Re: MediaBox Media Center V 0.90
 

I noticed that if you have the FM radio desktop applet enabled and exit MediaBox, the applet sometimes switches on radio by itself (even though MediaBox switched it off).

Re: MediaBox Media Center V 0.90
 

What more details to you need? I'm running on N810, OS version 50-2. I installed MediaBox from the Application Manager and am running it from the Application folder. (I've not seen how to run it from within xterm, if that is possible). My music, photos, etc are on the external memory card and are accessible from Canola, and other media applications. MediaBox doesn't seem to see any of this. The only icon that seems to work is the internet radio icon. Is there some kind of diagnostic I need to run?

Re: MediaBox Media Center V 0.90
 

fyi, the media box entry on http://maemo.org/downloads/list/OS2008/ has "developed by nokia" tag, I'm doubting this is true :)

Re: MediaBox Media Center V 0.90
 

Other people talk about it hanging trying to load media files. I can't tell if it is trying to load media files at all. It comes up and says it is loading components, but then with line at the bottom with version/author and web site, it shows only the music icon. If I press the full screen button, it shows a gray box on the left and some icons with "-" after them in the middle and nothing on the right. There also is a black band along the bottom. The app always takes up the entire screen. If I press the full screen button again, all I get is a white screen with a black band at the bottom. If I press the "+" rocker it shows a row of icons at the bottom (where the black band was). The only icon that seems to do anything (other than the date/time icon) is the internet radio icon. The other icons do cause a change in the top part of the panel, but no content is displayed. There is an arrow icon on the bottom left that seems to change the icons along the bottom. I guess this is all supposed to be intuitive, but not having it show any content makes it pretty non-intuitive. If it is hanging, how can I tell what is hanging? Is there some other way to start the application? One other person said they have to remove and reinsert the removable media. This is pretty strange as I don't have to do this for any other application and see no real need to do so. Any suggestions?

Re: MediaBox Media Center V 0.90
 

Thanks for your detailed description. It sounds as if you're really experiencing some hanging during loading. That's why there's only one icon visible. Running MediaBox from the Terminal may reveal more information on what went wrong. So if you see anything there, please let me know.

Re: MediaBox Media Center V 0.90
 

All I see there is "Server Error". And that since at least a week ago. maemo.org/downloads is really buggy. :(
But I can assure you, MediaBox is not connected to Nokia in any way.

Re: MediaBox Media Center V 0.90
 

How do I run mediabox from the terminal? I didn't see how to do this. What is the command to run from the terminal prompt? There doesn't seem to be anything called mediabox. And I've not found any documentation or information on this thread of how to do this.

Re: MediaBox Media Center V 0.90
 

Just enter
with capital M and B and press Enter.

Re: MediaBox Media Center V 0.90
 

Thanks! I ran MediaBox from an xterm and got the following. It behaved the same as when I use the application launcher. The first log is the error log from the application. The second is the output of the application.

~Error log
~
~ $ MediaBox > media.log&
~ $ Traceback (most recent call last):
File "/usr/lib/mediabox/mediabox/App.py", line 248, in __load_viewers
viewer = viewerclass(self.__window)
File "/usr/lib/mediabox/viewers/preferences/Preferences.py", line 58, in __init__
self.__add_card(CardMediaRoot(esens, "Media Collection"),
File "/usr/lib/mediabox/viewers/preferences/CardMediaRoot.py", line 25, in __init__
self.__mediaroots = config.mediaroot()
File "/usr/lib/mediabox/mediabox/config.py", line 21, in mediaroot
roots = _CLIENT.get_list(_PREFIX + "mediaroot", gconf.VALUE_STRING) or \
GError: Type mismatch: Expected list, got string

log:
headphones disconnected
clock /usr/lib/mediabox/viewers /usr/lib/mediabox/viewers/clock
image /usr/lib/mediabox/viewers /usr/lib/mediabox/viewers/image
music /usr/lib/mediabox/viewers /usr/lib/mediabox/viewers/music
radio /usr/lib/mediabox/viewers /usr/lib/mediabox/viewers/radio
video /usr/lib/mediabox/viewers /usr/lib/mediabox/viewers/video
preferences /usr/lib/mediabox/viewers /usr/lib/mediabox/viewers/preferences
... handled by _DummyPlayer
... handled by _DummyPlayer
... handled by _DummyPlayer
unknown-stream ... handled by _MPlayer
Starting MPlayer
running
Started Player
Started Player
CTX 1
Playing
.ram ... handled by _OSSOPlayer
Killed Player
Killed Player
CTX 1
seekable: 0
length: 0
has_video: 0
Playing
seekable: 0
length: 0
bitrate: 1000
has_video: 0
Playing
unknown key F5

Re: MediaBox Media Center V 0.90
 

"rightmost icon with the wrench"? What are you referring to? I don't see any preferences section. I see a set of icons at the bottom of the screen when running MediaBox and the rightmost one is the icon of the time/date. How would I get to the preferences section? There is a curved arrow on the lower left, which seems to change the bottom display depending on which icon has been selected. I cannot make the program come up with less than the entire display. There is no normal control panel (unlike any other IT application I've run). I have no images or media files in MyDocuments.

Re: MediaBox Media Center V 0.90
 

Something must be broken in gconf.
Try entering the following in the Terminal:

This might help. Please let me know.

The rightmost icon is usually not the clock but the preferences icon.

Re: MediaBox Media Center V 0.90
 

That was big help! It now shows the icons correctly and finds some files. The only thing that seems to be a problem is that I can't see the control panel when using MediaBox, and MediaBox doesn't let one browse photos by folder. It shows photos in multiple folders flattened in a linear list. Also, I don't see how to view photos at full screen and go to the next photo. In any case, this fix of the configuration seemed do the trick.
Thanks!

Re: MediaBox Media Center V 0.90
 

Question: What methods does mediabox use select album art for folders? I've got images embedded in ID3 tags and images called folder.jpg in the directory. Some of the folder.jpg images are displayed in the mediabox audio listing and some are not. All are shown in the picture list.

Re: MediaBox Media Center V 0.90
 

MediaBox currently does it like this, because this can be done very fast:

1. See if UKMP has already generated album art thumbnails. If yes, use those
2. If no, then see if there is a cover.jpg, folder.jpg, etc coverart file in the directory
3. If no, then see if there's any other usable image file in the directory
4. If no, then scan the media files for embedded album art

Re: MediaBox Media Center V 0.90
 

any updates forseen on Media Center?

thankx

Re: MediaBox Media Center V 0.90
 

A big update with playlist support and other nice features will be coming soon. :)

Re: MediaBox Media Center V 0.90
 

Yes!
I use Mediabox all the time. Your mix of UI candy and pragmatics is perfect.

Any chance the new version will have:
-> 12h /24h clock setting
-> A "Home applet" control or a task-bar control.

I'll be checking everyday for the new version. Or if you need any beta-testers, let me know!

Re: MediaBox Media Center V 0.90
 

I'm glad you like the mix of UI candy and pragmatics. :)
I think the new version will fit this mix nicely as well. There will be a tiny bit more eye candy, better UI performance, and it will consume much less memory, esp. when having a lot of media items.

The clock will still be 24h for now, but will display the current date as well.
I currently have no plans on a home applet control but if somebody wants to help there, it should be possible in no time.

The new version will have other nice new features, though. One especially for the N810 with its built-in keyboard. ;) And there will be the long-awaited finger-friendly playlist editor.

Thanks for your offer for beta-testing. Beta-testers are always welcome. If you want to take a look at the new version, you can check out from SVN, once I check in the new stuff there. There's still the old version in SVN, but I'm going to update soon.

Re: MediaBox Media Center V 0.90
 

Hi pycage,

just started using your app again and the actual version is really nice. Two questions (hope they were not asked before).

First: when viewing a picture in fullscreen, how can i go to the previous picture without leaving fullscreen (could only figure out next picture)

Second: When adding lots of pictures (over 400) the application takes all the memory and then gets stucked (finishing the task then takes some time :) ). Will this be corrected in the next version or in other words: will the program be more aware of the memory it uses / can use ?

(edited) Third: When i play an flv and press play again, the statusbar shows loading and will not change back. Sorry if this was mentioned before...
Thanks for your wonderfull work. I really appreciate it.

MiBi

Re: MediaBox Media Center V 0.90
 

Just found the bug-entry in garage about the memory problem that you are aware of...so nevermind about point 2. Number 1 would still be interesting to know...(and 3 could be some kind of bug...)

MiBi

Re: MediaBox Media Center V 0.90
 

Hi MiBi,

(1) will be addressed in the 0.95 release. You will be able to tap on the screen corners to go the next/previous image.
(3) sounds like a bug. 0.95 will have a slightly different UI, so there won't be any "Loading" message covering the control panel.

Re: MediaBox Media Center V 0.90
 

Woohooo...Now you have done it :D Can't wait for the new version (still enjoy the actual build...) Any idea for ETA ?

MiBi

Re: MediaBox Media Center V 0.90
 

Hmm, do I try building it from Subversion before my long flight to JavaOne tomorrow morning?

Re: MediaBox Media Center V 0.90
 

Of course! And if pycage doesn't object, post it somewhere as a beta to test!

Re: MediaBox Media Center V 0.90
 

Damn. Annoyingly Martin's not regularly committing to his Subversion trunk. This is saddening because:

• Some time soon he'll accidentally delete his source folder with loads of uncommitted changes. I know, cos it's happened to me.
• It prevents other people tracking the changes and living on the bleeding age.
• It makes it harder for others to supply patches, cos the HEAD is effectively a release from ages ago.

Martin, I'd suggest committing as often as possible - you might get more patches and some free beta-testing :-)

Re: MediaBox Media Center V 0.90
 

Sorry, I really haven't committed to SVN for a long time.
It's all in there now, though. I had so much experimental stuff that I didn't want to check into SVN too early, but now it's all there.

I'm trying to commit as often as possible from now on. :)

Oh, and by the way, I'm having several backups of MediaBox. Backup-Harddisk and 3 tablets.

Happy beta testing! :D