Beginners Guide To

Beginners Guide To Compiled by Meedio forum member JesterMgee With assistance from the Meedio Community 2008 www.meedios.com Revision Tracker REVISION 9 - 10 FEBRURARYR 2009 Removed details about individual module plugins – Too much work and not required in a beginners manual Started detailing the Full Time Plugins, their purpose and if they are safe to disable Revised the content structure guide for future planned topics REVISION 8 - 24 DECEMBER 2008 Started detailing the plugins installed with Meedio Ultimate with brief descriptions. Changed page border layout to stretch text to the edges of the page so more can fit per page TODO >> Add content headings to each page as well as start numbering and indexing pages o >> Start creating hotlinks for menu items and page references for future based HTML document navigation REVISION 7 - 22 DECEMBER 2008 - Added a revision tracker to track changes and additions to the manual - Corrected a few mistakes - Added some non-ultimate spcific info about installing a "raw" version of meedio Contents What Is Meedio Why Use Meedio How Do I Get Started o Meedio Is No Simple Setup! o Meedio Is Aimed At? Knowing Where To Go For Help o Debugging Meedio o Creating A Meedio Debug Log Before Installing Meedio o Installing an Operating System o Update Your Computer! o Back Up Your Computer! o Installing Codecs Downloading Meedio o What Are All The Versions??? o Meedio Download Page Installing Meedio Organising Your Media o Getting Started o How Meedio Imports Files o Naming Schemes o Media Management Plugins For Meedio Meedio Configuration Tool o What Are The Components That Make Meedio? Modules Full-Time Plugins Media Libraries Importers Themes o Menu Configuration Adding Menu Items Downloading & Installing New Menu Plugins (modules) Uninstalling Modules Meedio Ultimate Menu Configuring Menu General Properties User Permissions o General Meedio Settings o Input Setup(Meedio Control) o User Management o Full-Time Plugins What Are Full Time Plugins? Installing/Updating Full-Time Plugins Full-Time Plugins Explained - - - - - - Meedio Quick Start Guide Congratulations on your choice to use Meedio as your HTPC front end software; you have made the right choice. So what is Meedio? Meedio is a software solution to turn a PC into a HTPC (Home Theatre Personal Computer). Its main design is to allow your PC to connect to your TV to allow you to browse your media collection from the comfort of your chair. It works by becoming the “front-end” or display for browsing media, the same as Windows is the front-end for allowing you to browse your computer files. The main difference is it is geared to be similar to operate as your DVD player or Satellite Set Top Box allowing you to navigate, browse and play media in the same way you would with your DVD/CD player… With a Remote Control! Meedio is a FREE application these days and is not alone in the world of HTPC software front-ends, but is one of the originals. Some other software HTPC front-ends you may or may not be aware of: Windows Media Center (MCE for short) Media Portal Xbox Media Centre BeyondTV SageTV Why Use Meedio? There are other choices for Media Centre (HTPC) front-ends which may just fit the bill, but Meedio is maintained and supported by a large HTPC fanbase that are all dedicated to bringing the latest ideas to your fingertips. Meedio has one thing that no other HTPC front-end has…. Infinite Flexibility. Meedio is built on a Plugin structure where there is a small shell (Meedio) and every other feature that Meedio offers is a plugin. The Video Player, File Browser, Weather, Movies, TV, Games… They are all plugins. So what does that mean to Joe Consumer? Well, any component can be upgraded, replaced or complimented with another. It allows the user to build the system they want, with their style, their menus, their images. It can all be done THEIR WAY! This can come at a price though. For all this flexibility, it means that a user must create what they want instead of just installing software, pointing it to Media and using it. How Do I Get Started? Meedio is a lot more flexible than a lot of the other solutions out there. Because there are so many choices for Meedio it requires a little bit of time and patients to get it going. The best way to get started is to first think about what you want to do with your HTPC (music, videos, games, internet etc) and then decide what you want to start with first. Meedio is no simple setup!!! Before you even start, think if you are ready to take on Meedio. It takes a bit of patients, time and dedication to get your Meedio setup off the ground. It won’t happen overnight, but it will happen eventually. Meedio Is Aimed At? Meedio is aimed at the more advanced computer user who needs a flexible software solution they can tailor to suit themselves. It is not aimed at a PC novice as there are other solutions out there that are much easier to setup. Meedio is aimed at those that want something different, specific…. Something they can create and modify themselves. Keep this in mind as this guide will assume that you already have basic computer knowledge and understand how to install and configure Windows software. Forget about all the flashy screens for a minute and concentrate on the most important things first such as storing and arranging media. Here is a list of things to consider that I recommend to getting started: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Start organising your media into a uniform method (hint’s about doing this later) Decide if you will have a central media server or a local hard drive Will you access your system with keyboard, mouse, remote, touchscreen? Who will use your system? What are the most important things you want your system to do? What THEME do you like? Knowing Where To Go For Help Face it, you are going to get stuck on something and you will need to know how to get help. Helpful Links Meedio Website www.meedios.com The above website holds everything to do with Meedio. Before posting questions it’s a good idea to search the forum first. Google is a great tool for this. Just search Meedios.com for your question. You can also download new and updated plugins, themes and other files contributed to Meedio by the user community. Meedio Forum http://www.meedios.com/forum This is where you can ask the community about ANYTHING. When asking questions please do your best to search for the answers first. If you are still lost post your questions in the appropriate sections of the forum. Many plugins and themes have an [Official Thread] which you should try and find for the questions you want to ask. This will ensure that your questions are received by the people who monitor these threads (authors, programmers and supporting users). There are also some other sites for Meedio basics: Original Meedio Help File To view the original Meedio Help File look in your Meedio folder in the DOC directory. This file still has some useful info but is a bit outdated and much of the important detail will be in this manual. Meedio Ultimate Support Thread http://www.meedios.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2543 Since this guide is designed around Meedio Ultimate you may run into some issues with the installation and configuration of the software or included plugins that you are unsure about. Post your questions in here if it’s not specific what your problem is or you are just getting started with Meedio Ultimate. Meedio WIKI http://www.meedios.com/wiki/index.php?title=Meedio The Meedio WIKI is the newer online help menu that is still being compiled by users and wil probably replace this guide. Debugging Meedio Meedio operates by sending messages from one plugin to another. These messages can be recorded to a text file to find out what is happening and where a message is failing. Sometimes when something doesn’t work it’s easy to see the error in the Meedio debug logs for yourself and others with more experience can certainly see what Meedio is doing under the hood. Knowing how to run Meedio in debug mode is very important when asking for help on the forum. Sometimes you will get instant help if you include your debug log when you post your issues. Keep In Mind!!! Some plugin creators have debug logs for their plugins which are enabled in the plugins properties. Look for these options if a certain plugin is giving you issues, otherwise use the Meedio debug log feature Here is an example of a Meedio Debug log: 27-Nov-2008 16:37:01:779 : 00.00.000 : [ 2104] : Started "C:\Meedio\Meedio Ultimate\Meedio.exe" (Yahoo! Go for TV) 0.2.55.0 27-Nov-2008 16:37:01:779 : 00.00.000 : [ 2104] : 27-Nov-2008 16:37:01:795 : 00.00.016 : [ 2104] : Loaded configuration file "C:\Meedio\MeedioData\configuration.xml" 27-Nov-2008 16:37:01:795 : 00.00.000 : [ 2104] : Image cache size is 50 27-Nov-2008 16:37:01:795 : 00.00.000 : [ 2104] : Using language file "C:\Meedio\Meedio Ultimate\english.language" 27-Nov-2008 16:37:02:170 : 00.00.375 : [ 2104] : Discovered 169 installed plugins 27-Nov-2008 16:37:02:170 : 00.00.000 : [ 2104] : Loading resources... 27-Nov-2008 16:37:02:404 : 00.00.234 : [ 2104] : Loaded resources 27-Nov-2008 16:37:02:404 : 00.00.000 : [ 2104] : Using thumbnail database "C:\Meedio\MeedioData\thumbnails\thumbnails.dat" 27-Nov-2008 16:37:02:404 : 00.00.000 : [ 2104] : Loaded built-ins 27-Nov-2008 16:37:02:404 : 00.00.000 : [ 2104] : Running startup imports 27-Nov-2008 16:37:02:451 : 00.00.047 : [ 2104] : No startup imports to run 27-Nov-2008 16:37:02:451 : 00.00.000 : [ 2104] : Starting plug-in "PIN" …………. You can see that it is easy to read the messages that are being sent. Creating A Meedio Debug Log To create a Meedio debug log run the Meedio.exe with the –debug switch. The easiest way to do this is to create a shortcut to Meedio and add “–debug” to the target location in the shortcuts properties: Run Meedio with the debug shortcut and try to replicate the error or issue you have. As soon as you have replicated the issue, exit Meedio. Try not to do much more than what is needed to produce your error to keep the log size down. Meedio Ultimate C:\Meedio\MeedioData\Log\ **If you have installed Meedio to another location, it should be in that folder. Meedio 1.41 C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Meedio\Log\ The file you are interested in is the Meedio.log file. If you open this file with notepad you can see all the messages Meedio has been passing from one component to another and you may even see where the error has occurred. Zip this log file and attach it to your forum post to make it easier for people to see what is happening with your Meedio system. DON’T Copy the contents of the file and paste the whole log in a forum as the log can sometimes be very big. Just attach it to a post and explain your problem. Before Installing Meedio Before you set about installing Meedio it may be a good idea to get your PC all up to date and decide on what CODECS you will install to play back your video files. Installing an Operating System It is assumed that you already have a plan for an operating system and the best way to configure it for HTPC use. There are many guides out there on how to create a “stripped” installation to save on loaded resources and disk space. Here are a couple of projects that can help you create a custom OS for your Meedio installation Bluepill-X: The autoupdating, Self Configuring HTPC (Using XP) http://www.meedios.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=851 Meedio forum member Binary64 has taken on the task of creating an OS that is designed to make Meedio as hands free and functional as possible. Visit the forum link to find out more. Nlite: XP Custom Installation Creator http://www.nliteos.com/ If you would like to look into making your own custom version of XP, check out Nlite. TinyXP Another option you may want to look into is the TINYXP project which is a custom version of windows XP with a lot of the bulk removed and modified. A Google search of this will give you more information but be aware that a downloadable copy of Windows will not be legal and will be subject to the laws in your country. Update Your Computer It’s a good idea to make sure you have at least XP SP2 / 3 installed and have your DirectX up to date as much as possible. Check to make sure your video card drivers are also up to date and any other hardware that your computer uses Many of Meedio’s plugins require the DOT NET Framework to be installed on your computer which can all be obtained from the Microsoft Website. There are currently 3 versions which all need to be installed in order to allow all the plugins to work and it pays to install them all. Dot Net Framework 1.1 http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=262D25E3-F589-4842-8157034D1E7CF3A3&displaylang=en Dot Net Framework 2 http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=0856eacb-4362-4b0d-8eddaab15c5e04f5&displaylang=en Dot Net Framework 3 http://www.microsoft.com/Downloads/details.aspx?familyid=10CC340B-F857-4A14-83F525634C3BF043&displaylang=en Backup Your Computer It is always a good idea to prepare for the worst. Creating a backup of your OS at critical points can save you a lot of time if things go wrong. Consider finding yourself a backup solution that can restore your OS for you. This will save you a lot of time and configuration should anything go wrong. Here is one backup solution that many have had great success with: >> Acronis True Image – (Licenced) http://www.acronis.com/ This is one of the best and easiest backup utilities to use. You can create backups from a boot disk and restore these easily. Installing Codecs If you want to playback video files and DVD disks you are going to need CODECS for the media you have. What is a Codec? If you don’t know what a codec is, have a read of the wiki. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Codec There are many, many, many choices for Codec’s and every person chooses differently. It can sometimes be hard to figure out what to install for what you want to watch and it may be a bit of trial and error What Codecs Should I Install? This is a question as old as codecs themselves. It depends on the media you wish to play and the hardware and software you have to play it. There are codec packs available that attempt to install everything you may need (and some stuff you don’t) to play the majority of files but these can get you into trouble. DON’T!!!! – Don’t install random codecs or different makes of the same or similar codecs. If you install, say 2 different DivX codecs then some players will get confused with which codec to use and you can end up with all kinds of problems. Here are some of the best and most trusted codec packs available. If you need more information about installing codecs for specific media then please visit the Meedio forum and ask the community. Just remember that codec packs may install unneeded codecs and may not instantly make your files playable. Before installing a codec pack make sure you have uninstalled any installed codecs to prevent any conflicts. Bluepill Codecs http://www.meedios.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1777 This is a codec installer and auto-updater created for the Meedio Bluepill project by Binary64. It installs to your start menu and allows you to select the codecs to install. It can be used to update these codecs at any time if needed. K-Lite Codec Pack http://www.codecguide.com/ This is a well known codec pack that has worked well for many. I have installed the lite version of this pack and have 99% of my media playing in every player so I have had good success where other codecs and packs have let me down in one area or another. Combined Community Codec Pack http://www.cccp-project.net/ This is another very trusted codec pack that has been created by dedicated users. It attempts to be as unobtrusive on your system as possible while trying to play as many file formats as possible. Do your own research on codecs and decide what you need for your media. Because Meedio can use 3 party video players you may decide to use a media player for Meedio such as Video Lan Client or Media Player Classic that doesn’t require any codec packs to be installed as they use their own. Do your research first. rd Downloading Meedio What are all the versions??? Meedio 1.41 The Meedio core is no longer developed since it was sold to Yahoo. Only plugins and additions are maintained by the Meedio community. Meedio 1.41 was the last official release from the creator before the buy out. Meedio Ultimate Meedio Ultimate is a re-compile of the Meedio 1.41 software with a new installer and has some of the most popular plugins and themes installed and pre-configured. This may be a preferred version to install since it will save you having to download and install many of the plugins required these days to make Meedio work. It also installs the .NET Framework 3 that is required to install and use many of the plugins created today. This is what this manual is based on. Yahoo Go! For TV 0.2.55 Yahoo released Yahoo Go! For TV 0.2.55 which was heavily branded as a Yahoo product but was all Meedio underneath. They made a couple of improvements to the main core but the software didn’t go far and has since ceased production. This version is available but not recommended as it’s not fully supported MeediOS MeediOS (not to be confused with Meedio) is the new generation of Meedio being developed right now. It has been totally designed from the ground up to address some of Meedio’s issues and missing features which can no longer be added to Meedio. It is not yet fully ready to replace Meedio but hopefully will be some day. You can already check it out by downloading the SVN release from the Meedio website and watch as it is developed. If you know how to program you can get yourself involved too. Either way, Meedio is the same in any flavour (except MeediOS) and it’s your choice which version you decide to download. Just be aware that different versions have different default install directories and different installed plugins and themes. You can get any of the versions here: Meedio Download Page http://www.meedios.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2111 Installing Meedio Installation is pretty straight forward. Just follow the installation wizard and install to the location you want. The focus of this manual will be on Meedio Ultimate since many of the basic plugins and themes are installed along with the software and it takes out some of the installation. Meedio 1.41 can be installed instead of Ultimate but will require you to manually download themes, plugins and .NET Framework. Meedio Ultimate If you are installing the Ultimate version of Meedio its default install directory will be: You will then get a choice of what components you would like to install (such as Themes, Live TV plugins and other options). Select any options you would like to install and continue. If you are thinking of using Meedio for Live TV then I would recommend checking with users on the forum first. Meedios pin was pulled before all the bugs could be ironed out in the TV setup of Meedio. Some people have had rd great success but others have used 3 party applications for TV and linked them through Meedio. Continue with the installation. You may be prompted to install the .NET Framework if it is not already installed. If this is the case then please let the installation continue. You will be required to restart your computer which will interrupt the installation process. Simply run the installer when windows loads again and repeat the installation to complete. Now that the installation has completed you will have the options available below. If you want to use the TV component of Meedio and would like to setup the TV Listings importer then please consult the Meedio forum on the best way to achieve this for your TV card and your location It is recommended that you don’t run Meedio just yet as you won’t have any Media selected to browse. You can run Meedio if you wish to see what it looks like, but there won’t be too much to play with just yet. Meedio Ultimate has some menus and settings already configured for you to get you started. You can change, delete or modify these to suit your needs and that will be explained a bit later. Before getting carried away lets start getting all your Media sorted and tidied up so it can be easily imported and browsed with Meedio. We may need Organizing Your Media The main reason someone may want a Media Centre PC is to access their Media. But it depends on the level of access you would like. The better organised your Media collection the easier it will be for you to import it into Meedio and download all the extra details. Using a front end like Meedio allows you to display your media files in a simple Explorer list fashion or download meta data from the internet and tie this to your media. Getting Started It’s very hard to know where to start but I would recommend starting where the problem is worst. Many people these days download a lot of video content which all has different naming schemes. There are tools out there that can make light work of how to rename your files but the first thing you need to decide is how you want to label everything. Meedio can even help us out by re-naming files to a common format but we need to decide on our own format. Here is an example of how I store my TV shows: All TV show video files have a reference to the show name, season number, episode number and episode name. These are basic requirements for Meedio to look on the internet for matches to download meta data and because TV shows span seasons, they are normally the most important media files to have labelled correctly Let’s have a quick look at how Meedio imports files such as TV episodes to understand why this is important. How Meedio Imports Files If you simply want to browse through a list of your files on the computer and play them then you only need a simple file browser module but if you are interested in using a more advanced browser that can display fanart, overviews, actors, episode information etc then you need to create a Library and import your files to that library so the details can be saved. To do this we need a few things: - Create a Library in the Meedio Media Library - Create a File Importer to import our files - Create Tag Masks for the importer to extract the details from the file name - Create meta data importer to download details from the internet Lets look at a file from my media storage above: \\MGEENAS\Storage1\MEDIA\TV Shows\CARTOONS\Simpsons\Season 1\ Simpsons - 01x01 - Christmas Special – Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire This file is stored in a shared folder on a network server and I want to import this to a library and download all the details for this file. Without getting specific with plugins just yet lets say there are 2 importers needed for this library. A Local File Importer and a Meta Data Importer. I know (by reading up) that my Meta Data Importer (such as MeeTVShows Importer for example) needs the following fields to be created in my media library in order to find a match on the internet to get data: SeasonName SeasonNumber EpisodeNumber name My local file importer will be pointed at the following directory: \\MGEENAS\Storage1\MEDIA\TV Shows\CARTOONS\Simpsons\Season 1\ And to import the file and create the required fields I create the following File Mask: - x - .<> This will create the following data for me: name Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire location \\MGEENAS\Storage1\MEDIA\TV Shows\CARTOONS\Simpsons\Season 1\ Simpsons - 01x01 - Christmas Special – Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire.avi image \\MGEENAS\Storage1\MEDIA\TV Shows\CARTOONS\Simpsons\Season 1\folder.jpg SeasonName Simpsons SeasonNumber 01 EpisodeNumber 01 The Name, Location and Image fields are default fields for every library. They are native to Meedio as every file needs to have a name and a location of the file. The other fields are needed for other importers or browsing modules. In actual fact ALL files in the above folder would have been imported IF they were all labelled the same. If they didn’t match that mask they would have not been imported. To get other files in I would have to create a second mask that matches those files. So hopefully you can see why media should all be labelled in a common manner. It will make your life much easier and there are plenty of ways to make this task easier for you. The alternative to renaming your media is to create multiple tag masks that match ALL your file naming schemes but that can be quite a task to work out. Naming Schemes If you are unsure how to go about organising your media you can always ask on the forum but here are some suggestions: TV Shows These are the most important for labels if you want meta data importers to work well with your files. Here are some examples of how some label their files and the basic mask for the files Seinfeld - 01x01 – The Pilot.avi - x - .<> Seinfeld - S01E01 - The Pilot.avi - SE - .<> Seinfeld.s0e01.The Pilot.avi .se..<> Remember though that if any of the folders contain any tag you would like you can use this in your tag mask. For instance: \\MGEENAS\Storage1\MEDIA\TV Shows\SITCOM\Seinfeld\Season 1\ Seinfeld - 01x01 – The Pilot.avi I have all my shows sorted in category folders and can create a filter in the browser that can sort by any tag. So I point my importer to the following location: \\MGEENAS\Storage1\MEDIA\TV Shows\ And create the following tag mask: \\<>\<>\ - x - .<> This now imports the file but also creates an additional tag called Category which will have SITCOM in it. Movies If you store Movies on your HDD in either .AVI, .ISO or DVD Folder format you may want to consider naming the folders with a couple of extra values other than just the movie name. Lets say we have a movie stored as an .AVI on our hard drive: D:\MEDIA\Movies\Wall-E\Wall-E.avi A file importer only needs the following tag to import the above movie: .<> That naming is fine but we could name it in the following way to add more details to our library: D:\MEDIA\Movies\Wall-E (2008)\Wall-E (XviD).avi \<> ()\ ().<> Now we get the year of the movie and the codec required to view it. With a file browser that supports these tags to be displayed we can see these details on the screen. The more details you place in the file name the more data you can import into your library. Some importers of meta data can run in an unattended mode if there is enough details in the file name to find an exact match on the internet. Music Music files don’t really need to be named, just arranged correctly. My music collection is sorted as follows: For Bands: \Music\Albums\Bands\Metallica\Kill Em All\01 – Hit The Lights.mp3 For Mixed Albums: \Music\Albums\Various\Best Rock Album EVER\\01 – Queen - We Will Rock You.mp3 For Singles And Loner Tracks: \Music\Singles\Jester Mgee – Hip Hop Operative.mp3 I have a separate library for Bands, Various Mixed Albums and Singles to keep things neat and tidy in Meedio. Because Mp3 tracks have built in tags you just need to make sure your tag data in your files is correct and there is a music importer that can read these tags and pull the data into a library without having to create a tag mask. A great tool for tagging MP3 tracks is Godfather (freeware) http://www.snapfiles.com/get/godfather.html Media Management Plugins For Meedio Without getting too far ahead, it is only a RECOMMENDATION that you begin sorting your media to make it easier for yourself. There are some plugins available that can help you name your media easily. MediaFairy http://www.meedios.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3912 1) Automatically identify (almost) any movie in your Meedio library (using its video file's unique "fingerprint" *or* the already known film's information existing in your library ) and import it's ImdbiD field. Using this unique ImdbID it will then be able to: 2) Get always correct and exact film details without the need of the film title to be known and without any intervention from you, ever. 3) Automagically download the correct posters (covers) from TheMovieDatabase (TMDB) or iMDb. (nicecovers coming soon) 4) Download perfectly synchronized subtitles for your movies in your preferred language(s). The above plugin should also work for TV shows too Smart Series Sorter http://www.meedios.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1583 Imports TV Series files from an jumbled and/or sorted archive of shows. Handles messy collections that Regex/tagmask could never touch. Also cleanly ignores other media types in the dump folders such as movies and music. meeFileRenamer http://www.meedios.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=628 Used in conjunction with a meta data importer, meeFileRename can use any tag in your library to rename the files on your computer. Typically you would import your files into a temp library and grab the details from the file name you can (such as show name, season and episode info which is a minimum for what the plugin needs). Then download the metadata for the files using an available metadata plugin (such as meeTVShows Importer) then use this plugin to rename and move your files to the desired location. Regex Importer http://www.meedios.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=787 Regex Importer can help you import all those weirdly named files from your HDD by having multiple masks and expressions to filter out the useful data for your library. You can then use a metadata importer to get the show names from the internet. This is a more advanced plugin that can be very useful to help you automate an import on almost any file. Please visit the forum pages and ask the community for help with configuring these plugins or the best use for them. Meedio Configuration Tool The Meedio Configuration Tool is what you will use to program your Meedio installation. It manages EVERYTHING. Before looking at the configuration tool itself, let’s look at the different components that make up Meedio. This is just a glance at what the components are for and they will be run through in more detail later. What Are The Components That Make Meedio? Meedio is a component and plugin based system where Meedio is the “shell” and manages the communications between plugins, themes and libraries. There are 5 main components to the Meedio system: - Modules - Full-Time Plugins - Media Libraries - Importers - Themes Modules Meedio’s menu system is created using Modules. A module is a plugin for Meedio that adds menu and interface functionality. When you install a new module you will be able to locate it in Meedio’s “ADD MODULE” option on the Menu setup screen. Every menu item is a Meedio Module plugin and plugin designers and programmers can create new modules for different features. Each module has its own individual properties as well as a set of general properties that configure what will appear on screen for the user. More will be explained when we run through the configuration tool. Full-Time Plugins Full time plugins add core features to Meedio such as music players and video players. Full-Time Plugins are loaded when Meedio starts and are active while Meedio is being used. These plugins will spring into action when they are called upon by Modules. Each plugin has its own options and can be enabled/disabled by selecting the check box. The more plugins that are enabled, the longer Meedio will take to load and the more memory will be required for Meedio to run. The DETAILS button will display information about the selected plugin such as the version number, creator and help file or forum link Media Libraries Media Libraries are database files created by the user that store all the meta data information for your media files. Each library will contain the default tags name, location and image which are used by media modules to display the name and image of the file on screen and locate the file when the user selects it. To add files to your media library files you need to create some importers. There are a number of importers available for different media and some media libraries will require multiple importers to obtain different details. Additional library tags will be created when an importer is added and the tags will depend on the importer. Certain Meedio Modules can display information on the screen from these tags if they are populated. It is not a requirement to have all the tags populated unless you would like to see that information on the screen. One important thing is to know what tags the module requires that you want to use to display your media needs and what importers will obtain this data for you. We will look into some examples later. Some modules (such as the music browser) allow you to configure ways to view the data on screen which you can configure in the views section of the library. This allows you to create different views and arrange the media in different ways such as by Artist or Album or Year etc. These views will appear as options on screen. Importers Importers are added to your media libraries to import files and data. Different importers will import different information and some libraries may need a number of importers to populate everything that a module needs to display data on screen. Each importer can be set to either delete all items in a library and re-import or update the items with new data. Importers can be individually scheduled to run at a specific time, at Meedio startup or at specific intervals. In addition to the schedules, a library’s importers can also be manually run from within Meedio by creating a menu item to update a library. Some media modules (such as movie or TV modules) may also have a menu option to run imports. There are also plugins available that can run imports based on Meedio events that may be of use. Themes Themes are what create the visual elements and display the modules and library data on screen. Meedio has a number of different Themes available and you can even create your own! meedioChromeV2 Theme by Meedio Member CRN A theme is basically made up of “screen files” which are like templates on how to display the data on the screen. Each module for Meedio has a different screen file to display the data for the module. This is important to know because to display the information correctly for a theme, that themes designer must have a screen file that supports the modules you want to use. Some modules will have a default screen file that can be used if a theme does not support the plugin, but these don’t work well with every theme. It is best to use themes that are still being maintained by their creators or the community. The forums are a great place for help on themes and for the more advanced user, themes and screens can be modified with a simple text editor. There is also a theme design tool (for advanced users) that is included with Meedio Ultimate that can be used to create or modify a theme but sometimes if a feature or a modification is wanted for a theme, you can try and just ask the themes author in their thread on the forum. Check the Theme Forum link for current themes: Theme Forum Link http://www.meedios.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=4 Menu Configuration The Menu system in Meedio is all plugin based where you select the plugins required for the features you want to add. Adding Menu Items Click the ADD button and select an item from the drop down box. Plugin Modules are sorted into categories and will be added to the current GROUP selected in the Menu. You can move a newly added module up or down in the menu list using the UP/DOWN arrows at the top of the screen and you can move a module from one group to another by dragging it. As pictured above you will notice that a “group” of modules (TV is a good example) will be a sub menu in your menu structure. Groups are created by adding an Enhanced Group Module to your menu structure and then adding your Modules to the group. Downloading & Installing New Menu Plugins (modules) Meedio Ultimate comes configured with a host of ready to use plugins and modules including the OpenMAID module which allows you to browse new plugins and update existing plugins right inside Meedio. You can view any new updates for any plugins you have installed, view new plugins and check to see if the plugins have been marked as good (they work) or bad (they don’t). To configure the OpenMAID module from scratch just download the OpenMAID module plugin, add it to your menu and enter the following string in the settings: MeediOS OpenMAID|http://www.meedios.com/OpenMAID/xtern.php You can also manually download and install ANY plugins from the Meedio OpenMAID site by visiting: http://www.meedios.com/OpenMAID Download any plugins to your computer and run the plugin package file. They will be installed to the correct location automatically. New plugins will need to be added to your Menu or enabled in the full-time plugin list and configured for your use. Remember that plugins are designed by Meedio users and will not work forever. Sometimes newer plugins will be released to replace old plugins and any plugin that relies on the internet to work will be subject to fail. If in doubt about a plugin, ask on the forum. Other versions of Meedio (such as Meedio 1.41) only have some very basic default plugins installed and will require the user to download all the plugins they require. This may be preferred since you can build what you want without plugins that you don’t need. For a beginner, a pre-configured system that they can pull apart and learn from is much easier. Un-Installing Modules You don’t have to uninstall plugins and modules from Meedio but if you want to remove a plugin completely you need to manually delete the plugins folder within the Meedio folder \plugins\module\.. Meedio Ultimate Menu Meedio Ultimate comes pre-configured with a common menu structure. You can choose to delete the entire menu and start from scratch if you wish or modify the modules to suit your needs. Either way, until you configure the modules for your setup, they won’t do much. A recommendation would be to look through the menu system to get an idea of what modules are being used and how it is all tied together. When you are familiar with how the menu structure works, remove what you don’t want and start adding your own menus. Configuring Menu General Properties Each module added to your menu has its own properties and settings. The General properties are used to configure the GUI aspect of the module. Caption – Will be the displayed name of the module on the screen Description – Will be displayed on screen when the module is highlighted Icon Image – Is an image that will be displayed to represent the module. This image can be a selected image file on your PC (jpg, png, gif) or a default Meedio tag. When using a default tag the tag name will be matched to an image in the current themes folder of the same name (if available). Background Image – Will choose a specific background for the module. Some themes don’t support this OR fanart backgrounds are used instead (explained later). It’s recommended to leave this feature for now until you understand a little more. Sound – Will play a WAV sound when you execute the module. If no sound is selected then default Meedio sounds are used Jump Target Name – Is the name of a keyboard shortcut that has been configured in the INPUT section of Meedio. You may want a button on your remote to jump to the Movie menu so in the jump target you write “Movies”. In the INPUT menu you create the button you want for the Movie Menu Then select the jump target you want to go to. In this example, pressing the DVD Menu Button on the remote (or CTRL+SHIFT+F1 on the keyboard) will jump to the Movie Menu. User Permissions You can restrict access to any module in the menu by entering a pin for the module. You can also create different users in the USER menu and allow access to modules for certain users only! If Users are created for Meedio you will be presented with a login screen on startup where you have to select the user you want to login as. General Meedio Settings The general settings for Meedio are pretty straight forward and you can get tips on each setting by holding your mouse over the options. Language File – You can specify a language translation file if needed. It’s a good idea to make sure this location is pointing to the correct location of a language file because it can speed up loading time. Hide Mouse Pointer Options – Several options to hide the mouse pointer if needed Screen Position – sets the position on the screen where Meedio will sit (useful if you have a custom sized Meedio screen that’s not full screen). Leave at 0 if not used. Screen Width/Height – Set a custom size for your Meedio screen. Leave at 0 if not used. Screen Stays On Top – Meedio will always be on top of all other windows. Be sure not to activate this if you use Meedio to launch other applications. Screen Overscan Correction – This is really only useful for older CRT TV sets. It will adjust the display area to squeeze onto the screen to avoid the TV cutting off the edges of the screen due to overscan Screen Monitor – Set which monitor you want to display Meedio on for dual monitor setups. Show In System Tray – Sets if you want Meedio to show up in the system tray. **IMPORTANT: There is a bug in Meedio that may cause issues if you don’t have this option checked. It is recommended to CHECK THIS OPTION! Network Server Plugin Settings – Various settings for advanced network server applications to use this instance of Meedio. Image Download Timeout – Amount of time (seconds) after which a downloaded image for display fails. Cache Thumbnails – This option was designed to cache thumbnail images for quicker display. **IMPORTANT – There is a bug in Meedio that causes thumbnails not to display if this option is checked. It is recommended NOT TO CHECK THIS OPTION! Shutdown When Last Module Closes – Causes Meedio to close when the last module is exited or a command module is required to close Meedio. This option is not normally checked on a HTPC. Single Instance – Prevents multiple instances of Meedio being launched Enable Application Service – Will launch a secondary process that can allow other plugins to operate when Meedio is not open and allows importers to run. Input Setup (Meedio Control) Meedio is controlled via the keyboard but you can also control Meedio by use of hardware remotes and game controllers. There are a few plugins available for controlling Meedio via X10 and MCE remote controls or you can use 3 party software to map remote control buttons to keyboard shortcuts. rd You can have multiple commands for each function for different input devices. To create a new function, press the ADD button then give your command a name To learn a new command, select a function in the list and select the LEARN button. Any command or keys pressed will be programmed as a new command. Be sure to de-select the learn button when completed. You can also assign a JUMP TARGET for a button which will cause Meedio to jump to a certain Module when the key\button is pressed. You must first set a label in the Jump Target field for the module you want to jump to (in the menu setup). After you have created your jump target for your module select the button/function you want to make a “jump” button. Next, press the Jump Target button and select your jump target from the dropdown list. If you want to use a specific hardware controller such as an IR remote, check to see if there is a plugin for that device: Activate the plugin needed for your device and then learn your buttons into the command list. If your device does not appear in the plugins list check the Meedio website to see if your device has a plugin available or ask the rd community if your device will work. Some devices will work with keyboard shortcuts or need 3 party software to convert button presses to keyboard commands. From my experience when selecting a control device it’s best to select something that has been proven to work such as the MCE V2 Remote Control. Please ask the forum community if you are unsure about a remote or setting up an input device. User Management Setting up users will allow you to restrict access to certain modules or aim modules at particular users. Each user can have their own name, pin number (if required) and an image assigned to them. When you enter Meedio users you will be presented with a login screen every time you launch Meedio. When you login as a particular user you will only have access to the modules programmed for that user. You will not see the modules that have not been assigned to your user account. To choose who has access to what modules you can set user permissions in the PERMISSION tab of each module. Select the user/s you want to allow access OR select “Everyone Has Access To This Module”. These modules (and any sub-modules in the case of a group module) will only be viewable by the person that logs in. To simply deny access to a module (ask for a code) simply enter in a code for the module rather than assign to a user. This will allow the module to be accessable in the menu by those that know the modules pin code Full-Time Plugins What Are Full-Time Plugins? Meedio’s Full-Time Plugins are just as the title suggests. They are plugins that will be loaded when Meedio is loaded to provide some of the main features such as Video Player, Sound Player, Music Player etc… ALL plugins that are Ticked will be loaded when Meedio starts. The more plugins that have to be loaded, the longer Meedio may take to load. The Meedio Ultimate version comes complete with some of the most popular plugins already installed. You just need to enable/disable the plugins that you need. Each plugin has its own set of configuration properties that you need to setup for your needs. Hovering your mouse over an option will give you a tip about that option. Selecting the DETAILS button will tell you the version of the plugin and what it is designed for as well as any help files that are available. It’s a good idea to check for newer versions of plugins every now and then especially if you are having issues with a plugin. Installing/Updating Full-Time Plugins Meedio Ultimate comes configured with the OpenMAID module which allows you to browse new plugins and update existing plugins right inside Meedio. You can view any new updates for any plugins you have installed, view new plugins and check to see if the plugins have been marked as good (they work) or bad (they don’t) To configure this module from scratch just download the OpenMAID module plugin, add it to your menu and enter the following string in the settings: MeediOS OpenMAID|http://www.meedios.com/OpenMAID/xtern.php You can also manually download and install plugins from the Meedio OpenMAID site by visiting: http://www.meedios.com/OpenMAID Download any plugins to your computer and run the plugin package file. They will be installed to the correct location automatically. New plugins will need to be added to your Menu or enabled in the full-time plugin list and configured for your use. Remember that plugins are designed by Meedio users and will not work forever. Sometimes newer plugins will be released to replace old plugins and any plugin that relies on the internet to work will be subject to fail. If in doubt about a plugin, ask on the forum. Meedio 1.41 The “raw” version of Meedio only comes with the most basic plugins and does not contain the OpenMAID plugin. If you decide to install and configure the bare version of Meedio you will have to download the plugins you want/need and install them manually. Un-Installing Full-Time Plugins You don’t have to uninstall plugins from Meedio, you can simply disable them from being loaded but if you want to remove a plugin completely you need to manually delete the plugins folder within the Meedio folder \plugins\general Full Time Plugins Explained Here is a general explanation of some of the FULL TIME PLUGINS installed with Meedio Ultimate and their purpose. I will detail which need to be enabled for whatever setup you are trying to achieve and it’s up to you if you wish to disable plugins you don’t require. Disabling plugins may make load times a little faster. Note: Menu Module Plugins should be easy enough to figure out what their purpose is for. If you are unsure then ask on the Meedio forums. For users that choose to install the raw 1.41 Meedio, you can use this as a guide to see what plugins are designed for and if you need to download them. Some basic plugins will already be included. Auto Play – Automatically Plays CD’s and DVDs when they are inserted. This plugin can be disabled if you do not want this feature. BackMeeUp3 – Backup and copy a DVD to your hard drive. This plugin requires additional software to be installed and requires a command module to open the screen. Please visit the plugins forum thread for instructions. This plugin can be disabled if feature is not required. http://www.meedios.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2724&highlight=backmeeup3 CD Info – Retrieves CD track information for audio CDs from freedb.org. This plugin can be disabled if this feature is not required. ControlMee – Allows you to use your remote control (if you have a remote) to control external applications. If you have an MCE remote or similar to control Meedio you can use this plugin to “pass” controls onto another rd application that you may launch from within Meedio. This saves having to install 3 party software to control applications. There is a great readme file if you click on the DETAILS tab. This plugin can be disabled if not required. Datafeed Server – This plugin is an original Meedio plugin used to create data feeds from librarys such as for weather and news. This can be used to create datafeed files to display info on your main screen such as for weather. It is recommended to leave this plugin enabled. Disk Insert Notification – Used to notify other plugins that a disk has been inserted. This may be used to auto trigger an importer or something else. It can also prevent the windows auto play feature from operating. It is recommended to leave this activated unless you really don’t want it. Dynamic Menus – Designed to help configure some Meedio settings and menus dynamically by hiding any menus and features that are not applicable or have empty library’s. This is an advanced plugin that requires some experience to configure. If you are having issues with menus or features it’s recommended to disable this plugin. MeeTools – Adds a few extra features to Meedio that developers and advanced users can take advantage of such as CD Rom open/close commands, Launching external programs etc. Allows commands to be easily embedded into screens. It’s recommended to leave this plugin enabled to allow theme developers features to work. Music and Movies News Online Content Online Video Pictures Settings and Themes TV Utility Weather Full Time Plugins Importer Plugins >>>INCOMPLETE<<< Media Library’s Proposed Content Items Last Revised 10 Feb 2009 – JesterMgee Red Items Have Been Compiled - - - - - - - - What Is Meedio Why Use Meedio How Do I Get Started o Meedio Is No Simple Setup! o Meedio Is Aimed At? Knowing Where To Go For Help o Debugging Meedio o Creating A Meedio Debug Log Before Installing Meedio o Installing an Operating System o Update Your Computer! o Back Up Your Computer! o Installing Codecs Downloading Meedio o What Are All The Versions??? o Meedio Download Page Installing Meedio Organising Your Media o Getting Started o How Meedio Imports Files o Naming Schemes Meedio Configuration Tool o What Are The Components That Make Meedio? Modules Full-Time Plugins Media Libraries Importers Themes o Meedio Menu Adding Menu Items Configuring Menu General Properties User Permissions o General Settings o Input Setup – Meedio Control o User Management o Full Time Plugins o Media Library’s Backing Up Meedio o Where Are Meedio’s Files Installed Setting Up Media Library’s o TV Shows Example o Movie Example o Music Example o Fanart Example o Weather Examples o News Examples Setting Up Basic Modules o Playing Video o Playing DVDs o Playing Music o Viewing Photos o Launching Programs o Running Importers Inside Meedio o - >>To Be Continued<< <> <> JesterMgee Forum link http://www.meedios.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4005&start=0&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=