Print

[xboxbox451]

***UPDATE 12.27.05***
As of June 6, 2005, the XBMC developers have introduced a new RSS control function. This new feature allows multiple rss feeds to stream within a single rss control, one after another. I’ll attempt to explain how to stream multiple rss feeds for one rss control, and how to add multiple rss controls each having multiple rss feeds. In addition I have linked for download more customized homepage files that can be found at the end of this post.

!!!WARNING!!!
I highly recommend making a dash boot disc prior to editing your “XboxMediaCenter.xml” file. If one character is missing or entered wrong while editing the “XboxMediaCenter.xml” file, your xbox will not boot, and could possibly prevent you from ftp’ing to correct the problem. Having a boot disc available will allow you to boot your xbox from CD to gain access should you need to correct a mistake.
Here’s a link to a boot cd tutorial for the evox dash --> Evox Tutorial Boot Disc Link

Keep an unaltered copy of the “XboxMediaCenter.xml” file as a backup. Should you run into problems, you can overwrite the .xml file with the unaltered backup and try again.
!!!WARNING!!!

ONE RSS CONTROL WITH MULTIPLE FEEDS
If you desire only one rss control to display on your home page and want multiple rss feeds to stream one after another then follow these steps:

Requirements:
XBMC Build 6.10.05 or later
Edit your XboxMediaCenter.xml

STEP 1 getting your desired rss links
Locate the rss url’s you wish to include in your rss control. Copy the rss url links to a notepad file for easy retrieval later. I don’t know if there’s a limit to how many rss url’s that can be added, so just add as many as you desire and see what happens. I’ve streamed nine rss url’s with no problems.

Example rss url: http://rss.cnn.com/r..._topstories.rss (not all rss url’s end in rss)

Some RSS Link Sites
Feedster RSS search engine
Yahoo RSS links
CNN RSS links
BBC News RSS inks

STEP 2 adding your rss url’s
The rss url’s are no longer added into the home.xml file. The “XboxMediaCenter.xml” must be edited to add your specific rss url links. To edit this file, FTP to your XBMC folder and right-click on the “XboxMediaCenter.xml” and select the edit option. This file will open and display code. Scroll down till you locate the following:



<rss>
<set id="1">
<feed updateinterval="30">http://www.xbox-scene.com/xbox1data/xbox-scene.xml</feed>
</set>
</rss>

To add more rss feeds, simply copy your rss url’s exactly as shown in the example below. The URL's highlighted in red are the actual RSS URL's.


<rss>
<set id="1">
<feed updateinterval="30">http://www.xbox-scene.com/xbox1data/xbox-scene.xml</feed>
<feed updateinterval="30">http://rss.cnn.com/rss/cnn_topstories.rss</feed>
<feed updateinterval="30">http://rss.news.yahoo.com/rss/oddlyenough</feed>
</set>
</rss>

Make sure to include the <feed updateinterval="30"></feed> tags for each rss url , as shown in the above example.

Tags defined:
<set id="1"> This tag is the url set ID, which is necessary to use should you decide to insert another rss control within a different skin page. This tag only needs adjustment if your using feed sets. See below for feed sets tutorial.

<feed updateinterval="30"> The "30" in this tag represents thirty minutes, which is the amount of time it will take for XBMC to check for rss updates. You can adjust this number to a desired amount of minutes to fine tune when you would like XBMC to check for updates.

Your feeds will stream in the order their placed from top to bottom. Save your file and reboot. You should now see your rss feeds stream one after another in the order they were placed.

!!IMPORTANT!!
If your using XBMC as your main dashboard, you’ll need to also copy the revised “XboxMediaCenter.xml” to your c:\ partition.
!!IMPORTANT!!

MULTIPLE RSS CONTROLS WITH MULTIPLE FEEDS PER CONTROL (FEED SETS)
If you desire to have multiple rss controls display simultaneously on your home page and want multiple feeds to stream for each rss control, then follow these steps on how to create feed sets.

Feed sets can also be displayed on other pages within your skin by copying the specific rss code from the home.xml associated with your desired feed set to another .xml file you wish to have the rss control displayed.

Requirements:
XBMC Build 12.27.05 or later
Project Mayhem III Skin (if your using a different skin, you’ll need to locate what folder the “home.xml” file resides.
Edit your XboxMediaCenter.xml
Edit your home.xml

!!!NOTICE!!!
As of 6/10/05 this tutorial has been revised to explain the use of  <set id="1"> tags that are now in the rss section of the “XboxMediaCenter.xml” file. If your  “XboxMediaCenter.xml” rss section does not have  these tags <set id="1">, then your using a previous build. I recommend updating to a newer build in order to follow this tutorial properly.
!!!NOTICE!!!

STEP 1 getting your desired rss links (see Step 1 above)

STEP 2 adding rss url’s
To add your rss url’s, the “XboxMediaCenter.xml” file must be edited. To edit this file, FTP to your XBMC folder and right-click on the “XboxMediaCenter.xml” and select the edit option. This file will open and display code. Scroll down till you locate the following:



<rss>
<set id="1">
<feed updateinterval="30">http://www.xbox-scene.com/xbox1data/xbox-scene.xml</feed>
</set>
</rss>

STEP 3 creating feed sets
A feed set is a group of rss feeds that can be set to display in a specific rss control. The example below consists of three feed sets that will be used for three rss controls on a home page. You can replace the existing rss feed in your XboxMediaCenter.xml file with the example code below and/or edit the listed rss urls to your liking.

CODE

http://www.xbox-scene.com/xbox1data/xbox-scene.xml
http://www.gamespot.com/misc/rss/gamespot_updates_all_games.xml
http://rss.news.yahoo.com/rss/tech


http://rss.cnn.com/rss/cnn_topstories.rss
http://www.foxnews.com/xmlfeed/rss/0,4313,1,00.rss
http://online.wsj.com/xml/rss/0,,3_7011,00.xml


http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/rss/news
http://www.microsite.reuters.com/rss/sportsNews
http://cbs.sportsline.com/partners/feeds/rss/home_news

Notice how each feed set is grouped by the <set id="1"></set> tags. The desired rss url links are placed between those tags. These feed sets will stream to a specific rss control you add to your home.xml file or other xbmc page of your choice. Edit your feed sets with your desired rss url’s like shown in the example above.

Each feed set must be given a unique number assigned to the <set id="1"> tag. Refer to the example above on how to assign numbers to your group tags. The number assigned to each group will be needed for the  rss control placed in the home.xml file in order to provide a group ID for each feed set.

Ensure all tags have been correctly entered!! Save your file upon completion.

!!IMPORTANT!!
If your using XBMC as your main dashboard, you’ll need to also copy the revised “XboxMediaCenter.xml” to your c:\ partition.

Verify all tags are correctly entered, otherwise your xbox will not boot.
!!IMPORTANT!!

STEP 4 creating additional rss controls in home.xml
In order to stream multiple feed sets on an xbmc page, a new rss control must be added for each new feed set. This is added to your specific skins “.xml” file. In this example we created three feed sets and we'll add additional rss controls to the home page (home.xml). The “home.xml” file already has one existing rss control added to the code, so you now have to add two more rss controls to accommodate the additional two feed sets.

FTP to your XBMC folder and open the following folders to locate your “home.xml” file:

For regular TV’s, navigate this folder path: skin/Project Mayhem III/PAL/
For High Definition TV’s 4:3 or 16:9 display, navigate this folder path: skin/Project Mayhem III/ PAL16x9/

In the specific PAL folder you’ll find the “home.xml” file, right click that file and select the edit option. The file will open and display code, scroll down till you locate the following entry:

    <control>
      <description>rss feed</description>
      <type>rss</type>
      <id>1</id>
      <posx>0</posx>
      <posy>470</posy>
      <width>720</width>
      <font>font13</font>
      <urlset>1</urlset>
      <titlecolor>ffD2FF00</titlecolor>
      <headlinecolor>DDced8da</headlinecolor>
      <textcolor>ffD2FF00</textcolor>
      <visible>!Player.HasVideo</visible>
    </control>

The code above defines an rss control on your xbmc home page. To add two more rss controls, copy the entire code and paste it below the existing entry two times (example shown below). The tags listed below will have to be edited to define your desired location, width, ID, and feed set number.

STEP 5 editing rss control tags
The RSS controls require specific tags to be edited in order to adjust position, width, ID, and feed set identification. These four tags and their necessary adjustments are explained below.

<urlset>1</urlset> You must change the number in this tag to match the <set id="1"> tag for the feed set you created in the XboxMediaCenter.xml file.  For instance, if you created a feed set with a <set id="3">, and that's the feed set you want to stream for a specific control, then your <urlset> tag should be assigned that ID, example:. <urlset>3</urlset>.

<id>1</id>To have multiple rss controls within your home.xml file, you need to assign each control a unique ID number. In the ezample below I used an ID value between 1000 - 1002. It's important not to assign an ID number as the same of existing controls within your home.xml file.

<posy>500</posy> The number between this tag determines where the rss control will be located horizontally on your home page. The lower this number is, the higher the rss control will be displayed. Depending on your TV’s resolution, you should be able to adjust this setting between 20 thru 530, or depending on your TV resolution.

<posx>0</posx> The number between this tag determines where the rss control will be located vertically on your home page. The lower this number is, the more your control will move towards the left of your screen. Depending on your TV’s resolution, you should be able to adjust this setting between 50 thru 665 or depending on your TV resolution. Keep this number as “0” should you want the rss contol to span the entire width of the screen.

<width>720</width> The number between this tag determines the width of the rss control. The smaller the number determines the smaller the width of the rss control. The current setting of “720” is capable of spanning the entire width of the screen.

To fine tune your adjustments, you’ll need to adjust your tags, save your file, and reload your skin, look at your TV display, and adjust some more by repeating these steps if necessary. TIP: By pressing down on the right thumb stick of your xbox controller, xbmc will display a quick menu.  Move the d-pad up once and "Reload Skin" will be selected, press the "A" button and your XBMC skin will reload thereby displaying your new adjustments.

The example code below depicts how your final code should look. You can copy and paste the modified code below to your Project Mayhem III home.xml file, and the two additional rss controls will display below the existing rss control on your home screen in XBMC. NOTE: If you use this code below, be sure to remove the existing RSS control in your home.xml file. Remember to also add your feed sets to the XboxMediaCenter.xml file. The bottom two RSS controls may overlap hidden buttons.

CODE

rss feed
rss
1000
0
470
720
font13
1
ffD2FF00
DDced8da
ffD2FF00
!Player.HasVideo



rss feed
rss
1001
0
495
580
font13
2
ffD2FF00
DDced8da
ffD2FF00
!Player.HasVideo



rss feed
rss
1002
0
520
580
font13
3
ffD2FF00
DDced8da
ffD2FF00
!Player.HasVideo

You can add rss controls to pages other than the home page for your specific skin. Just copy the rss control code from your home.xml file and paste it into the .xml file of the page you would like the rss control to appear. Of course you'll need to adjust the width, pos x,y tags to position your rss control. Ensure that you assign the correct urlset ID of the desired rss feeds you want to display for that specific rss control.

--->END TUTORIAL<---

INFOLABEL/FADELABEL CONTROL TO DISPLAY SYSTEM STATS

Here’s a code snippet that will display various information about your xbox on one line, streamed one after another. Just copy the below listed code into your home.xml file, and this will display the system stats right above the “My Programs” button on your Project Mayhem III home screen:

CODE

     System Stats
     fadelabel
     200
     Network.IPAddress
     System.CPUTemperature
     System.GPUTemperature
     System.FanSpeed
     System.Freespace(f)
     System.Freespace(e)
     System.Freespace(c)
     128
     190
     special12
  

Make sure to paste this code above these last two tags in you home.xml file:

</controls>
</window>

MORE CUSTOMIZED HOME.XML FILES FOR DOWNLOAD

I have linked for download several more customized home.xml files. All come with the weather on home page. Each varies on how many rss controls display on the page. Review the screen shots below to see how these home.xml files are customized. I also added info labels to some customized files in varied positions. These info labels display system information such as IP Address, drive storage space, system temperature.

Requirements:
XBMC build 12/27/05 or later (DO NOT USE ON EARLIER BUILDS)
Project Mayhem III Skin

To download these files right-click and save-as on this link --> Download Link

You’ll download a compressed .rar file which you’ll have to unrar. All home.xml files are placed within their own labeled folder. Just copy the desired home.xml file to your specific PAL(regular TV's) or PAL16x9(High-Def TV's) folder of your Project Mayhem III skin and reboot. See tutorial above on how to locate the PAL folder.

If you plan to use a home.xml file that has more than one rss control, you’ll have to follow the tutorial above on how to set up url sets in the “XboxMediaCenter.xml” file.

[enderandrew]

Color me stupid, but if you're from the USA, why are you using a PAL version?

[xboxbox451]

Yes, I'm from the USA. No, I'm not using a PAL version.

From what I understand, there is only one build of XBMC/Project Mayhem Skin, and they support NTSC & PAL. When installed they will auto-recognize your specific TV's resolution.

The "PAL" folder just happens to be the location the dev set the "Home.xml" file in. Whatever reason, I have no idea.

If I happen to be wrong, then please someone elaborate.

[j_guzzler]

No you are right, somewhere along the line the template for making skins was designed around a pal system.  So, now most skins are created using PAL, and then referenced (rescaled, resized) to NTSC.  Thats why the majority of the xml files are located in the PAL folder.

[xboxbox451]

Thanks for clearing that up guzzler. That had me thinkin for a minute...OK maybe two.

[hhsweatherman]

how do i change that home file if i just want the weather to show up in the corner like yours, but notshift the buttons and add rss feeds?

[jingjing]

F'n rocks... First I'm completly happy with the latest build of xbmc (05-02-05).  I like what you've done with the Project Mayhem skin.  Keep up the good work.  I would like the same as the previous reply, but can you have todays weather and tomorrows on the same line?

This post has been edited by jingjing: May 5 2005, 01:11 AM

[failurbydesign]

do i need a special program to edit home.xml?

[xboxbox451]

(IMG:http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v662/ighyighy/wxonly.jpg)



As requested, heres a weather only "Home.xml".

Follow the instructions in the original post, but copy the modified "Home.xml" file from this link  --> "Home.xml"

QUOTE(jingjing @ May 4 2005, 06:15 PM)

I would like the same as the previous reply, but can you have todays weather and tomorrows on the same line?

I don't think the Project Mayhem 3 Skin supports more than the current weather.

QUOTE(failurbydesign @ May 4 2005, 06:28 PM)

do i need a special program to edit home.xml?

No. Your FTP client should open an editor when you right click on the "Home.xml" file, and select "edit from the sub-menu.

If that does'nt work, you can use notepad (a built in word processor in winXP) to open and edit the home.xml file.

[failurbydesign]

i like the second one the best, by the way, i uploaded your new one and i have no rss feeds at all....

[xboxbox451]

Try downloading it again. I had to re-up a new one.

Though I dont know why your rss feeds are not working. I overwrote mine with the uploaded file and my feeds were working.

Try again and post back if theres a problem, also check and make sure that RSS Feeds is enabled in your xbmc settings, and that they were working with your old configuration.

[failurbydesign]

yea let me try that..il get back..by the way..were do i ge to enable the feeds?

[xboxbox451]

At the XBMC Home page goto --> Settings --> Apperance --> the first page that opens will have and option to "Enable RSS Feeds". If theres a white dot in the radio button, then its enabled.

Also check that "Enable HTTP Proxy" is disabled. You'll find that by goining to --> Settings  -->  Network --> the first page that opens has the "Enable HTTP Proxy" setting, make sure thats NOT enabled.

[failurbydesign]

did everything u said and still no feeds....GRRRRRRRRRR

[xboxbox451]

Go back to your original home.xml, and see if you have feeds. I just want to rule out wether its the home.xml file or your configuration.

Have you upgraded xbmc to the latest May 2 build?

Are you using the Project Mayhem III skin?

Is you version of XBMC a pimped version, meaing it came with mods and loaded with scripts. Overwriting a pimped version home.xml may not work.