Well, I weighed my options before I decided to implement XPort's method. Frankly, I could have done it the standard way, pretty much how it was documented in the XDK. But I specifically added command line to support emulators, and who ports them better than XPort? (No offense meant to other emulator devs, it's just that I don't use emus and I only tried one of Xport's emu). I find Xport's implementation to be robust and flexible, and I hope it becomes the de-facto standard. The truth is that both implementation is the same, you can cast the parameter from one to the other, it's a matter of finding which one to use. On my part, I could use the "Arg2" parameter to specify whether it should be launched the standard way, or the xport way. But like I said, it seems most emulator came from xport (pardon my ignorance on the subject), so I see little need to do it.

You're welcome, and I'll take that beer.
With the next version, everyone who wants to mess with the WIP builds will have a chance to do so -within certain limit implemented internally and as long as the host can support the bandwidth requirement. The owner assured me that it's an unlimited bandwidth with limited space, so, it should be okay. Of course, if one would want to donate more bandwidth, I'd sure glad to accept it. I'm currently designing this feature and it's looking good on paper, just have to make sure it works in practice .

I'll be more than happy to donate 1 GB bandwith (I would have donated more if I had more ).

Edit :

Feature request :

Would it possible to create a Dynamic temperature control, that changes the fan speed if the temperature reaches or goes beyond a certainly temperature?
I have a 1.3 XBox and after playing Beyond Good and Evil for a couple of hours the motherboard becomes 45.00 C and the CPU 54.00 C which is pretty hot IMO.

I have noticed their is already a option ''temperature threshold'' but I don't exactly know what this do (I have set it to 50.00 C) Would this require BIOS patching (and so making it impossible to include it in a Dashboard) or it this possible?

Cool, please do send me the details. I'm gonna need edit/delete privilege on the server.

That's exactly what the Temperature threshold does, but it only works while on the dash. If you want it on a "semi" permanent, you could just select a higher fan speed. You can also set both options, in that, if the temp goes over the threshold, it increases the fan speed, and when it goes down to considerable level, it will bring it down to the selected fan speed, instead of the default speed.

Yes, XPort emulators are great, but there are a few other emulators that are also very excellent. In addition to XPort's emulators, a few other great ones are Surreal64 (Nintendo 64), xSNES9x (Super Nintendo), and MAMEoX (arcade). Also, let's not forget about "command-line" support for XBOX Media Center!

Well if you also say that XPort's implementation is robust and flexible (in addition to XPort also saying that), then I believe it (I've looked at the code and it looks fine to me, but I haven't seen the XDK method). I haven't given up on getting all apps to use XPort's implementation.

I have posted requests for Surreal64 and xSNES9x so far. I will also look at MAMEoX as well. First, though, I am going to look at the code for XBOX Media Center to see how they currently do it (and if necessary, request XPort's implementation or contribute it myself).

Well, I would find that useful as a "workaround" for now, since there are at least those 4 apps above that I use (and there are probably others that use the XDK method). If the XDK shows how, then it shouldn't be too much trouble, right?

Since you are implementing support for file associations, then I think getting XPort's implementation of "command-line" parameters to be standard (or supporting both) would come in handy. I'll do what I can to get XPort's implementation into XBMC (if it isn't already).

While you're at it implementing file associations, maybe you could extend the "Path" element to support auto-listing of a particular filetype or even all files in a particular folder (with let's say a "Search" attribute, where the default if omitted is "default.xbe")? Like, for example:

(And separately, the file associations would specify what apps to use for each of those file types, including all movie file types.)

Hmmm... I think it's time for another beer.

So like all the roms in that folder would be added to a list and would be pased as a command line option to whatever xbe is set as the association.

Yes, I did think of that actually. Personally, I wouldn't mind unzipping a few small roms for my special "themed menus", but that's for a menu with hard-coded "Item" elements for particular ROMs (on various systems). Also, in my original post on the subject (back on page 23), I had the idea that you could associate multiple emulators (or whatever) with a single file extension (like the Open With menu in Windows XP). One association would have Default="True" and the others could be accessed by clicking "Start" on the associated menu item (or in the File Explorer) and on the existing popup menu, you would see a new "Open With..." option (with another popup menu for choosing the program, or maybe the first popup menu could have each option listed right there, like "Open with FCEUltra NES Emulator [Default]" and "Open with NesterX NES Emulator").

Now, in theory, that could take care of ZIP files as well, since you could associate all your emulators with "ZIP". However, then you would always have to use the "Open With" context menu and remember the appropriate emulator to use. That's obviously not a good user interface!

So, I like your idea of "folder association". Although, I don't think the association should be set up on the "List" element, because then it wouldn't work in the File Explorer (nor on individual "Item" elements for your special ROMs that you want to directly link to). Instead, you could tweak my suggested syntax to use a "FileFilter" instead of a "FileExtension". Then, anything that matches that "FileFilter" would use the related associations (you could still have multiple associations and an "Open With..." context menu, in case, for example, you have 2 NES emulators). It would not matter if the file is found via a "Path" element, a direct "Item" element, or the File Explorer -- it would just use the program(s) for the first matching "Association" element (whether folder or extension or even a specific filename).

Here's my modified suggested syntax (the original is in my post on page 23):

I am also suggesting the ParamMethod attribute which could be "XDK" for the XDK method or "XPort" for XPort's method (of passing "command-line" parameters).

Note: I guess the association items do not really need the "Default" attribute (I put it there to make it clear how it would work) -- it could just be assumed that the first item is the default.

Also note, I keep all my roms under F:\ROMS\<systemname> so, for example, I only need one collection of NES ROMs, and both NesterX and FCEUltra can use the ROMs from that single location. Some emulators don't allow a custom location, though, so in that case I have to keep the ROMs at whatever location the emulator wants.

What do ya think?

Please read my post again more carefully (sorry, I know, it is long and somewhat technical). I specifically provided an example that would list all NES roms in a sub-folder (regardless of file format!), just like you want. That example uses folder association like you want, except the association is not on the "List" element.

I'm just asking for the association to be setup separately so that I can also use "Item" elements to directly link to my favorite roms (or even use the File Explorer if I wanted). If you have 10,000 roms, then I'd expect that you'd also like to link to a few favorites (without specifying an emulator XBE in each "Item" link)! This is for simplicity, since I am setting up a menu for novice children (who might have a hard time finding sonic_000.zip or whatever in a huge list).

FYI, I also don't think I would use the file explorer for browsing my roms, but someone else made the original request for file associations and they were only asking for support in file explorer (I'm hoping my syntax would make everyone happy).

My suggested syntax also allows multiple programs to be associated with a folder (or a file type), so in your big list of 10,000 NES roms, you could press A to open a rom with FCEUltra or you could press Start, then choose "Open with NesterX" from the popup menu. Doesn't that sound cool?

"Themed Menu" Example:
If you set up folder association for each of your ROM folders, then you should be able to link directly to items in those folders. For example, you could just have "Item" elements which each have "Action" set to one of the following:
F:\ROMS\NES\zelda1.zip
F:\ROMS\NES\zelda2.zip
F:\ROMS\SNES\Zelda_ALTTP.zip
F:\ROMS\N64\Zelda_OOT.zip
F:\ROMS\N64\Zelda_MM.zip

Even though those are all zip files, the folder association would automatically use the correct emulator (because each file will match one "FileFilter"). The NES roms would allow the "Open with NesterX" option on the popup menu. In my opinion, this provides a much cleaner interface than picking each of those from giant lists of roms when you (or your novice users) are in the mood to play Zelda.

u gotto have to fully functional audio player for that(like in thc).with stop,play pause and stuff
.other wise u wont be able to stop playing it unless u have the xbox remote controller.(the additional functions like stop play pause in the unleashx music play can only be accessed with the xbox remote commander)

A full motion video, or a digital slideshow screensaver is not enough?

Is that already in?

Should have a better default than the bouncing Text..

When the logo contest is done something cool should be done with the logo to make a new default screen saver.

Also need an abort / cancel button on features such as the skin downloader..


Edit: removed requests for features I later found in the options menus.

I agree with this for sure.
I'd also like if there were more controls for the music.
I have found skip to next song skip to next album and pause.
what about... wait I'm not in the XMC forum am I?

Just kidding. I really do like the visualisations idea. Are there plans for unleashx to do more stuff like XMC does?
just wondering.

Oh DAMN! I guess I gotta look into this more! UnleashX is one helluva dash! I just thought I had to live with that fugly bouncing text!!

Is there a way to connect to a IP address from the file manager? (like ava)

Those questions have been answered b/cause they date back to 2003...


What would be good to have on this dash is a little customization on the spinning orb (XBOX xip)... What i mean is... If we can move it where we like and how we like it and change the look... dunno if possible..

Also... Has MP3 support been added yet? (juz wonderin)

hahahaha

Keep up the great work on UX!







Evox sucks... (had it for a while back then...but couldn't stand the SCROLLING TEXT with no sound effects... I don't know if it has been fixed...since I had UX since the 1st release...)

It sure has!

Since the First release and you dont know about mp3 support! WOW Have you updated since then because it has evolved A LOT!

It doesn't really matter to me, but I favor the way it currently works. Seems more efficient to me.

lnoq wrote...

If you haven't changed the default FTP password, why do they need to read the config.xml to get it? If they don't already know the default password is 'xbox', how are they going to get in to read the config.xml if you have a boot passcode setup? Also, if you are concerned with security perhaps you should change the FTP password from the default to something else. If you think someone is going to boot your box to a passcode screen and then run a password cracker on the FTP server, maybe you should lock your box in a closet when you aren't there. What sort of top-secret materials does one keep on a game console?

i realize that. i pointed out in my post that i don't expect top level security and i dont really have anything worth hiding on there anyways.

i just thought that in a future release, it would be cool if there was some way to change that: ie- making it a selectable option



network settings:
load FTP/Network before security: yes/no

something like that if its not too hard to implement


and regarding reading the config.xml to get your ftp password-- thats not what i was getting at. they could ftp in while the password box is up and read the system password out of the .xml

in any case, its not a huge deal as most people probably would not care that much about it. like i said, it just felt wrong to me

Probably porn

As RudeBastard said, just change the FTP password.

I think it's a good idea that the FTP runs behind the passcode screen. This way you can FTP to recover your lost password.

That's what scares me. The potential of having our beloved dashboard influenced by the desires of some kid trying to hide his porn stash from his parents.

That's a good point. Here's what I was thinking:
I boot the xbox up to the boot-passcode screen. Network/FTP services loads in the background. I start a big upload/download and go walk the dog. Hopefully, the boot-passcode screen will deter someone from launching another app while my upload/download finishes.

you mean coverart thumbnails for the album? if so, that would be very nice, since I already have cover art for all my albums set as "folder.jpg" in thier respective mp3 album folders. but jpg may be more suitable than png's, and im not exactly sure how everyone else out there has thier cover art stored. guys please post some feedback on this!

a couple other small things crossed my mind this morning.

- download preview vids from the main game submenus (select/play, information, download preview, etc) (i think it was there, probably removed for bandwidth reason, if so ignore this)
- in the skins download section, instead of sorting alphabetically, why not have an option to sort by most recently added /or/ alphabetically. so that its easier to keep up with the latest skins that have been released.