Mount ISOs natively

[DeeMac 17]

Please consider MB3 to natively mount ISO files.  Why?  This would remove some project confusion for users, making the product more appealling the the semi-advanced and eventually the basic enduser.  This would remove a shortfall of windows 7.  Windows 7 needs something like Daemon Tools or Virtual CloneDrive to mount DVD drives.  (Windows 8 has builtin support for ISOs.)

Please consider incorporating/borrowing from the project at h t t p://wincdemu.sysprogs.org/, an opensource project which also mounts BD ISOs.

[ebr 14904]

The server and MBT already have native ISO support without those mounting tools.  To what client are you referring?

[DeeMac 17]

Its sunday, get off the computer! oh wait, me too!  LOL!

Thanks for the quick answer, I'm referring to the MB Classic (& its associated MB configurator with either Virtual CloneDrive, Daemon Tools, etc.)

Without the whole package in MB3, I still depend on WMC for livetv....so MB Classic is part of the default interface for my family when playing movies.

...which is all controlled with a Logitech Harmony remote.... making this a close as you can get to a FIOS DVR/set top box and still get a DLNA enabled Media management and presentation application/server (MB3).

[Koleckai Silvestri 1150]

If you must use Classic and Media Center, you can look at this thread: http://www.avsforum.com/t/1373678/how-to-play-iso-files-inside-windows-media-center

 

A few years old and doesn't get it into MediaBrowser Classic but might help.

[DeeMac 17]

I'm not exactly sure if I being clear - still getting used to the different components.  Let me rephrase.

 

 

What I am asking for is the ability of MB Classic to mount the ISOs natively.  Because I depend on WMC for livetv, I must use WMC and MB Classic.  Just these 2 software products alone, do not complete the job.

MBT?  No live TV as of the date of this post....and I cant use a remote control from my couch in a web browser.... 1st world problems, I guess.  This request is part solution to the issue of complexity and the inability to just play ISOs from our couch, bed or simply 9 feet away from the display and computer.

 

Per this post I have recently created, I am able to mount and play isos just fine...using virtual clonedrive and a registry hack.... 

http://mediabrowser.tv/community/index.php?/topic/3348-dvd-iso-menus/&do=findComment&comment=102589

However, there are hiccups.  If MBClassic had the mounting ability, and with some simple registry entries by the MB Classic installer, ISOs would be played easily with WMC.  This would give us a default scenario that would eliminate, imho, too much variability from each person's system to another.  Everyone could just install MB3 and play ISOs immediately.

 

Additionally, If advanced users wanted additional codecs for other file formats, and still wanted an external player, a simple check box and additional configuration on their part would allow advanced users to modify to their hearts content.

[Koleckai Silvestri 1150]

Was just trying to give a workaround since the developer of Classic posted above and didn't say this was supported or will be. Maybe he will add it. 

 

Personally, I use MBT because it has an interface that I prefer and doesn't have 300 checkboxes needed to configure stuff.

[DeeMac 17]

LOL, I agree on the checkboxes... I barely touch them.  Kinda felt like configuring XBMC for a moment - yikes!

Thanks, I appreciated the responses so I installed MT or a test machine and took a look.  I must say it looks great... kudos to the devs.

I did find an immediate issue where I could not sign in as a hidden user and then I verified that livetv was still not supported .

 

I am willing to live for a while with MB Classic as is, just offered my thoughts that support of mounting ISOs in MBClassic would mainstream the project faster - With more people comes more progress!  

Since the open source code is out there to support DVD and BD isos...well, its up to the devs at this point but we should all remember Its all a juggling game at this point to get the cool features in while wrestling with bugs, all without getting paid... so Thank you devs!

[ebr 14904]

Well, I don't really thing native support for ISO mounting is going to affect our user base that much.  ISOs are not a preferred method of most users of this type of content.

 

That makes something like that pretty far down on the list of things I will spend time on because there are way more things to do than I have time .

[DeeMac 17]

Yes, I'm sure you have the metrics to support that statement for your current user base - but please consider the possible future audience which could create a rolling snowball of increasing support and marketing.

 

I do agree, you have a priority list ... was just trying to offer a view from the point of an enduser.  And like I said - for now, I'm ok  

 

Anyhow, just found this while perusing the forum... http://mediabrowser.tv/community/index.php?/topic/7598-okay-im-kinda-excited-about-this/&do=findComment&comment=102049

So I guess some of what I wanted is already in the works! 

Edited June 2, 2014 by DeeMac

[pdebelak 2]

Well, I don't really thing native support for ISO mounting is going to affect our user base that much.  ISOs are not a preferred method of most users of this type of content.

 

That makes something like that pretty far down on the list of things I will spend time on because there are way more things to do than I have time .

Firstly, I love the Media Browser plugin for Media Centre. Have been using it for ages and it serves my large DVD & Blu-Ray collection very well. I run 4 x Win7 64Bit Ultimate media centres throughout the house and connect over CAT6 Gigabit Ethernet to 42Tb NAS storage. I use both Arcsoft TMT6 and Cyberlink PowerDVD14 to playback Blu-Ray and 3D content, but the normal Media Centre for DVD content.

 

Now that I've said that, I have over 100 Blu-Ray 3D movies which I have ripped as native ISO format and stored onto my NAS storage. I have had a lot of difficulty getting the 3D Bluray ISO's to auto mount when I hit play from the Media Browser interface on my Windows 7 MC. Last night, I managed to finally get it to work somehow, but only through Daemon Tools Lite, and was unable to get this to work with VLC or Alcohol 52% or the built in ISO mount I have seen mentioned a few times on the forums. Again, spent ages (many many hours) on and off trying to get this to work and finally did.

 

• I rip all my DVDs in full 100% quality without Menus using DVD Shrink and AnyDVD HD (lifetime subscriber).
• I rip all my Blu-Rays in full 100% with menus and all content using AnyDVD HD in the native Blu-Ray filestructure format.
• I rip all my Blu-Ray 3D movies in ISO format using AnyDVD HD because if you try to rip them in the native Blu-Ray file structure format, 3D won't work

 

Because I am a fan of Blu-Ray 3D movies on my setup, ISO is a must for the BluRay 3D movies. No other choice that I am aware of. Whether or not people believe 3D is alive and kicking or on the way out, I am a big fan of it and even the latest 4k TV's are coming out with it. Loads of new BluRay titles are also 3D enabled which means support of this format will be around for a long time to come.

 

I found it so frustrating getting Media Browser, Daemon Tools Lite, and PowerDVD 14 to work without needing to touch a keyboard (ie, driven entirely from my Logitech harmony remote). Is there a definitive reason why I've seen quite a few people post about their struggles with ISO mounting, and why you believe it isn't a preferred format to support.

[Luke 37022]

We don't have anything against ISO's and actually a significant amount of work has gone into them to allow the server to be able to understand them. MBC behaves identically to MB2 in regards to Iso mounting, which had no problems handling them. So if they functioned in MB2 they will still continue to function with MBC. 

 

That being said, since ISO playback is stable, I'm not sure that we will pursue new development with them in terms of mounting ISO's in some different manner. I'm just not sure there's enough demand to justify the the work that would go into it, but obviously, that's why we're here to give you guys a chance to voice your opinion on what you want to see.

[pdebelak 2]

We don't have anything against ISO's and actually a significant amount of work has gone into them to allow the server to be able to understand them. MBC behaves identically to MB2 in regards to Iso mounting, which had no problems handling them. So if they functioned in MB2 they will still continue to function with MBC. 

 

That being said, since ISO playback is stable, I'm not sure that we will pursue new development with them in terms of mounting ISO's in some different manner. I'm just not sure there's enough demand to justify the the work that would go into it, but obviously, that's why we're here to give you guys a chance to voice your opinion on what you want to see.

Thanks for the quick response. Whilst I finally got it working last night after many failed attempts, I am someone that likes to keep things simple and if I can avoid using DT lite as my ISO mounter I would prefer it. Where can I find the native ISO mount instructions which is built into the Media Browser classic solution? I will give these a try and if they work, I will use this instead of DT lite.

[Luke 37022]

Media Browser Classic has never had a native iso mounter. That's actually what this thread was about, to request that capability. You have to use a third party mounting application.

[pdebelak 2]

Media Browser Classic has never had a native iso mounter. That's actually what this thread was about, to request that capability. You have to use a third party mounting application.

Silly me. For some reason I thought I read some posts elsewhere that referred to a built in ISO mount capability. My mistake. If that is the case, I at least have it working well now with DT Lite.

[Luke 37022]

The server can read them natively for media analysis.

[Deihmos 147]

ebr, on 01 Jun 2014 - 8:23 PM, said:

Well, I don't really thing native support for ISO mounting is going to affect our user base that much.  ISOs are not a preferred method of most users of this type of content.

 

That makes something like that pretty far down on the list of things I will spend time on because there are way more things to do than I have time .

Yea, I can't even tell you the last time I had an iso or even used a disc. I have a bunch of DVDs that I am about to throw in the garbage.

[Redshirt 1487]

As users migrate to mobile clients mp4/h264/aac is the best video format for all around compatibility. 

[TrackZ 16]

As users migrate to mobile clients mp4/h264/aac is the best video format for all around compatibility.

 

Compatibility, yes, but not quality. Many of us want to use tools like MB to server full quality rips to our home theaters and getting ISO playback out to commercial external players is a big part of that.

[ebr 14904]

Compatibility, yes, but not quality. Many of us want to use tools like MB to server full quality rips to our home theaters and getting ISO playback out to commercial external players is a big part of that

 

You don't need ISOs for full quality.  Any number of other formats/containers will provide the same quality. 

[thefirstofthe300 291]

MakeMKV is a great tool that simply copies the source streams into an MKV file.  Source quality without the need for mounting an ISO.

[TrackZ 16]

MakeMKV is a great tool that simply copies the source streams into an MKV file.  Source quality without the need for mounting an ISO.

 

I'm well aware of MakeMKV and all that. The downside to MKV is time and complexity. Some movies, yeah, it's a piece of cake. Fire up MakeMKV, read the structure, choose the audio, and it's done in a few minutes.

 

But all too often, it's a much more intensive effort to parse that BD structure because:

 

1. Forced subs are often not a simple matter of ticking off some boxes in MakeMKV. Some movies don't flag subs as forced. Some set them in their own track. Some (like Star Wars) have multiple forced subs. You need to reference the Google doc that's out there, manually inspect, BDSup2Sub the stream, and so on.

 

2. If you care about special features and want to retain them, then MKV is yet again a hornet's nest. Some movies, sure it's easy. There may be one making of feature. You grab it and go on. Many times though there are many features or many small length special features. Or they don't always title them correctly. Say a movie has 6 deleted scenes. They may be 0:30 to 2:00 each. If you're lucky, there's one title on the disc where you get can them all into one file. Often though, there's not. The special features discs that came with the Alien Anthology set are particularly nasty.

 

3. 3D is hard. There's little support for 3D in MKV. Only a Mede8er (which doesn't cross paths with MB that well, I am demoing one now) or Stereoscopic player which doesn't do subtitles in 3D MKV. Whether you rip 3D main movie with the newest TSMuxer updates then or stick to full disc, you are really looking at an ISO.

 

4. TV shows can be a particular nightmare as there's no standard for how the episodes are structured on a disc. There may be one title that you are stuck breaking up into individual episodes. A show with several seasons and 13 to 26 episodes per season, that's a lot of time spent.

 

5. There seems to be increasing frequency of particularly troublesome discs, like Hunger Games with playlist obfuscation for example.

 

You add all that up over the course of a few hundred movie and tv show library and it's many hours of time spent managing a library. That's where using ISOs and AnyDVD with an external commercial player throws all that away. It's a one click process to make an ISO, click copy, you're done. All the special features are there. Subtitles will work. Seamless branching is no problem. And when you can get 3TB hard drive routinely under $100 now, storage is less of a factor.

 

You could use folder structures instead of ISOs of course, but it's nice to have the full disc contained in just one file. Also, 3D movies double in disc consumption when ripping to folders. I've seen mention as well that 3D doesn't play properly when ripped to a folder structure. I need to try that for myself. If indeed, it doesn't play properly in a folder, then it's totally out as an option for 3D.

 

I guess my point for the MB developers is simply that:

 

A. I would expect there's a decent contingent of folks that want to use your product with full disc ISOs and commercial players.

B. Supporting that use case really doesn't require any major departure on what you're already doing, just some minor consideration when it comes to a few aspects of MB3 and MBT.

 

I've been intensively demoing MB in the last few weeks and considering my path forward for a digital media library. I'll probably be building a mass server/HTPC soon as well, like a Norco 24 disc chassis. It's going to be a toss up for me between using MB and MyMovies. I really want to avoid Media Center though, so that's a huge knock against MyMovies. OTOH, MM really makes the collection feel like a digital extension of the discs, which I kind of like. Still, I think MB is developing faster, has greater potential, and some of the features and UI elements (like that latest MBT teaser) are just beautiful. MB also has more/better meta data focused towards the movie and not the disc and some aspects of library management are easier in MB. But if the link between an ISO library and PDVD/TMT playback is broken, then that's a big gap.

 

It doesn't even seem like a majorly complex element to handle either. Worst case, just use your mounter or let us specify an external mounter (like VCD) and have the ISO mount within Windows to a drive letter. Windows autoplay can take care of the rest.

[Spaceboy 2493]

I'm well aware of MakeMKV and all that. The downside to MKV is time and complexity. Some movies, yeah, it's a piece of cake. Fire up MakeMKV, read the structure, choose the audio, and it's done in a few minutes.

 

But all too often, it's a much more intensive effort to parse that BD structure because:

 

1. Forced subs are often not a simple matter of ticking off some boxes in MakeMKV. Some movies don't flag subs as forced. Some set them in their own track. Some (like Star Wars) have multiple forced subs. You need to reference the Google doc that's out there, manually inspect, BDSup2Sub the stream, and so on.

 

2. If you care about special features and want to retain them, then MKV is yet again a hornet's nest. Some movies, sure it's easy. There may be one making of feature. You grab it and go on. Many times though there are many features or many small length special features. Or they don't always title them correctly. Say a movie has 6 deleted scenes. They may be 0:30 to 2:00 each. If you're lucky, there's one title on the disc where you get can them all into one file. Often though, there's not. The special features discs that came with the Alien Anthology set are particularly nasty.

 

3. 3D is hard. There's little support for 3D in MKV. Only a Mede8er (which doesn't cross paths with MB that well, I am demoing one now) or Stereoscopic player which doesn't do subtitles in 3D MKV. Whether you rip 3D main movie with the newest TSMuxer updates then or stick to full disc, you are really looking at an ISO.

 

4. TV shows can be a particular nightmare as there's no standard for how the episodes are structured on a disc. There may be one title that you are stuck breaking up into individual episodes. A show with several seasons and 13 to 26 episodes per season, that's a lot of time spent.

 

5. There seems to be increasing frequency of particularly troublesome discs, like Hunger Games with playlist obfuscation for example.

 

You add all that up over the course of a few hundred movie and tv show library and it's many hours of time spent managing a library. That's where using ISOs and AnyDVD with an external commercial player throws all that away. It's a one click process to make an ISO, click copy, you're done. All the special features are there. Subtitles will work. Seamless branching is no problem. And when you can get 3TB hard drive routinely under $100 now, storage is less of a factor.

 

You could use folder structures instead of ISOs of course, but it's nice to have the full disc contained in just one file. Also, 3D movies double in disc consumption when ripping to folders. I've seen mention as well that 3D doesn't play properly when ripped to a folder structure. I need to try that for myself. If indeed, it doesn't play properly in a folder, then it's totally out as an option for 3D.

 

I guess my point for the MB developers is simply that:

 

A. I would expect there's a decent contingent of folks that want to use your product with full disc ISOs and commercial players.

B. Supporting that use case really doesn't require any major departure on what you're already doing, just some minor consideration when it comes to a few aspects of MB3 and MBT.

 

I've been intensively demoing MB in the last few weeks and considering my path forward for a digital media library. I'll probably be building a mass server/HTPC soon as well, like a Norco 24 disc chassis. It's going to be a toss up for me between using MB and MyMovies. I really want to avoid Media Center though, so that's a huge knock against MyMovies. OTOH, MM really makes the collection feel like a digital extension of the discs, which I kind of like. Still, I think MB is developing faster, has greater potential, and some of the features and UI elements (like that latest MBT teaser) are just beautiful. MB also has more/better meta data focused towards the movie and not the disc and some aspects of library management are easier in MB. But if the link between an ISO library and PDVD/TMT playback is broken, then that's a big gap.

 

It doesn't even seem like a majorly complex element to handle either. Worst case, just use your mounter or let us specify an external mounter (like VCD) and have the ISO mount within Windows to a drive letter. Windows autoplay can take care of the rest.

I've regularly used makemkv to do everything you are complaining about. I don't see it as an issue, I much prefer having all my media split like this

[ebr 14904]

... or let us specify an external mounter (like VCD) and have the ISO mount within Windows to a drive letter. Windows autoplay can take care of the rest.

 

MBC supports this now.