TCPMP:PocketPC
From The Neuros Technology Wiki
Contents |
[edit] Installing TCPMP for Pocket PC's
[edit] Overview
The Core Pocket Media Player (TCPMP) is an open-source media player for Palm OS-based and Windows CE / Windows Mobile-based devices, and is considered by many to be the best video player available for handheld devices. These are the steps required to install TCPMP on a Windows Mobile 2003 SE pocket pc, but should be similiar to both older and newer versions of Windows Mobile / Windows CE.
[edit] Download
Download the most recent version of TCPMP for your device. (It is not recommended to download Release Candidate or RC versions, these are intended for testing by other developers.) You may notice there are several different Windows Mobile versions of the same file to download, each of these files works only for a specific architecture with arm being the most common. Regardless of your pocket pc model, download the file labeled setup as it will automatically install the correct version.
The second file you need to download is the AAC plugin for TCPMP. Wikipedia has more information on AAC, but the summary is that it is a lossless audio compression format, and also happens to be the format used by the MPEG4 Recorder for audio. Unfortunately, you can no longer download a working version of this file anywhere on TCPMP's website as it was requested to be removed by the intellectual property owners. However, numerous places on the web still offer the download and can be found using Google. One specific example is Rarewares, follow the AAC links on their website or download from the following link directly.
[edit] Install
The first step in installing TCPMP is connecting your pocket pc to your computer via cradle, cable, or wireless, and allowing ActiveSync to finish synchronizing. (This guide assumes you have ActiveSync correctly installed and configured, and a partnership setup for your device. If not, look elsewhere on the web and complete these steps first. For those of you not sure, if your Outlook information automatically appears in your pocket pc then you are working correctly.)
Next, open the first file downloaded. Chose Next to continue setup, and agree to the license agreement before choosing Finish. ActiveSync will pop up and prompt you to install TCPMP, choose Yes to continue. ActiveSync will let you know it has finished, choose OK to complete the installation.
While the main application has been installed, the AAC plugin still remains. If you downloaded the file from Rarewares above go ahead and unzip it and then open the exe file labeled setup. If AAC was unavailable from Rarewares but you were able to find a different file with Google then the steps will probably be similiar.
Choose Next to continue setup, and agree to the license agreement before choosing Finish.
ActiveSync will pop up and prompt you to install TCPMP, choose Yes to continue. ActiveSync will let you know it has finished, choose OK to complete the installation.
[edit] Using
The only step that remains is to open TCPMP on your pocket pc and to then open the video file you would like to watch.
From the start menu on your pocket pc, choose Programs, then TCPMP.
After TCPMP has opened on your PDA, choose File then Open File. (The exact location of the video file you wish to play depends on where it was orginally placed, but if you used the MPEG4 Recorder you will need to take the memory card from it and place it in your pocket pc. If your pocket pc does not have a slot for that type of memory card, you can use a desktop computer to copy the file from the original memory card to a memory card compatible with your pocket pc.) The MPEG4 Recorder stores recordings in a folder called MP_ROOT then TV, choose a file to play from here.
TCPMP will open the file and take you back to its main screen where you can play the file and also expand it to full screen.
[edit] Troubleshooting
If one of the steps above failed, was different for your device, or otherwise didn't work there are plenty of places where you can get help. The first place to try is the Neuros forums, available at http://www.neurosaudio.com/community/forum/. If you search the forums but can't find a solution to your problem try posting in the MPEG4 Recorder Support forum where someone can probably help you out. If that doesn't work there are many other active pocket pc forums on the web, a particularly popular one is Aximsite available at http://www.aximsite.com/boards/. Again, make sure to search the forums before asking for help.
