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[luma]

First, a comment - seems like just about everybody here has switched to some other dashboard for daily use.  I've been using Avalaunch and UnleashX for a while now and just got around to checking out MXM.  All told, MXM seems to have quite a few rough edges, and there really isn't anything in it that makes me want to ditch UnleashX as my default dash - EXCEPT SCRIPTING!  Boy I really like the ActionScript funcitonality of MXM, and I can see myself using MXM as a utility more than a dashboard because of it.  My install CD (now using evox in a setup very similar to Slayer's) is currently being re-written to utilize the glory of MXM ActionScripts.  Enough fawning, onto the questions.

First, the situation:  I mod a lot of xboxes for resale, and I do everything I can to make sure that the software I load on those boxes is stable and simple.  My average customer doesn't know the first thing about computers, nevermind having any ability to run an FTP program, so simplicity is really an overriding factor.  Because of that the xboxes I resell use Avalaunch as the default dashboard.  For game management, nothing out there really beats the one-button simplicity of the Px HD Loader.  It's ugly, but it makes it drop-dead simple to a) copy games from dvd b) see how much free space you have, and c) delete games to make room for new games, all in one easy interface.  As we all know, the one big downside is it's retarded folder naming standard.  I found DBZRacer's script for renaming the folders useful, but I wanted something even more simple.

So....  I'm working on using MXM as a sort of utility with one function: rename PxGame folders to the XBE game name and back again if desired.  I want this to be easy to launch from Ava (or whatever) and simple to use.  I've removed all the prompting from the script - when you run it, it just goes ahead and renames all the folders in E:\HDDLoader and F:\HDDLoader and then displays a brief message telling you what it's done.  Here's what I created (again with a heavy debt to DBZRacer)

CODE

0    0    0    0    0    false    ::Simplicity Remix    ::Simplicity Remix            px2game.png         ;Set this to the desired target folder for games (no drive letter)      SET SourceFolder "HDDLoader"     ; Initialization      SET RenameCount "0"      :EDriveRename      SETFUNC FolderEmpty PATHEMPTY E:\%SourceFolder%      IF %FolderEmpty% == "1" GOTO FDriveRename      SET GamePath "E:\\%SourceFolder%"      GOTO DefineSearch      :FDriveRename      SETFUNC FolderEmpty PATHEMPTY F:\%SourceFolder%      IF %FolderEmpty% == "1" GOTO DoneSearch      SET GamePath "F:\\%SourceFolder%"      GOTO DefineSearch      :DefineSearch      BEGINSEARCH %GamePath%\pxgame*      GOTO SearchTop      :SearchTop      IF %search_type% == "dir" GOTO DIRFound      IF %search_type% == "file" GOTO NextSearch      IF %GamePath% == "E:\\%SourceFolder%" goto FDriveRename      GOTO DoneSearch      :DIRFound      SETFUNC GameTitle XBETITLE %GamePath%\%search_name%\default.xbe     ; strip the crap      SETFUNC CleanTitle FatXify %GameTitle% ""      BeginDraw UseCurrent      MessageBox "Renaming %search_name% to %CleanTitle%"      EndDraw     ; rename it      RENAME %GamePath%\%search_name% %GamePath%\%CleanTitle%      ADD RenameCount 1      :NextSearch      SearchNext      GOTO SearchTop      :DoneSearch      EndSearch      BeginDraw UseCurrent      MessageBox "Renamed %RenameCount% folder(s)."      EndDraw      Delay 3      QUIT                game2px.png         ;Set this to the desired source folder for games (no drive letter)      SET SourceFolder "HDDLoader"     ; Initialization      SET RenameCount "0"      :EDriveRename      SETFUNC FolderEmpty PATHEMPTY E:\%SourceFolder%      IF %FolderEmpty% == "1" GOTO FDriveRename      SET GamePath "E:\\%SourceFolder%"      SET PXNumber "-1"      GOTO DefineSearch      :FDriveRename      SETFUNC FolderEmpty PATHEMPTY F:\%SourceFolder%      IF %FolderEmpty% == "1" GOTO DoneSearch      SET GamePath "F:\\%SourceFolder%"      SET PXNumber "-1"      GOTO DefineSearch      :DefineSearch      BEGINSEARCH %GamePath%\*      GOTO SearchTop      :SearchTop      IF %search_type% == "dir" GOTO DIRFound      IF %search_type% == "file" GOTO NextSearch      IF %GamePath% == "E:\\%SourceFolder%" goto FDriveRename      GOTO DoneSearch      :DIRFound      SETFUNC FindDefault FILEEXISTS %GamePath%\%search_name%\default.xbe      IF %FindDefault% == "1" GOTO PxFind      GOTO NextSearch     ; Loop until we find the next PxGame name      :PxFind      ADD PXNumber 1      SETFUNC PxCheck FILEEXISTS %GamePath%\PxGame%PXNumber%      IF %PxCheck% == "1" GOTO PxFind      BeginDraw UseCurrent      MessageBox "Renaming %search_name% to PxGame%PXNumber%"      EndDraw     ; rename it      RENAME %GamePath%\%search_name% %GamePath%\PxGame%PXNumber%      ADD RenameCount 1      :NextSearch      SearchNext      GOTO SearchTop      :DoneSearch      EndSearch      BeginDraw UseCurrent      MessageBox "Renamed %RenameCount% folder(s)."      EndDraw      Delay 3      QUIT             reboot.png   reboot         px2game.png   f:\apps\mxm\default.xbe

Now, my question:  I can't seem to get it to use the ::Simplicity Remix skin.  Every time it starts up, it just selects a random skin.  Likewise, it is auto-adding items to the menu which I don't want either.  Do I have the <config> portion of the XML screwed up?  MXM just seems to ignore it.

Next question:  Is there any way to speed up the initialization of MXM?  I really don't need FTP support, or menu caching, or much of anything else - I just want to select one of the options and run the script, no more.  I'm led to understand there's no way to disable the silly Matrix-style text trails, but speeding up the init at all would be helpful.  Any tips?

If you want a copy of this with the .PNG icon files (just add your own MXM default.xbe), you can snag a copy here <