https://www.youtube.com/shorts/xK5SJ6CuezY
windows
zip: https://github.com/hydrusnetwork/hydrus/releases/download/v527/Hydrus.Network.527.-.Windows.-.Extract.only.zip
exe: https://github.com/hydrusnetwork/hydrus/releases/download/v527/Hydrus.Network.527.-.Windows.-.Installer.exe
macOS
app: https://github.com/hydrusnetwork/hydrus/releases/download/v527/Hydrus.Network.527.-.macOS.-.App.dmg
linux
tar.gz: https://github.com/hydrusnetwork/hydrus/releases/download/v527/Hydrus.Network.527.-.Linux.-.Executable.tar.gz

I had a good week working on important updates to the build and a new media player prototype.

This build has special update instructions! All users who update from 526 or earlier to 527 or later will have to do this once!

Full changelog: https://hydrusnetwork.github.io/hydrus/changelog.html

build update

A couple of weeks ago, I tried updating OpenCV (our image library) for everyone, but it caused a dll conflict and the program wouldn't boot. I am trying again this week, and since we have to do this change, I am also rolling in a long-planned change to the main exectuable names. 'client' is now 'hydrus_client' and 'server' is now 'hydrus_server'. Some users will have to do a 'clean install', and most will have to update their shortcuts or launch scripts.

As always--but particularly this week--please make a backup before you update. The following instructions are simple, but if anything goes wrong, you can always roll back to a safe backup.

Ok, the instructions, by situation, are:
- If you use the Windows installer, update as normal. It will do the clean install for you. Your start menu 'hydrus client' shortcut should also be overwritten with one to the new executable, but if you use a custom shortcut, you will need to update that yourself.
- If you use one of the normal extract builds, do a clean install. You also need to update any program shortcuts.
- If you use the macOS app, there are no special instructions. Update as normal.
- If you run from source, git pull as normal. If you haven't already, feel free to run setup_venv again to get the new OpenCV. Update any custom launch scripts to point at the new hydrus_client.py file.

A 'clean install' is as here: https://hydrusnetwork.github.io/hydrus/getting_started_installing.html#clean_installs
You are basically going to be deleting everything except your database (to clear out old dll files) and then updating as normal.

To update your shortcut or launch script, simply edit it, and where it says 'install_dir\client.exe', just rename it to 'install_dir\hydrus_client.exe'. For Linux users, that'll be 'install_dir/client'.

If you have a custom firewall rule for the Client API, you'll need to update it for the new executable name too.

And that's it! Let me know if you have any trouble.

QMediaPlayer

This is for advanced users only. Also only users who run from source and use Qt6!

I integrated Qt's built-in media player this week. I hope that in future it may be a fallback for users who cannot run mpv. Unfortunately, while it worked surprisingly well when it worked, it was also very crashy. I've got it stable when running from source, but it seems to insta-crash when in a build, so that's something to figure out later.

If you are an advanced user who runs Qt6 from source, you will now see the new experimental Qt Media Player as a selectable viewer under options->media for audio, animations, and video. It has a number of limitations (check the changelog for the full list), but it does work in most cases. Have a play with it and let me know how you get on.

next week

This week was a lot of work for what felt like little outcome. I was disappointed that QMediaPlayer crashed in the build. In any case, I'm short on getting small things done, so I'll return to that. Just some little fixes and quality of life.

I am taking my vacation week on the 8-14th of June, so I have four releases left before then. I won't go for anything huge, but try, if I can, to tie up some loose ends.