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Posted by: divine Aug 14 2006, 12:13 PM

I have a problem I haven't been able to figure out for some time now, so I thought I'd ask here. :\

It seems AMIP's "alternative formatting" for MSN integration never quite works, because the default, built-in, Microsoft plugin for WMP (which works with iTunes) always overrides AMIP's output.

Microsoft's default output is: Track - Artist
The default output for AMIP is: Artist - Track [Album] (if the Album field isn't blank)

Despite the manual saying that AMIP's alternative formatting doesn't work for Windows Live Messenger, I do see the AMIP "alternative format" displayed on Messenger for a few seconds before the default format overwrites it. There are times when the AMIP format actually stays for the entire duration of a song too. Disabling the Windows Live Messenger plugin in WMP doesn't correct this problem.

If it helps, I'm using:
Windows Live Messenger: 8.0.0812.00
Windows Media Player 10: 10.00.00.4036
iTunes: 6.0.4.2
AMIP iTunes: 2.53 beta
AMIP Configurator: 0.30 beta

Note: I had the exact same problem when I was using MSN Messenger 7.5 before, so I don't think it's an issue with AMIP being compatible with Windows Live Messenger. In short, AMIP's output is being sent to Windows Live Messenger, but Microsoft's default plugin is overriding AMIP's output with its own.

Is there anyway to completely disable the default Microsoft plugin so that the AMIP format isn't overwritten? I've tested this with Winamp and the problem doesn't happen (since the default Microsoft plugin doesn't work for Winamp).

Edit: I just noticed something while typing up this post. If you open WMP and just keep it minimized, the default Microsoft plugin is disabled, meaning the AMIP alternative format is displayed correctly on Windows Live Messenger. As soon as you close WMP, the default Microsoft plugin is re-enabled and the MSN Now Playing message is overwritten. Now, is there a way we can disable the MS plugin permanently, without keeping WMP open? o_O

Thanks in advance,
divine

Posted by: Serge Aug 14 2006, 06:31 PM

There should be plug-in dll in the WMP plugin folder, just remove it. Another solution is to set display delay in AMIP Configurator so that AMIP will overwrite WMP messages. Read help for details.

Posted by: divine Aug 16 2006, 05:02 AM

There doesn't seem to be a plug-in folder under C:\Program Files\Windows Media Player, so I'm guessing this plugin is stored somewhere else once Windows Live Messenger is installed.

I could search for the dll file, but I don't know the name of it. I've looked for this info, but couldn't find anything.

Serge, do you know the name of the WMP plug-in?

Thanks in advance.

Posted by: Serge Aug 16 2006, 10:07 AM

You can disable it in Windows Media Player options, see the screenshot:

Posted by: divine Aug 17 2006, 12:56 AM

Yeah, this is what I mentioned in my original post. Disabling the plugin in WMP only keeps the plugin disabled if WMP is open (and/or minimized). Removing the plugin through WMP altogother causes the "What I'm Listening To" feature to generate error messages in MSN/Windows Live Messenger. (This requires a repair of MSN/Windows Live Messenger to fix.) The fact that the plugin automatically re-enables itself when WMP seems to be a bug on Microsoft's side. :\

However, your recommendation to add a parse and/or display delay through AMIP helps. I set the parse delay at 2 secs (2000 ms) and this allows AMIP to overwrite Microsoft's plugin most of the time. Semi-working solution I guess. :\