IR1SH SN1PER:

Well Lads.

I've been following this thread closely for a while.

CW-KID - regarding the 360 MCX library, What if you just copied the CurrrentDatabase_360.wmdb file from the main user account to the MCX1 user account and overwrite the existing one. Would that work?  (Just a suggestion)

I'll try anything at this point lol. So close to nailing this just gotta sort out the XBOX.

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Stu

aka C-Dub



The Windows Media Center Blog

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I still think I have issues with NTFS / Share permissons for the laptop's MCE user account to the Art Cache folder on the PC.

as long as you've given read/write access to the shared folder "Music" (i'm guessing thats the folder your sharing using windows sharing), then it should have read/write access to any subfolders also.

Can I just double check this? You have one UrlToCoverArt.dat file for all your users? And not a seperate .dat file for each user? But just redirected to another locaton via your symbolic links.

correct :)
i have my ArtCache folder located on my server and created symbolic links on all my htpcs to point to ArtCache folder on my server.  So all i do is edit the urltocoverart.dat file on the server, and the changes reflect on all my htpcs. (i do the same with DvdCacheInfo folder as well for vista's dvd library).

so basically when you changed the path to "\\MCE01\Music", refreshed the entries, and saved the .dat file, it works perfectly for the 2 user accoutns under your desktop, and works fine for your laptop as well.
The only issue your having is with your xbox360 which is acting as an extender correct?

Although i cannot think of anything off the top of my head (i do not have any extenders in my house, only htpcs) as to why it would be doing this, my option for  you would be to maybe just delete the currect 360 account, create a new one, create the symbolic links for the 360 account and try again.

i don't know how extenders act with symbolic links and unc paths, but my understanding is that if it works fine with your 2 user accounts, it should work fine w/ the 360 account....

sorry i cant be of more help

here is what another use has said about symbolic links and extenders:

I had the same issue with sharing music on a remote server.  I ended up trying to change the mcx's accounts local music with a symbolic link to the server.  Well I finally got the sharing working, and it picked up that music, public's music, etc.  I ended up having each album listed once, with each song listed at least 3 times.  I ended up removing the symbolic link for the mcx user, which didn't help much.  In the end I removed the Extenders, cleaned everything up, added them back and it was fine.

The "Music" folder is the folder I have shared out in Windows on the main VMC PC. I think the access rights are correct now on the share and NTFS as I said the two user accounts on the PC and the one on the laptop are now all using the same single UrlToCoverArt.dat file in the D:\Data\Music\Library\Art Cache folder where we created the symbolic links to point to.

So I just need to get the XBOX 360 extender to use this dat file as well correctly. I think I will delete the MCX1 user and start again setting up the XBOX extender and hopefully then it will start to use the UNC path and not create additonal D:\Data\Music..... paths in the dat file as it has been doing.

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Stu

aka C-Dub



The Windows Media Center Blog

Tips Tricks & News!

I've got this working on the XBOX 360 MCX now!

I removed the symbolic link under the C:\Users\MCX1\Appdata\Local\Microsoft\ehome folder and re-created a normal folder called Art Cache.

I deleted *.wmdb under C:\Users\MCX1\Appdata\Local\Microsoft\Media Player.

I removed the watch folder D:\Data\Music in Media Center on the XBOX 360 Extender and then added in a watch folder with a UNC path instead \\MCE01\Music, let the library re-build and then opened the Music Library and let the Guid jpg's be created in the C:\Users\MCX1\Appdata\Local\Microsoft\ehome\Art Cache folder.

I then copied the working UrlToCoverArt.dat file from D:\Data\Music\Library\Art Cache to the MCX1 users Art Cache folder. Deleted all the Guid jpgs it created and then tested the .dat file was being used in the MCX. I then deleted the MCX1 user Art Cache folder and re-created the symbolic link to D:\Data\Music\Library\Art Cache pasted in the working .dat file again.

Now all four user accounts are looking at the one UrlToCoverArt.dat file. The only down side to this excellent solution is that on all devices, VMC PC, Laptop and XBOX the cover art images in media center music library don't all appear instantly as when using a local .dat file in the users profile folder. The cover art takes a little longer to appear on each album!

Edit: Changing the watch folders in WMP11 has also slowed down the time it takes to scan media files with the add to library menu item.

I'd like to thank Fatalcure for sharing his knowledge and this solution.

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Stu

aka C-Dub



The Windows Media Center Blog

Tips Tricks & News!

nice :D
i'm glad everything is sorted out, i was thinking just reinstalling the extender would solve it

as for the slow cover art generation, yes it is a little slower than if it was on your local machine (and you have a ton more mp3s than i do), and it takes a good second or two before everything shows up, but it's tolerable.

if you ever run vista's dvd library, you can do the same thing with symbolic links and the DvdInfoCache folder.

take care

I have got some DVD's in the DVD library. I mainly view them in My Movies however. Might be worth thinking about for the future as I put more DVD's on to my system new bigger hard disks allowing!

Edit: I didn't try re-installing the extender that was my last option

Cheers

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Stu

aka C-Dub



The Windows Media Center Blog

Tips Tricks & News!

well now i seem to be experiencing a strange little problem...
setup a new htpc, but in my music library wall, the cover art is very low quality, even tho i've followed my own steps :P
the funny thing is, ONLY the wall shows low quality cover art, once I click on the album, it shows it in high quality....dunno whats up...any idea?

Do you have any AlbumArtSmall.jpg files?

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Stu

aka C-Dub



The Windows Media Center Blog

Tips Tricks & News!

nope, only the Folder.jpg image file...it works fine on my other HTPC....so i dunno whats up...

edit: hum, so its low quality on my other htpcs as well, i guess i just noticed it more on this one b/c its connected to a 1080p lcd and not a 720p one...

i guess thats how it works...the wall itself has low quality/compressed looking coverart...compare it to when you click on the album and it goes to the album detail page with all the songs listed, even tho the cover art there is still small, its high quality and a lot better looking that the one on the wall...
do you experience this?

thanks

fatalcure:

nope, only the Folder.jpg image file...it works fine on my other HTPC....so i dunno whats up...

edit: hum, so its low quality on my other htpcs as well, i guess i just noticed it more on this one b/c its connected to a 1080p lcd and not a 720p one...

i guess thats how it works...the wall itself has low quality/compressed looking coverart...compare it to when you click on the album and it goes to the album detail page with all the songs listed, even tho the cover art there is still small, its high quality and a lot better looking that the one on the wall...
do you experience this?

thanks

I will have to look a lot more closely at my album art wall in VMC and let you know. I can't say I have noticed this on my 37" HDTV 720P (HDMI).

But if it is using lower res images for the wall they must be then cached somewhere surely ?

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Stu

aka C-Dub



The Windows Media Center Blog

Tips Tricks & News!

yeah, thats what I was thinking, but i couldn't find anything/anyplace where it would cache them...

But yeah, let me know if you notice the same thing when u get home....

Well if I had to say, I'd say mine is using Hi-Res images in the wall on my main VMC PC. Will check laptop next time its switched on.

Is it obvious on your new HTPC that they are low res ?

Not sure this screen shot does it justise.

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Stu

aka C-Dub



The Windows Media Center Blog

Tips Tricks & News!

not just on my new htpc, went to all my htpcs and really looked and its the same...the wall seems to be of a lot less quality than when you actually click on the album to go to the album detail...i'll take a screenshot myself and post here for u

lets take your Cat Stevens album up there...when you click on the album, compare the cover art in the wall to when you actually click on it...on my setups its good 10x better looking than on the wall....

here are my screen shots...
The Wall:


Album Detail:

Some covers do seem to look more blurred in the wall compared to on the Album Details screen.

Or maybe its my tired eyes?

Edit: Looking at these images together like this you can see a difference.

 

 

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Stu

aka C-Dub



The Windows Media Center Blog

Tips Tricks & News!