Hi Kristian,

my problem is that 'My DVD Settings' wouldn't return any data for my DVDs. I entered some data manually in the XML-Files under the DVDInfoCache directory. That's quite some effort, but works more or less - except for the cover images which won't show up. My primary question therefore is, how I can get "My DVDs" to recognize other than the AMG delivered (or NOT delivered) cover pics. I've learned that this might not be possible at all in the current MCE version :-(

So I guess the only option would be to wait for Vista or My Movies support for the changer ;-)

Cheers,
Jan

Jan,

  Hopefully I'm going to make your day a little better with this...  you CAN use images not delivered by AMG.  They just have to be on your hard disk or a network share - try this for example

<largeCoverParams>c:\file.jpg</largeCoverParams>

or

<largeCoverParams>\\server\share\file.jpg</largeCoverParams>

and both will pick up the image correctly.

Cheers,
Andy

Hi Andy,

that's GREAT! You've just saved my day!
I don't know why it wouldn't work when I tried that before, but it obviously does now. Thanks for that.

Now all I'm missing is a more convenient way to extract the DVD profiler data into an "my DVD" compatible XML file - but that's something I can work on somehow.

Again, thanks for this missing key!

Jan

I did my best to make all of the DVDs I have in files on a hard drive show up with pictures and information.  But there are some movies, like Animal House that DVD Profiler doesn't have at all.  Other movies, like The Matrix, even if I select every entry from DVD Profiler, I still get no picture or information.  Finally, I dug up the DVD for The Matrix and generated the XML using that.  Still no picture.  I have 75 successes and 50 failures.  Am I doing something wrong, or did I just buy a a bunch of DVDs that is very rare?

Matt mentioned that you could build the complete XML file.  He even included an example XML for Stephen King's It.  Does anybody know how to get a full XML file working instead of using the AMG DVD codes?

One last avenue of to try.  MP10 finds the information just fine for any DVD I put in.  Is there any way to mine the information MP10 builds so it could be used with Media Center?

The following link is to an app I wrote that allows you to get the data from the Windows Media Player DVD database.  In the dvdid box put in a unique name for the dvdid file in the format 12345678|12345678 and then put the title in that you want to search.

http://www.thegreenbutton.com/community/download.aspx?id=1913&MessageID=140105 

See this earlier in this thread for details.

Cheers,
Andy

 

I've updated the MyDVDs extended metaservice with some new stuff...

Download the latest version here: http://www.e-home.no/metaservices/

I've added a simple 'Image selector' to it, and some other xml cache functions...

It's easy to use to create custom xml files (even with synopsis), it can search AMG by dvdID or Title, and it can search IMDB and generate xml file from there.

No installation required, just click and go...

This version also alow you to edit the list of folders that are scanned for DVD's

And it has almost 1000 valid dvdid's that you can use based on movie title...

 

---

Using MyDVDs? http://www.e-Home.no/metaservices/

@kristian: Im in region 2 and your my dvds application has worked for me from the get go. Thanks for the update, I now no longer have to modify the registry everytime I want to update the metadata

Your work is really appreciated!

---

http://www.spore.com/view/profile/Vengence_IRL

AndyC

I am sure it is something simple I am doing that is keeping me from getting this right.  You and Kristin have gone a long way toward filling in a hole left by Microsoft.  Since others have been successful, I am sure I am close.

I have 36 DVDs out of 120 that will not load information into My DVD.  The Matrix is one I picked to work on until it shows.  I have run your program and Karen's and the DVD still does not show.  I am assuming that when I figure out how to get The Matrix to show, all the rest will soon follow.

From your program I get DiskID=861ea910|3ee722e8.  From Karen's I get DiskID=6016db8c-1b49-4b26-a29d-6885ba9ffa2e.  Neith one results in a successful display in My DVDs.

If I drop an XML file from a DVD that works into the same folder as The Matrix.dvdid.xml, the information displays in My DVD.  I thus have two information copies of the same movie.  I only do this to prove that if a valid XML file is in the folder, information will display.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

daardvark, try this dvdid: 97ab8fd7|281fbb70

That's the id for Matrix [Gold Edition] [2 Discs], se if anything come's up using that.

If you need more dvdid's, you can search for movie titles here: http://www.e-home.no/metaservices/search.aspx

 

---

Using MyDVDs? http://www.e-Home.no/metaservices/

The point of my program is that it doesn't matter what the correct dvdid is - it forces a link between the dvdid read from the disc and the metadata downloaded from the Windows Media Player metadata (if you go through the pages after the dvdid appears).

The program creates the metadata file in the dvdinfocache folder relating to the dvdid file it finds on the disc, but you then need to create the .dvdid.xml file and put it in the folder with the disc data when it's been ripped. This is the process that forces the association with the metadata that has been downloaded and cached by my program.

Cheers,
Andy

Andy & Kristin,

Thanks for your feedback, it helped me look at things a different way.  I seem to have found my problem and tested it on The Matrix and Bourne Suprimicy.  The Matrix had a dvdinfo.xml file in the same folder as the VIDEO_TS.  I moved the file into the VIDEO_TS folder and now it shows.  There is a dvdinfo.xml file in almost every folder containing a VIDEO_TS.  I don't know what created this configuration since the names often do not agree.  I think I will clear out all of these bogus xml files.

The Bourne Suprimicy had a properly placed dvdinfo.xml file but it didn't work.  I went to http://www.e-home.no/metaservices/search.aspx, searched for the title, then used the ID from there in the dvdinfo.xml.  Now it works.  I suspect this combination will be the way to clear up the remaining 34 DVDs.  Ripping the remaining 150 DVDs is what really takes a lot of time.

AndyC has me thinking about what he said.  I infer that he is creating a local database of XML movie information and then linking the DVD to the locally cached information.  I like the idea of that since it allows me to use the MCE machine offline.  If I am using your program on an XP machine without MCE, will it create this local information so I can copy it to the MCE machine (I do this because the desktop on my Toshiba is a labor to read in 720p)?  You also mention "(if you go through the pages after the dvdid appears).".  I don't get any additional pages after the DVDID appears.  It reads the disc and fills in the name and DVDID.

The data is always cached locally (apart from the image for some reason).  This is the contents of the dvdinfocache folder. 

What happens is when you open the My DVDs page for the first time since Media Center was started, all of the folders are read (in addition to the changers and physical drives).  For folders, where a dvdid.xml file is found, the dvdid is extracted from the file, and the corresponding xml file is read from the cache if it exists. If it doesn't exist, it is grabbed from the server if there is a match for the dvdid and stored in the cache.  If not, the volume label is displayed instead.

*EDIT* What my program does is do the grabbing if the dvdid can't be found (for example you are using a region 2 disc and region 2 discs don't appear to be in their database).  It does it by allowing you to search by title instead of dvdid, and then links the resulting data to the dvdid actually found.  This can be different from the actual dvdid if you are using software such as AnyDVD on your system, as this changes the dvdid.

To get to the next page in the app, once the dvdid appears in the small dialog, click Search and you will get the same page in a larger window that you would get in Windows Media Player if you tried to get DVD information in there.

Cheers,
Andy

AndyC

I am probably the only person that is just tying this piece of the structure together.  I have learned a lot in the last 3 days and have had a lot of success thanks to you and this entire thread.  Many, many thanks.

That last post really ties together all the elements of Matts original blog.  Now I think I understand how the XML file in the DVD file ties to the DvdInfoCache and that the <ID>, once the data is cached, is telling me a file name in the cache.

Last two pieces to clear up for me and I know you already know the answer...

1) If I have this structure "\Polar Express\VIDEO_TS", should the dvdinfo.xml be placed into the Polar Express folder or the VIDEO_TS folder? (I only ask because Kristin's program places it in the Polar Express folder and I have to manually move the files to the VIDEO_TS folder to make MCE see the information).

2) Is my display typical...every entry in My DVD, before I put in the XML file, shows up as VIDEO_TS...?  I have my DVDs on a network share and I have selected each DVD separately in My Videos.

In my setup, I have the dvdinfo.xml file in the \Polar Express level rather than in the VIDEO_TS level. 

I think where you are going wrong is the selection in My Videos.   I have a shared called \\server\DVD which I've added in My Videos (only that one, not each folder), and all the DVD's are in the folders beneath that called \Polar Express etc.  This way they appear with the correct names (being the folder names).

Remove all your added folders in My Videos in Media Center, and just add the top level share.  You should see all the names correctly if you do that, and you don't need to modify the Add Videos section in My Videos again.

Cheers
Andy

What happened to the metaservices page?  As of 1/15/06 it is inaccessable.  I finally find the app that I need and the page is down.