ExternalDisplay - Beta Testers Wanted

[Barsk]

Could you please search for ExternalDisplay.dll. There should be only one copy - in Plugins\ExternalDisplay. If there is one in the gbpvr folder, it will cause an error as you describe. If you have copies elsewhere, they may also cause problems and should be deleted.

Maybe this is the problem.

This was the problem! Yes!
I had a copy of the old ExternalDisplay folder in the gbpvr "root" folder. I had no idea hat the dll in that folder would be in use...

Thanx a lot for your help! I will now try out the new features and see where it leads me...

/barsk

[ralphy]

I had no idea hat the dll in that folder would be in use...
/barsk

Frankly, I don't understand why this is the case either! I use System.Reflection to refer to the dll in the plugins folder, and thought that the config app should search for it there and nowhere else. Clearly, this is not the case.

I know that without the reflection, that the config would expect to find the dll in the gbpvr root folder.

Anyway, glad to have resolved your problem - Good luck with the new features. Just remember, that if the xml has a bad format, that a default will be used and an message logged in the PVRX2.exe.log. I should perhaps have a popup message to warn of this error also.

[ralphy]

Just remember, that if the xml has a bad format, that a default will be used and an message logged in the PVRX2.exe.log. I should perhaps have a popup message to warn of this error also.

Oops :o - As I added the popup message, I realized that I actually commented out the 'default' settings in the event of a bad xml file in the versions posted to date. So if anyone modifies the xml file and something doesn't seem right, check the logs to see if there is an error de-serializing the xml file.

[iwan]

I've been using ExternalDisplay for quite some time now - I absolutely love it.

There's one thing that keeps bugging me, though:
Every now and then, I hibernate my machine and after waking up, the display stays empty.
This is what the logs say:

Code:

2008-05-06 20:50:44.328    INFO    [1]    ExternalDisplay: Resume from Suspend or Hibernation detected, starting plugin
2008-05-06 20:50:44.328    INFO    [1]    ExternalDisplay DoStart called twice - already started...

Is there anything I could do to circumvent this problem ?

[Barsk]

I've been using ExternalDisplay for quite some time now - I absolutely love it.

Me too.

I have one problem with it though. It stops when PVRX2 stops, and I keep popping in and out of GB-PVR all the time. So the dream feature would be if the the plugin hooked in to the recording service instead of PVRX2. That may not be possible as the recording service does not support plugins to my knowledge, but it would be really nice...

[ralphy]

I've been using ExternalDisplay for quite some time now - I absolutely love it.

Glad to hear this. Doesn't seem like this plugin is being extensively used though based on the number of downloads!

There's one thing that keeps bugging me, though:
Every now and then, I hibernate my machine and after waking up, the display stays empty.
This is what the logs say:

Code:

2008-05-06 20:50:44.328    INFO    [1]    ExternalDisplay: Resume from Suspend or Hibernation detected, starting plugin
2008-05-06 20:50:44.328    INFO    [1]    ExternalDisplay DoStart called twice - already started...

Is there anything I could do to circumvent this problem ?

Boy this would be frustrating. When you say 'every now and then' Iwan, do you mean that the problem only occurs occasionaly, or every time you hibernate, which you do "now and then"? (I think I mentioned, I don't use hibernate because my wireless card won't restart when I do) Can you please repeat the problem with extensive logging and post the full set of logs?

I suspect what is happening is that the DoStop method is not completing before the machine goes into hibernate mode - hence when powering up again, the plugin can't restart properly. I'll need to think about how to fix this though.

Me too.

I have one problem with it though. It stops when PVRX2 stops, and I keep popping in and out of GB-PVR all the time. So the dream feature would be if the the plugin hooked in to the recording service instead of PVRX2. That may not be possible as the recording service does not support plugins to my knowledge, but it would be really nice...

Unfortunately, this plugin is designed to run with PVRX2. It is not a stand alone application, and if you stop PVRX2, it also stops. It could be done in a standalone application (not a plugin) that could query the database and then output the information from the database to the display (ie pending recordings), but sorry, I have no energy to do this! I think this could be done with Slimm GBPVRcli and LCDSmartie, but you might not have the same 'features' of ExternalDisplay available. I suppose the alternative is not to shut down PVRX2 and just leave it running (minimised if necessary).

[iwan]

When you say 'every now and then' Iwan, do you mean that the problem only occurs occasionaly, or every time you hibernate, which you do "now and then"? (I think I mentioned, I don't use hibernate because my wireless card won't restart when I do) Can you please repeat the problem with extensive logging and post the full set of logs?

Sorry for being not very precise ... I meant that my HTPC hibernates occasionally, but every time it wakes up from hibernation the display stays blank.
Will try and reproduce within the next couple of days - stay tuned

[iwan]

Sorry for being not very precise ... I meant that my HTPC hibernates occasionally, but every time it wakes up from hibernation the display stays blank.
Will try and reproduce within the next couple of days - stay tuned

I finally found some time to try some hibernating. Computer wakes up fine, but Display stays blank. Logs attached (Had to cut some lines due to size ...)

[ralphy]

I finally found some time to try some hibernating. Computer wakes up fine, but Display stays blank. Logs attached (Had to cut some lines due to size ...)

Nothing obvious in these logs other than they do not show the "DoStart() called twice" message which you reported earlier.

I'll need to think about this one.....

[CFC]

I'm liking it so far. Using it with a 20x2 HD44780 display.
It doesn't seem like my date format changes stick. I'm trying to set it to 12hr clock, so I changed "HH" to "hh". The xml file is changed, and it shows the right format on the setup, but when I launch it remains the same.
Couple of question:
1) Is there a way to clear the display when I quit PVRX2? It stays stuck on the time.
2) Can I run LCDSmartie on the same computer? Can ExternalDisplay take over when I launch PVRX2, and then give control back to smartie when I quit?

Thanks for the help, the setup was very straightforward.

Edit: figured out the time issue. Had to change to "shorttime".

CFC