen content, but instead of black bars on top and bottom, both bars are combined on the bottom. I think it's the result of the combination of the way PlayOn encodes the video and the way the MVP displays it. The re-encoded video is probably some odd resolution and I don't think the MVP is as flexible as the HD100/HD200 when it comes to dealing with videos with non-standard resolutions.

[gibsonpa]

I followed the instructions for this...and it worked great all last night!!! Had a great time watching tons of new shows out on Hulu!

Thanks so much EP and others that helped make this happen....it is truly amazing

I am using HD100's and it is perfect.

One general question though....I thought a few months back when this was being discussed....it was mentioned that the HD100 had no chance of working with Hulu due to no Upnp abilities...only the HD200. Is the fact that this uses playon get around that ....or something else? Just curious

[gibsonpa]

Also noticed a new version of PlayOn is available....has quite a few Netflix bug fixes....has anyone updated to it? With this working so well...a little nervous to upgrade....

[LehighBri]

Originally Posted by gibsonpa

Also noticed a new version of PlayOn is available....has quite a few Netflix bug fixes....has anyone updated to it? With this working so well...a little nervous to upgrade....

Looks like there are some nice improvements, including one that may eliminate the requirement to have WMP11 which looks like many people are having issues with.

Version 2.59.3559

Released 28 September 2009
Features and Changes

-Fixed no-audio issues for Netflix on Windows XP machines.
-Additional improvements for Netflix video distortion for certain videos on certain PC's.
-Additional improvements for Netflix playback on machines with high DPI settings.
-Fixed issue where some Wii users see "No PC Found" even when PlayOn running correctly.
-Removed extraneous Windows Media Player 11 requirements (WMP 9 is still required, however).
-Fixed a race condition for plugin loading that could erroneously list a plugin as "slow".
-Increased Hulu queue maximum length.

Known Issues
-My Media (Beta) currently supports limited audio and video codecs.
-iTunes M4A music files won't play correctly to Xbox 360.
-Netflix & Amazon Video on Demand (Beta) A/V sync and visible jitter can be problematic.
-Wii interface not optimized for SDTV's (4:3).
-Videos are missing in the total counts for CBS (100 maximum).
-YouTube subscriptions and playlists are limited to 50 videos.

[matt91]

Originally Posted by gibsonpa

Also noticed a new version of PlayOn is available....has quite a few Netflix bug fixes....has anyone updated to it? With this working so well...a little nervous to upgrade....

Me too...just got it setup and a new version comes out... since I don't use Netflix right now, i'm not seeing a lot of reason to upgrade.

[gplasky]

If you're having the issue concerning the ieshims.dll, take a look in your Program Files\Internet Explorer directory for it. You should find it there. Just copy it to your system32 directory and it should fix your issue. For 64 bit you should (I did) pull it from Program Files\Internet Explorer. The Program Files(x86)\Internet Explorer would go in sysWOW64 directory which is for the 32bit dlls.

The %windir%\System32 directory is reserved for 64-bit applications. Most DLL file names were not changed when porting to 64-bit, so 32-bit applications must use a different directory as their System32 directory. WOW64 hides this difference using a file system redirector.

Whenever a 32-bit application attempts to access %windir%\System32, the access is redirected to a new directory, %windir%\SysWOW64. Access to %windir%\lastgood\system32 is redirected to %windir%\lastgood\SysWOW64. Access to %windir%\regedit.exe is redirected to %windir%\SysWOW64\regedit.exe.

Gerry