Topic: Media X Menu 0.9e Problems (Read 417 times)

RobX · « **on:** December 18, 2002, 03:33:00 PM »

First i would just like to thank BenJeremy for all the hard work he is putting into this great App.

Im attempting to run MediaX Menu on a:

Ntsc Xbox v1
Matrix Mod with evox 2.5 bios
And latest Evox release

I have encoutered some problems with .9e (they may be my stupid fault though)

1. If i specify the absolute or relative location of images in MXM.xml the images are never found, always get no image message. I have tried placing the images in the game dir, the media dir, and root. Always get the same problem....

2. I then decided to do autoconfig instead, MXM then found the images in the sub directories if i labeled them correctly. BUT, the MXM would never read from the MXM_Entry.ini files i created, making it just load the default value of the xbe certificate explained readme in Autoconfig #4. So some stuff puts a title while others display nothing, but i have the option of selecting blank space though.

3. It also seems that i am only able to boot MXM before the xbox reaches the evox dash. So i power on using eject and put MXM disc in and it boots fine. But if i boot to evox, and use BoxXplorer to run the default.xbe off the MXM root dir it just hangs at black till i reboot.

If these problems all occur because of something im doing please let me know. Keep up the great work on this project, its much appreciated.

BenJeremy · « **Reply #1 on:** December 18, 2002, 03:22:00 PM »

QUOTE (RobX @ Dec 18 2002, 05:22 PM)

First i would just like to thank BenJeremy for all the hard work he is putting into this great App.

Im attempting to run MediaX Menu on a:

Ntsc Xbox v1
Matrix Mod with evox 2.5 bios
And latest Evox release

I have encoutered some problems with .9e (they may be my stupid fault though)

1. If i specify the absolute or relative location of images in MXM.xml the images are never found, always get no image message. I have tried placing the images in the game dir, the media dir, and root. Always get the same problem....

2. I then decided to do autoconfig instead, MXM then found the images in the sub directories if i labeled them correctly. BUT, the MXM would never read from the MXM_Entry.ini files i created, making it just load the default value of the xbe certificate explained readme in Autoconfig #4. So some stuff puts a title while others display nothing, but i have the option of selecting blank space though.

3. It also seems that i am only able to boot MXM before the xbox reaches the evox dash. So i power on using eject and put MXM disc in and it boots fine. But if i boot to evox, and use BoxXplorer to run the default.xbe off the MXM root dir it just hangs at black till i reboot.

If these problems all occur because of something im doing please let me know. Keep up the great work on this project, its much appreciated.

1. Could you show me an example of an entry in your MXM.xml file?

2. There is no more support for ini files. it's looking for MXM_Entry.xml now (did I miss that in the readme - I did - sorry about that!!)

3. This one puzzles me. I will run a test tonight and see what might be happening. While I debug it, I run it from Evo-X, so I'm not sure why this would be the case.

RobX · « **Reply #2 on:** December 18, 2002, 06:14:00 PM »

I no longer have the old mxm.xml file since i went to autoconfig option, I will attempt the new method where the ini's are now xml files.

Maybe mxm doesnt work with igr of new evox or something? or could it just not work with boxplorer for some odd reason?

P.S. I love your image of ron jeremy... I had lunch with him back in the early 1990's at a Consumer Electronic Show in Chicago, real cool guy.

djsnake · « **Reply #3 on:** December 18, 2002, 07:01:00 PM »

Mines doing the same thing you described in #3 only I have the next to most recent version of EvoX and I'm using Xcommander to run it. So I dont think the problem is with EvoX. I haven't tried running it from a disc yet but all I have are dvdrs at the moment and I cant afford coasters.

BenJeremy · « **Reply #4 on:** December 18, 2002, 07:21:00 PM »

Other people have reported the IGR working fine for them.

I'm not running the X2 BIOS, though.... Evo-X 2.5 for now. Latest Evo-X dashboard.

I'm going to test my latest build with CD-R and see what happens.

BenJeremy · « **Reply #5 on:** December 18, 2002, 07:48:00 PM »

Well, I just burned an XDFS formatted CD-RW.

The version of MXM I ran was my 0.9f "Work-in-progress" - but the ONLY change was I moved the default font from the media directory into the executable.

I ran it by loading it while sitting in the latest Evo-X dashboard (auto-run game option set to on, IGR set to on).

MXM loaded fine, application loaded fine, IGR worked within loaded game.

So, Evo-X IGR is not the problem (and, AFAIK, X2 IGR is not either).

I plan on making the next release bulletproof enough that, even if there are NO config files, it will **still** load something up (might be a bit ugly) and run.

Now, as a test, I copied over the latest release, 0.9e, to my work directory (with no Media directory in it) and I get my sky and logo, then it reboots (presumably when it tries to load the non-existant default font). So there was no lock up, and it got as far as the logo.

With No MXM.xml, I get the same results.

Finally, replacing the Media directory (with the Font16.xpr) but still missing the MXM.xml, it booted up fine.

In short, I have not been able to recreate your problem. As far as I know, you should ALWAYS be able to get to the sky and logo screen, no matter what.

ips · « **Reply #6 on:** December 21, 2002, 09:55:00 AM »

Just tried v0.9e and can't seem to get anything but a black screen. I have all the files (1 jpg 1 png and 1 xpr) in the media directory along with the defaultskin directory. I have tried it with and without the MXM.xml file and still I only get a black screen. Can you give me an example mxm.xml file that contains the minimum amount to just load?

Here is what I have in it at the moment:

QUOTE

<Config>
<Main>
<DiscTitle>Test</DiscTitle>
<DiscSubtitle>Test Run</DiscSubtitle>
<LoadSkin>DefaultSkin</LoadSkin>
<TitleDelay>20</TitleDelay>
<SaverDelay>30</SaverDelay>
<MenuPath>F:\MXM</MenuPath>
</Main>
</Config>

Also another question, does your program handle whitespace. I kind of assumed it did so that might be one place I could be in error. I modified MXM_Skin.xml file to be more readable like:

QUOTE

BenJeremy · « **Reply #7 on:** December 21, 2002, 10:21:00 AM »

QUOTE (ips @ Dec 21 2002, 11:44 AM)

Just tried v0.9e and can't seem to get anything but a black screen. I have all the files (1 jpg 1 png and 1 xpr) in the media directory along with the defaultskin directory. I have tried it with and without the MXM.xml file and still I only get a black screen. Can you give me an example mxm.xml file that contains the minimum amount to just load?

Here is what I have in it at the moment:

QUOTE

<Config>
<Main>
<DiscTitle>Test</DiscTitle>
<DiscSubtitle>Test Run</DiscSubtitle>
<LoadSkin>DefaultSkin</LoadSkin>
<TitleDelay>20</TitleDelay>
<SaverDelay>30</SaverDelay>
<MenuPath>F:\MXM</MenuPath>
</Main>
</Config>

Also another question, does your program handle whitespace. I kind of assumed it did so that might be one place I could be in error. I modified MXM_Skin.xml file to be more readable like:

QUOTE

Your MXM.xml looks fine.

You should get, at the minimum, the sky and logo (the jpg and png in Media are no longer needed in 0.9e)

I'll check on the whitespace issue later today.

RobX · « **Reply #8 on:** December 21, 2002, 11:14:00 AM »

QUOTE (ips @ Dec 21 2002, 03:44 PM)

Just tried v0.9e and can't seem to get anything but a black screen. I have all the files (1 jpg 1 png and 1 xpr) in the media directory along with the defaultskin directory. I have tried it with and without the MXM.xml file and still I only get a black screen. Can you give me an example mxm.xml file that contains the minimum amount to just load?

Here is what I have in it at the moment:

QUOTE

<Config>
<Main>
<DiscTitle>Test</DiscTitle>
<DiscSubtitle>Test Run</DiscSubtitle>
<LoadSkin>DefaultSkin</LoadSkin>
<TitleDelay>20</TitleDelay>
<SaverDelay>30</SaverDelay>
<MenuPath>F:\MXM</MenuPath>
</Main>
</Config>

Also another question, does your program handle whitespace. I kind of assumed it did so that might be one place I could be in error. I modified MXM_Skin.xml file to be more readable like:

QUOTE

Are you booting the disc from the evox dashboard? or are you putting the disk in before it gets to the dasH? Because mine would boot fine if i put the mxm cd in before the evox dash, but i cant get it to work if i try to load it from the evox dash (black screen like you)

ips · « **Reply #9 on:** December 21, 2002, 11:27:00 AM »

Ok, I finally got it running. White space isn't a problem in the MXM.xml file I just tested it, I am not sure about the MXM_Skin.xml cause I erased the one I edited to get it running.

The problem it seems MXM will hang on a black screen if its run from the boxplorer interface. Once I put in an entry in my evox.ini and it ran fine from there.

RobX: Interesting so the black screen happens when it is autorun from the evox dash? I was just testing it on the HD using boxplorer so I wouldn't have to edit the evox.ini.

This post has been edited by ips: Dec 21 2002, 07:32 PM

RobX · « **Reply #10 on:** December 21, 2002, 02:11:00 PM »

QUOTE (ips @ Dec 21 2002, 05:16 PM)

Ok, I finally got it running. White space isn't a problem in the MXM.xml file I just tested it, I am not sure about the MXM_Skin.xml cause I erased the one I edited to get it running.

The problem it seems MXM will hang on a black screen if its run from the boxplorer interface. Once I put in an entry in my evox.ini and it ran fine from there.

RobX: Interesting so the black screen happens when it is autorun from the evox dash? I was just testing it on the HD using boxplorer so I wouldn't have to edit the evox.ini.

I have not tried to get it to boot from evox directly... i myself also used boxplorer and it would just hang.... maybe i should set evox to autoboot the cd and give it a try....

Wonder why boxplorer wont boot the mxm xbe?

RobX · « **Reply #11 on:** December 21, 2002, 01:25:00 PM »

QUOTE (BenJeremy @ Dec 18 2002, 10:22 PM)

QUOTE (RobX @ Dec 18 2002, 05:22 PM)

First i would just like to thank BenJeremy for all the hard work he is putting into this great App.

Im attempting to run MediaX Menu on a:

Ntsc Xbox v1
Matrix Mod with evox 2.5 bios
And latest Evox release

I have encoutered some problems with .9e (they may be my stupid fault though)

1. If i specify the absolute or relative location of images in MXM.xml the images are never found, always get no image message. I have tried placing the images in the game dir, the media dir, and root. Always get the same problem....

2. I then decided to do autoconfig instead, MXM then found the images in the sub directories if i labeled them correctly. BUT, the MXM would never read from the MXM_Entry.ini files i created, making it just load the default value of the xbe certificate explained readme in Autoconfig #4. So some stuff puts a title while others display nothing, but i have the option of selecting blank space though.

3. It also seems that i am only able to boot MXM before the xbox reaches the evox dash. So i power on using eject and put MXM disc in and it boots fine. But if i boot to evox, and use BoxXplorer to run the default.xbe off the MXM root dir it just hangs at black till i reboot.

If these problems all occur because of something im doing please let me know. Keep up the great work on this project, its much appreciated. :jester:

1. Could you show me an example of an entry in your MXM.xml file?

2. There is no more support for ini files. it's looking for MXM_Entry.xml now (did I miss that in the readme - I did - sorry about that!!)

3. This one puzzles me. I will run a test tonight and see what might be happening. While I debug it, I run it from Evo-X, so I'm not sure why this would be the case.

Took your advise in number 2: but mxm still only displays whats contained in the default.xbe header and not what i says in the MXM_Entry.xml file.... so it is still not finding the files...

BenJeremy · « **Reply #12 on:** December 21, 2002, 04:08:00 PM »

I just tried the Boxplorer thing, and yes, it hangs.

I will try and pinpoint the problem... very strange.

As for MXM_Entry.xml, the file must be in the directory of the game, which will be in an immediate subdirectory of MXM. It's entries consist of <Item> sections, not numbered item sections, since it's one file per game (the idea is that you keep the file with the game, so you can mix and match collections later, or that release groups could be nice and put the entry there, along with a screenshot.

ips · « **Reply #13 on:** December 21, 2002, 05:38:00 PM »

Instead of the ScreenShots etc in the game directory, could you add a flag for a MediaDirectory xml entry? This would store all screen shots/video caps in there so as to not clutter up the original files.
Example:

QUOTE

<Config>
<Main>
.
.
<MediaDirectory>D:\ScreenShots</MediaDirectory>
</Main>
<Item_1>
<Title>Mame Platform</Title>
<Description>Mame Platform games</Description>
<Dir>D:\MamePlatform</Dir>
<Media>MameCover.jpg</Media>
</Item_1>
</Config>

So in the above there would Exist a MamePlatform Directory on the D drive root. Now Rather than cluttering up the MamePlatform Directory with screen shots and video images we would have a D:\ScreenShots directory to keep all the screen shots. Maybe make the Media tag in the item_xx section be a relative path of the MediaDirectory Main item.

So if it said:
<Media>MainPlatform\MameCover.jpg</Media>
above it would look in:
D:\ScreenShots\MamePlatform\MameCover.jpg

BenJeremy · « **Reply #14 on:** December 21, 2002, 06:56:00 PM »

You can put screenshots anywhere. Just specify the full path (if on the DVD, use D:\...) in the MXM.xml "Item_xx" entries.

It's always supported this.

Author Topic: Media X Menu 0.9e Problems (Read 417 times)