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[Abe87]

I have seen a lot of good mods for XBMC skins. I have made a few mods to the PM3 skin and a few to The Orbs skin. That's what makes XBMC so great. That if you don't like something or think that something is missing you can fix it.  I was thinking that we should start sharing ours mods no matter how small they are. Either post your mods in this thread or link to an existing mod.

I will add one of my mods to this thread later. It's called the jump button. It allows you to change to any directory at any time. You'll see what I mean later.

This post has been edited by Abe87: Apr 19 2006, 01:37 AM

[Abe87]

Ok so here is the jump button. It allows you to jump from any section to another section quickly. This is a mod for PM3. I'm using the Tech Build from 3-20-2006. I haven't tried this mod with later releases but it should work.

This is a long post but a very easy mod to do.

You will need to customize this mod to work properly with your version of XBMC. I'll explain when I get to that part.

First you are going to be editting the DialogButtonMenu.xml file. You can find this in the Pal folder in the Project Mayhem III skin folder. This is the menu that shows up when you press the right thumb stick in.

Okay all we are going to do is move a fuction from one button and add it to another button. This is so we can use the existing graphic for this button for our new button.

I chose to move the Restart button to the Shutdown button. Here is how to do it.

This is what the Restart button looks like in the xml file.

CODE

      reboot button
      button
      3114
      270
      5
      60
      65
      sub-reboot-focus.gif
      sub-reboot-nofocus.png
      XBMC.Reset()
      no
      3113
      3110
      3114
      3114
      -
      13313
    

This is what you will change it to.

CODE

      reboot button
      button
      1206
      210
      5
      60
      65
      sub-shutdown-focus.gif
      -
      XBMC.Reset()
      no
      1206
      1206
      3112
      3116
      -
      Restart Xbox
    

This has changed the location of the Restart button and changed the button graphic displayed when on this button. This button will now be one down press on the dpad when the Shutdown button is highlighted.

You will need to make a change to the Shutdown button

This is the original

CODE

      Shutdown button
      button
      3112
      150
      5
      60
      65
      sub-shutdown-focus.gif
      sub-shutdown-nofocus.png
      XBMC.ShutDown()
      no
      3111
      3113
      3115
      3116
      -
      13005
    

This is the change.

CODE

      Shutdown button
      button
      3112
      210
      5
      60
      65
      sub-shutdown-focus.gif
      sub-shutdown-nofocus.png
      XBMC.ShutDown()
      no
      3114
      3113
      3115
      1206
      -
      13005
    

All we did with this last change is changed it's position on the screen and changed which item it goes to when down is pressed on the dpad.

One last change for this section. When down is pressed on the unmodified Shutdown button it takes you to the Restart XBMC button. Well we have changed that with this mod so now we need to modify the Restart XBMC entry to work properly.

Here is the original

CODE

      reload xbmc button
      button
      3116
      150
      5
      60
      65
      sub-shutdown-focus.gif
      -
      XBMC.RestartApp()
      no
      3116
      3116
      3112
      3112
      -
      Restart XBMC
    

Here is the modified version

CODE

      reload xbmc button
      button
      3116
      210
      5
      60
      65
      sub-shutdown-focus.gif
      -
      XBMC.RestartApp()
      no
      3116
      3116
      1206
      3112
      -
      Restart XBMC
    

All we did here is change which item it goes to on an up press on the dpad.

Alright so now the graphic for the Restart button is not being used. This is the graphic we are going to use for the Jump button.

For my setup I wanted to get to any screen from this jump button. I need buttons for TV, Movies, Music, Games, Programs, Pictures, and Home. The reason there is a home button is because once you start navigating with the jump button every time you press back it takes you to the previous screen you were in.

Here is the additions for the jump button.

CODE

      TV button
      button
      3114
      150
      5
      60
      65
      sub-reboot-focus.gif
      sub-reboot-nofocus.png
      XBMC.ActivateWindow(MyVideos,TV)
      no
      3111
      3112
      1205
      1200
      -
      TV
    

    
      Movies button
      button
      1200
      150
      5
      60
      65
      sub-reboot-focus.gif
      -
      XBMC.ActivateWindow(MyVideos,Movies)
      no
      3111
      3112
      3114
      1202
      -
      Movies
    
    
    
      Games button
      button
      1201
      150
      5
      60
      65
      sub-reboot-focus.gif
      -
      XBMC.ActivateWindow(MyPrograms,Games)
      no
      3111
      3112
      1202
      1203
      -
      Games
    
    
    
      Music button
      button
      1202
      150
      5
      60
      65
      sub-reboot-focus.gif
      -
      XBMC.ActivateWindow(MyMusic,Albums)
      no
      3111
      3112
      1200
      1201
      -
      Music
    
    
    
      Programs button
      button
      1203
      150
      5
      60
      65
      sub-reboot-focus.gif
      -
      XBMC.ActivateWindow(MyPrograms,Programs)
      no
      3111
      3112
      1202
      1204
      -
      Programs
    
    
    
      Pictures button
      button
      1204
      150
      5
      60
      65
      sub-reboot-focus.gif
      -
      XBMC.ActivateWindow(MyPictures,Pictures)
      no
      3111
      3112
      1203
      1205
      -
      Pictures
    
    
    
      Home button
      button
      1205
      150
      5
      60
      65
      sub-reboot-focus.gif
      -
      XBMC.ActivateWindow(0)
      no
      3111
      3112
      1204
      3114
      -
      Home
    

This latest addition is what you will need to customize. In this section

CODE

XBMC.ActivateWindow(MyVideos,TV)

You will need to rename TV to whatever the name is of a bookmark in the myvideos section of your XboxMediaCenter.xml file. This should be done for each different section such as MyPrograms, MyPictures, MyVideos, MyMusic.

You can customize any of this to jump to anything that you want like Shoutcast, Itunes, and etc.

There is one last thing to do before we are done. We need to change the default of the DialogButtonMenu to our new jump button.

This is the section to change

CODE

3112

This can be found at the top of the xml. Here is the change.

CODE

3114

Now our jump button is the default. This can be change to default to anyone of the main buttons.

Well, I hope that wasn't too confusing. If you don't understand a part let me know and I'll try to help you out. If you can think of anything to make this better let me know.

Alright, so there is a skin mod submission from me. Lets see some of the other mods people have come up with.

This post has been edited by Abe87: Apr 19 2006, 03:19 AM

[Abe87]

Ok I've got another one for you. This is another PM3 mod. We are going to add a button for XBMCLyrics. But the cool part is that it won't show up unless your xbox is connected to a network and you are playing a song.

First you need to make sure that you have the XBMCLyrics script installed in your script folder.

You are going to be editting the MyMusicSongs.xml file found in the Pal folder of the PM3 skin folder.

Here is the original section

CODE

        Bookmark button 1
        button
        31
        50
        268
        Local
        XBMC.ActivateWindow(MyMusic,Local)
        50
        50
        7
        32
        no
      

Here is the modified version

CODE

        XBMCLyrics button
        button
        31
        50
        268
        XBMCLyrics
        XBMC.RunScript(F:\Apps\XBMC\scripts\XBMCLyrics\XBMCLyrics.py)
        50
        50
        7
        32
        system.hasnetwork + player.hasaudio
      

Now the only thing that might need to be changed is if you don't have XBMC installed in the same location as I do. So if you have it installed on your E drive change it. And it should work.

So once you start playing a song and you are connected to a network, a new button should appear in the list of buttons on the left. Clicking this button will open a pop up with the lyrics to the song that you are playing. Have fun.

[Abe87]

I thought I would post some screenshots to let you guys see what these mods look like. Here are some from the jump button.

This is my default to my tv section.

(IMG:http://img190.imageshack.us/img190/4152/jumptv0ip.png)

Here is the button to my movie section.

(IMG:http://img174.imageshack.us/img174/836/jumpmovies6eq.png)

Here is the button to my music section.

(IMG:http://img174.imageshack.us/img174/6004/jumpmusic2nw.png)

Here is the button to my program section.

(IMG:http://img174.imageshack.us/img174/9568/jumpprograms6qx.png)

I'm sure that you noticed that it is the same button but you get to the other choices by pressing up or down on the dpad. Speaking of that I ran into a problem. If you want to use my exact setup you need to change the <onup>1202</onup> in the Programs button to <onup>1201</onup>. Now everything should work fine.

Here are some screenshots from the XBMCLyrics button.

Xbox has an internet connection but no song is playing.

(IMG:http://img459.imageshack.us/img459/5346/xbmclyrics14nh.png)

Song playing.

(IMG:http://img161.imageshack.us/img161/5363/xbmclyrics25xs.png)

XBMCLyrics running.

(IMG:http://img161.imageshack.us/img161/9645/xbmclyrics66wp.png)

The XBMCLyrics button will only show up if you are connected to a network and a song is playing.

[Abe87]

This is another PM3 mod. This one combines the other two mods I have shown. This mod will allow you to use XBMCLyrics while displaying the visualisations. Screenshots are included.

First we are going to add this section to the DialogButtonMenu.xml file.

CODE

  
      XBMCLyrics button
      button
      1207
      270
      5
      60
      65
      sub-info-focus.gif
      -
      XBMC.RunScript(F:\Apps\XBMC\scripts\XBMCLyrics\XBMCLyrics.py)
      no
      1207
      1207
      3113
      3113
      -
      XBMCLyrics
      system.hasnetwork + player.hasaudio
    

Remember that if your copy of XBMCLyrics is in a different location then you will need to edit this line.

CODE

      XBMC.RunScript(F:\Apps\XBMC\scripts\XBMCLyrics\XBMCLyrics.py)

To show where your copy is located.

And you will need to change this in the System Info button section.

CODE

      3113
      3113

To this

CODE

      1207
      1207

Now you have a new button on the DialogButtonMenu. To access this button highlight the System Info button and press either up or down on the dpad. This XBMCLyrics button will only show up if you are connected to a network and are playing a song.

Here are the promised screenshots.

Here is the button.

(IMG:http://img188.imageshack.us/img188/4271/xbmclyrics35sn.png)

Here is XBMCLyrics running over the visualisation.

(IMG:http://img83.imageshack.us/img83/8749/xbmclyrics44tl.png)

If you have any questions or comments I would be glad to hear them.

[evilkorn]

Looks very well done.  I like how you took a basic CVS build and made it your own, that's what open source is supposed to be.  I don't think I will use the code you posted, but I like what you did.  

I like the idea of user contributed mods though.  The only problem I can see is the lack of things one can improve on.  Sure you can add buttons and links, but in the end one kind of runs out of things you can change.  I find the stock suites me fine, other then the bookmarks and internet settings I change.

[nuka1195]

You should be able to replace "F:\Apps\XBMC\" with "Q:\".

[Abe87]

Thanks for the comments evilkorn.

nuka1195 I know about the q:\ instead of F:\Apps\XBMC\ I had originally tried to do it that way but for some reason it would not work. But thanks for the reply because I forgot to mention the q:\

[imamafackinhokie]

I like what you did, good job, I'm gonna try this out in a few.

[ClintiePoo]

I would post the modified files so that users can just backup the originals and try the modified ones.  This saves everyone time.  Make sure you post the build that this works with, too.

THANKS!

[Abe87]

ClintiePoo sorry but I'm not going to post the files. This is because even if I did post the files people would have to modify them to work with their setup. So, why not just modify the files themselves? Also, I would like to see people learn how to modify these files and come up with mods of their own.

[ClintiePoo]

QUOTE(Abe87 @ Apr 23 2006, 07:55 PM)

ClintiePoo sorry but I'm not going to post the files. This is because even if I did post the files people would have to modify them to work with their setup. So, why not just modify the files themselves? Also, I would like to see people learn how to modify these files and come up with mods of their own.

Fair enough.  I definitely agree with the second point.