[brazen1]

Please see this related thread https://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=374657

Indeed, both of the problems were fixed using the subsequent build as noted in the link above.

However, using the next latest build from today (Friday the 13th mind you) KodiSetup-20231012-94f0c210-master-x64.exe 77.4 MiB 2023-Oct-13 03:24 

Context menu item 'Play using' remains working.

BUT,

the playercorefactory.xml does not.  It no longer honors code that automatically calls an external player(s).  As noted in the link above, it always did in the past.  That was fixed using the subsequent build and all was well.  KodiSetup-20231010-87ec6401-master-x64.exe 77.4 MiB 2023-Oct-11 03:42

Instead, titles open using the Kodi internal VideoPlayer only and not a specific external player as coded in the playercorefactory.xml.

Now the latest subsequent build has once again broken something related to the playercorefactory.xml this time... but not 'Play using'.  KodiSetup-20231012-94f0c210-master-x64.exe 77.4 MiB 2023-Oct-13 03:24 

As usual, nothing has changed with my system or coding.  This is a result of changes made to the nightly v.21 test build.

Just like before, uninstalling KodiSetup-20231012-94f0c210-master-x64.exe 77.4 MiB 2023-Oct-13 03:24 
and reinstalling KodiSetup-20231010-87ec6401-master-x64.exe 77.4 MiB 2023-Oct-11 03:42
returns all functionality back as it should be.

I would also like to note, because it might be related, when 'Play using' or the playercorefactory.xml calls an external player to start, Kodi first presents a 'Select playback item' window to select a playlist when it shouldn't be asking at all - the external player is never going to honor which playlist is selected.  That is determined using the external player settings. 

I think Kodi is anticipating that VideoPlayer is going to be the rendering player BEFORE the external player is launched... so it's inquiring out of sync and unnecessarily.  Fwiw, once a playlist is selected (necessary for the external player to initiate launching), the 'Select playback item' window remains open even after playback and the external player has closed.  This means the 'Select playback item' window must be manually closed before proceeding.  This is another bug that did not always exist however, I do not know when it cropped up.

[ksooo]

Confirming the issue with external player not recognized as default player. Working on a fix.

> Kodi first presents a 'Select playback item' window to select a playlist when it shouldn't be asking at all

Cannot reproduce this one. Can you post a screen shot of the selection window?

[ksooo]

> Kodi first presents a 'Select playback item' window to select a playlist when it shouldn't be asking at all

 This happens only with bluray disc images (iso, ...), but not with normal movie files (mkv, avi, ...) or dvd disc images, right?

[brazen1]

Cannot reproduce this one. Can you post a screen shot of the selection window?

Fwiw, Kodi VideoPlayer is the designated default in the playercorefactory.xml.
When this automation is manually overridden and a different external player is selected via 'Play using', this unnecessary window is the result.

This happens only with bluray disc images (iso, ...), but not with normal movie files (mkv, avi, ...) or dvd disc images, right?

Yes.  On a side note, it is my opinion that normal movie files are .iso and file/folder structure.  Mkv, avi, etc. are abnormal because they are modifications of original complete file/folder structures.  For this reason, I'd be bummed to see .iso's fall to the wayside especially knowing that Kodi is one of very few players that handles them somewhat correctly.  There was a day when Kodi handled iso menus 100% and it distinguished Kodi as the only player capable of that ranking.  That was squashed though in favor of modified "normal" files thus why I'd hate to see iso's fall to the wayside further.  That said, I get what you mean... modified data is more popular.  Thank you so much for taking an interest in the feedback and adjusting the code with your skills.  Appreciate ya' :  )

Steps to reproduce:

Select context menu while focused on 4k.HDR.iso
Select Play using.
Select an external player. 
This is what appears and remains open even after external player has closed.  No matter the playlist title selected, it will have no bearing on the external player which is fine.  It shouldn't.  Which begs the question, why does it appear?  That should only occur when VideoPlayer is requesting which title do you want it to play.

[Karellen]

Looks like its already been fixed... https://github.com/xbmc/xbmc/pull/23923

[brazen1]

While I'm thinking about it, I want to elaborate a little more on the importance of missing iso menu support in case you or another wants to bring back the functionality and let Kodi regain the title belt.  I understand not all users use iso's but many of us do and perhaps others would become more interested in Kodi and iso's if it handled them again.  I think some users have migrated for this reason.  Migrated to paid options at that.  Take Game of Thrones for example.  Back when Kodi handled menus, when using a rip of the original disc(s), we were presented a menu to make episode selections.  Those menus were straight forward.  We selected the episode we desired and VideoPlayer handled it perfectly. 

Fast forward to today and users must use the Kodi setting Player/Discs/Blu-ray playback mode = show simplified menu.  This is the menu in screenshot above although it's for another title.  Here in this menu and only here can an episode be selected - because there is no other menu to correctly choose from.  No name of episode, no details of any kind.  Just some numbers and runtimes.  Sometimes there are hundreds of choices instead of one or three or whatever.  The exact choice must be made, or I think it's called 'obfuscation' occurs meaning an incorrect file will be played.  We'll be watching and scenes are out of sync amongst other things that are incorrect.  Game of Thrones complete all seasons consists of about 32 discs.  That's 32 iso's with each iso containing many title choices.  Then there are all the other titles.  You see how quickly no menus can snowball.

Should 'Show blu-ray menu' be selected in the Kodi setting, the title will simply fail to play and a blaring warning pops-up to confirm it doesn't support Blu-ray menus - but there was a day it did.   'Play main movie' can be selected but then for the very few, very rare, handful of titles we use that are still Kodi menu friendly, they no longer display menus.  This is why we continue to use 'show simplified menu'.  There is no other choice tbh.

Lastly, I've observed that when I select 'show blu-ray menu' from that list in the screenshot, sometimes it attempts to and fails with the pop-up... other times, well, most of the time it ignores attempting to start the menu and simply begins playing the main movie instead.  That isn't what should occur but let's face it, after attempting a menu and then failing to support a blu-ray menu, the only other way to watch would be to select the main movie option.  I guess someone coded that to skip the failing part and just redirect playing the main movie so the fail part wouldn't occur and playback would be speeded up.  Either way it's frustrating imo.

I hope iso's with menu support can make a comeback someday.  I think it might entice more potential users.  Perhaps even boost disc sales although I think discs and streaming are both on the decline.  Thanks for reading my rant.

[brazen1]

Nice.  I'll confirm in 2 days the 15th nightly.  Thank you for the prompt attention again @ksooo

[ksooo]

Nice.  I'll confirm in 2 days the 15th nightly.  Thank you for the prompt attention again @ksooo

Please be aware that the abovementioned fix on GitHub only fixes that the overridden default player is not recognized.

A solution for the problem with the unwanted select window popping up is still under investigation.

As a suggestion: don’t mix up different bug reports in one thread. Create a different that’s for every issue or even better, open issues at GitHub. It is not that I follow this forum on a regular base, but for GitHub that is the case.

[scott967]

But it seems to me by definition, iso is "modified" from on-disk physical media.

scott s.
.

[ksooo]

Would be cool if we could stick to the original topic of this thread, a bug report that external players configured in playercorefactory.xml will not be picked up correctly. Thanks.

[brazen1]

Once again, thank you @ksooo.  Using https://mirrors.kodi.tv/nightlies/window...er-x64.exe this problem has been promptly addressed and is now working.

[ksooo]

You are welcome.