Frustrated by the lack of something to remotely schedule recordings on 7MC, I wrote an app to get the job done.  That was in January.  Over the last 3 months, it has continued to develop - the latest release streams video, allows you to browser the Media Center EPG and more.

Features
From any browser, you can browse the EPG, record shows, series, manage recordings, cancel recordings and watch (stream) shows that you've recorded.  The latest version gets its guide data from within Media Center itself - see the official forums below.  Please see the FAQ for more information.   

Mobile browsers are supported too, so if you're late home, this is perfect to schedule a recording from the train.

 

Screenshots - Silverlight Version  (PC / Mac)

 

 

 

Screenshots - HTML Version / App

 

 

 

 

My time is limited, but I will devote some days to adding functionality, bug fixes and enhancements. It will probably do these things in the near future:

• Display a form in the browser to enter the recording details, instead of having to type them in as part of the URL.  DONE (v0.12)
• User password for extra security  DONE (v0.15)
• Minimises to system tray  DONE (v0.15)
• Ability to schedule by show name, e.g. 'record Top Gear, tonight'  DONE (v0.24)
  
• Drop-down selectable dates / times for ease of input.  DONE (v0.25)
• Display existing recording schedule.  DONE (v0.30)
• Display existing recording history.  DONE  (v0.30)
  
• Cancel existing recordings.  DONE (v0.30)
• Browse / cancel existing series.  DONE (v0.30)
  
• Ability to specify record quality, and 'keep until' setting
  
• Manage series recordings.   DONE (v0.38)
• Display thumbnails.  DONE (v0.38)
• Show an EPG so that you can choose which programs to record.  DONE  (v0.38)
• Ability to create series recordings.  DONE  (v0.40)
• Display channel logos  DONE (v0.50)
  
• Custom theming  (v0.50)
  
• Mobile browser support (v0.50)
• Streaming video  DONE  (v0.85)
  
• Display music and videos libraries.
  
• Suggest shows you may be interested in and email you.
  
• Enhanced real-time EPG browsing via Silverlight.  DONE  (v0.85)
  

It MAY be able to do these things in the future:

• Allow conflict resolution.
• Transport controls (pause/seek) streaming video.
• Display EPG information from in-built media center guide.  DONE!  (v0.90)
  

It's a beta release, so your help testing is appreciated.  Do let me know what you think, and any installation probs!  I will eventually release some of the source too.

Frequently asked questions / more support here, or in this thread.   Download - on this web page.

 

See a demo of Remote Potato in action - follow this link to the YouTube video.

 

Release History

5/1/10 - v0.10
6/1/10 - v0.15 :  Added password, minimises to tray, added 'start with windows' option
7/1/10 - v0.22:   Record by Show Name |  Record by Channel Name (within show name recording only at present)  |  QAM channel number support, e.g. 3.1, 3.2, etc.  | CPU Utilisation fixes |  Improved error-handling  |  Log file for debug / remote support  |  Password-handling bug fixed for zero-length passwords  |   HTML optimised for mobile devices  |  'Start with Windows' fix  |   Icon optimisation   |  Negative Time zone fix |  Some interface prettifications
9/1/10 - v0.25:  Channel Name drop-down now provided |  Time Zone support should now work outside of UTC time (e.g. in USA)  |  Fixed incorrect recording status report in some cases  |  Date/Time drop-downs for easier selectio  |  Additional options to customise pre / post padding.
13/1/10 - v0.34:  Manage existing recordings |  Cancel recordings | Cancel Series |  View scheduled recordings |  Additional time zone fixes |  Http Password authentication added, site-wide  |  Additional customisation options
18/1/10 - v0.38:  EPG grid & list (beta)  | Thumbnail display  |  Favourite Channels feature added |  Manage series recordings  | Fix upcoming scheduled recordings grouping  |  Customisable Title  |  Prettier
20/1/10 - v0.40:  Added series recordings | Fixed EPG grid display issues for non-UTC Timezones |  Added deletion confirmation dialog  |  Detected scheduling bug when windows search service is disabled  |  Fixed 'cannot record shows with apostrophe in title' bug  |  Misc enhancements
21/1/10 - v0.44:  Some EPG speed issues addressed |  Series recording improvements | Recently recorded TV even more recent
23/1/10 - v0.50:  Major feature upgrade:  Added  Theming (skinning) support |  Channel logo support | Mobile browser detection | File caching for extra speed | Many bug fixes
24/1/10 - v0.53-v0.54:  Minor updates and bugfixes  |  New logo |  XMLTV Dates with no timezone info supported |  Remove file lock on XMLTV file
27/1/10 - v0.60:  MyChannelLogos support | XMLTV timezone-less support | View all scheduled recordings | Recorded TV goes back a year | EPG grid page count and bug fixes | Themes can adjust size / zoom of EPG | Scheduled recordings sorted within groups |  End time included in show display  | Misc bugfixes
30/1/10 - v0.67: EPG Sped up by 450% | Database storage |  Record optimisations  | Search enhanced
2/2/10 - v0.69: Movie Guide | Big Screen EPG support  |  Start with windows enabled | EPG page jump links | Enhanced series record support | Settings preserved on update | Cancel recordings in progress | Recommended movies in EPG guide | DLL caching  | Enhanced search
8/2/10 - v0.70:  Movies grouped by date  |  Tech preview merged with main release  |  App auto-update options customisable
10/3/10 - v0.85:  Silverlight UI - fully interactive experience  |  Streaming Video |  Bugfixes
20/3/10 - v0.90: Major update with multiple enhancements including EPG data/logos from Media Center's own guide, better streaming, etc.
Full Changelog

screenshot isnt working for me.

 

 

looks great man, glad someone finally took this one.

 

do you have a paypal account for donations?

Adidas4275:

screenshot isnt working for me.

 

 Fixed.

 

Adidas4275:

looks great man, glad someone finally took this one.  do you have a paypal account for donations?

 

No probs, it's basic but I'm improving on it all the time - have just uploaded v0.12 which includes a form for entering the schedule information, so no more fiddling around with URLs.  (unless you want to use it as a webservice)

If you'd like to donate, you can use the link at this page.

Fabulous.  Thanks for all the work done so far.

Thank you! Can't wait to try this when I get home. Seems as though this will be easy to extend as well -- integrating a guide that passes the data to the service. Very little would need to change on the backend, except for series recording/settings.

That being said, this is really all I need -- some way to set a recording from my mobile device while I'm away from home.

Great app, but can't you just remote desktop or use VNC to access your computer over the internet open Windows Media Center and use the "restore down" button and you can use the Media Center guide to set you recording.

*1. I use VNC because I don't have a password set on my media Center

*2. When you launch Media Center in full screen you get a black screen so I go to the top right hand corner and estimate where the "restore down" button is and then I have access to my full media center and the guide

 wow, this is going to be a great app. Good luck with it.

bcmiguel:

Great app, but can't you just remote desktop or use VNC to access your computer over the internet

Of course you can, if you like! However, that's quite a lengthy process just to tape a quick show on your way home. It may also be impossible on some mobile devices, or on a work computer sitting behind a firewall. Remote Potato only uses port 80 via a browser, so it shouldn't get blocked.

Have just uploaded v0.15, which includes:

• - User-definable password for extra security. (click 'expert settings' to see the checkbox option for this)
• - Minimises to system tray
• - Option to Start with Windows.

 .....will be moving on to look at schedule by show name next, then eventually the much longer process of an inbuilt EPG which may or may not ever happen, depending upon time! Very interested to hear from anyone with experience, or code (c# net preferred) to convert XML tv listings into HTML pages. Carlos

 Carlos

 

Where do you want us to report bugs/suggestions? Here?

 Pete

PeteT:

 Carlos

 

Where do you want us to report bugs/suggestions? Here?

 Pete

Pete Yes please! Let me know and I'll do what I can. Do check the first post to see the scope of the project when requesting features though, as there are some things that the API simply will not allow, eg querying existing recordings, cancelling recordings, etc. I'll obviously be hunting for workarounds but it seems the days of Vista Media Center, when you could just hook into the EPG database, have long gone. Oh, and I just noticed a potential bug that 'start with windows' may not be working - I'll have a look at that soon. C

Ok then 

Just a small one at the moment

I dont think the stop button is working.

If you click stop, the program says its stoppped, but then when you click on start you get the following message.

 An Exception Occurred while Listening :System.Net.Sockets.SocketException: Only one usage of each socket address (protocol/network address/port) is normally permitted
   at System.Net.Sockets.Socket.DoBind(EndPoint endPointSnapshot, SocketAddress socketAddress)
   at System.Net.Sockets.Socket.Bind(EndPoint localEP)
   at System.Net.Sockets.TcpListener.Start(Int32 backlog)
   at System.Net.Sockets.TcpListener.Start()
   at RemotePotatoServer.MyWebServer.StartServer(Int32 usePort)

 Not had a chance to play too much at the moment. If i find any more, i'll let you know.

ACraigL:

Thank you! Can't wait to try this when I get home. Seems as though this will be easy to extend as well -- integrating a guide that passes the data to the service. Very little would need to change on the backend, except for series recording/settings.

That being said, this is really all I need -- some way to set a recording from my mobile device while I'm away from home.

Just tried this on Win 7 x64 and it crashes whenever I try to schedule a recording. Is there someplace I can get/look at logs to see why?

PeteT:

I dont think the stop button is working.

If you click stop, the program says its stoppped, but then when you click on start you get the following message.
An Exception Occurred ...

 

I have reproduced this bug and it's now fixed in the next version -  thank you!    I'm assuming you managed to get it to schedule a recording, though?

ACraigL:

tried this on Win 7 x64 and it crashes whenever I try to schedule a recording. Is there someplace I can get/look at logs to see why?

 

Sure, let me get home tonight and I'll upload a log-enabled version so we can track this down.  In the meantime, a couple of things to check:

- Do you have the file c:\Windows\ehome\ehRecObj.dll on your system?  I'm not sure if this app will cope if windows is installed in a non-standard directory name  (e.g. c:\win7 or c:\windows7 etc.)
- Does it still crash if you fail to populate all the fields, i.e. just enter a channel number, then click 'Schedule Recording' ?
- Are you certain you're correctly entering the date / time?  At the moment, I haven't added any validation (but will do) so I have seen crashes in the past if putting strange characters into the 'Start Date/Time' field.  It should be YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM or HH:MM, valid examples are '2010-01-08 21:30' or '22:30'
- What country / time zone are you in?  Wondering if perhaps the date parsing is done differently?

Let me know, will be available again roughly 20:00 GMT

Also, can anyone confirm they've actually successfully scheduled a recording with this?  (apart from me!)

Carlos

This is a standard install. To answer your questions:

• Do you have the file c:\Windows\ehome\ehRecObj.dll on your system?
  Yes
• Does it still crash if you fail to populate all the fields, i.e. just enter a channel number, then click 'Schedule Recording' ?
  No. I get the required fields error. It's only if I complete the form does it it fail.
• Are you certain you're correctly entering the date / time?  At the moment, I haven't added any validation (but will do) so I have seen crashes in the past if putting strange characters into the 'Start Date/Time' field.  It should be YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM or HH:MM, valid examples are '2010-01-08 21:30' or '22:30'
  Yes. I entered both 20:15 and 2010-01-06 20:15, both for a duration of 15 minutes.
• What country / time zone are you in?  Wondering if perhaps the date parsing is done differently?
  US Eastern Standard Time (EST)

Some of mine:

• Is there any way to run this with elevated permissions? Should I need to?
• Is channels a concern? The PC I'm testing with is QAM only, so I have channels like 8.1, 29.1, etc.

carlosp_uk:

PeteT:

I dont think the stop button is working.

If you click stop, the program says its stoppped, but then when you click on start you get the following message.
An Exception Occurred ...

 

I have reproduced this bug and it's now fixed in the next version -  thank you!    I'm assuming you managed to get it to schedule a recording, though?>

No didn't get a chance. I needed to go to bed. I'll try tonight for you.