Welcome to my Linux MTPCenter 2.0 server solution for Pinnacle Showcenter and compatible media clients on Linux operating system. I have decided to use a Showecenter solution because it provides all the functionality I need. Goal was to have a quite, cheap, and easy to use solution for playing music, photo's and recorded movies wherever I need this. An additional idea came up when working with the vdr tv streaming solution, so I added support for this really nice software. As I have digital sat receiver wherever needed in the sound part it was important that dolby digital is supported by the hardware.

Linux MTPCenter 2.0 is not only working with Showceter clients, you can also use it with compatible hardware Differences between the usage of alternative media clients are provided in the FAQ section of this homepage..
The version 2.0 is completely reworked and with the help of all active user in our forum we were able to add a lot of new functions.The MTP Streaming Server which can also be found here on the web provides additional features, more about this a bit later.
Supported Hardware
Linux MTPCenter 2.0 is supporting several Media Center, here a short overview. Additional compatible clients should also work, it is possible to configure the software for these clients wherever needed, in case of questions please contact my support discussion board.
 
Media Client
HDTV
Music
Photo
TV
Radio
Fuction
Keys
Auto-
functions
Server-
Detection
Pinnacle Showcenter 200
yes
yes
yes
yes*
yes*
yes
yes
yes
Pinnacle Showcenter 1000
no
yes
yes
yes
yes
yes
yes
yes
Auvisio Media Center
no
yes
yes
yes
yes
yes
no
yes
ADS-Tech Medialink
no
yes
yes
yes
yes
yes
no
yes
Transgear DVX-500
no
yes
yes
yes
yes
yes
no
yes
Elgato Eyehmoe
no
yes
yes
yes
yes
yes
no
yes

* For the Showcenter 200 you need additional the MTP Streaming Server , otherwise live TV and Radio playback will not work without problems (stuttering, no sound etc)
Functions - Overview
      
    
  • Usage of several media clients at the same time
  • Languages English, German and French
  • Support for PAL, NTSC and HDTV (720 & 1080) format.
  • Browser resolution 800*600 or 1024*768
  • Direct start feature for up to 98 different functions
  • User administration
  • Selectable themes for each user
  • Automatic login for defined IP addresses
  • Parental Control for recordings
  • User defined settings for resolution, theme and other stuff
  • Playback of MP3 and OGG audio files with ID3 tag support
  • Playback of m3u playlists
  • Search music by Artist, Title and other selections
  • Background pictures when playing audio files
  • Playback of MPEG video files
  • Playback of other formats (depending on your media client)
  • Playback of DVD VOB files from DVD drive or from a directory structure
  • Playback of vdr audio and video recordings
  • Photo shows from your JPEG photos
  • Fast preview in thumb or single picture mode
  • Define different music playlists for each photo directory
  • Playback of Shoutcast and mp3 internet streams
  • Save your own favorites
  • Background Image with additional information during playback
  • Live streaming of vdr radio channels
  • Live streaming of vdr tv channels
  • Switch directly beween different stations
  • Electronic program guide
  • Search through electronic program guide for specific broadcasts
  • Define your own timer for recording broadcasts
Linux MTPCenter 2.0 - Change to your preferred design
Linux MTPCenter 2.0 is available in different designs. Three themes are delivered with the software, 2 additional themes are available for download. With a small php script which is also available here you are able to build your own theme's. Whenever you have developed your own theme we would be happy to add it to our theme dowload page.
When using Showcenter 200 from Pinnacle you can optional work with a special HDTV menu resolution. Also photos will be shown up to a resolution of 1900x1080 which is really looking nice. Below a sample of a menu in HDTV resolution.
Functions in Detail
Basic functions
General
  • You can use any number of Media Clients connecting to the server limited only by the performance of your server
  • We have german, english and french resources available.
  • Support of PAL NTSC and HDTV (720 and 1080) format.
  • In browser mode support for 800x600 and 1024x768 resolution.
  • Direct start of video or audio player out of the browser if browser setup is correct.

User Administration

  • Definition of an unlimited number of user
  • Different settings (resolution / language / theme / brower resolution) for each user
  • Password definition for each user (optional)
  • Parental control feature as user can be limeted by Age so that recordings can be protected
  • Automatic user login by detection of ip address

Autofeatures (only for Showcenter 200 and 1000)

  • Direct start function for up to 98 different functions out of the main menu by pressing number codes
  • Start of Shoutcast- or Internet-Streams
  • Start of music playlist
  • Automatic start of a streams or of a playlist after the media center booting process
  • Automatic stop of a stream or a playlist after a defined number of minutes.

Music

  • Playback of mp3 and ogg files
  • Playback of m3u music playlists
  • Creating and maintenance of m3u playlists
  • Database based search function for artists, title, genre, directories and other options
  • Background picture during music playback with information about artist, title and others
  • Display of original music cover if available in the file
  • Display of original music if available as jpg in the same directory
  • Display of any available standard covers
  • Creation of our own cover if none of the above is available

Movies

  • Playback of mpg, dvx, mp4, wmv und vob movies
  • Showing information out of a movie description file which needs to be vdr compatible
  • Playback of other movie formats if client has the capability
  • Playback of all vob files out of a dvd structure (on dvd player or filesystem)

Photos

  • Playback of jpeg photos
  • Fast review in a thumb view of the photo directories
  • Automatic rotate of pictures according to exif information

Single photo preview

  • Photo slideshows with or without music background
  • Display of exif information like time and filename in the photo
  • Manual definition of specific music playlists for each photo directory

Internet Radio

  • Playback of shoutcast and other internet readio streams
  • Display and selection of all available genres
  • Save your preferred stations to the favourite menu
  • Add your own preferred radio streams manually
  • Display of a background picture with information about channel during playback

Addional Features

Add-Ons

  • Tool for easy creation of your own themes
  • Plugin interface including an interface documentation
  • Addional features in connection with a vdr server

Movies

  • Playback of vdr recordings

Radio

  • Live streaming of vdr radio channels
  • Support of vdr cannel lists

TV (broadcasting)

  • Live streaming of vdr tv channels with support of different sound channels
  • Easy zapping between different stations
  • Support of the vdr electronic program guide (epg)
  • Create timer for recording specific broadcasts
  • Create timer for recording broadcasts each day or week (series)
  • Delete existing timer
  • Search for a specific broadcast through the epg
  • Search for all available broadcasts on a specific date / time
MTP Streaming Server

Additional features when streaming over the MTP Streaming Server

  • UIPNP service so that Linux MTPCenter 2.0 is showing up in the server selection
  • Definition of addional Media Server so that these are also detected.
  • Displaying song information in shoutcast and internet streams in the background picture wherever available
  • Save the internet radio stream to a file, write also an additional file with all songs played during the stream
  • Restart movies at the position where you have stopped playback last time (only Showcenter 200 and 1000)
  • Playback of dvd iso images
  • Pause live tv or live radio for up to 15 minutes (configurable)
  • Timeshift playback of an actual vdr recording
  • Correct problems with Showcenter 200 when streaming vdr live tv or radio
  • Usage of the vdr vtp protocol for live radio and tv streams, brings better performance and more stability
  • No filesize limit for movies even apache may have restrictions.
  • Build one big virtual file for all vdr recording parts so that navigation through the recording is much easier.
All your media available wherever you need
Why another Showcenter Server Application?
The original Showcenter solution is looking pretty good, however it is not available for Linux so far. There are some other Linux Showcenter projects available, but either I miss some features or I do not like the user interface of this software. If you don't like my solution and you are looking for other linux projects search for OpenShowCenter, Oxyl or SwissCenter.

Last but not least I would like to thank Pinnacle for providing me a software development kit, with the help of these information I was able to support the showcenter as good as possible.
Why is this solution only available for Linux?
This is a easy question. Mainly I have developed the software for my usage at home and I had already a 24 hour running Linux server. So my intention was clear and I do not have any plans to develop this software also for other operating systems.
What are the next steps?
After developing this software now for about of 16 month I think it's time to relax a bit. However for sure I will correct any bugs as soon they are reported. If you have feature requests let me know, I will add the best ideas in one of the next versions. Please use our forum for contacting us!
Where can you provide help?
The first thing you can do is just using this software. Additionally you can help me enhancing the english version of the resources and the webpage. Also if you would like to add another language I will be happy to add this to my package if you are willing to provide your translation for public usage. In case you don't like the design feel free to develop you own theme, more informations about this in the themes section. You like to have weather forcast or whatever, so in case you have some development skills build your own plugin for the Linux MTPCenter 2.0, a sample plugin and a short description what needs to be done is available in the plugin section.
Where can I report bugs, feature requests etc?
OK, your first source should be this webpage, interesting problems and solutions will be posted in the faq section. And before asking you should read through the installation and manual part. If all this does not solve your question just use our discussion board, which also has a english section.
Disclaimer
Linux MTPCenter has been tested on many systems, on many types of files, and is generally believe to be stable and safe. That being said, there is still the chance there is an undiscovered and/or unfixed bug that may potentially corrupt your file or system. By using Linux MTPCenter you agree that it's not my fault if any of your files or your system are corrupted. In fact, I'm not liable for anything :)
GNU General Public License - see license.txt in distributed package

This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.

This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details.

You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with this program; if not, write to:

Free Software Foundation, Inc.
59 Temple Place - Suite 330
Boston, MA 02111-1307, USA.