[PATCH] LaunchPlayer - External Video Player Launcher (to launch third-party players)

Ok, I tried it.

First, the autoswitch to 60Hz is still happening and when Zoom Player gets called the refresh stays at 60Hz. It's only when XBMC exits that I go back to my desktop refresh.

Second, this works fine for local content but network shares give me an error: Unable to play [//ASHLAR/My Videos/HD Content/Whatever.mkv]
This may be due to a corrupt file, missing filters, filter conflicts, or hardware related issues.

This happens only for networked stuff. Local content does not have problems (the Windows taskbar stays visible for a fraction of a second, but no big deal).

I'm now gonna try with MPC-HC to see if the problem with networked material remains.

Edit: yup, MPC-HC reports "Failed to render the file" with networked material. And I confirm that it refuses to start in fullscreen, both with the /fullscreen option and the same setting in the internal options of the player.
Regarding the networked stuff, I feel the problem is maybe related to how the path is presented to Windows? Because if I try to open the same file from inside the external player, everything works correctly.

ashlar Wrote:I'm now gonna try with MPC-HC to see if the problem with networked material remains.

Map the network share to a local drive.

I liked this at first, but its just sounding more and more hastle than its worth.

I just think devs should really let us pick our codecs of choice. Makes sense to me.

PantsOnFire Wrote:I liked this at first, but its just sounding more and more hastle than its worth.

I just think devs should really let us pick our codecs of choice. Makes sense to me.

I'm sorry if it is a 'hassle' for you to muster up the effort to configure a line in a text file. Now go sit in a corner and think about your use of the word 'should'.

ashlar Wrote:Ok, I tried it.

First, the autoswitch to 60Hz is still happening and when Zoom Player gets called the refresh stays at 60Hz. It's only when XBMC exits that I go back to my desktop refresh.

Second, this works fine for local content but network shares give me an error: Unable to play [//ASHLAR/My Videos/HD Content/Whatever.mkv]
This may be due to a corrupt file, missing filters, filter conflicts, or hardware related issues.

This happens only for networked stuff. Local content does not have problems (the Windows taskbar stays visible for a fraction of a second, but no big deal).

I'm now gonna try with MPC-HC to see if the problem with networked material remains.

Edit: yup, MPC-HC reports "Failed to render the file" with networked material. And I confirm that it refuses to start in fullscreen, both with the /fullscreen option and the same setting in the internal options of the player.
Regarding the networked stuff, I feel the problem is maybe related to how the path is presented to Windows? Because if I try to open the same file from inside the external player, everything works correctly.

Are you getting flawless playback in whatever external media player you're using? What are your PC specs? What codecs and media player are you using?

ashlar Wrote:Ok, I tried it.

First, the autoswitch to 60Hz is still happening and when Zoom Player gets called the refresh stays at 60Hz. It's only when XBMC exits that I go back to my desktop refresh.

Second, this works fine for local content but network shares give me an error: Unable to play [//ASHLAR/My Videos/HD Content/Whatever.mkv]
This may be due to a corrupt file, missing filters, filter conflicts, or hardware related issues.

This happens only for networked stuff. Local content does not have problems (the Windows taskbar stays visible for a fraction of a second, but no big deal).

I'm now gonna try with MPC-HC to see if the problem with networked material remains.

Edit: yup, MPC-HC reports "Failed to render the file" with networked material. And I confirm that it refuses to start in fullscreen, both with the /fullscreen option and the same setting in the internal options of the player.
Regarding the networked stuff, I feel the problem is maybe related to how the path is presented to Windows? Because if I try to open the same file from inside the external player, everything works correctly.

As was suggested, networked stuff works fine if you map a drive letter to it.

midgetspy Wrote:As was suggested, networked stuff works fine if you map a drive letter to it.

I've never done it, never had the need for it. I'll look it up.

@room312: I'm using Zoom Player 6, with AC3filter for sound, ffdshow/CoreAVC for video. Sound renderer: Reclock. Video Renderer: VMR9 windowless.

I tried a couple of Planet Earth files and yes, playback was fine/flawless.

Specs are (we should do something similar to MediaPortal for the user profiles on the forum): E2160 o/c to 3.0GHz, 2GB RAM, Nvidia 8800GT, X-Fi, XP SP3.

WiSo Wrote:Nope. When calling an external program XBMC is minimized with
ShowWindow(g_hWnd,SW_MINIMIZE);

which works fine for me whenever I test it.
Do you have any other programs running which could disturb XBMC in doing so (even though I don't know what this could be )
Do you use another program to launch XBMC which maybe has an option to let XBMC stay maximized on top?

No launched xbmc directly from the desktop using the installed icon. however I noticed that it seems to always launch in fullscreen, even if I start it without the -fs option. could this be a skin setting? I'm using Aeon (latest release).

And I guess even minimizing it with taskman doesn't seem to be a proper minimize, as it uses just as much cpu when sitting fullscreen in the movie selection screen or when minimized forcibly through task manager.

konfoo Wrote:I'm sorry if it is a 'hassle' for you to muster up the effort to configure a line in a text file. Now go sit in a corner and think about your use of the word 'should'.

Now now, no need to be patronising.

obstler Wrote:No launched xbmc directly from the desktop using the installed icon. however I noticed that it seems to always launch in fullscreen, even if I start it without the -fs option. could this be a skin setting? I'm using Aeon (latest release).

It could be due to the resolution. You could try a res < DESKTOP which works for me windowed. Also the CPU usage drops from 10-20% in gui down to 1% when minimized in window mode. Have to check what the task manager prints out when minimized during script launch.