Using the beta?
Ah, sorry - forgot to mention that you also need to make sure that Bonjour software is install. For Windows, you need the Bonjour print services for Windows (http://support.apple.com/kb/DL999) or install something like iTunes. Unfortunately there is no other way to get bonjour services without this software.
I just tried the WOL part. It works perfectly. Thanks! The GUI could be a little clearer, but that’s just cosmetics.
You know what could be super: add a PleXBMC beta to the repository.
Woops, yeah that is a little short on description. I'll modified it to "MAC Address 1" onwards.
Out of interest, did any of those "look and feel" changes make a difference on the XBOX? I saw a tiny speed up on my windows laptop, but haven't had a chance to try it on my revo (where I expect it would make a bigger impact)
Bit late, but 2nd post updated with PleXBMC debug log info and locations.
I have to investigate a little further but my first impression is sadly no. Right now it feels like it takes even longer ... most of the time it is waiting of a server response. As I said, I'll have to dig deeper. I'll report back soon!
Very nice! Log information on the XBox 1: Q:\xbmc.log :)
It might be that the network is the limiting factor on an XBOX then. I tried the client quickly on my revolution and reckoned it cut maybe 2-3 seconds off my 800 movie section ( still took 5 seconds though).
However, this is a similar amount of time that Plex client takes talking to me remote sever.
I’ve also updated 2nd post with XBOX log details - cheers.
Alright, I took some time to test a couple of things.
Sometimes I see this
Loading Directory<br />
<br />
Retrieved 0 Items
for almost 1 minute. Network is fine (100mbit to my PMS). Once it starts counting the "items" it goes fairly quickly through them (~3 items/sec) which I can live with. The waiting is what annoys me most. Is there a way for me to check where the problem is?
You are welcome. I'd really like to know if there is actually anybody else who is using the xbox together with PleXBMC ...
Three things so far:
1. My biggest Problem: Resume is sometimes unreliable. Most notable for me: When I watch something with PleXBMC (XBOX or PC doesn't matter), continue on my Android with Plex4Android and then try to finish it on my PC/XBOX two things happen: PleXBMC correctly reports the time where I could resume, I select that, it plays from the beginning of the file. Studying the log, it looks like PleXBMC starts the seek (PleXBMC -> PLAYEPISODE: Seeking to xxx) to early.
2. On my XBOX: Because some of the "special://" paths are not the same as on regular xbmc, a lot of your context menu is sadly useless. (mark as watched/unwatched, update library). Once I figure out what the best way is to fix it, I will tell you. For now I'll just change it in my default.py. I just saw that you have the variable "g_loc". If you would use that everywhere, it would make things easier :)
3. Look and Feel Menu on my XBOX (haven't tried on the PC):
[list]
[*]"Channel View?" doesn't need the question mark
[*]"Plex Style Watched Flags" doesn't make a difference if I have it on or off, they're always displayed
[*]Clean context menus <- works well!
[*]Skip context menu <- I don't get it. What's that suppose to do?
[*]Skip extended Metadata <- could use a little more explanation :)
[*]Skip Media Flags <- that's "Xvid" and all that, right?
[*]Flatten TV Shows works, but couldn't you maybe read out the system preference for it, too? I usually only use it for "one-season-shows"
[/list]
4. Seeking on the XBOX works only upto 4x. Anything faster and it starts to hang. Video doesn't go forward but jumps 1sec forward, 1sec back. Its stuck. Could that have something to do with your monitorPlayback() function?
xbmc.log:
===== unsuccessful =======<br />
NOTICE: PleXBMC -> getURL: ====== XML finished ======<br />
NOTICE: PleXBMC -> getAudioSubtitlesMedia: Found preferred audio id: 9033<br />
NOTICE: == ENTER: selectMedia ==<br />
NOTICE: == ENTER: mediaType ==<br />
NOTICE: PleXBMC -> mediaType: Looks like a UNC<br />
NOTICE: PleXBMC -> mediaType: Selecting smb/unc<br />
NOTICE: PleXBMC -> mediaType: Returning URL: smb://...<br />
NOTICE: PleXBMC -> selectMedia: We have selected media at smb://...<br />
NOTICE: PleXBMC -> PLAYEPISODE: Resume has been set to 1085<br />
NOTICE: PleXBMC -> PLAYEPISODE: We have part way through video. Display resume dialog<br />
NOTICE: PleXBMC -> PLAYEPISODE: handle is 0<br />
NOTICE: PleXBMC -> PLAYEPISODE: Not playing yet...sleep for 2<br />
NOTICE: DVDPlayer: Opening: smb://...<br />
WARNING: CDVDMessageQueue(player)::Put MSGQ_NOT_INITIALIZED<br />
NOTICE: Creating InputStream<br />
NOTICE: Creating Demuxer<br />
NOTICE: PleXBMC -> PLAYEPISODE: Seeking to 1085<br />
NOTICE: == ENTER: setAudioSubtitles ==<br />
NOTICE: PleXBMC -> setAudioSubtitles: Setting Audio Stream<br />
NOTICE: PleXBMC -> setAudioSubtitles: Only one audio stream present - will leave as default<br />
NOTICE: PleXBMC -> setAudioSubtitles: Setting Subtitle Stream<br />
NOTICE: PleXBMC -> setAudioSubtitles: No subtitles to set<br />
NOTICE: == ENTER: monitorPlayback ==<br />
============================<br />
<br />
===== successful =======<br />
NOTICE: PleXBMC -> getURL: ====== XML finished ======<br />
NOTICE: PleXBMC -> getAudioSubtitlesMedia: Found preferred audio id: 9577<br />
NOTICE: == ENTER: selectMedia ==<br />
NOTICE: == ENTER: mediaType ==<br />
NOTICE: PleXBMC -> mediaType: Looks like a UNC<br />
NOTICE: PleXBMC -> mediaType: Selecting smb/unc<br />
NOTICE: PleXBMC -> mediaType: Returning URL: smb://...<br />
NOTICE: PleXBMC -> selectMedia: We have selected media at smb://...<br />
NOTICE: PleXBMC -> PLAYEPISODE: Resume has been set to 1332<br />
NOTICE: PleXBMC -> PLAYEPISODE: We have part way through video. Display resume dialog<br />
NOTICE: PleXBMC -> PLAYEPISODE: handle is 0<br />
NOTICE: PleXBMC -> PLAYEPISODE: Not playing yet...sleep for 2<br />
NOTICE: DVDPlayer: Opening: smb://...<br />
WARNING: CDVDMessageQueue(player)::Put MSGQ_NOT_INITIALIZED<br />
NOTICE: Creating InputStream<br />
NOTICE: Creating Demuxer<br />
NOTICE: Opening video stream: 0 source: 256<br />
NOTICE: Creating video codec with codec id: 13<br />
NOTICE: CDVDVideoCodecFFmpeg::Open() Using codec: MPEG-4 part 2<br />
NOTICE: Creating video thread<br />
NOTICE: Opening audio stream: 1 source: 256<br />
NOTICE: Finding audio codec for: 86017<br />
NOTICE: Creating audio thread<br />
NOTICE: running thread: CDVDPlayerAudio::Process()<br />
NOTICE: running thread: video_thread<br />
NOTICE: Creating audio device with codec id: 86017, channels: 2, sample rate: 48000, no pass-through<br />
NOTICE: fps: 23.976025, pwidth: 624, pheight: 352, dwidth: 624, dheight: 352<br />
WARNING: CRenderManager::Configure - timeout waiting for previous frame<br />
NOTICE: Display resolution DESKTOP : 1280x800 @ 60.00 - Full Screen (12)<br />
NOTICE: PleXBMC -> PLAYEPISODE: Seeking to 1332<br />
NOTICE: == ENTER: setAudioSubtitles ==<br />
NOTICE: PleXBMC -> setAudioSubtitles: Setting Audio Stream<br />
NOTICE: PleXBMC -> setAudioSubtitles: Only one audio stream present - will leave as default<br />
NOTICE: PleXBMC -> setAudioSubtitles: Setting Subtitle Stream<br />
NOTICE: PleXBMC -> setAudioSubtitles: No subtitles to set<br />
NOTICE: == ENTER: monitorPlayback ==<br />
============================<br />
<br />
===== unsuccessful 2: =======<br />
NOTICE: PleXBMC -> getURL: ====== XML finished ======<br />
NOTICE: PleXBMC -> getAudioSubtitlesMedia: Found preferred audio id: 9577<br />
NOTICE: == ENTER: selectMedia ==<br />
NOTICE: == ENTER: mediaType ==<br />
NOTICE: PleXBMC -> mediaType: Looks like a UNC<br />
NOTICE: PleXBMC -> mediaType: Selecting smb/unc<br />
NOTICE: PleXBMC -> mediaType: Returning URL: smb://...<br />
NOTICE: PleXBMC -> selectMedia: We have selected media at smb://...<br />
NOTICE: PleXBMC -> PLAYEPISODE: Resume has been set to 1328<br />
NOTICE: PleXBMC -> PLAYEPISODE: We have part way through video. Display resume dialog<br />
NOTICE: PleXBMC -> PLAYEPISODE: handle is 0<br />
NOTICE: PleXBMC -> PLAYEPISODE: Not playing yet...sleep for 2<br />
NOTICE: DVDPlayer: Opening: smb://...<br />
WARNING: CDVDMessageQueue(player)::Put MSGQ_NOT_INITIALIZED<br />
NOTICE: Creating InputStream<br />
NOTICE: Creating Demuxer<br />
NOTICE: Opening video stream: 0 source: 256<br />
NOTICE: Creating video codec with codec id: 13<br />
NOTICE: CDVDVideoCodecFFmpeg::Open() Using codec: MPEG-4 part 2<br />
NOTICE: Creating video thread<br />
NOTICE: Opening audio stream: 1 source: 256<br />
NOTICE: Finding audio codec for: 86017<br />
NOTICE: running thread: video_thread<br />
NOTICE: Creating audio thread<br />
NOTICE: running thread: CDVDPlayerAudio::Process()<br />
NOTICE: PleXBMC -> PLAYEPISODE: Seeking to 1328<br />
NOTICE: == ENTER: setAudioSubtitles ==<br />
NOTICE: PleXBMC -> setAudioSubtitles: Setting Audio Stream<br />
NOTICE: PleXBMC -> setAudioSubtitles: Only one audio stream present - will leave as default<br />
NOTICE: PleXBMC -> setAudioSubtitles: Setting Subtitle Stream<br />
NOTICE: PleXBMC -> setAudioSubtitles: No subtitles to set<br />
NOTICE: == ENTER: monitorPlayback ==<br />
============================
Hate to fly my newbie colors, but what does this mean? I understand that the problem is an XBMC limitation, but what does it mean when you say, "it is fixed in the new nightly builds (i.e. pre-eden)".
Eden is the (code?)name of the next XBMC version. You can download nightly (bleeding edge) builds of that version from the [official site](http://xbmc.org/download/).
Yep, Eden is the next release of XBMC (version 11). Some of the plugin issues can only be solved by fixing/modifying XBMC:
[list]
[]Full transcoding support
[]“Next play” fix
Ability to use Plex Media server studio flags
[/list]
So, whilst I’ve been trying to get PleXBMC to work, I’ve also been submitting patches to XBMC to make other parts of the plugin work too.
What I’m going to do now is ensure that PleXBMC works as best it can on 10.1 (plugin and skin) - but that might mean that some issues/bugs remain, that I can’t workaround.
So basically, if I understand this right, the problem has been fixed, but we won't see it until XBMC 11 has been released. Is that right?
Thanks for all the hard work. Plexbmc is an awesome plug-in.
Officially yes, although you can download pre-releases now. However I would hang off on this for a little while.
The debug log should have timestamps. If you put the addon into debug mode you shold be able to see where the bug pauses are. From experiance I usually see that when the XML is being downloaded from the PMS server. This means you'll see a big time difference in the getURL function between "url =" and "XML returned"
Not sure if I've asked you this before, but you aren't waiting for a remote disk to spin up?
Resume is a big of a workaround, rather than telling XBMC to start at a specific point, I have to tell it to play and then seek to a point. It should only seek once it has confirmation that it is playing, but sometimes that confirmation can come too soon (i.e. XBMC returns true before it has actually started playing). I'll have a look to see if I can add a check against the actual reported position and use that to repeat the seek until that two match.
done
Plex style watched - fixed. I'd left it with some test conditions on by mistake.
Skip context menus - don't bother to build plexbmc ones. It has to build a menu for each movie item, so looping around the code. Skipping it means a speed up.
skip extended metadata - skip genere, directory and writer data. I have to loop around for this, so it's all extra cycles that can be removed.
skip media flags - yep, don't bother displaying the 720p/divx/dta/aac style icons..
Flatten TV Shows - Yeah, I could read from the main GUI - thats easy enough I think. Also, should I only be flattening single season shows, or everything?
Doubt it. monitorPlayback simply checks the percentage complete of the media every 5 seconds - nothing else. It only processes the reset of the function after playback has stopped. I've just checked gong x8 on windows and, whilst not smooth, doesn't skip about. My guess is that something else can't keep up.. I tend to skip rather than seek when trying to find a part of the movie..
updated BETA version. I think I have most of the bugs now, so i’ll be looking to merge with the master sometime soon:
https://github.com/downloads/hippojay/plugin.video.plexbmc/plugin.video.plexbmc-1.9.2b.zip
Tested on XBMC 10.1
Whats changes?
[list]
[] Fixed Transcoding proxy issue. It’s works again
[] Fixed context menus now appearing
[] Fixed Bonjour issue where multiple server sections would appear.
[] Fixed Plex Style watched flags (you can now switch between Plex and XBMC style)
[] Fixed displaying of media flags in confluence.plexbmc skin.
[] Unfortunately the auto next play issue is still not fixed. It’s an XBMC limitation.
[/list]
There is one feature I am going to add before merging, which is directed bonjour (i.e. you supply an IP and then we work out the other server on the local LAN). This will get around the lack of pure bonjour in XBMC 10.1.
Well thanks for working that out, even if we won't see the fruits of you labors just yet. I appreciate all you work, and look forward to all of your new updates.
I'll give that a try and report back. No, I don't need a remote disk to spin up. They're not the problem since on my PC I don't have these issues.
Maybe you could start it, pause it, wait for feedback, seek to the right position and then start playing? Because I had occasionally the effect, that the content started playing from the beginning and after ~2 seconds jumped to the position. That was a little weird!
Thanks for the explanations! Flatten has actually two options in the system preferences: "Only if one season", "Always", "Never" (that's three actually :) ). If you read that out you can't go wrong.
The strange thing is, if I play the same content from the systems own file manager (through SMB) I can seek as fast as it gets (32x) without an issues. So I assumed, it had something to do with PleXBMC. Usually I skip forward to, but occasionally, I like to see, if I'm potentially missing something important (e.g. fast forwarding through end credits in movies just in case there is something inbetween or at the end :)
I'll give the new beta release a whirl later. Have you thought about a separate beta version in the PleXBMC repository? Would make it easier ...
Pausing is an idea. Will check and have a play tonight. I'm also trying to see if I can alter XBMC to take the start position just before I play a file (it will take the start position, but doesn't work with the dialog screen)
I'll have a look, but I'll probably change it to "Flatten TV (XBMC setting)" and read back what the system has set. Or something like that.
I'll produce a version that does no monitoring, and you can check if that works better. That way I can narrow it down.
I did look, but the repo was set up by erlis and I don't want to break it. Plus, there are a whole load of issues of running with two different versions (naming clashes, skin issues, etc) - even if you only install one at a time.. i think zip file for any beta releases makes more sense at the moment - i don;t think I'm that far off completing this plugin for XBMC 10.1 (I really only have a few niggles, plugin to get going and the cirrus skin to complete - after that i'm looking at the EDEN version and what needs to be done to XBMC)..
Having a problem with the plexbmc confluence skin. When I try to access pms categories from the home screen, nothing shows up. But if I turn off the integration option for the skin and access the plexbmc plugin directly, all my content shows up.
Any ideas?
Thanks for the great work on this plugin.
It's a daft limitation of XBMC, you need a library to use the library style views!!
Anyway, there is a workaround, which I've written up in the skins thread. Look at this post and find the "Configuring XBMC for the confluence.plexbmc skin" section. You only need to do it once and will take you only 1-2 mins..
http://forums.plexapp.com/index.php/topic/24556-plexbmc-specific-skins/page__view__findpost__p__154562
This limitation is removed in the next version of XBMC (Eden) - although it is not released yet.
Right - new update released. Version 1.9.3
Slowly, slowly this is becoming feature complete for XBMC 10.1. In fact, I feel that this is 98% complete now.
There have been a number of large changes in this version, to do with the integration of Bonjour discovery. Unfortunately this discovery doesn’t work in XBMC 10.1 (limitation of code), so you’ll need a nightly to enjoy “out of the box” discovery. I’m hoping that it doesn’t break anything!!!
New
- Wake On Lane
- Look and feel settings to add or remove features (and hopefully speedup lower powered clients)
- Bonjour (for XBMC pre-11)
- Flatten TV shows
- Fixes for subtitles, media flags, sort methods, context menus, transcoding, seeking and typos…
Known issues:
- Some plugins won’t play. need to investigate, but I believe this is because they need to be transcoded (which is not 100% in XBMC 10.1)
- When a video finished, the next one will start automatically. This is an XBMC bug (now fixed in source), workaround by switching off “automatically play next” in XBMC music setting.
