Short description of the Linux MTPCenter 2.0
On this page we would like to give you a small overview about the function set of the Linux MTPCenter 2.0. Because of all the functions which are now in version 2.0 we will not be able to cover everything but will try to show the most important parts to help understand how this software is working
The login screen of the Linux MTPCenter 2.0

At the first start you will just see the user Administrator. Please login with this account and define addional user. Addional user can only be defined by the administrator, but afterwards each user is able to change his profile. More details later on.
The Linux MTPCenter 2.0 Main Menu. From here you can start your actions, you see a list of function groups like
  • Playback of recordings
  • VDR TV streaming (if vdr use is enabled)
  • Playback of music files or playlists
  • VDR radio streaming and shoutcast / internet radio streaming
  • Photo shows
  • Plugins (if any installed)
    • In the bottom part of the screen functions keys are shown whenever needed. These keys are different depending which media center is used. As the Linux MTPCenter 2.0 is detecting the media center automatically you will always see the keys which are available on your remote.
    Functions keys for Showcenter
    Function keys for Auvisio media center
    If the Linux MTPcenter 2.0 is startet in a browser you will see two addional buttons. The left one is the home button to go back to the main menu, the right one is the back button to travel into the previous menu. Please do not use the back button of your browser, this will destroy important session settings.
    Remote Keys

    The following remote control keys (or similar keys depending on media client) are supported in all menu's

    Music Jump directly to the music submenu
    Movies Jump directly to the vdr submenu
    Photo Jump directly to the photo submenu
    Home Return to main menu
    PgUp Scroll up one page
    PgDown Scroll down one page
    Backspace Return to the previuos function
    A Return to main menu if not used
    B Return to main menu if not used
    C Return to main menu if not used
    ? Return to main menu if not used
    1..9 in all function you can select the entries with the number keys 1..9

    In the case the function keys A, B, C and ? are used for a specific function you will see the function listed at the bottom of the page.

    The configuration menu has a slightly differnt key setup

    A Jump to the Showcenter Properties menu (for Pinnacle ShowCenter only)
    B Jump to the Showcenter Options menu (for Pinnacle ShowCenter only)

    The main menu has additionl direct start functions which can be activated by pressing the correct number (combination) on your remote

    1..98 Shortkeys for starting defined functions immediately
    Configuration Menu
    The configuration menu of the Linux MTPCenter 2.0. Here you are able to create / update the whole database, you can start / stop an external vdr server, you can test your configuration and you can edit your user profile. In the case you are logged in as Administrator you can also administrate additional user.
    Configuration Test
    The configuration test checks if all your settings are correct and if all needed php modules are installed. To avoid problems when running the Linux MTPCenter 2.0 the whole configuration is also tested when the client is connecting to the server. In the cases any modules are missing or the configuration is not correct you will get notified and you have to fix the problem before you are able to proceed.
    Database Creation / Update

    One of the first steps when starting with the Linux MTPCenter 2.0 should be the initial creation of the database. Because this function will grep through all your media files and will read ID3 tags, Exif information in pictures and will also create thumbnails for the picture thumbnail view the first creation may need a lot of time till it's done. All further updates will proceed much faster as then it just need to update the whole information wherever needed.

    It's not a problem if different clients are starting the creation / update of the database. The main process is running in the background and all clients are running through a loop which ensures that the database is not corrupted.

    Depending on your configuartion the database update can be done manually or is starting in the background each x hours. The music and picture database is only updated, the vdr channel database is recreated completely whenever the update is running. The database update for the electronic program guide is always started in the background. Whenever you are browsing into the main menu the software checks if the epg database need to be updated and will start the process in the background.

    You can leave the database creation / update screen whenever you like, the whole process will proceed in the background.
    Automatic functions
    With Autostart TV you are able to start a function immediately when the client is started and logged in. This function is only working with Showcenter 200 and Showcenter 1000 from Pinnacle. To be able to start for example a Radio channel without switching on your TV you should have activated automatic login as well.

    With Sleeptimer it's possible to stop a function after a defined period of time. The client will stop the stream and will return into the menu, it's not possible to switch off the client. Also this is only possible when using Showcenter clients.
    Create / Modify User
    Once started the Linux MTPCenter 2.0 you should define addional user, the only user after the installation is the Administrator user. To create new user please select the configuration menu and then click on "Administrate User".

    With the entry "User Settings" each user is able to change all the possible settings like theme, resolution or language. But the user is not able to change it's Age, this can only be changed by the Administrator. On the other hand all user are able to change their name, but the Administrator username cannot be changed.

    In user settings you can select which resolution should be used in case a browser is used as client. Also you can define which video mode should be used for clients (Pal, NTSC..). In case a Showcenter 200 is connecting with HDTV menu mode you can define which HTDV resolution should be activated.

    To enable a client for automatic login you can define the IP address of the client. Whenever this client is connecting to Linux MTPCenter 2.0 the login process will be done automatically.
    Directselect Menu
    It is really useless to switch on the TV in the case you like to hear a radio or shoutcast channel or if you like to playback a music playlist. To solve this issue you can define up to 98 different shortkey functions which are directly available in the main menu. To define these functions please select the listed function key in the main menu.

    If you switch to the radio, playlist etc column and hit OK you can select one of these entries to be the default in the case you have enabled the autostart function, the autostart entry is shown in yellow. The autofunction (if enabled) will start the selected (yellow) entry immediately after you switch on your Showcenter client.
    Movies

    In this section you can grep through all movies on your hard disk and when pressing Ok the selected movie will start playing. You will see all your mpeg, iso or vob movies together with all vdr recordings. The movie formats which are shown here can be defined in the config file. ISO DVD images are only shown if the MTP Streaming Server is activated.

    In the case a vdr compatible description file is available <movie filename.info> you will be able to have a look into the provided movie information. In the case of vdr recordings the movie description file is detected automatically.
    Music

    In the music part everything is around mp3 and ogg files. During the database generation I'm grabbing all information out of the mp3/ogg ID3 tags (if possible version2, otherwise version1). Afterwards you can search the music database for different criteria as for example title, album or interpreter. Within this selection can can search for a specific title or song.

    I'm using the getid3 php library provided from James Heinrich. In my distribution I only added the parts of the libs I need for my purposes, a complete library can be downloaded from several internet sites. More information about this can be found in the readme.txt in the getid3 subdirectory.
    Playlists
    Within this application you can create and administrate playlists. They can be created, modified and deleted, new playlists will be stored as m3u playlists so that they can be used by other software also.
    Background Picture when playing music
    1. If the mp3 file contains a cover as ID3 tag I will use this one
    2. The next option is that I'm looking for a file "albumname - artist.jpg". Instead of spaces "_" are allowed too,
    3. If I have still not found a picture so far I'm searching for a file "Coverart.jpg" in the directory of the mp3/ogg file. (This name can be changed in the config settings)
    4. If there is still no cover available I give up and build my own one. A sample can be seen above.
    While playing music the Linux MTPCenter 2.0 is producing it's own background picture. You will see all available information about the actual song as well as a cover picture when available For creation of this picture I'm using the following logic.
    Radio
    In the radio section you can listen vdr radio channels as well as shoutcast or other mp3 streams. Let's start with the vdr radio channels.

    If provided you will see additional epg information for the current broadcast as well as for other broadcasts in the next days. During playback of the radio stream you will also see a background picture (depending on the configuration) with information about the channel and epg information.
    Shoutcast channels can be feeded if you have direct access to the internet. In the first step you will see a list of all available genres. In the case you have preferred genres you can define them in the configuration so that they are shown at the top of the list.

    After selecting a genre you will se the list of all available channels. After starting a channel a background picture is produced with information about selected channel and some other stuff. In the case the MTP Streaming Server is activated you will also get information about the actual song title and artist (if available for this channel).

    Additionally you can also define mp3 internet streams in the section internet radio favorite.
    TV

    In the case a channel is providing more then one sound option the different options are shown in the list and can be manually selected. According to the settings in my config file it is possible that I try to select a dolby digital sound option wherever possible. During playback you can move to the next, previous channel with the up and down key of your remote control.

    There is one sad point I need to mention. Switching between channels need about 6 seconds (15-20 seconds when using Showcenter 200) before the new channel is starting. This is because of the really big buffer of the clients, at the moment nothing to do against it. However I raised already a feature request in the pinnacle forum.

    If the channel is providing electronical program guide you can view this by seleting the "i" button on the screen.

    This part is all about tv streaming from a vdr server. If you are running such a server you need to install the streamdev plugin. The server part of the plugin should be started with your vdr server to enable feeding the streams to the client. I tested it with a vdr version 1.3.27 and above.
    Photoshow
    In this section you are able to browse through you photo directories. You can select between thumbnail view (pretty fast as the thumbnails are stored in the database) or singe picture view which takes a bit longer as I need to render the photo. Addional you can start a photo show where the potos are shown in full screen size for a defined time. Settings can be modified in the config file. The photo show can be processed without or with background music, as background music you can select a playlist when pressing the "?" button of your remote. For each directory you can select a another playlist. If none is selected I will use the one which was played before.
    With your remote you can switch between singe or thumbnail mode, in browser mode it's not possible to start a picture show.
    Finally
    Ok, this was only a very short description of the Linux MTPCenter 2.0 feature set and we have only covered the most important parts. So I hope over the time you are testing all the other available functions and for sure I hope you enjoy the Linux MTPCenter 2.0. In the case you have problems or you have some feature requests please contact us in the discussion board.