Emby Theatre doesn't seem to do anything

[Emby@rss 0]

I've tried downloading and installing this several times.  At the end of the install I get a white window with a smaller black window in the upper left corner.  The window has no decorations.  No title bar, no frame, no sliders, no nothin'.

 

I've managed to find where it installed (in my home directory rather than in somewhere more suitable for a tool that is going to be used by the rest of the family logging in as guest.)  I have deleted all of the files and directories that it installed and have repeated the install.  I still get the most boring window ever created.

 

I am running Windows 7 x64 with all patches current. 

 

The tail end of the install log is shown below.  There's nothing in there that indicates a problem:

 

Emby.Theater.Installer.exe Information: 0 : Creating directory C:\Users\xxxxx\AppData\Roaming\Emby-Theater
Emby.Theater.Installer.exe Information: 0 : Starting extract package.
Emby.Theater.Installer.exe Information: 0 : Extract successful.  Will now delete archive I:\Temp\14e57a372460456ea69ff5fa1d0f4ca2\emby.theater.zip
Emby.Theater.Installer.exe Information: 0 : Deleting any old updates as well.
Emby.Theater.Installer.exe Information: 0 : Creating shortcuts
Emby.Theater.Installer.exe Information: 0 : Creating start menu shortcut C:\Users\xxxxx\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Emby\Emby Theater.lnk
Emby.Theater.Installer.exe Information: 0 : Creating uninstaller shortcut
Emby.Theater.Installer.exe Information: 0 : Deleting Pismo install files
Emby.Theater.Installer.exe Information: 0 : Attempting to start program C:\Users\xxxxx\AppData\Roaming\Emby-Theater\system\Emby.Theater.exe
Emby.Theater.Installer.exe Information: 0 : Installation complete
 

 

Note that it mentions creating shortcuts including an uninstaller.  I don't know where it has hidden them because I can't find anything like that.  Also it doesn't appear to register itself with Windows -> Control Panel -> Programs and Features.

 

 

 

[Luke 42079]

Have you by any chance disabled Windows 7 aero? The app depends on aero transparency features in order to function.

[Emby@rss 0]

Hmmm.  I turned that scheme off since I loathe it so much.  But this won't be running on a machine I sit at so I don't have to see it.  However, now it does stuff, but the movie doesn't actually show anything when it plays.  The sound track is there as are the controls, and information about the movie, but the picture itself is not there.  Can you give me a hint about this?

[Luke 42079]

It sounds like Aero is still not functioning because this is where the transparency is needed.

 

Are your graphics drivers up to date? What is your windows zoom/dpi setting?

[Emby@rss 0]

The monitor is running in its native 1920x1200 resolution (16x10 aspect ratio).  The DPI is unchanged at the default value of 100%.  In the custom settings option it shows as 96 pixels per inch. 

 

It strikes me as most bizarre that this video player would be so sensitive.  I really like the database and the media directory features.  But I was looking for a media player that integrated with it that would produce a better play back than I was seeing with Firefox.  I normally play the videos using VLC and was hoping that your integrated one would be comparable.

[Luke 42079]

It is a great player. We've embedded mpv which is highly robust and supports just about every format you can name. I would check to make sure that Windows Aero hasn't crashed: 

 

http://www.techerator.com/2011/05/how-to-restore-aero-effects-if-the-windows-desktop-window-manager-crashes/

[Emby@rss 0]

dwm.exe was running and has been throughout all of this.  I saw some notes about it in other posts and checked that it was there hours ago.  However, I did restart it and that corrected the problem.  So, it was running but not actually working?

 

Is there any way to monitor for a failure in the dependencies that this software has?  I want to deploy this for use by people who are not technically literate (My children and grandchildren). 

 

On that subject can I move the theatre software from my home directory to a more public place (Program Files for example)?  I haven't checked yet, but I doubt that 'guest' can even see it where it is, let alone execute it.  Actually, the short cut ends up pointing to the guest account home directory where there isn't a copy of the software.

 

BTW. Now that it works, the picture quality is excellent.

[Luke 42079]

It works now? I wonder what happened. Yes you can move it but we haven't tested how that will affect automatic updates.