MediaPortal 1.2.0 RC RELEASED!
With the release of 1.2.0 RC we have almost reached the end of the 1.2.0 development cycle. After the release of 1.2.0 Beta, we entered a 'feature freeze'. This means that in 1.2.0 RC you will find mainly bug fixes.
Notable changes since 1.2.0 Beta
With more than 150 bug fixes since the release of 1.2.0 Beta, it would be too much to list all changes here. So the following list focuses on a few highlights which we have done since the release of 1.2.0 Beta.
Find out about the changes introduced in 1.2.0 Alpha, and 1.2.0 Beta in the related news.
MediaPortal Extensions Installer (MPEI)
We have added version compatibility, as well as many other fixes, to MPEI. Now you can easily identify the extensions compatible with your installed version of MediaPortal and avoid issues due to incompatible versions.
Due to this required change, unfortunately we could not avoid that MPEI files for 1.2.0 Beta will not work with 1.2.0 RC and vice versa. This means you must wait for extension authors to provide new installers for 1.2.0 RC. Luckily it is very easy to update them. We have developed the new version of MPEI so that extension authors only need to install 1.2.0 RC, open their MPEI project file, and save it again. It will automatically update to the new version and add the required compatibility information. This new file can then be posted to install extensions for 1.2.0 RC.
If any of your favorite extensions do not yet have an installer compatible with 1.2.0 RC, you may wish to update your extensions before updating to 1.2.0 RC.
If you are running MediaPortal 1.2.0 Beta, then all your installed extensions (plugins and skins) will continue to work in 1.2.0 RC! You only need the new installer for upgrades/new releases of an extension.
Navigation fix in icon view
For ages there was a issue when navigating in (big) icons layout from one row to another row with fewer items.
In some cases, MP would jump back to the first row, and thus would not display the items of the last row. This issue has been fixed.
Width of volume bar could not be skinned
We have fixed the width of the volume bar element inside the skin which was not working. If you see the volume bar inside your skin appear in a wrong size after the update, then please contact the author of your skin for an update.
Reworked Default Skins regarding comments of users
- Removed analog clock in Home Screens.
- Activated topbar in video and tv fullscreen.
- Darkened all backgrounds and overlays by 35%.
- Added current time display to pause screens.
- Added show titles in all icon views.
- Reduced text shadows to 1 px (formerly 4 px).
Weak signals could crash TV-service
There was a problem in the TV-Server where weak signals could crash the entire TV-Service. This has been fixed.
Reduced CPU usage of TV-Service and MediaPortal (when inside TV)
We managed to slightly reduce the CPU load of the TV-Service and MediaPortal (when inside the TV section).
Some users could not install 1.2.0 Beta
Due to a problem when registering the MPAudioSwitcher filter, the installation of 1.2.0 Beta could fail for a very limited number of users.
ffdshow DXVA video decoder could crash MediaPortal
Due to a bug inside the ffdshow DXVA video decoder, MediaPortal could crash during graph rebuilding. We took precautions in code to work around that issue inside ffdshow.
Audio and video in TV not in sync when using ffdshow video decoder
There was an issue where audio and video inside television were not in sync when using the ffdshow video decoder. This issue was fixed.
Digital Everywhere tuners could not tune some dvb-s2 transponders
Tuners from Digital Everywhere had issues when tuning dvb-s2 transponders that used high data rates.
Hauppauge Colossus HDMI inputs not usable
It was not possible to use the HDMI inputs of the Hauppauge Colossus in 1.2.0 Beta. This is now working in 1.2.0 RC.
Full list of changes
You can review the complete change log for 1.2.0 RC by using the following links:
Compiled list of skin and plugin related changes
Community skinners and developers should have a look at the following pages to find out about the changes which will effect their extensions.
Some of these changes (marked required) are mandatory to become 1.2.0 compatible.
Installation, upgrade, download and feedback
Installing 1.2.0 RC
When doing a clean installation of 1.2.0 RC, then there is nothing special to worry about.
Upgrading to 1.2.0 RC
All MediaPortal installations starting with 1.1.0 RC1 can be upgraded to 1.2.0 RC, without losing your settings.
If you are running MediaPortal 1.2.0 Beta, then all your installed extensions (plugins and skins) will continue to work after the upgrade to 1.2.0 RC!
If you are running MediaPortal 1.2.0 Alpha or earlier, then none of your extensions (plugins and skins) will work after the upgrade to 1.2.0 RC! You must update your extensions after the upgrade!
Please make sure that 1.2.0 RC compatible versions of your extensions are available before you start the upgrade!
Attention!
- Remember, because of the changes to the MediaPortal Extensions Installer (MPEI), none of the previous extension installers will work with 1.2.0 RC. The author just has to re-save and deploy the MPEI file.
- Manually stop TV-Service!
On some systems our installer is not able to update the TV-Server installation because its files are locked or the service can not be stopped. In 1.3.0 we will completely rework our Installer to take care of this problem once and for all.
For upgrades to 1.2.0 RC we recommend you manually stop the TV-Service, and make sure, via Windows Task Manager (enable the "all users" option), that the TvService.exe process is really gone before starting to upgrade.
Feedback
Bugs
If you think you found a bug, please post a detailed report in our 1.2.0 RC Development Forum.
Make sure your report includes all the required information. Incomplete reports will be removed to keep the forum clean.
In 1.3.0 we will fix an "issue" regarding the logging. Currently your database password is stored inside the logs, if the connection to the database fails. This should not be an issue for the majority of users because the used SQL server is local, and the password will be the standard, "MediaPortal". However, we do take this "security issue" seriously, and we will fix it in the next release of MediaPortal. This might even be part of an 1.2.x release (fix is not trivial because we have to change and recompile the gentle framework for that). If you are using the database password somewhere else too, then we advise you to remove that info from the log when posting bug reports.
Download
Finally - the download. We hope you took the time to read this release news entirely because it includes vital information about the major changes.
The Team wishes you a lot of fun with this new release!
.::. Download - MediaPortal 1.2.0 RC .::.
If you are pleased with the development, please consider making a small donation and help to keep this project alive.
