TV Manager v1.5 Preview Sunday, August 23 2009 - Releases

It’s been a long time since I last updated TV Manager, with school and other projects keeping me busy. I’ve decided to release a preview build of TV Manager version 1.5. Mainly to get it out the door and show what I have. I’ve added and changed a lot of things..

Changes:

  • Fixed deleting recordings via web interface or deleting shows from Media Center and then viewing the web interface - would mess up Shows.xml
  • Fixed share not being created after install - causing service to crash and install to appear to fail
  • Fixed not showing all options on client. Still requires being configured with full Administrative privileges (changing settings).
  • Fixed bug in web interface causing an error message to show instead of the page content.
  • Fixed Compatibility with WTV.
  • Fixed some glitches with the Email Notifications options in the settings tab.
  • Added a new interface for clients.
  • Added show thumbnails to the web interface.
  • Added sorting to the web interface.
  • Added an about dialog to the client.
  • Add the "All" item in the web interface to show all the saved recordings.
  • Added moving recordings at midnight under client settings.
  • Added a client service, recordings will be moved even if a user is not logged in.
  • Added right click menu to the new client interface (Contains options Play and Delete)
  • Added a Series catalog feature that lets you print a catalog of all your recordings.
  • Added Windows 7 features (jumplists, progress bars, pin-able taskbar item).
  • Added WTV converter for Comskip, allowing commercials to be removed from WTV recordings (Windows 7 Only)
  • Added an option to move recordings at a specified time (assuming the client is turned on).
  • Added an SDK so users can write plug-ins for TV Manager (read the documentation for more information).
  • Re-Added Original Air Date.
  • Re-Added ComSkip option -- May cause problems.
  • Re-Added the Home Server Console tab – The play option might not work yet.
  • Removed accidental time zone from Original Air Date column in Web Interface.
  • German and French translations implemented into web UI and client.
  • Easily deploy client via the web interface or the Home Server Console tab. It auto-detects the language/version of the installer to use.
  • The client application can now detect your remote access domain (via it’s SSL certificate) and will load that to prevent SSL error messages.
  • The client now requires .NET 3.5 to run.
  • The home server add-in now requires Power Pack 2 to function.
  • The client and server can detect your “Recorded TV” share’s name (for non-English versions).
  • Probably more..

As you can see, I’ve made a lot of changes and improvements. I’d like to thank my beta testers for their help and patience. Screenshots can be found in the docs. The iPhone application will be out in the coming months (I hope).

Download

Documentation

 

Update: When you try to change settings on a client with Vista or Windows 7, the client may crash. As noted in my third change, the client as to be run as Administrator to change settings. UAC won't let it otherwise. I am only adding this update because some people didn't read the whole change log.

Comments

super3 on 8.23.2009 at 5:18 PM

Getting a 404 with the docs.


Brent Friedman on 8.23.2009 at 5:38 PM

Super3,

Thanks, left part of the url off by mistake. I've fixed it.


craigmui on 8.26.2009 at 11:14 PM

When I try to change options in the setup the tvmanager.exe stops working and all I can do is close the program


Nic Mertens on 8.27.2009 at 8:31 AM

The addin is preventing my WHS console to open. Problem with a dll file it says. When I retry it opens but crashes after about 10 minutes.


Brent Friedman on 8.27.2009 at 3:56 PM

craigmui,

The client has to be run as Administrator to change options. It's a UAC limitation as mentioned in the changes (third one from the top).

Nic Mertens,

Are you running an English, German, or French installation of WHS?


Nic Mertens on 8.27.2009 at 5:58 PM

Brent,

I'm running an English installation of WHS but my clients are W7 Dutch (Belgium) localised.


Brent Friedman on 8.28.2009 at 10:55 PM

@Nic Mertens,

Check to make sure the TV Manager service is running on the WHS and not stopped.


Adam on 9.05.2009 at 4:24 AM

Went from 1.x to 1.5 on WHS. That seems to be running. Upgraded the client on my Vista64 install and all it says is that TVManager stopped working. So I'm hesitating to upgrade my other workstations. I'm not recording shows on my Vista64. I record shows on my HTPC which is Vista Home Premium x32. Suggestions?


Brent Friedman on 9.05.2009 at 4:49 AM

@Adam,

Did you click anything before the application crashed?


Adam on 9.05.2009 at 5:14 AM

No. The TV_Manager_Client_Service.exe is listed in the processes running. I think this is just the executable (tvmanager.exe) that runs the icon in the systray. Maybe it's not compat with Vista64 ?


Brent Friedman on 9.06.2009 at 6:07 AM

Adam,

It is compatible, I use it just fine on Windows 7 x64.

Are you trying to change settings when it crashes?


Wall Tv on 9.07.2009 at 3:08 AM

Wow! Your changes are really great. You have included many functions.


Adam on 9.07.2009 at 5:42 PM

No. I'm not trying to change anything. All I did was reboot and the error appeared. Then I tried to manually run the executable and the error appears again.


Brent Friedman on 9.07.2009 at 6:35 PM

Adam,

Are you using the English versions of Windows 7 and WHS? Try killing the TV_Manager_Client_Service that's on the client. Uninstall the TV Manager client. If the old version of TV Manager shows up in the list as well, remove it too. When you upgraded the client, you uninstalled the old version first, right? Do you have .NET 3.5 SP1 installed on your client machine? It is required for TV Manager 1.5.


Adam on 9.08.2009 at 6:16 PM

No it's Vista .64. I will try and do a complete uninstall and reinstall. I did not uninstall the client first...I did not see that instruction, but will try that soon. thx.


Adam on 9.18.2009 at 6:06 AM

Brent:

Do you have a batch file that can uninstall this client. It won't uninstall at all. it tries and fails. If I could completely uninstall it, I might be able to reinstall it.

Thanks.


Jay on 9.20.2009 at 7:41 AM

In Windows 7 can you eliminate the large icon on the task bar for TVManager? There is already one icon in the notification area.


Brent Friedman on 9.20.2009 at 5:10 PM

@Adam,

Try the Windows Installer Cleanup utility: support.microsoft.com/.../290301

It does work on Vista and Windows 7.

@Jay,

I was actually thinking about removing the one in the status bar for Windows 7. I got the idea of using the taskbar like a status bar from the Windows Live Messenger design. I figured it would give faster access to TV Manager features. I'll have to think about removing it.


Jay on 9.21.2009 at 7:53 AM

I like to idea of the icon on the task bar if you use the program frequently. However TV Manager is the kink of program you config and leave to run in the background. Not to mention the icon is very similar to the WMC icon. Because of that, my wife clicks the TV Manager icon instead of WMC icon. Make it wife proof.


Brent Friedman on 9.21.2009 at 3:37 PM

@Jay,

You've got some good points. I had added for people that an easy way to view recordings or a fast route to the Web UI. I'll add an option to enable/disable the icon. The icon is also there because a window has to exist in the taskbar for the win7 progress overlays to work. As I said, I'll make it optional. Your second point about being able to differentiate between icons will also be addressed by a new icon.

Something like this brentf.com/.../tvmanager_icon_ but smaller and without the red background (its the large version of my iPhone icon for TV Manager Mobile). Here is the small version (with the background) img12.imageshack.us/.../screenshot20090 Just imagine it in place of the existing icon. Still similar but easier to distinguish.


Karl on 9.30.2009 at 7:39 AM

Like the program a bunch. AM having difficulty setting comskip in Win 7 32 bit though.


Brent Friedman on 9.30.2009 at 9:29 PM

Karl,

Are you running the client app as Administrator in order to enable it? You have to right click the tray icon and then settings after being run as Administrator. Or did you mean something else?