WMC Default Movie Library MetaData/Cover Art Problem SOLVED?

[mjktg99]

I will caution that this might only apply to my setup but I think I have figured out a solution to the WMC Default Movie Library not showing MetaData and Cover Art 100% all the time. I am a minimalist and Media Browser was not for me. Let me 1st describe my setup... (All Windows 7)

PC1 - Main PC for everyday computing. Also the PC I use to get my Media onto my Media Center (PC2)
PC2 - Main MEDIA CENTER that stores all of my Movies, Recorded TV, MetaData, Cover Art and accessed from other PC's. Currently over 100 Movies.
PC3 - Bedroom Media Center. Essentially an extender that is a PC.

So here is what I did and has worked flawlessly for me since I made these changes for over 3 months now. On PC2 I shared out my DvdInfoCache and DvdCoverCache to my homegroup (in my setup must be read/write access) On PC1 and PC3 I use the MKLINK function to link the 2 folders (DvdInfoCache, DvdCoverCache) on each PC to the same folders on my PC2. If you don’t know what MKLINK is here is a good how to... Windows MKLink How To

From PC1 I run Media Center Master that downloads all of my MetaData and Cover art directly to Movie Folders on PC2 and creates the MetaData that is saved in WMC default folders (DvdInfoCache, DvdCoverCache) which is stored on PC2 and shared out. When I made this change I backed up the original folders and re-downloaded the MetaData for my entire collection as copying it over did not seem to work. Another thing to note that sharing the DvdCoverCache is not necessary as WMC will read the cover art in the Movie folder but I found that will sometimes cause a lag in the cover art appearing so my solution was to centralize the DvdCoverCache as well and that resolved that problem for me.

*EDIT*

For those that dont know, the folders being dicussed can be found here...

C:\Users\%Username%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\eHome\

[mini__me]

Does this approach also work for a shared recorded tv folder?

I use Recorded TV HD currently, however it would be nice to minimalise the interface

[mjktg99]

The issue with the recorded TV folder is a seperate issue that cannot be resolved the same way. There was a thread here not too long ago that discussed running a script to fix that issue...

[mjktg99]

That thread is here...

http://www.thegreenbutton.tv/forums/vie ... f=5&t=2781

[mini__me]

Thanks mjktg99, are you running the script reliably? I tried it some time ago and it stopped working for me after 24 hours despite still running, so payed up for Recorded TV HD. Willing to take another look though

[mjktg99]

I dont actually use the script. Its not really an issue for me. I generally only watch Live TV in the bedroom so it doesnt bother me if the PC isn't showing to proper Recorded TV info.

[jachin99]

Bump. This might be useful later as I have a similar issue

[Crash2009]

Bump. This might be useful later as I have a similar issue

You might want to grab the zip.

Personally, I don't sleep mine, so I don't need this.

[DavidinCT]

I want to make a comment here. This is a much easier fix. People who are using the default built in Movie Library will have an issue. This issue is where after you enter the Movie Library it will show art, they will disappear, 30 seconds go by and most will show up after. All you need to get movie art to show up is to have a folder.jpg (of the art) in with the video file) I had this issue all the time with 300+ movies in my collection. Really annoying.

Go into Settings > General > Automatic Downloads > UNCHECK Retrieve CD album art, Media information for DVD's and Movies, and internet services from the internet.

What happens when you go into the Movie Library, Media Center tries to update the Art for the DVDs, this is why it blanks out, it will come back after it looks and will not always fill them all in. If you have 5 movies in it, it's fine but, once your over 100, it's really a pain. This process disables the art check so the art you have will stay.

You might want to enable it if you have music that you want art for but, only use it for a short time, and disable it when not needed