ModernMedia UI+ - Modern Theme and All-New Features
- IT Troll
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Great news! I will give this another test on my test VM with a view to buying a copy for my live system. I’ve been watching with interest since the initial release and it sounds like v1.2 has addressed many of the outstanding issues.
Are you a Recorded TV HD user or want to give it a try? Check out the new community-made update; Recorded TV HD v2.1.1
- IT Troll
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I spent some time with MM UI+ in my test VM and I am still seeing some of the old original blue theme.
Blue text in View Song List (Music)
Old focus icons on play all and search (Music)
Blue text in Search (Music)
Old focus icons on play slide show (Picture Library)
Old focus icons on play all (Video Library)
Blue text throughout Settings
Blue menu transition effect in Settings
Old focus icon for Burn CD/DVD
Blue tint on inactive items on custom strips. I believe this tint colour is baked into the Media Center code. The trouble is, it creates a mismatch with the standard menu strips in this theme. One workaround would be to tint the standard menu strips so that they match the colour of the custom strip.
Whilst exploring Settings I found I would consistently experience a crash to desktop if I selected; Settings > General > Startup and Window Behaviour
I noticed that sometimes the Weather text is obscured by the time.
Blue text in View Song List (Music)
Old focus icons on play all and search (Music)
Blue text in Search (Music)
Old focus icons on play slide show (Picture Library)
Old focus icons on play all (Video Library)
Blue text throughout Settings
Blue menu transition effect in Settings
Old focus icon for Burn CD/DVD
Blue tint on inactive items on custom strips. I believe this tint colour is baked into the Media Center code. The trouble is, it creates a mismatch with the standard menu strips in this theme. One workaround would be to tint the standard menu strips so that they match the colour of the custom strip.
Whilst exploring Settings I found I would consistently experience a crash to desktop if I selected; Settings > General > Startup and Window Behaviour
I noticed that sometimes the Weather text is obscured by the time.
Are you a Recorded TV HD user or want to give it a try? Check out the new community-made update; Recorded TV HD v2.1.1
- IT Troll
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I have now been able to test out the new guide and I must say it is very impressive! I think it will make it to my live system. I have found some more of the old original blue theme. Perhaps this is intentional? But I think I will have to re-theme these and the above elements:
Old focus icons on add recording and view scheduled (Recorded TV)
Blue text in Search (TV)
Blue text in Record Settings, View Scheduled, Series, History, etc.
I am finding that I am not getting the Rotten Tomatoes scores or content ratings. I have all the metadata options ticked (and no theme mods enabled).
Old focus icons on add recording and view scheduled (Recorded TV)
Blue text in Search (TV)
Blue text in Record Settings, View Scheduled, Series, History, etc.
I am finding that I am not getting the Rotten Tomatoes scores or content ratings. I have all the metadata options ticked (and no theme mods enabled).
Are you a Recorded TV HD user or want to give it a try? Check out the new community-made update; Recorded TV HD v2.1.1
- IT Troll
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Here is a list of the image resources which got missed and show elements of the original theme.
AUDIO.TRACKPLAYING.BAR.PNG
AUDIO.TRACKPLAYING.GRID.PNG
AUDIO.TRACKPLAYING.MASK.PNG
BROWSE.CMD.ADD.FOCUS.PNG
BROWSE.CMD.PLAY.FOCUS.PNG
BROWSE.CMD.SEARCH.FOCUS.PNG
BROWSE.CMD.SCHEDULED.FOCUS.PNG
EPG.CATEGORY.HIGHLIGHT.PNG
EPG.CATEGORY.LINE.PNG
STARTMENU.QUICKLINK.BURNCD.FOCUS.PNG
AUDIO.TRACKPLAYING.BAR.PNG
AUDIO.TRACKPLAYING.GRID.PNG
AUDIO.TRACKPLAYING.MASK.PNG
BROWSE.CMD.ADD.FOCUS.PNG
BROWSE.CMD.PLAY.FOCUS.PNG
BROWSE.CMD.SEARCH.FOCUS.PNG
BROWSE.CMD.SCHEDULED.FOCUS.PNG
EPG.CATEGORY.HIGHLIGHT.PNG
EPG.CATEGORY.LINE.PNG
STARTMENU.QUICKLINK.BURNCD.FOCUS.PNG
Are you a Recorded TV HD user or want to give it a try? Check out the new community-made update; Recorded TV HD v2.1.1
- W10MC
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Yes, some of the blue elements remain. It has been difficult to track down the source of some items. In addition, most of the remaining blue text seems to be located in locale-specific files, which requires editing additional resources to make changes.
The crash may be a result of testing in a VM as I do not experience this behavior in a normal desktop environment.
When running in a 4:3 aspect ratio, the reduced margins can cause the text to be cut off; it appears correctly in 16:9. This will be fixed in the next update.
This appears to be broken again. It will be fixed in the next release.
- IT Troll
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Could be something like that. I am based in the UK and so my locale will be en-gb. I know Media Center Themer substitutes resources in a number of files e.g. ehres.dll, microsoft.mediacenter.shell.dll, microsoft.mediacenter.ui.dll, startresources.dll
Maybe, it doesn't crash on a VM without ModernMedia UI+ though.
Yeah, I worked that out after posting. I would imagine most real systems will be 16:9.
Are you a Recorded TV HD user or want to give it a try? Check out the new community-made update; Recorded TV HD v2.1.1
- IT Troll
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Has Rotten Tomatoes and content ratings been fixed yet?
Are you a Recorded TV HD user or want to give it a try? Check out the new community-made update; Recorded TV HD v2.1.1
- W10MC
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Not yet.
- W10MC
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Version 1.3 of ModernMedia UI+ has been released along with a new resource build (200904). This release restores Rotten Tomatoes scores once again. In addition, it includes a brand new section for advanced options available on activated installations. This is a highly recommended update!
Here are the new options (details are listed on the UI+ product page):
1. Override Tuner Limits for TV Signal Setup
2. Ignore EAS Force-Tune Requests (U.S. only)
3. Disable Volume Display Overlay
4. Use Maximum Brightness for Captions Text
5. Always List Closed Captioning Options in Settings
6. Remove Blue Tint from Start Menu Tiles
7. Disable Prompt to Download Guide Listings
8. Preserve Window State on External App Launch
9. Suppress Errors on External App Launch
The new build also offers numerous enhancements:
1. Overscan has been removed from video playback in windowed mode during and after the display of a message announcement screen.
2. Weather text will no longer be cut off on the Start menu when viewed in a 4:3 aspect ratio.
3. Channel entry input has been increased to 9 digits in the program guide as well as in video playback.
4. Visibility of teletext-based subtitles can now be adjusted like captions and regular subtitles when using the custom keyboard shortcut (Shift+C).
5. A DOLBY+ indicator is now shown in the info bar if the current media contains a Dolby Digital Plus audio stream (only applies to live and recorded TV).
6. Additional audio channel layouts and sample rates are now supported in the info bar.
7. Channel logos will attempt to be located automatically in the info hinting bar if not present in program metadata.
8. Changes have been made to the implementation of EAS messages (U.S. only), enabling functionality of the seekbar, info bar, mini-guide, and digit entry during an alert; an option has also been added to hide the EAS information bar in the UI+ settings.
Here are the new options (details are listed on the UI+ product page):
1. Override Tuner Limits for TV Signal Setup
2. Ignore EAS Force-Tune Requests (U.S. only)
3. Disable Volume Display Overlay
4. Use Maximum Brightness for Captions Text
5. Always List Closed Captioning Options in Settings
6. Remove Blue Tint from Start Menu Tiles
7. Disable Prompt to Download Guide Listings
8. Preserve Window State on External App Launch
9. Suppress Errors on External App Launch
The new build also offers numerous enhancements:
1. Overscan has been removed from video playback in windowed mode during and after the display of a message announcement screen.
2. Weather text will no longer be cut off on the Start menu when viewed in a 4:3 aspect ratio.
3. Channel entry input has been increased to 9 digits in the program guide as well as in video playback.
4. Visibility of teletext-based subtitles can now be adjusted like captions and regular subtitles when using the custom keyboard shortcut (Shift+C).
5. A DOLBY+ indicator is now shown in the info bar if the current media contains a Dolby Digital Plus audio stream (only applies to live and recorded TV).
6. Additional audio channel layouts and sample rates are now supported in the info bar.
7. Channel logos will attempt to be located automatically in the info hinting bar if not present in program metadata.
8. Changes have been made to the implementation of EAS messages (U.S. only), enabling functionality of the seekbar, info bar, mini-guide, and digit entry during an alert; an option has also been added to hide the EAS information bar in the UI+ settings.
- aquadextrous
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Hi Mike, thanks for the update
When I hit update resources i get an error message the details are:
See the end of this message for details on invoking
just-in-time (JIT) debugging instead of this dialog box.
************** Exception Text **************
System.Net.WebException: The request was aborted: Could not create SSL/TLS secure channel.
at System.Net.HttpWebRequest.EndGetResponse(IAsyncResult asyncResult)
at System.Net.Http.HttpClientHandler.GetResponseCallback(IAsyncResult ar)
It gives an option of continue or quit - hitting continue returns to MMUI+ but it does nothing and quit force closes it. Not sure if it's just me / something on my system stopping it or if anyone else is having the same thing? OTher included features like the re-addition of rotten tomatoes and extended movie information do work as normal.
Thanks
Anthony
EDIT:
Found a solution online, seems to be something with .net not being configured properly - anyone with the same issue add the below into Regedit:
Adding the above to the registry and rebooting worked for me but YMMV.
When I hit update resources i get an error message the details are:
See the end of this message for details on invoking
just-in-time (JIT) debugging instead of this dialog box.
************** Exception Text **************
System.Net.WebException: The request was aborted: Could not create SSL/TLS secure channel.
at System.Net.HttpWebRequest.EndGetResponse(IAsyncResult asyncResult)
at System.Net.Http.HttpClientHandler.GetResponseCallback(IAsyncResult ar)
It gives an option of continue or quit - hitting continue returns to MMUI+ but it does nothing and quit force closes it. Not sure if it's just me / something on my system stopping it or if anyone else is having the same thing? OTher included features like the re-addition of rotten tomatoes and extended movie information do work as normal.
Thanks
Anthony
EDIT:
Found a solution online, seems to be something with .net not being configured properly - anyone with the same issue add the below into Regedit:
Code: Select all
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\.NETFramework\v4.0.30319] "SchUseStrongCrypto"=dword:00000001
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\.NETFramework\v4.0.30319] "SchUseStrongCrypto"=dword:00000001
- W10MC
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Thank you for the report. This issue does not appear to affect every system, but I have reuploaded the installer with a small fix to automatically support newer security protocols when downloading resources.
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Thank you! Adding these two registry entries and rebooting the machine allowed me to update MMUI+aquadextrous wrote: ↑Sun Sep 06, 2020 11:00 am Hi Mike, thanks for the update
When I hit update resources i get an error message the details are:
See the end of this message for details on invoking
just-in-time (JIT) debugging instead of this dialog box.
************** Exception Text **************
System.Net.WebException: The request was aborted: Could not create SSL/TLS secure channel.
at System.Net.HttpWebRequest.EndGetResponse(IAsyncResult asyncResult)
at System.Net.Http.HttpClientHandler.GetResponseCallback(IAsyncResult ar)
It gives an option of continue or quit - hitting continue returns to MMUI+ but it does nothing and quit force closes it. Not sure if it's just me / something on my system stopping it or if anyone else is having the same thing? OTher included features like the re-addition of rotten tomatoes and extended movie information do work as normal.
Thanks
Anthony
EDIT:
Found a solution online, seems to be something with .net not being configured properly - anyone with the same issue add the below into Regedit:
Adding the above to the registry and rebooting worked for me but YMMV.Code: Select all
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\.NETFramework\v4.0.30319] "SchUseStrongCrypto"=dword:00000001 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\.NETFramework\v4.0.30319] "SchUseStrongCrypto"=dword:00000001
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Well, I'm having a very negative installation experience. I downloaded the 1.3 from windows10mediacenter.com. Installed, it brought up the options/check box page. I added one check box about "Hide EAS Information Bar". I went up to Update Resources and I get the dialog warning with the Details/Continue/Quit. The only thing to do is hit Quit and it returns to the main options page. At that point the only thing you can do is hit the Close icon on the top right corner and I get another warning "It is not recommended to close this application while system files are being modified. Are you sure you want to quit?" Uggghhh. I have made the two suggested regedit modifications and rebooted. No difference in behavior. I have no idea what version is installed, if the system is stable or not.
Questions:
How do I know what version is installed, if 1.3 installed correctly or not?
What Resources Build is supposed to be installed?
Any help would be greatly appreciated. I have no idea what has been done to the installation or if anything has been done. Thanks.
Questions:
How do I know what version is installed, if 1.3 installed correctly or not?
What Resources Build is supposed to be installed?
Any help would be greatly appreciated. I have no idea what has been done to the installation or if anything has been done. Thanks.
- W10MC
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You can click the "About" button in the app to verify the version.
The latest resource build is 200904.
Based on your description, the installation completed properly but no changes were actually made to system files or WMC since the resources could not be downloaded. The problem you are experiencing is that the OS is not allowing a secure connection using TLS 1.2 or higher between the application and the web server that hosts the resource files. Unfortunately, I cannot reproduce the error on Windows 7, 8.1 or 10 with the updated 1.3 installer, which was released a few days ago specifically to address this issue.
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Well thanks for responding. But unfortunately this does not indicate what I should do to resolve my issues. If I can't update to the new build at this time, that's fine. But I would like to get my old installation back up and running as before. Here is the information that I can give you about my media center:
- My machine is running Windows 7 x64, all Windows Updates applied and current. It only has 4 GB RAM, but the machine has been stable and runs well with no known issues. It basically has one function - to run WMC.
- Clicking the MMUI+ About button confirms the installation is now 1.3 x64.
- The Resources Build is still on 191231.
- You stated that "no changes were actually made to system files or WMC since resources could not be downloaded". Well something has changed. WMC seems to be acting *mostly* the same as before, but the Sports and Weather strip no longer load information. Upon selection, they remain blank. That's a concern in the short term because I actually use both of those several times a day. (Although - on a side note - is there ANY way you can add college football and college basketball to the Sports strip? That would be so awesome.)
- Clicking on Update Resources, the dialog warning with the Details/Continue/Quit pops up. If you select Continue, it returns to the main options page and Update Resources is greyed out. If at that point you click the Close icon on the top right corner (or you selected Quit in the previous dialog), you get another warning "It is not recommended to close this application while system files are being modified. Are you sure you want to quit?"
- If instead of clicking the Close icon you try to Save and Exit, you get a different dialog box. "Files updated by Windows Media Center must be updated in order to make selected changes. Any processes associated with Windows Media Center will be terminated at this time."
- W10MC
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Thanks for providing that information. Please download the installer and try again. I'm hopeful this latest fix will resolve the issue.
The sports data has previously included NCAA football, and college basketball may be included as well.
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Well....thank you for the new installer. I have good news...and bad news.
I downloaded the new installer. All seemed to be going well. Upon install and launch, a dialog popped up immediately announcing the new build. The new build started automatically downloading, installing, and then it announced Update Complete and the new build 200904 was displayed. However from there, it was all downhill (unfortunately).
After the above update completes, I go to select Save and Exit from MMUI+. Once again as before I get the message "Files updated by Windows Media Center must be updated in order to make selected changes. Any processes associated with Windows Media Center will be terminated at this time." The application closes. When I then launch WMC, everything seems fine (I don't know if it's supposed to look different than the previous version but it looks the same). However, when I go to the Sports icon, a blank page comes up (it does have the word "Sports" in the upper left corner and the MSN logo bottom right and that's all). Even worse though is now the Weather icon briefly brings up the Weather page (one second) before crashing WMC. This behavior is consistently repeatable.
I guess this should be seen as a move forward. You have any other suggestions for me? Thanks for your help.
I downloaded the new installer. All seemed to be going well. Upon install and launch, a dialog popped up immediately announcing the new build. The new build started automatically downloading, installing, and then it announced Update Complete and the new build 200904 was displayed. However from there, it was all downhill (unfortunately).
After the above update completes, I go to select Save and Exit from MMUI+. Once again as before I get the message "Files updated by Windows Media Center must be updated in order to make selected changes. Any processes associated with Windows Media Center will be terminated at this time." The application closes. When I then launch WMC, everything seems fine (I don't know if it's supposed to look different than the previous version but it looks the same). However, when I go to the Sports icon, a blank page comes up (it does have the word "Sports" in the upper left corner and the MSN logo bottom right and that's all). Even worse though is now the Weather icon briefly brings up the Weather page (one second) before crashing WMC. This behavior is consistently repeatable.
I guess this should be seen as a move forward. You have any other suggestions for me? Thanks for your help.
- W10MC
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If you are not getting sports data in WMC, the background server is still unable to establish a secure connection.
Navigate to C:\Program Files\ModernMedia\UI+ and check the modification date of ModernMedia.Server.exe. The latest version will have a date of 9/10/20. Otherwise, an older version is in use. To update it, open UI+, click "Stop" to end the background server process, exit UI+ and delete ModernMedia.Server.exe from the folder. Run the installer again and ensure that ModernMedia.Server.exe has been extracted to the UI+ program folder. Finally, open UI+ to verify the server is running, and then check the Sports section in WMC.
- IT Troll
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Why not offer a full offline installer option? The requirement to download a resource file at installation time from a remote server is a concern. Media Center users are all too familiar with such servers disappearing and never returning.
Are you a Recorded TV HD user or want to give it a try? Check out the new community-made update; Recorded TV HD v2.1.1
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Sorry it took a while to respond and let you know that worked. Thanks very much for your excellent support.W10MC wrote: ↑Fri Sep 11, 2020 3:55 amIf you are not getting sports data in WMC, the background server is still unable to establish a secure connection.
Navigate to C:\Program Files\ModernMedia\UI+ and check the modification date of ModernMedia.Server.exe. The latest version will have a date of 9/10/20. Otherwise, an older version is in use. To update it, open UI+, click "Stop" to end the background server process, exit UI+ and delete ModernMedia.Server.exe from the folder. Run the installer again and ensure that ModernMedia.Server.exe has been extracted to the UI+ program folder. Finally, open UI+ to verify the server is running, and then check the Sports section in WMC.
So - for me - I really don't see much in the way of enhancements in this version. (I do see that I'm getting the Rotten Tomatoes score now, which is cool.) But I'm sure many of the things you've improved helps others, so that's wonderful. And it's always great to see that work is continuing to be done on this valuable product.
As I indicated before, I use the Sports and Weather strips a lot, so any enhancements to that is appreciated. I am seeing this morning that NCAA FB has shown up in the tabs (although NFL is mysteriously missing). I assume that means there's work always being done on the MSN side to transition to present-day relevant sports. I don't know how much of that is your work and how much of the display content is determined by MSN. So here are my questions:
- Assuming that the NFL tab will be returning very soon and today is just a temporary omission, I think the Sports strip is great. It seems to keep up adequately and accurately with ongoing scores. However I've noticed that once a game goes Final, there is no final score displayed. (It used to be I thought.) After a game goes Final, can't the final score be displayed for a while instead of just saying "Final". It would be a great reference for final scores, as well as live ongoing scores.
- Are there any plans to enhance the Sports section? I know it's probably a lot of work, but in the early days of WMC, the Sports section was similar to what you're displaying now. However, you could tab down into the scores, actually select any game, and it would display the line score (e.g., by quarter), leading performer stats, etc. In addition, if the game was associated with a live game being played in the Guide, you could select it and it would take you to that channel to watch the game. I know, that's a big ask, but I really liked it when that capability was in the original WMC versions.
Once again, thanks for your software and for your support.