Rasplex + Skins other than Mediastream = Fail!

Third Party Apps & Tools
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First of all, a HUGE thank you to the developers of RasPlex.  I had been running Raspmbc on my Pi, but waiting for a native Plex client.  Can't wait to see this continue to evolve and improve.

 

I know that choosing a skin is completely subjective, that everyone's aesthetics and taste are different, but I've never cared for the MediaStream skin.  On my Windows Plex Client, I've alternated between PlexAeon, Retroplex, and Refocus.  They all have their strong and weak points to me. 

 

I would like to throw my hat into the ring to develop a new Plex skin -- one specifically designed with the capabilities of the Raspberry Pi in mind.  But before I am able to do much with this idea, I wonder if anyone with more knowledge of RasPlex's code specfically can help me understand why no available Plex skin works properly yet on my Pi with RasPlex (nightly build 1.30), although I've had the same issue with previous builds as well) installed.

 

The one skin that does seem to work almost flawlessly, although very slowly, is Quicksilver, which I only  found by process of elimination -- it's not a skin I would choose over MediaStream.

 

The most common issue that I find with various skins is that if they do load properly initially, they freeze up when I choose a library section (TV Shows, Movies, Music, etc.) from the main menu.  Almost universally, using different available skins (Alaska, Alaska-Dark, Aurora, Blue, MediaPlex, Metropolis, PlexAeon, Refocus Back to Blue Ed., Retroplex, Simplex, Simplex Energized, Woody), if I can even get as far as seeing the main menu (sometimes I can't), once I click on a library section, I get a blank (black) screen, which I've left running sometimes for hours just to see if it would ever come back. 

 

Sometimes I can get back to the main menu by pressing the "home" button on my iOS XMBC remote, but if that doesn't work, the only recourse I've found is to use the "reboot" option, again via the iOS XBMC remote app, which does successfully force a reboot.

 

Anyone have any theories about what could be going on?  Anyone else been trying any other skins with any degree of success?

 

Thanks!

 

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Xbmc skins needs to be ported to PLEX, they won’t work out of the box…

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Perhaps I wasn't clear in my original post, but I've installed the PLEX versions of the aforementioned skins, not their XBMC precursors. Sorry for the confusion.  Has anyone had any luck using any of these (PLEX) skins on Rasplex?

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It would be great to get a optimized skin!

Have you tried to look into the PlexHT logfiles?

/storage/.plexht/temp/plexhometheater.log

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Definitely been hoping for a low-CPU optimized skin.

It would even be helpful to have mediastream with animations disabled, and the ability to not process background images in most screens.

Definitely curious to find out why the skins are not working however: Have you been using the new Plex/HT as your desktop client?
(RasPlex is a port of this new client, not the old one)

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Huge lightbulb turned on over my head reading your comment, j-and-j.  I didn't realize that PlexHT is a different client than the Windows Plex client that I've been using off and on since PlexNine days.  I did see the directory for plex was called .plexht, but I didn't even think that it meant it was a different, newer, client.

I am going to do some reading/research, and then get to work on a new skin from the ground up.  I will play with it on my Pi (512) and keep as many bells and whistles as possible, whilst eliminating anything that slows things down too much.  If anyone has any requests for features that you feel are MUSTS, let me know.


Thanks!

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Aha!

Excited to see the results of this - You may even want to get in contact with the Plex and RasPlex teams directly to see if they want to pitch in.

My own personal MUSTS;

Drop the "On Deck" and "Recently Added" from each section's home screen, and instead create a "Master" list for the client (the Roku is a good example of this) It feels like this would reduce the graphics on screen, as well as the talk back and forth between the client and server (plus, with 8 library sections, there's never a time when we need to see 8x7 new or on-deck items)

The ability to turn off each type of graphic individually: Home screen background, section fanart, cases, etc

And, if there are animations; the ability to turn those off completely as well.

(Been hoping for a low-cpu skin for a while now, can you tell? :) )

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