Please also read the Disclaimer

MediaNet - Device Modules - MVP

Purpose: To support the Hauppuage MVP Device

It is necessary to extract the dongle.bin from the latest Hauppuage installer and place it in Support\TFTPD folder

Once this module is activated, and MediaNet started, the MVP's should be auto detected as they attempt to boot. You require a DHCP server to provide the MVP with a fixed IP address

When first booting an MVP for detection by MediaNet the MVP should be fully powered off to ensure the correct dongle.bin and settings are loaded

In future when MediaNet is started it will auto load all known clients and the communication between client and MediaNet will allow MediaNet to detect if the device is present (missing devices will show in the web interface as powered off and are not controllable)

The MVP module makes use of the zlib compression library

The MVP module also allows for multiple skins to be applied, and for the user to skin the display to any level

LOADER.xml

Most entries in loader.xml are default values assigned to newly discovered MVP's. Those items that can be changed on a per-device basis are editable in clients.xml

<loader>
    <instance>
        <device module="MVP" enabled="n" type="mvp" />
          set enabled="y" to enable MVP support
        <settings volume="30" volstep="5" />
          sets the default volume, volume step (1 to 10 allowed) and balance, has limited use due to the way MVP volume works
        <settings skin="" />
          set skin= to specify a non-standard skin (e.g. _tony will look for a skin folder called "skin_tony"
        <settings tvtype="pal" tvconnect="composite" tvaspect="4:3" tvflicker="medium" />
          set the default MVP video settings here
        <settings bgcolour="0,0,0" fgcolour="255,255,255" font="Arial" fontsize="18" fontbold="N" fontitalic="N" />
          set the default MVP font type and size (change with caution) and colours here
        <settings coverartenabled="n" coverartleft="4" coverarttop="140" coverartwidth="200" coverartheight="200" />
          set whether the mvp main screen displays coverart here along with size and position
        <settings coverartdetails="Y" coverartmargin="12" coverartartist="370" coverartalbum="400" coverarttrack="430" />
          set whether the mvp main screen displays details of playing track here along with margin and position
        <settings coverartfilename="folder.jpg" covertartext="jpg" />
          specify the fixed file name for coverart, and the file type when named the same as the album
        <settings foldername="folder.jpg" />
          specify the fixed file name for folder artwork here
        <settings musictop="32" musicleft="0" musicwidth="176" musicheight="136" musiccolumns="3" musicrows="2" />
          specify the size, position and number of rows/columns for music graphical music menus
        <settings videostop="32" videosleft="0" videoswidth="176" videosheight="136" videoscolumns="3" videosrows="2" />
          specify the size, position and number of rows/columns for music graphical video menus
        <settings videosthumb="bmp" videostimeframe="2" caching="y" autothumb="y" autothumboff="noimage.jpg" />
          specify the video thumbnail settings here (used where a <videoname>.<videosthumb> file is not present)
          set autothumb="n" to prevent medianet trying to produce thumbnail on-the-fly, set alternate image file name in autothumboff
          autothumboff= is ignored if autothumb="y", else image must exist in .\devices\mvp\skins\<skin>\icons folder
          set caching="n" if you don't want on-the-fly images saved permanently, autothumb="n" implies caching="n" regardless
          videosframetime= set the number of seconds into the video to grab the on-the-fly image
          if videosthumb isn't bmp then caching is off regardless of setting, and the "thumbs" support module is useless
        <settings picturestop="32" picturesleft="0" pictureswidth="176" picturesheight="136" picturescolumns="3" picturesrows="2" />
          specify the size, position and number of rows/columns for picture graphical video menus
        <settings picturesslideshow="5" />
          specify number of seconds between images in slideshow mode
        <settings zone="master" />
          this defines the 'zone' that a device is in, used by protocols like xPL
        <settings tts_enabled="n" tts_helper="TTS" tts_threshold="60000" />
          specify whether to support Text-to-Speech
        <settings prontoenabled="n" prontoclear="y" prontoplay="y" />
          specify whether support for pronto and prontopro remotes should be enabled,
          and whether they should auto clear/play
        <settings playstyle="clear" />
          set the default playstyle for adding tracks (allowed values are clear, insert and append) 
        <settings bootlock="n" />
          set whether the remote control should be auto locked out at boot for home automation applications 
        <settings stats_enabled="y" stats_helper="STATS" />
          specify whether played tracks should be added to the play statistics in the database
        <settings scripting="n" />
          specify whether scripting menus are enabled (requires scripting module loaded)
        <module>
            <load module="TFTPD" enabled="y" path="Support\TFTPD" />
            <settings port="16869" filename="dongle.bin" />
        </module>
        <module>
            <load module="BOOTP" enabled="y" path="Support\BOOTP"/>
            <settings port="16867" filename="dongle.bin" />
        </module>
        <module>
            <load module="MVPDISCOVERY" enabled="y" />
            <settings port="16881" />
        </module>
          the module sections above load all the support files for an MVP device,
          only change port numbers etc if you understand the implications
    </instance>
</loader>

Music Notes

The music menu's work in the same way as all other supported devices, but (like the web interface) graphical items like the jukebox are displayed graphically rather than as text menus

Video Notes

Unlike xPLRioNet, MediaNet supports fast forward/Reverse and Pause for videos, though once the video has completely streamed to the MVP this function is disabled (time before end depends on size of video)

Picture Notes

When displaying a single picture you have the option to activate slideshow mode by pressing play, this will then toggle thru each picture at the the specified number of slideshow seconds. You can use pause/stop to pause and halt the slideshow. You may also use Fast Forward/Reverse to decrease/increase the number of seconds. When in single image mode the up/down keys are reversed

Webcams have their own refresh interval, but when a webcam is first selected an update is requested and the screen is updated after 4 seconds, thereafter the update is at the refresh interval specified for the particular webcam

Skinning

The MVP module has a sub folder called skins. Within this are sub-folders for individual skins (the default being skin) that can be assigned at both the default level (via loader.xml) and the individual unit level (via clients.xml). Always call a skin folder skin_ followed by a postifx, then specify the _postfix as skin= for the MVP to use it).

Each skin folder holds several required files music.bmp, videos.bmp, pictures.bmp, remotecontrol.bmp, splash.bmp and wait.bmp. Also a sub-folder (icons) contains various images for various functionality. If you create a new skin, you _must_ create (or copy) in these items

Beyond this skinning is at the users discretion, and folders are named after the menu item they represent. The default skin provides further levels of skinning to provide examples. Basically you can skin as much or as little as you like, and skins take priority over any other display

To speed up menu's skins get cached into a .mvp file (so music.bmp gets cached to music.mvp). Wherever possible MediaNet uses these files, so if you amend a bitmap you should delete the .mvp cache file so MediaNet creates a new one

If you create a skin you'd like to share with other users then please zip it up and I will publish it on this website (or can link  to your own site if you prefer)

All remote control buttons are mapped via keymap.xml

How the Remote Control is Mapped (by default)

The Key Map for the MVP is far more complicated than a standard device and is therefore broken down in various sections

Items in BLUE are not specifically listed in the appropriate section, but are the result of a cascade search thru the sections

NOTE: 'MVP' and 'Device' are the same physical menu, device represents music control and is equivalent to other devices status screen

* Lock means that key presses are ignored other than for protocol functions until either lock is pressed again or unit is powered off. This allows the use of remote control for home automation duties (like controlling lights, tivo etc) while the unit is in use

** @ signifies items beginning with non-alpha tracks

*** Vol+/Vol- are used for Left/Right when in a Music graphical menu like Jukebox (keymap section <music>)