Constantly Reading But Nothing Displayed

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SubJunk
Lead Developer
Posts: 3705
Joined: Sun May 27, 2012 4:12 pm

Re: Constantly Reading But Nothing Displayed

Post by SubJunk »

I'd just like to reiterate what Nadahar and mik_s have said. You have made it very complicated for yourself when it's actually simple. In order to use a new renderer config, you just put the file into the installation directory. That's it. No settings to change. There is no need to be rude with us when we are just trying to help, and we will probably continue to try to help you if you decide to stick around for that.
AnnieBody
Posts: 56
Joined: Thu Apr 30, 2020 3:12 am

Re: Constantly Reading But Nothing Displayed

Post by AnnieBody »

I don't see how berating me for not knowing what the hell I'm supposed to be doing with the file you gave me is helping me, as you claim.
IF I am supposed to be doing something then at least throw me a bone!

In the general absence of ANY help whatsover you must expect users to make up their own interpretations of how to use UMS.
Instead of running down users who are trying their best at understanding how UMS is supposed to work your answers should provide reason or explanation.
You have to understand I have come from Serviio which works directly after install without having to go through all these hidden hoops. Instead it does what is expected.
Instead of advising what I shouldn't be doing after the event you should advise users how to do the basics. This means updating all of the incorrect and bad advice.

I have been told that installing the option of the Windows service is not required but in fact screws up UMS.
And yet the option is there!
I have been told to use another profile, and yet again advised doing so will screw up UMS.
And yet the option is there!
I have been told to use the default renderer and yet this installs a second device which stops UMS from communicating with my TV.
And yet the option is there!
I have been advised to use the default conf file as a reference and then advised not to use the settings as they are not required!
I have been advised not to use the install option to install UMS in a different location.
And yet the option is there!
You now advise just installing the conf file in the renderer folder, but elsewhere I am advised this will not work, as proven by my doing so and trying something else that may work.
I have also advised that adding a second conf file to the renderer folder does not force UMS to change to the new settings!
I have been advised to manually select the conf file and this stops UMS from communicating as two separate devices are now trying to use the same file.

Whatever speed you read this at the results are the same!
Instead of wasting everyone's time why don't you remove the options that stop it working and release some information so that users have some idea as to what is going on and how to install and use UMS.
Nadahar
Posts: 1990
Joined: Tue Jun 09, 2015 5:57 pm

Re: Constantly Reading But Nothing Displayed

Post by Nadahar »

UMS has a lot of possibilities that might only be useful for a few users/particular situations. UMS also has very sparse documentation, but that's quite common among open-source software and is primarily based on the fact that nobody seems to like writing documentation, so when there's no money to be earned, those willing to do it is very hard to come by. That said, there's a lot of information that can be found in this forum for example, but it does require some more effort from the user than having it all nicely organized and presented.

That being said, I don't really follow you on most of your assertions. I don't know who has told you all the things you claim, but they are all more or less wrong. If you want to get to the bottom of who's at fault for a particular "erroneous piece of information you possess", you will have to point to the exact sources for each assertion. I don't quite see why you would bother doing that though, as long as you know that something is wrong, does it really matter how you acquired the information? But, it isn't helpful that you just keep repeating wrong assertions. You can claim something, I can make a counter claim, you can reassert your claim and I can reassert my counterclaim, and we can do that until one of us dies of old age (or something else). It doesn't really achieve anything. So, unless you are actually interested in solving something, not just complaining about wrong assertions or the lack of documentation, I don't quite see any reason to keep responding.

I can promise you one thing: All the possibilities you'll find have, or have had in the past, a reason for being there. Nobody has made things just to confuse you. Nothing is there just to make your day difficult.
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mik_s
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Location: UK

Re: Constantly Reading But Nothing Displayed

Post by mik_s »

UMS is not Serviio, there are 2 totally different programs and you can't expect them to to work the same way.
Although having a quick look at it, it seems they do work in a similar way and even has profiles for devices https://serviio.org/index.php?option=co ... icle&id=16. Don't confuse the name profile between the two, they are completely different things. UMS uses .conf instead.

For the vast majority of users, after installing UMS, it just works without touching anything in the settings. Yes the will be issues when a .conf don't exist for a device and needs to be made, but you will have the same issue in Serviio.

Because of this misunderstanding you aren't doing what we expect you to do when trying to help and you end up doing something different. Also posting different threads all over the forum is not helping us keep track of what you are doing.

Having options there is for people know what they are doing and need things to work a certain way. If you don't know how to use it, don't.
You have the option to dismantle your car engine or computer, but if you have no reason to and don't know what you are doing it will end badly. Yet the option is there.

If you want to get UMS to work, start again from scratch like I said in my previous post, post logs and we can take it from there. Else you might be better of using Serviio as you already know how to use it.
Logs are important for us to help, Please follow This Link before asking for support. Just a forum cleaner, Will help if I can but no expert.
AnnieBody
Posts: 56
Joined: Thu Apr 30, 2020 3:12 am

Re: Constantly Reading But Nothing Displayed

Post by AnnieBody »

Right.
So having uninstalled yet again and with help from other forum replies I managed to get the correct conf file associated with TV.
It works, sort of.
Without transcoding, all video played but some sounds did not due to the limitations of my TV, as expected.
With transcoding for those with previously non-playable sound formats the sounds now work, but for some reason the video is also being transcoded.
This means the video colour becomes washed out (half colour) and all HDR capability is removed. The quality is pretty awful, far worse than watching native 1080p.
The parent video file should be left unchanged.
On this basis I cannot recommend this conf file in its current form.

As a comparison, Serviio retains the original movie HDR with perfect picture, as expected. The only issue I had with Serviio is that it stretched/distorted the movies to full screen.
It would appear I need something in between the two.
Nadahar
Posts: 1990
Joined: Tue Jun 09, 2015 5:57 pm

Re: Constantly Reading But Nothing Displayed

Post by Nadahar »

UMS doesn't support transcoding only the audio, if it transcodes, it transcodes everything. Before HDR, this wasn't really much of an issue except for wasted CPU cycles.
AnnieBody
Posts: 56
Joined: Thu Apr 30, 2020 3:12 am

Re: Constantly Reading But Nothing Displayed

Post by AnnieBody »

OK thanks. Now we're getting somewhere.
So, basically it is not possible to only transcode audio in UMS, but this is possible in Serviio.
It is not possible to retain HDR content in UMS but it is possible in Serviio.
Clearly, then UMS does not fulfil my requirement for streaming the latest 4k movies.
A lot of time and frustration has come about because of your reluctance to post these facts.
Perhaps you would be kind enough to provide future users with the capabilities of UMS before wasting their time too?
Nadahar
Posts: 1990
Joined: Tue Jun 09, 2015 5:57 pm

Re: Constantly Reading But Nothing Displayed

Post by Nadahar »

I don't know who "you" are in your posts. I certainly have had no reluctance of posting anything, I will always call things as I see them, something that often makes me unpopular among others. In fact, I used to be a developer for UMS, but was kicked of because I was being too critical of what I see as a tendency to ignore bugs and code in "unsafe" ways that tend to create more bugs. So, I'm certainly not the one to "hold back" anything - but when you claim things that I see as completely unfounded and wrong, I will say that as well.

If I had understood that you had this problem earlier, I would have explained this right away. That said, it shouldn't be terribly difficult to get UMS to do this, but somebody has to put in the time.
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