NextPVR Forums
  • ______
  • Home
  • New Posts
  • Wiki
  • Members
  • Help
  • Search
  • Register
  • Login
  • Home
  • Wiki
  • Members
  • Help
  • Search
NextPVR Forums Information Community Announcements v
« Previous 1 … 22 23 24 25 26 … 56 Next »
Keep GB-PVR under control

 
  • 0 Vote(s) - 0 Average
Keep GB-PVR under control
liteswap
Offline

Senior Member

Posts: 713
Threads: 70
Joined: Aug 2006
#1
2007-03-13, 06:20 PM (This post was last modified: 2007-04-01, 06:00 PM by liteswap.)
This is a new app called StartGBPVR. Its primary aim is to ensure that GB-PVR remains the top window and so remains responsive. But that's not all it does.

Why did I write StartGBPVR?
I wrote it because my media PC sits in the living room under the TV and it's driven by a remote control, not a keyboard or mouse (except in extremis). In other words, it's treated an an appliance, not a PC. Also, I am not the only user, so others rightly get frustrated if it appears that GB-PVR is not responding, when in fact it's just lost the focus.

What StartGBPVR does in detail
1. It keeps the GB-PVR program in focus. It does this non-aggressively - ie it checks only every 20 seconds, so if you're quickly doing something else on the PC, it won't annoy you. What this means is that Windows errors and random dialogue boxes which open on a second monitor or unseen under the app can no longer make GB-PVR appear frozen.
2. That said, I found that if I was using the Config program or GB-PVR is minimised, then I didn't want GB-PVR stealing focus. So if Config is running or GB-PVR is active but minimised, StartGBPVR waits until Config quits, then either starts or reactivates GB-PVR.
3. If GB-PVR stops for any reason, StartGBPVR restarts it (with a splash screen) - but again, it waits 20 seconds beforehand to give you time to stop the StartGBPVR application if required.
4. When GB-PVR starts, on my machine when it maximises there's a two-pixel border. Annoying, and I couldn't fix it any way other than to use this program to automatically issue a Restore then a Maximise command to get rid of the border when GB-PVR starts. It only does this once per GB-PVR start.

Instructions for use
1. Simply start StartGBPVR in the usual way and leave it running. There's no CPU overhead except briefly when it takes action.
2. If you want to pause StartGBPVR, simply click on the icon in the system tray.
3. If you want to stop StartGBPVR permanently, right-click the tray icon and select Exit.
4. If you start StartGBPVR and GB-PVR is already running, StartGBPVR will silently get on with its monitoring function.
5. If you start a second copy of StartGBPVR when it's already running, it detects that and quits.

StartGBPVR was written and compiled using AutoIt.

Please feel free to make comments and suggest improvements - I'm sure there are plenty that could be made...

The executable is downloadable here.
Source code is downloadable here.
- Silent client PVR: HDPlex HS.1 aluminium fanless case / Thin-ITX ASRock H81TM-ITX motherboard / Intel Celeron 1850T CPU / 4GB RAM / 120GB SSD / TBS6982 DBS-S2 [SIZE=1]dual-tuner card / Win10+nPVR+Plex Media Player feeding LG OLED55B6V + Anthem MRX510 AV Receiver / PMC GB1 / B&W / REL speakers.
- Noisy NAS: Xeon / Intel mobo / 16GB RAM / FreeNAS + Ubuntu VMs on VMware ESXi + 12TB RAID
[/SIZE] running Plex Media Server

madcat
Offline

Senior Member

Posts: 634
Threads: 104
Joined: Apr 2006
#2
2007-03-16, 03:23 PM
That is cool - and the fact you used AU for it is cooler (i'm also a big fan). I have several AU scripts on my GB-PVR machine, exactly for the reasons you mentioned (being appliance, the rest of the audience, etc. I have a wireless KB tacked away for more technical jobs).
Scripts like "restart_wifi_card" and "gb_pvr_on_off".

The later, will start GB-PVR if it's not running, or kill it if it is. It's a GB-PVR "toggle".
Theoretically, can also be used for cases where GB-PVR will loose focus (although I can't recall this happened to me), but also use it if GB-PVR crashes or becomes otherwise unstable.

Nice work.
* Rogers Analog Cable [Canada]
* Hauppauge WintTV PVR USB2
* IBM Thinkpad T42 / 1GB Mem / Centrino 1.6Ghz / 60GB HD / ATI Mobility Radeon 7500 + VGA/DVI out
* MCE Remote + Keyboard
* Win XP SP2 / GBPVR [Latest version. always]
* Pioneer HDTV via VGA (1360x768)
* MS Remote Keyboard
* Logitech Harmony 880 [via MS Remote Control Reciever]
liteswap
Offline

Senior Member

Posts: 713
Threads: 70
Joined: Aug 2006
#3
2007-03-16, 05:56 PM
Thanks for the comment - it's my first public app! The biggest problems I've found is Windows update notices and my firewall (ZoneAlarm), both of which will pop up a box from time to time that grabs the focus - which is why I wrote StartGBPVR.

And yes, I've a GBPVR toggle too, very useful...
- Silent client PVR: HDPlex HS.1 aluminium fanless case / Thin-ITX ASRock H81TM-ITX motherboard / Intel Celeron 1850T CPU / 4GB RAM / 120GB SSD / TBS6982 DBS-S2 [SIZE=1]dual-tuner card / Win10+nPVR+Plex Media Player feeding LG OLED55B6V + Anthem MRX510 AV Receiver / PMC GB1 / B&W / REL speakers.
- Noisy NAS: Xeon / Intel mobo / 16GB RAM / FreeNAS + Ubuntu VMs on VMware ESXi + 12TB RAID
[/SIZE] running Plex Media Server

garyeuph
Offline

Member

Posts: 161
Threads: 18
Joined: Apr 2006
#4
2007-03-19, 02:04 PM
Hi,

I would be interested in seeing your script for a 'GBPVR' toggle. My version occasionally locks up on starting playing back a video so this would be great (I guess it can be bound to an remote key??).

A further thought, would it be possible to have such a script check GBPVR to see if it is hung and if so crash the process and restart it?

Cheers

Garyeuph
GBPVR 1.4.7
Hauppauge PVR150, Hauppauge Nova-T 9200
Nvidia 6200 S-Video to WS TV
AMD 3200, HD 250GB and 500GB
NTL Samsung with Red-Eye Serial
madcat
Offline

Senior Member

Posts: 634
Threads: 104
Joined: Apr 2006
#5
2007-03-19, 05:58 PM
garyeuph Wrote:Hi,

I would be interested in seeing your script for a 'GBPVR' toggle. My version occasionally locks up on starting playing back a video so this would be great (I guess it can be bound to an remote key??).

A further thought, would it be possible to have such a script check GBPVR to see if it is hung and if so crash the process and restart it?

Cheers

Garyeuph
Well, mine is very simple (too simple?).
Code:
$GB_title = "GB-PVR"

$exists = WinExists ($GB_title)
if $exists == 1 Then
    ;MsgBox(0, "", "Exists")
    WinClose($GB_title)
    Sleep(1)
    run("pskill gbpvr.exe", "")
Else
    ;MsgBox(0, "", "Does not Exist")
    run("c:\Program Files\devnz\gbpvr\gbpvr.exe", "c:\Program Files\devnz\gbpvr\")
    WinActivate("GB-PVR")
EndIf
It has one problem - when GB-PVR is running, sometimes I need two clicks (run the script twice) to make it close GB-PVR. Maybe first time it "kills" the tray icon? not sure. I'm happy to hear ideas.

the "MsgBox" are there obviosuly for debug purposes.

Ah, also I used a "pskill.exe" commnamd from SysInternals (now seems to be part of M$). I felt this would be more efficient (brut force?), in the rare case GB-PVR is really stuck and the "WinClose" didn't work.
* Rogers Analog Cable [Canada]
* Hauppauge WintTV PVR USB2
* IBM Thinkpad T42 / 1GB Mem / Centrino 1.6Ghz / 60GB HD / ATI Mobility Radeon 7500 + VGA/DVI out
* MCE Remote + Keyboard
* Win XP SP2 / GBPVR [Latest version. always]
* Pioneer HDTV via VGA (1360x768)
* MS Remote Keyboard
* Logitech Harmony 880 [via MS Remote Control Reciever]
liteswap
Offline

Senior Member

Posts: 713
Threads: 70
Joined: Aug 2006
#6
2007-03-20, 01:42 PM
Mine looks pretty much like yours, although I use ProcessClose ( "gbpvr.exe" ) instead of pskill. Seems to only need one click Smile.

Doesn't really need anything more complex imho...
- Silent client PVR: HDPlex HS.1 aluminium fanless case / Thin-ITX ASRock H81TM-ITX motherboard / Intel Celeron 1850T CPU / 4GB RAM / 120GB SSD / TBS6982 DBS-S2 [SIZE=1]dual-tuner card / Win10+nPVR+Plex Media Player feeding LG OLED55B6V + Anthem MRX510 AV Receiver / PMC GB1 / B&W / REL speakers.
- Noisy NAS: Xeon / Intel mobo / 16GB RAM / FreeNAS + Ubuntu VMs on VMware ESXi + 12TB RAID
[/SIZE] running Plex Media Server

Wakalaka
Offline

Posting Freak

Posts: 926
Threads: 161
Joined: Jan 2007
#7
2007-03-21, 02:06 AM
I updated the HIPGuide a few days ago to include info and my config files on how to use HIP and not lose focus on your PC apps. The remote codes still get processed by GB-PVR.
NPVR 4.1.0.180302 o Kodi 17.6 o EventGhost 0.5.0.rc4 o SAF 6.3.2 o SchedulesDirect
[SIZE="1"]
Case: Apevia X-Qpack HTPC o Motherboard: Asus P8H67-MLE o CPU: Intel Core i3-2100 o RAM: 8 GB o OS: Win7 64-bit
Tuner: HDHomeRun dual tuner o Leaf SkyHDTV antenna o Remote: Microsoft MCE
Hard drives: Samsung 500 GB SSD, Seagate 2 TB SATA2, Samsung 540 GB SATA2 o Input: Logitech USB keyboard & mouse
Video: ATI Radeon 7750 o Monitor: Viewsonic 27" VX2703MH-LED, LG 55" LCD TV
[/SIZE]
dgroover
Offline

Junior Member

Posts: 6
Threads: 2
Joined: Mar 2007
#8
2007-03-22, 01:46 AM
Does not work for me. My default location is on the D drive.
Wakalaka
Offline

Posting Freak

Posts: 926
Threads: 161
Joined: Jan 2007
#9
2007-03-22, 02:57 AM
dgroover Wrote:Does not work for me. My default location is on the D drive.

What doesn't work?
NPVR 4.1.0.180302 o Kodi 17.6 o EventGhost 0.5.0.rc4 o SAF 6.3.2 o SchedulesDirect
[SIZE="1"]
Case: Apevia X-Qpack HTPC o Motherboard: Asus P8H67-MLE o CPU: Intel Core i3-2100 o RAM: 8 GB o OS: Win7 64-bit
Tuner: HDHomeRun dual tuner o Leaf SkyHDTV antenna o Remote: Microsoft MCE
Hard drives: Samsung 500 GB SSD, Seagate 2 TB SATA2, Samsung 540 GB SATA2 o Input: Logitech USB keyboard & mouse
Video: ATI Radeon 7750 o Monitor: Viewsonic 27" VX2703MH-LED, LG 55" LCD TV
[/SIZE]
drugstore_cowboy
Offline

Member

Posts: 151
Threads: 11
Joined: Jul 2005
#10
2007-03-22, 04:13 AM
dgroover Wrote:Does not work for me. My default location is on the D drive.

I looked at the code posted by liteswap, made a few minor adjustments and then recompiled it but I am waiting to hear back from liteswap to see if it is okay that I post it. One of the changes that I made involves reading the install directory from the registry so that it should find the proper location of where GBPVR is installed so it should work for non standard installations.

I should also mention that I used resource hacker to pull the GBPVR icon file which I hope is okay with Sub?

I will wait to hear if everyone is okay with this before posting Cool
_______________________________
Drugstore_Cowboy
« Next Oldest | Next Newest »

Users browsing this thread: 1 Guest(s)

Pages (3): 1 2 3 Next »


Possibly Related Threads…
Thread Author Replies Views Last Post
  TimeSharer - A plugin to control non-broadcasting channels imilne 0 1,530 2011-07-13, 09:23 AM
Last Post: imilne
  TellStick USB Light Control MixMan 1 3,264 2008-12-12, 12:08 AM
Last Post: MixMan
  Configuration tool for remote control athomas 0 1,446 2008-12-04, 12:45 PM
Last Post: athomas
  Ati Remoe Wonder and x10 remote control neoxeo 1 1,884 2008-04-27, 06:39 PM
Last Post: fuathurio
  Event Ghost, another app to control your remote Wakalaka 13 4,456 2007-04-29, 06:42 AM
Last Post: HydroChronic
  Select a language with your remote control Old Dog 0 1,135 2006-03-19, 02:24 PM
Last Post: Old Dog

  • View a Printable Version
  • Subscribe to this thread
Forum Jump:

© Designed by D&D, modified by NextPVR - Powered by MyBB

Linear Mode
Threaded Mode