Disable the metadata-network-access popup at first launch (VLC 2.2.1)

[morgrowe]

When VLC first launches, the following dialog window appears:



I've tried looking through ~/Library/Preferences/org.videolan.vlc/vlrcrc for a setting that controls this, and found "metadata-network-access". If I remove the comment character and change its default value to 0 or 1, I still get the popup at first launch. Interestingly, toggling this option (metadata-network-access) does enable/disable the feature for non-first launches of the application.



I'd like to be able to bypass the popup if possible. Is there some other option in the vlcrc file that is checked before showing the popup?

Thanks,
Morgan

[dfuhrmann]

This dialog is only shown at the first run, with a newly installed VLC. This status is saved in org.videolan.vlc.plist, under the VLCFirstRun key. So if you want to bypass the dialog on fresh systems, you need to make sure that a valid org.videolan.vlc.plist exists.

[morgrowe]

Thanks dfuhrmann. Do you know if that VLCFirstRun key can be read from /Library/Preferences/org.videolan.vlc.plist or would I need to set this key in ~/Library/Preferences/org.videolan.vlc.plist?

[dfuhrmann]

Usually, the preference file for VLC is saved per user. But I am no expert in the osx prefs management, and if you can combine global and local settings.

[morgrowe]

I've noticed that OS X will read some of VLC's preferences from /Library/Preferences/org.videolan.vlc.plist like the SUHasLaunchedBefore key for example. Hopefully VLCFirstRun will be one of those preferences as it makes customising VLC's experience for each user easier to manage, but it's not a big deal if it has to be read from ~/Library/Preferences/org.videolan.vlc.plist. I will take a look next week.

Thanks for your help, dfuhrmann.

[morgrowe]

Just tested it and it works. Running this command in Terminal will bypass the "Check for album art and metadata?" popup for all users:

Code: Select all

defaults write /Library/Preferences/org.videolan.vlc.plist VLCFirstRun -date "2015-05-22T00:00:00Z"

[Ashark]

I needed launching vlc with --ignore-config, so it was like it is starting first time always.
I have found solution here: https://forum.videolan.org/viewtopic.php?t=91863
--no-qt-privacy-ask did the trick for vlc 3.0.2 on Linux with KDE.