Software update: myHTPC R20.125 alpha

wstuil forwarded us to the site of myHTPC (Home Theater Personal Computer), where version R20.125 alpha can be downloaded. This program is especially useful if you have a DivX box and want to operate the computer with a remote slumped down. Using the remote control, you can control the program, play movies, view pictures and listen to music. The back-end of myHTPC works with XML files that can be modified to your own wishes. The release notes look like this:

This is an update for R20. It fixes bugs found in the music module.

• Fixes some problems with myHTPC not displaying all the files that were found in the music module using the configure application.
• Fixes some problems with reading ID3v2 image tags.
• Fixes problems with some music files not playing at all.

Release 20
I did not get as far as I wanted to with this release because I took two detours. One was to investigate the client/server functionality of the TV module and another was to create a new module.

• The pictures slideshow screen now exits when you click the mouse (or touch the screen). Previously there was no way for mouse/touch screen users to leave a slide show.
• The WinLirc plug-in now actually uses the delay parameter; which can help you eliminate duplicate commands.
• The TV module was revamped quite a bit. I’ve done so many little things that I can’t remember them all. There is now a conflict resolution screen that is NOT very intuitive but was cheap to make. It will do for the time being. The scheduled recordings list now drops off shows that are over. If a program is set to be recorded, a red circle will show up in all lists that contain that program. View upcoming episodes now works correctly and avoids infinite menu levels. If you are viewing a list of programs that all have the same title, the subtitle and/or description are shown in the list.
• There is now a Music module that is organized based on ID3v1, ID3v2 and WMA tags. It uses a built-in DirectShow player, so it does not require any external music player. It has an enhanced Now Playing screen and a Jukebox mode that show large cover art. It also allows you to search using the on-screen keyboard for Genres, Artists, Albums and Tracks. It reads cover art embedded in ID3v2 APIC tags, and; it can queue thousands of tracks in a fraction of a second.

The drawbacks: The music module does not search for new tracks automatically. You must either hit the “Search Now” button in the configure app or delete the music library file for the music module to have it rebuilt automatically. It does find new cover images at run time, however.

The music module screen responds to the following commands:

NEXT, PREVIOUS, MUTE, STOP, VOLUME UP, VOLUME DOWN, PAUSE (toggle)
(all of these can be mapped using the Remote Control section of the configuration app)

In addition, pressing PLAY on any selection will queue all the tracks at or below the selection.

In the jukebox, you can hit LEFT and RIGHT to move from one album to the next.

Enjoy![break]If you use Windows 2000 and lower, you must: GDI+ installed, this file is already present in Windows XP .