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Release Notes
Recorded TV Manager Windows 7 Media Center Marathon
32-bit - Build 1.2.2
64-bit - Build 2.1.2
July 6, 2010
- Media Center Setup
- Loading
- Using Media Center Transport Controls
- Adding an Item to the Start Menu Strip
- Changing the Media Center Watched Folder List
- Compatibility With Other Recorded TV Manager Products
- Known Problem with Windows 7 Media Center
If this software is installed on the Media Center machine before Media Center has been "set up", i.e. run at least once, the software may fail to start. In that case, close Media Center and then restart it.
When the software starts, the Loading page is displayed. At this time, the software is searching all the folders and sub-folders in the Media Center Watched Folders List for recorded TV files (dvr-ms and wtv).
Please note that for large numbers of recorded TV files distributed over a network, it can take upwards of 30 seconds to load the current state of recordings. This can also be impacted by network congestion and other factors. Please be patient.
Once the current state is loaded, navigation through the collection is fast and responsive.
If you backspace to the Start menu or hit the Green Button, then you will have to re-load the collection.
New recordings which complete after the collection has been loaded will not appear until the next time the collection is loaded.
Using Media Center Transport Controls
Use the Stop button to stop the currently running Marathon.
Normal transport controls such as fast forward, skip forward and back, rewind and pause all work as expected. Press the Info button for information about the current recording.
Note: In some cases, particularly on underpowered systems, fast forwarding or skipping to the end of a recording to force transition to the next recording can cause problems with Media Center or cause the Marathon to stop unexpectedly. The reason for this is that the software works using event notifications from Media Center to determine the current state of the playback, and on underpowered or busy systems the software is not able to keep up with the event notifications. Shut down and restart Media Center if necessary. The problem is not likely to occur in 64-bit systems.
In any case, the software works best when allowed to run normally through the transition from one recording to the next. The quickest and easiest way to force transition to a different recording is to stop the Marathon using the Stop button, select the one to play and then restart the Marathon.
Adding an Item to the Start Menu Strip
When installed, the software adds an item to the Extras Library in Media Center. To elevate the Marathon item to the Extras bar on the Start menu, select Extras Library, select the TV Marathon tile and then press the Info button (or right-click the item with the mouse) and then select Add to Start Menu.
Changing the Media Center Watched Folder List
By default, the Media Center Watched Folder list is just the local Public Recorded TV folder. For Windows Home Server networks, the list may also include the Recorded TV shared folder on the WHS.
You can add other network shares to the Watched Folder List directly within Media Center using Settings. See instructions here.
Compatibility With Other Recorded TV Manager Products
The Marathon software is independent of any other Recorded TV Manager software and can be installed along side Recorded TV Manager Windows 7 Media Center Add-in, Media Center Stitch Add-in and/or Media Center Play Next Add-in. Note that the Marathon software uses the Media Center Watched Folder List and will not use the Recorded TV Manager Folder List.
Important: Always uninstall this and other add-ins using Control Panel >> Uninstall Programs. In some cases, when multiple Recorded TV Manager add-ins are uninstalled, Media Center registration may not be fully removed. Use Manage Extras >> Extras Library in Media Center to remove any unwanted add-ins from Extras.
Known Problem with Windows 7 Media Center
There is a bug in Windows 7 Media Center (as of this release, June 14, 2010) where sometimes a recording is not properly encoded with metadata. These recordings show up as follows in Media Center:
This problem has been discussed here and here among others.
The basic problem is that the Duration metadata field, which indicates the length of the recording. is not encoded. As a result, the Marathon application cannot determine if playback has been stopped by the user (Stop button) or the recording has Finished. If one of these recordings is in a running Marathon playlist, then the Marathon will always stop after playing the incorrectly encoded recording. There is no workaround for this, but presumably Microsoft will fix this bug in a future Windows 7 update.
Copyright © 2010 Drasch Computer Software.