MediaPortal 1.0

So after five years of work, it was released – MediaPortal 1.0. Leaving the perpetual beta state that so many applications get stuck in.

Updating it is a bit of a hassle if you followed the betas, but the work is just about the same as for migrating from RC3 to RC4 so if you did that, then you are just about to be needing to do it again.

1. So just download and install it

Here – Good start, isn’t it?

2. Update the EPG fetching

I still don’t understand why this is still so much hassle. If you don’t have XMLTV installed (which you should) – download it from here and RTFM. Set up a batch file to set things up. Add the XMLTV plug-in (included – just needs to be activated) and configure it. You have to set up mapping between the channels found by media portal when channels were scanned, and the channels that are imported using XMLTV. This bitch needs to be done AGAIN! Reload and find partials worked fairly well for me so the manual load isn’t what it was when I tested it the first time. Ensure the xmltv.dtd file is in the same directory as the xmltv.xml file, or it won’t work. In all, it’s great stuff – for people with an engineering degree, too much spare time and take pride and joy in configuration of textfiles (i.e. a Linux lover … <ducking>).

Do also ensure that the batch file is run on a regular basis (and mail me to tell how it’s done ;-). I tried the regular Windows scheduling but didn’t make it the first time around at least … Sigh …

3. Update the config for the MediaPortal Webplugin

The name of the database is updated, so in case you installed the MediaPortal Web plug-in (a MUST!!!) then be prepared to set up this component again. For some reason the component on the Media-portal page is an old version so do pick up an updated version from the projects own page.

4. MDAPI

Heerfordt produced a new MDAPI version called MDAPI 2008. If your MediaPortal access a card sharing server, then this is also a must. You need to set it up again from scratch. There is a fully explanatory guide in the archive. Join the leading forum for these matters, and have a discussion with the guys that does it. here

If you are as I, and use Swedish DVB-T provider Boxer, you may need to adjust the providerId. I described this before here

You also need to pick up WinCSC. Again, do look for WinCSC v. 1.2.0.2477

5. Enjoy one of the leading HTPC distributions