Setup and usage

[SharkAdmin]

These are 100% CLEAN INSTALLERS   Please consider donating to keep this project AdWare-FREE.

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With the newly enabled Save | Restore settings feature on the Misc TAB, you can save a current configuration and
then have it automatically restored during a future upgrade installation.
The automatic restoration of settings during upgrades is set to 'on' by default. You just need to choose to [Save ALL Settings] to activate it.
If your setup changes at any time, you can just hit the Save button again to set the new settings for future use.
You can also control the Restore feature from the commandline
The above commanline link also contains more comprehensive information about this feature.

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Since allowing the user to choose the Application background color,
I've also added a way for you to personalize the Application even further with the introduction of
the file called .\Tools\user.jpg. This 110x110 jpeg can be changed as you wish. Any picture or logo.
Upgrade installations will not overwrite this file.
It will use my logo shark.jpg with the default color and your pic, user.jpg, with any other background color.
This color, a2cbbd (enter the hexadecimal number on the Misc TAB), works well with the default user.jpg
(see pics below of how to personalize the Application)
   
A new feature recently added allows a single checkbox to setup Windows Media Player to play all of your files. [x] WMP suggested settings
Following up with another new feature found on the Misc tab is a checkbox for the Preview Pane allowing display of thumbnails only in the Pane.
For those that used the pane in the past, the default unchecked box still displays the stuck thumbnail and allows playback in the Pane.

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The Microsoft installed video drivers on a new installation of Windows are not sufficient
To meet your needs, you need to go to the GPU manufacturers site, AMD, Nvidia or Intel, and install their latest offering.
Don't go to the computer manufacturer site because their driver offerings are usually quite old and may not solve your problem.

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Here are download links provided by MajorGeeks.com:

Click this link to Download the ADVANCED Codecs - This installer contains both 32bit and the 64bit codecs.
This release contains a full suite of decoders to help address specific and out of the ordinary decoding needs.

Click this link to Download the STANDARD Codecs - This installer contains both 32bit and the 64bit codecs.
This release is a minimal set of codecs that anyone would require for proper playback of commonly available content.
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\/\/\/\/\/\/  DO NOT install a mix of ADVANCED and STANDARD Codecs at the same time!  \/\/\/\/\/\/
If you do install both, you will have problems caused by having identical codecs installed in 2 different locations.
When correcting this problem, uninstall ALL (the x64Components have a separate uninstaller) before proceeding.

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For 3D playback, download and install either of the x64ComponentsPM releases, (this contains everything you'll need)
or use the MPC-BE player which has madVR integrated from my Tools page along with either the ADVANCED or STANDARD Codecs release.
You also need to be using either Windows 8.1 or Windows 10 for frame packed output. Windows 7 will use Side by Side output.

If you have an issue getting 3D to display properly, rightclick the Desktop and select, Display Settings
On that screen you should see where you can enable 3D with a checkbox on 8.1 and a slider on Windows 10.
also use the recommended (3D) resolution setting.

To play 3D disks, you must 1st deal with the encryption. The free DVDFab Passkey Lite is a good choice.
AnyDVD is another good choice but is not free beyond trial use.

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Windows 10 users . . . Video playback problems? No Subtitles showing? Audio bitstreaming issues in WMP or Media Center?
Be sure that you have run each of the Settings Applications without Admin privileges at least once to properly setup the user account.
Is the problem with MKV?... go to the MKV TAB, and choose to [x] disable Media Foundation for MKV
Is the problem with MP4?... go to the MPG~MP4 or Windows SWAP TAB, and choose to [x] disable Media Foundation for MP4
Is the problem with AVI?... go to the AVI TAB and select the checkbox to [x] disable Media Foundation for AVI
you can also set a different splitter for better subtitle support; example, gabests splitter for avi supports divx.com subtitles in avi and divx files.
   

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Thumbnail problems? Go to the Config TAB (of the 64bit app if you have 64bit) 
click the button for [Icaros Thumbnailing] and then on the left-hand side,
click  to Deactivate Icaros and then Activate it again.

If you changed any settings for testing purposes and find yourself broken,
you can always return to a 'just installed' state by using the [Reset All] button at the bottom of the application(s).
OR go to the Misc TAB and choose to Restore your saved settings.

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[SharkAdmin]

For solutions to specific playback problems that you MAY encounter . . . Continue reading . . .

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If you happen to get the message,  This utility must reside in the Tools folder to function
The instillation is somehow, broken. To manually uninstall, Copy / Paste the following line to Explorer address bar and press Enter
for the ADVANCED COdecs
msiexec.exe /uninstall {8C0CAA7A-3272-4991-A808-2C7559DE3409}
for the STANDARD Codecs
msiexec.exe /uninstall {898E81AD-6DB9-4750-866B-B8958C5DC7AA}
If the error is coming from the x64 Codecs, browse to the installation folder, C:\Program Files\Shark007
and execute the uninstaller manually,  unins000.exe
The above uninstall suggestions are not for general use because they bypass the comprehensive cleanup routines built into the Applications.

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3GP files have no audio?  disable the DMO codecs on the SWAP TAB
be aware that disabling the DMO Codecs can remove the 'Play To' feature from filetypes such as AVI

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To playback MKV's with subtitles in the Windows players (Media Center),
press [Reset All] and then select the [x] SUGGESTED settings checkbox.
Then go to the filetype specific tab and choose to disable Media Foundation for that filetype
Some of these filetypes options are also found on the Swap TAB.
       

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If an MP4 file fails to play properly with (subtitles - audio?) or any other issue.
using the ADVANCED Codecs, choose to [x] Disable Media Foundation for MP4 on the MPG~MP4 TAB
using the STANDARD Codecs, choose to [x] Disable Media Foundation for MP4 on the SWAP TAB

If MP4 problems persist after trying the above solution,
it is also helpful to disable the Microsoft Video and/or Audio decoder(s) on the SWAP TAB

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If Media Center is being difficult, disable the Microsoft Video decoder on the SWAP TAB.

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To access Subtitle controls, while a video is playing, right click either the green VobSub systray icon or the ffdshow icon.
To completely disable Subtitles, make that selection in the upper right of the Config TAB.

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To access multiple Audio tracks (AVI files), you must 1st set LAV as the splitter for that filetype.
Then rightclick the LAV Splitter (whitish) systray icon during playback to select your preferred audio track.

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For improved AVI playback, choose to [x] Disable Media Foundation for AVI on the AVI TAB

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The MOV format uses a wide range of deprecated codecs.
If MOV playback fails you, the 1st thing to try is using the [Reset All] button. Test.
If you are still having trouble with a MOV file, try a different splitter from the MOV  TAB
Also on the MOV or Swap TAB, you can choose to [x] disable Media Foundation for MOV
Still a problem?, get Metafox from my Tools page and use it to create an MKV from that MOV file

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On the Swap TAB, you can choose to [x] disable Media Foundation for M2TS or TS
As a last resort, you may need to disable Media Foundation on the SWAP TAB for proper M2TS playback.
If any TS derivatives such as M2TS, MTS have no audio, Disable the Microsoft Audio and/or Video decoder on the SWAP TAB
If you are still having trouble with a TS file, disable the Microsoft Video decoder on the Swap TAB also.
A better solution would be to use Metafox, downloaded from my Tools page to create an MKV from the original file.

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To access Subtitle controls, while a video is playing, right click either the green VobSub systray icon.
To completely disable Subtitles, make that selection in the upper right of the Config TAB.
If you have difficulty with subtitle display (pgs in mkv), try changing the splitter from LAV to BE's splitter on the appropriate tab that corresponds to the filetype.

Low Volume?  Here's the fix.
near the clock, rightclick the speaker icon and choose, playback devices
highlight your active device and click [Properties]
select the Enhancements TAB
check the box for [x] Loudness Equalization
Apply / OK

To bitstream HD audio formats...
1. Set a proper speaker count in Control Panel | Sound, under your active device.
1a. Set 2 speakers if your intent is to have the AVR decode the audio stream. (bitstreaming)
2. On the Audio TAB of the Settings Application, select the proper output in the upper right. (hdmi, spdif, anolog)
3. For anolog connections, my software detects the speaker settings from Control Panel and uses them.
4. For digital connections (hdmi/spdif), Same as Input is the correct setting for the speaker setting on the Audio TAB
   

If you are having any other Audio issues not covered above, disable the Microsoft Audio decoder on the SWAP TAB.

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To convert multi-channel (5.1) AAC audio to AC3 on the fly and bitstream the result, just choose to enable AC3Filter on the Config TAB and it will work!

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Here are some hardware accelerated decoders for specific GPU's that use hardware acceleration.
These decoders are of specific interest to those with older computers where the cpu would have difficulty keeping up.

users can open the LAV video Configuration from the H264/5 TAB
- in the upper right under Hardware Acceleration, change None to DXVA2 (copy-back)
Or
If you have a newer Video card, you can also choose to use D3D11 for hardware acceleration.
   

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And lastly, if you have an unsolved issue, register on these forums and make a post asking for assistance.
If you have disabled UAC; please know that you have creating your own issues that I cannot assist you with.
I usually respond within the hour.

DO NOT attempt to respond to this posting - it is locked. Start a new post in the forum area.


These instructions are revised as I deem necessary. Development is an ongoing process.