windows media player ocx control doesnt play midi files even though the media player plays it.why?

09-19-06, 08:13 AM

bhushan

Hi,
I am experimenting on an application that plays midi,mp3 files. And i
am using windows media player ocx control for this purpose. My ocx
control plays mp3 files and wma files but not midi files. So i tried to
play the midi file using windows media player and it was able to play
it well. I use media player 10 in windows mobile 5. The code snippet
is..

CComptr<IWMPPlayer> m_spWMPplayer;
...creating a instance of windows media player and after that i say
HRESULT hr = m_spWMPplayer->put_url(filename);

i get s_false when i play midi files but i get s_ok when i play mp3
files or wma files...The device that i use is a qtek9100 ppc which
plays midi in windows media player..

Any pointers in this regard will be appreciated.

Bhushan.

09-20-06, 01:01 AM

Damon Barry [MSFT]

I don't think WMP on Windows Mobile uses the OCX for MIDI playback. If they
have a DShow filter for MIDI then you'd think the OCX would pick it up and
use it, but they may be creating a different pipeline altogether for MIDI.
This isn't an area I know a lot about though.

Can you play the MIDI file through the WAVEAPI?

09-20-06, 05:37 AM

bhushan

Hi,
But arent WMP and WMP ocx using the same set of filters?be it dshow or
someother one..Suppose i use waveapi then will i be able to play mp3
files?I will try playing midi with waveapi and tell the result..But i
would like to use something generic that will play mp3,midi and wav.
The point is be it mp3,wav or midi i would like to use wmp entirely or
waveapi entirely.

-bhushan.

Damon Barry [MSFT] wrote:
[..]

09-20-06, 06:07 PM

Damon Barry [MSFT]

You may have the goal of using just the OCX for all formats, but I don't
think WMP 10 Mobile had that goal. I'm pretty sure they're using DShow for
some formats and proprietary pipelines for other formats. Furthermore, I
don't think MIDI is officially supported on Windows Mobile 5--the fact that
you're successfully playing a particular MIDI file on a particular device
may be a stroke of good luck, nothing more.

If you want to use the OCX for MIDI playback then you'll need to create or
license a DirectShow MIDI filter.

--Damon

09-21-06, 06:09 AM

bhushan

So you mean to say that i may have to write my own dshow midi
filter?And even if i write it then how will ocx pick up my filter and
play midi?Can u send me any pointers on how to write a dshow filter and
register it with wmp ocx so that ocx can play midi??Or is there any
third party dshow filter that goes well along with wmp ocx which i can
register with wmp ocx and play midi?

-Bhushan.

Damon Barry [MSFT] wrote:
[..]

09-21-06, 06:00 PM

Damon Barry [MSFT]

The DirectShow documentation for CE 5.0 is at:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/en...asp?frame=true

....and more specifically there's documentation about writing DirectShow
filters at:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/en...asp?frame=true

I don't know what sample filters are available with Windows Mobile, but with
CE 5.0 there are a few, including
public\directx\sdk\samples\dshow\Filters\dump, which you could use as a
starting point. But I'm guessing that a MIDI filter will not be an easy
undertaking. I'm sure there are 3rd-party filters out there although I
don't know names.

Damon

09-25-06, 02:52 PM

bhushan

So you mean to say that the only way is to write my own dshow filter?
And while testing my sample app i found that my device plays midi
"sometimes" using wmp ocx. I have a qtek 9100, motoq and qtek jasjar.
All have windows mobile 5 and wmp 10 in these devices play midi.

I find that motoq plays "midi" "always" using wmp ocx while qtek jasjar
and qtek 9100 play midi "sometimes". I know its difficult to fathom the
word "sometimes" but as a developer its difficult to debug and find why
this happens. I am clueless.. And writing my own dshow filter is
difficult as it may take more time and introduce more problems... :(

Any other alternatives is welcome. Has someone got this kind of problem
earlier??
Damon Barry [MSFT] wrote:
[..]

09-25-06, 09:41 PM

Damon Barry [MSFT]

I'm saying you'll have to license a MIDI filter or write your own...MS
doesn't ship one. Different devices undergo their own commercialization
efforts in order to integrate WM5 onto the device, so its not surprising
that the MIDI story is a little different for each device.

I agree that writing your own MIDI filter is likely more hassle than its
worth. I'm sorry I'm not more familiar with this area...you may want to
search the archives of the microsoft.public.smartphone.* boards for MIDI
discussions.

09-26-06, 05:45 AM

riki

Damon Barry [MSFT] wrote:
> I agree that writing your own MIDI filter is likely more hassle than its
> worth. I'm sorry I'm not more familiar with this area...you may want to
> search the archives of the microsoft.public.smartphone.* boards for MIDI
> discussions.
What you said is quite correct. I tried a few years ago.
Here is a post with my findings:
http://homepages.inspire.net.nz/~gambit/Midi/

ArcSoft seems to have moved the page now:
http://www.arcsoft.com/products/mobi.../codec_lib.asp

Riki

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