magicJack and MagicJack Plus Support, Reviews, FAQs and Hacks

boogmeister1 · magicJack Apprentice Joined: 26 Nov 2007 Posts: 14

I have decided to use MagicJack connected to my Vista Media Center PC. Currently it's connected to an XP machine. The problem is that I don't know how to keep the MJ softphone from popping up everytime I receive a call. I'm afraid that it will cause problems when I switch to VMC. Has anyone found a way to disable the popup of the softphone and still be able to send and receive calls?

Thanks,

Eric

kumar · Dan Should Pay Me Joined: 15 Nov 2007 Posts: 806

You could try configuring it with a softphone other then the SJlabs Magicjack one. Xlite is what works great when I don't want to use the crappy one. There's a tutorial on this forum so you can set it up. The only problem you may hit is that it may be hard for you to configure the hardware with it. It may be covered in the tutorial but i am not 100% sure. Also what I do is use a SIP adapter. If you had sunrocket then you could use your old equipment or buy it on ebay. Hope it helps.

EDIT: The XLITE way works with Magicjack equipment see this topic

MagicHack · Posted: Sun Dec 02, 2007 6:48 pm Post subject: Re: Keep app from popping up.

kumar · Dan Should Pay Me Joined: 15 Nov 2007 Posts: 806

Haha magichack i beat ya to it Very Happy

your way is easier though

MagicHack · Posted: Sun Dec 02, 2007 6:51 pm Post subject:

vern · MagicJack Newbie Joined: 26 Nov 2007 Posts: 5

I use AutoSizer to minimize MJ
http://www.southbaypc.com/AutoSizer/

garybritt · MagicJack Contributor Joined: 15 Nov 2007 Posts: 62

Autosizer works pretty well. That was my contribution on the old forum.

MagicHack's suggested program/method sounds like it is a better solution than autosizer.

Frank Zappa on the old forum came up with installing the magicjack device and its software under a different user profile; then converting that install to run as a service using some tools found in the win2K, XP, Win2K 2003, support tools; then when you logon using your regular logon the magicjack softphone runs totally in the background as a service and any popups it generates are supposed to be invisible in the background also. Works great if you never use the softphone for anything.

I use autosizer to put the softphone all but about 5 to 10 pixels off the screen. That way if I want to see or use the softphone I can drag it with the mouse onto the screen. Autosizer can also be used to keep the softphone minimized, in effect, but again MagicHack's recommendation seems like a better solution if you want the softphone to be permanently minimized.

Gary

kumar · Dan Should Pay Me Joined: 15 Nov 2007 Posts: 806

[quote="garybritt"]..... MagicHack's recommendation seems like a better.....

Gary[/quote

Hello what about kumar over here!! LOL just kidding

garybritt · MagicJack Contributor Joined: 15 Nov 2007 Posts: 62

Sorry Kumar, my bad. Wink

Hope your exams went well.

Gary

kumar · Dan Should Pay Me Joined: 15 Nov 2007 Posts: 806

garybritt · MagicJack Contributor Joined: 15 Nov 2007 Posts: 62

I think I got confused by your reference to school.

My Bad again.

Please don't tell me you didn't make any reference to school up thread ?? <grin>

boogmeister1 · magicJack Apprentice Joined: 26 Nov 2007 Posts: 14

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I'll give them a shot and see which works better for me.

Eric

ramuk · MagicJack Newbie Joined: 27 Nov 2007 Posts: 3

I am stuck configuring this app.

I dont seem to find the exe file for magicjack to add it to the path in 4ttm.

Help this noob pls

MagicHack · Posted: Wed Dec 12, 2007 2:58 pm Post subject: Re: 4t tray minmizer help

ramuk · MagicJack Newbie Joined: 27 Nov 2007 Posts: 3

Thank you so much for helping. I believe I need to do this everytime I start my laptop.

Another question....Is there a way I can start mj during windows startup?

digitalnomad · Posted: Sun Jan 13, 2008 12:13 am Post subject:

Here are a few less permanent solutions that I am using, and you can play with them to customize your desktop.

I also am annoyed with the MJ desktop icons, but still ocassionally would like to access the softphone. Below are links for two simple programs I use to minimize (or hide) all my desktop icons.

Additionally you can just hide your desktop with a right click anywhere on the desktop, then under Arrange Icons by, uncheck Show Desktop Icons.

You also can invoke MagicJack from the startup tray, and then right click the MJ softphone icon in the Toolbar, go to Transparency, and change it to 100%. The softphone will no longer be visible on the desktop (bring it back at any time by changing the transparency).

Combine these tools and actions to customize for your personal preferences and use. I wrote a post with instructions and screenshots here: http://digital-nomads.blogspot.com/2008/01/magicjack-usb-dongle-tips-and-tricks.html

Download Tweak UI and hide most MS icons from your desktop (recycle Bin, Doc & Pics, etc.)
http://windowsxp.mvps.org/tweakui.htm

Download DeskView to change the remaining large desktop icons into a "list view" of small icons.
http://jimcofer.com/personal/?p=208

solearth · magicJack Apprentice Joined: 30 Nov 2007 Posts: 17

Isn't the easiest way to keep from seeing the "box" simply to move the top of the MJ window to the bottom of the screen.
I assume that everybody already knows how, but for the newbies:
Move the pointer to the top (but just inside) of the MJ window.
Press and hold the left mouse button. - Move the mouse down. - Release the mouse button when the box is virtually invisible.
Viola - The window is not bothering you. A little window pops up when the phone is ringing with the number of the caller. But I want to see that anyway.

woodyear99 · MagicJack Newbie Joined: 07 Feb 2008 Posts: 1

Is there a free alternative to 4t tray minimizer? I know that there is a free version but it is annoying that I have to set it everytime I restart the pc. I just want something free that I can use to force this program to always stay minimized.....

sbw07 · MagicJack Contributor Joined: 01 Jan 2008 Posts: 74

Ditto that about a free alternative, besides it doesn't seem to be Vista-compatible (sigh), I'm getting error windows popping up all over the place. Any ideas out there?

Jacksondale · MagicJack Expert Joined: 22 Jan 2008 Posts: 84

I have my MJ on my desktop and use two monitors so I just drag the softphone to the second monitor. Basically I like to see what calls have come in and often use the contacts feature to make calls. (so much easier to right click and hit call than dial all those pesky numbers... Laughing

SpamBox · Posted: Thu Mar 06, 2008 12:53 am Post subject:

Here's a reverse approach: Toppy

tec32211 · magicJack Apprentice Joined: 06 Mar 2008 Posts: 13

Hello everyone i just got my MJ 2 days ago and it works pretty well,I got a number from Grand Central and linked everything and works good.I hated the pop up so i followed the help from others here so i dragged it down to the bottom and i LOVE that LOL...I am new here and its a great site...

GuyOnTheAir · Posted: Mon Mar 24, 2008 3:45 am Post subject:

thirty5tech · MagicJack User Joined: 12 Apr 2008 Posts: 31

hey all

well there are a few programs out there to do what you looking for, But the only one that came out best and work very well for me is call TweakWindow , I install it on my Vista 64bit OS and when it restarted, Magicjack was automaticl loaded to the tray, So give it a try , and hope it all works out well .

mutedmajority · magicJack Apprentice Joined: 23 Feb 2008 Posts: 15

On the magic jack window, You need to click menu> advanced users> and make sure a check is by the item called "minimize to tray" They won't work unless you have it checked.

xmartangel2k1 · magicJack Apprentice Joined: 14 May 2008 Posts: 10

semicharm · MagicJack Contributor Joined: 24 Apr 2008 Posts: 67

You can always run it as a service.

caangel · MagicJack User Joined: 25 May 2008 Posts: 38

http://www.cnet.com has a popup blocker made for magicjack I went there and did a search for MJ and found it so far it is working just have to install it nothing else also give you the opion to open the software I hope this helps

AlaninKY · Posted: Thu May 29, 2008 6:55 pm Post subject:

jesschoen · MagicJack Newbie Joined: 22 Mar 2008 Posts: 5

Is there a Mac version of Magicblock?

James

PSK · MagicJack Newbie Joined: 30 Apr 2008 Posts: 1

I may not be as tech-minded as some of you but I think my way is so simple I'm surprised noone thought about it. I just drag the softphone screen down below the bottom toolbar and leave just a little of the top of the screen showing. This way it is available if I want it but it is always out of the way. Low tech, but effective.

quetzal · MagicJack Newbie Joined: 06 Jun 2008 Posts: 4

I'm in the final "testing stages" before killing off Vonage at my place....problem with pulling it to the bottom of the screen is that if you're working in a program, or worse yet, a full screen game, it will drop that out of focus and pull up the soft phone. Not a huge deal if the computer's just sitting there, but there's nothing worse than getting the few measly minutes you get to use your system for games to have to push that popup back down and get back into your program. I"ll be trying out a few of these fixes. Has anyone else had issues with Vista (or I guess XP as well) when using different logons? If I have the soft phone up on my session and my wife's on her's with the softphone running, the calls are really messed up. During trouble shooting, I killed her softphone task and it cleared right up. I also found that logging out of a session instead of just switching users keeps it from happening, but I'm guessing making it a sevice on the admin page would keep that from happening period...Last piece of my MJ puzzle is the Caller ID situation, just need to make my "little phone box" and get a powered USB and I think I'll be in good!

versatil · MagicJack Newbie Joined: 19 Jun 2008 Posts: 1

Has anyone figured out how to keep it from gaining focus yet?

Has anyone tried to start magic jack as a background service? Maybe I'll try that after I finish my homework...

quetzal · MagicJack Newbie Joined: 06 Jun 2008 Posts: 4

Check some of the other threads..some have done it with success, some have used a program called Firedaemon...I'm using Vista and there have been some changeups to what the instructions are for making it a service manually..going to try once I get a little more than an hour to try.

MyOwnMJ · magicJack Apprentice Joined: 12 Jul 2008 Posts: 24

There's a freeware program that keeps the MJ app minimized...that program can be found here:

http://www.download.com/3120-20_4.html?hhTest=1&qt=magicblock&tag=srch&tg=dl-20

Looks like when the program is run, the MJ app pops up for a split second, then gets closed by this freeware.

Denver Dave · MagicJack Contributor Joined: 07 Jan 2008 Posts: 55

Does MagicBlock stop Magic Jack App from controlling our PC screen during PC startup?

JohnnyFreightTRAIN · Posted: Mon Aug 25, 2008 12:32 am Post subject:

No it doesn't. The magicjack will still have a splash screen with the magicblock.
And if you want to stop the magicjack from poping up because it closes your fullscreen programs (like videos) then the magicblock wont help you. Because the magicjack softphone still pops up for a split second.

The only way I know of to get rid of the splash screen and the softphone altogether is run MJ as a service, or in another user account.

sbw07 · MagicJack Contributor Joined: 01 Jan 2008 Posts: 74

juansanchez · MagicJack Newbie Joined: 10 Sep 2008 Posts: 1

pcfy2 · MagicJack Newbie Joined: 25 Dec 2008 Posts: 1

ekcopolo · MagicJack Newbie Joined: 17 Jan 2009 Posts: 8

Zork · MagicJack Newbie Joined: 24 Jan 2009 Posts: 2

The amount of memory and page file that majicblock uses for its simple task puts it well below my standards for a program that I will use. 4t Tray Min is a decent bit of code but its not worth $20 to me for this one task and I am not about to relearn the debuggers; its been years since I was into that.

I want access to the softphone, no popup (no focus theft whatsoever would be best), and am willing to give up approx. zero CPU and a few megs of RAM/page for a program that provides this. A Pro version of 4tTM would fit all this except the theft of focus, and would be fine. A change to the programming staff at MajicJack to include some common sense would also be acceptable.

Does anyone know of a solution?

Denver Dave · MagicJack Contributor Joined: 07 Jan 2008 Posts: 55

The Solution is for someone from MJ to come and explain why they haven't fixed the issue. There seems to be 2 issues, if I'm understanding things correctly.

(1) The "one minute of patience, hours of wasted time" screen that hogs the screen when initially connecting to MJ

(2) The Magic Jack interface that comes up when then number is called. (not sure about this one, not an issue for me).

Zork · MagicJack Newbie Joined: 24 Jan 2009 Posts: 2

Well the first issue is solved easily enough by just looking at the parameters the launcher sends to majicjack.exe. Sure the coders are lazy but its easy to work around.

The second issue tends to be a real pain. I guess I will have to run the thing as a service. Is there any way at all to pull up the call log in such an environment?

It seems unlikely they will include names with the caller ID; I think that would up the rates which is their main selling point. Is it possible to create a program that would take the name associated with a number (from the contact list) and send that as the caller ID string out the phone jack when a call arrives, or am I just dreaming?

Denver Dave · MagicJack Contributor Joined: 07 Jan 2008 Posts: 55

cdgfx84 · MagicJack Newbie Joined: 07 Feb 2009 Posts: 3

I tried magicblock but got this error after install

lbholde · MagicJack Newbie Joined: 27 Feb 2009 Posts: 2

Hi everyone!

What I want to do is stop the MagicJack program from popping up while I'm playing a 3D game. When the popup comes up it completly messes up the game.

I tried magicBlock, but it does not stop the game from getting messed up, because the popup still briefly pops up.

I installed the 4t tray minimizer, and followed the directions in this post, but MagicJack still pops up. I must be an idiot. Can someone post the exact options I need to check or not check? Thanks!

mberlant · Posted: Fri Feb 27, 2009 5:29 pm Post subject:

Have you tried running the MJ softphone as a service?

lbholde · MagicJack Newbie Joined: 27 Feb 2009 Posts: 2

Mp3Gamer00 · magicJack Apprentice Joined: 22 Jan 2009 Posts: 26

http://www.filekeeper.org/download/shared/MJ.zip

I wrote this program in VB6. It does everything I need. It hides the magicJack softphone and it never steals focus, it removes all banners from the softphone and also removes the Google link. I have included the source code in the zip file. Feel free to steal the code and share it so long as you make improvements. Let me know if i am missing anything important from the program. Enjoy