I own a Sony BDP-CX7000ES which I use in conjunction with My Movies. On a fresh start of My Movies the first disc I select to play always loads successfully via my Sony BDP-CX7000ES. The com port at this point shows as 'in use'. I then have to back out to the main menu of WMC, then going back into My Movies before I'm able to successfully load another disc. When backing out of My Movies to the main menu of WMC the com port's status immediately changes from 'in use' to 'available but not in use'. Per this issue, I have tried 3 different usb to com port adapters and 3 different com port cards none of which resolve the issue. My Sony BDP-CX7000ES and HTPC running Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit are both fully updated. Should also note that I've been able to faithfully replicate this issue on my laptop running Windows 7 Professional 64-bit as well. That being said, it has been very frustrating that I've been unable to properly use My Movies with my Sony BDP-CX7000ES since day one. If the resources are not available or if the powers that be simply don't consider it a priority please consider Andycob's offer and make an arrangement with him per possibly getting a proper *.dll written for this changer. Would be greatly appreciated. In fact, I would be willing to donate financially to such an endeavor.

On a related note...I have created my own disc management activity which runs self-contained on my Pronto remote allowing me to browse my DVD/Blu-ray collection by any one of 24 categories/genres right on the screen of the remote by cover image. When selecting a given disc to play the Pronto sends the appropriate RS-232 command to the changer. The changer immediately loads the given disc without delay. Happens at the snap of a finger and more importantly, happens each and every time without issue. Not one single time has the changer failed to respond and immediately load the given disc. Would love to say the same thing about My Movies. By years end I will be adding a second Sony BDP-CX7000ES to my setup and sadly will be moving on to a different on-screen solution such as Cinemar's DVD Lobby if this issue with My Movies has yet to be resolved.

Well Brian has very kindly let me have a look at the source for the current 7000 controller and OUCH it's a complicated beast. Brian has been very thorough and written a complex generic controller that should potenitally support everything from simple disc selection to even selection of individual titles and chapters within a disc, and full remote control replication and disc identification by both RS232 and IP and it's straining my VB skills to follow it but I'm making progress slowly. No promises but if I have any success watch this space.

Now if only I could figure out a way to actually debug and run it locally to see exactly whats going on and test some modifications?

Brian's 7000 controller actually (as far as I can tell so far I think) tries to use a status query to ensure the player has booted before seending commands though the fact that this doesn't seem to work perfectly suggests something isn't quite right. Also I'm trying to find why the com port doesn't reassign if selecting a disc in another 7000 after selecting one in another in the same MM session.

fdavis71, I have no problem with my 7000 units so long as I don't switch to a different changer in the same MM session. If all else fails try selecting a disc then drop back to media center main view (click the green icon top left) and start another MM session before selecting another disc. Solves all issues for me.

mntneer I don't know if it's yours but the 777 is still controlled by an old dll that Brian doesn't have the source code for so maybe that's your old one. Any chance you still have the VB source, might help me in trying to update things.

By any chance do you know if the 777 used multiple PDC ids by RS232. The specs only quote the one id 0xd0 that I can see but with the 7000 which has 3 remote control modes like the 777 it quotes three PDC ids 0x80, 0x81 and 0x82 and I'm wondering if I actually need to allow for that via RS232?

Well Brain spent quite a bit of time on this this afternoon and I have just found a fix for the 2 changers in the same session issue EDIT so long as changers are named uniquely, I think Brain may make that a requirement in future. Theres still some issue somewhere with things timing out if the changer is slow but, selecting from two changers consecutively in a single session should be fixed, I hope.

I don't know how long any fixes might take to work their way into a release but good news they should be coming.

Based on my admittedly inexpert testing, my programing knowledge is pitiful compared to Brian's code but I can follow it at least and even found the problem for two changers in a row but this is not the casue of your problem and I've never had the problem you describe.

I have no issues selecting multiple discs repeatedly from the same changer. With the exception of trying to select another disc before the first loads but that's a hardware issue with the changer, it won't abort a select in progress in if it gets asked for another you have to wait for it to finish the first selection. It's just the same with the remote or players own controls.

How long are you waiting between select commands?

It is possible to click play and move to another disc and click play again before the changer has even loaded the first disk, BUT the changer won't accept another command while still executing the first. At the very least another select command will not succeed until the changer has loaded the disc and begun to attempt to play it. If you try another select before that it will fail, the com port will show as in use until the changer succesfully reports back to MM that it has loaded the disk I think.

In fact thinking about the code the port may stay as showing in use becasue the port won't be (or need to be) reasigned unless another select command is executed for a changer on a different port. Theres no porblem whit the port staying in use as it's in use by MM and it knows thats the port for your changer and will send the next command to it, I don't think what your seeing with the com port is anything to do with your problem but I'm guessing at best.

I would guess your problem is the Pronto RS232 control. RS232 isn't really meant to have two devices trying to control one peice of equipment at the same time. I suppose there's no real reason you can't do so, so long as the two controls don't interact by sending commands at the same time or adjusting settings but they almost certainly will.

I assume your Pronto talks to your PC and executes the RS232 commands for remote control of the 7000 on the same Com Port as MM is using for disc selection control?

If so I think I know whats going on and it explains how and why it works first time each time but not after.

Do you use the pronto by RS232 as the standard remote, i.e. select disc with MM then use pronto by RS232 for control of the 7000?

The MM 7000 controller is written eficiently when you first start MM it intializes the com port on the first command request. Knowing it's done that it does not re-initialize the com port for future commands to the same changer on the same com port as there is no need for it to do so. This relates to the problem I fixed of consecutive commands to two different 7000s all going to the first one used. The port wasn't being reinitialized on the change of changer just change of type. This has been fixed and will presumably appear in a future release.

The problem is MM will execute the disc select then you pick up your pronto or your control software accesses the same com port and changes something or takes over the port. The MM controller then tries to access the com port (without reintializing the com port settings) and since it doesn't know your pronto control has changed something the future commands fail for some reason, either becasue the port is no longer open or becasue it's no longer configured correctly becasue your pronto controller has accessed it.

My bet disable/disconnect your pronto controller software/hardware and you won't have the problem. There is no expectation or allowance for you also using a seperate RS232 control for other purposes in the current MM 7000 controller. Whether you could rewrite your pronto control to not interfere with the MM controller I don't know, it must take control of the com port to send a command at some point which will presumably take control away or mess with the settings the MM controller is using.

Certainly if you are sending commands from the pronto by RS232 to the changer when the MM controller is active it is going to mess with the MM controller set up of the com port. That or there is going to be an issue as the two controllers compete for the com port. MM is certainly not expecting anything else to be using the com port at the same time.

Ironically because of doing the fix fot two changers I porbably know a way to alter the code to make things work for you by forcing the MM controller to always reintialize the com port but that is inefficient and I'm pretty sure Brian wouldn't construct a solution for just one user with a special setup.

The reason it alwasy works first time is on the first use the MM controller will always intialize the com port which will override/correct/replace whatever effects your pronto controller has had and ensure the com port is properly configured for the MM controller.

Anyway that's my guess as to the source of your problem, presumably if you are expert enough you could detect the nature and configuration of the com port, change it send the pronto command then change it back?

As to the other points you mentioned though I don't think they apply.

I think the MM contrller does check if the changer is on but it's quite capable of handling both the changer being on or off. There is as best as I can figure a timing issue somewhere becasue sometimes if selecting from the player in standby the player boots but the disc isn't selected becasue somethig has timed out waiting but that wouldn't produce either the unable to power on device or unable to open com port error.

Actually I have never had the issue you describe from XP through Vista, to win 7 32 and 64. I dimly remember there being an issue relating to some serial adapters that forget their settings as soon as they send the data but that was ages ago, something about looking for the phrase com port retention in their specs was important assuming my memory on that is at all reliable.

It has to be said and I quite understand that the changer control is low priority compared to the rest of my movies, which was one reason I was able to persuade Brian to let me have a go, and thankfully even stole a few hours of his time while doing some other testing trying to debug a few issues.

At the very least I managed to solve the consecutive commands to two changers of the same type in the same session problem which is good for me as I have 2x7000 and 1x777 running.

I'm currently trying to make an updated controller for the old 777 as the original is an XP vintage that won't run on win 7 64 bit. The only significant difference I can see that you mention is that you are also somehow using the pronto for RS232 control (at the same time?) which would be my guess as to the source of the problem.

I'm actually running two null modem cables to the single RS-232 port on my Sony BDP-CX7000ES using the below splitter.


9-Pin Modem Data Splitter (Model #9PMDS)

This allows me to send RS-232 commands to the changer directly from my Pronto via my Philips Pronto RFX9600 Serial Extender while at the same time sending the changer RS-232 commands directly from my HTPC as well via My Movies. At no time does my Pronto ever communicate over the com port of my HTPC. All control of the HTPC via my Pronto is done using IR in conjunction with an IR receiver. That being said, I'm able to replicate the issue with or without the modem data splitter in place. It was obviously the first thing I took steps to rule out. Neither control system (Pronto+DVD Juke/HTPC+MyMovies) even has a way of knowing the splitter is in place anyway and besides that, at no time am I sending RS-232 commands to the changer from each control system simultaneously. My HTPC is only used to run My Movies and iTunes. Once the given changer slot is queued up via My Movies I then navigate from the WMC activity in the Pronto to my Blu-ray changer activity. I'm then waiting until the disc has fully loaded before sending any RS-232 commands from my Pronto to the changer per the transport controls and so forth.

In my previous reply I outlined in bold that I'm able to replicate the issue with or without the modem data splitter in place. It was the first thing I ruled out per the issue I'm having. I also stated that at no time am I sending RS-232 commands simulatneously from both control systems. That's just never going to happen. I only use my HTPC/My Movies to select a given disc to play. That is the extent of the RS-232 communication between my HTPC and the changer. Once the changer starts loading the disc any additional RS-232 commands are being sent to the changer directly from the Pronto and only after the disc has finished loading as prior to that the changer is not going to respond to any commands anyway. Should also note that at no time am I sending a RS-232 command from my Pronto to the changer that would solicit a response from the changer over RS-232. All commands sent to the changer from my Pronto are one-way RS-232 commands. That being said, I certainly appreciate the reply. Too bad I have already ruled out the modem data splitter as being the issue. That would have been too easy.

My Pronto controls the HTPC using IR exclusively, not RS-232 or IP. I also tried 3 completely different usb to com port adapters and cards. As I'm able to replicate the issue with or without the modem data splitter in the chain I've never felt the need to even mention it. Only reason I mentioned it is because you thought perhaps I might be sending RS-232 from my Pronto through the HTPC to my changer which is not the case.

My HTPC is running Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit. It's fully updated and only used to run iTunes and My Movies. No other software has ever been installed on the computer not relating to iTunes and My Movies aside from Microsoft Security Essentials. The current USB to com port adapter I am using is a Tripp Lite USA-49WG Keyspan High-Speed 4-Port Serial to USB Adapter.

The other USB to com port adapters I tried were single port adapters. The com port cards I tried were 2, 4, and 6 port cards. Also, at no time have I used the com ports per these adapters/cards for anything other than the one changer. The com port settings used have been correct as well of course as I already had a strong working knowledge of the RS-232 protocol for the changer prior to implementing the My Movies solution per the stand-alone disc management activity (DVD Juke) I created for my Pronto. On a related note, for anyone interested I created a full set of RS-232 commands for the Sony BDP-CX7000ES which includes all 400 "0x4a DISC_DIRECT_SET" commands per loading each changer slot. A brief overview of the RS-232 protocol including a download link to my excel sheet of the RS-232 commands can be found here. Should also note that I only worked up RS-232 commands for the product code, "0x80 BD1". Have yet to work up the commands for the other two product codes or command modes as they are more commonly called.