The last Beta ? XBMC4Xbox 3.5 Beta 4 is released

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Video playback

Due to some recent changes, and a few more issues reported and fixed, we decided to push out another beta.

XBMC4Xbox Beta 4 is out, which includes the following changes:

  • Fixed string encoding issue on system information screen.
  • Fixed some cases where XBMC addons would fail due to our strict type checking – now automatically convert parameters for listitem’s to the correct type where possible.
  • Additional Python API infolabels / infotags.

Should there be no more major issues, we hope the final release is just around the corner 🙂

If you enjoy using XBMC4Xbox and want to show your support for the ongoing development please consider making a donation to the project. Please also do join in the discussions over at our Forum.

The last Beta ? XBMC4Xbox 3.5 Beta 4 is released

by

Video playback

Due to some recent changes, and a few more issues reported and fixed, we decided to push out another beta.

XBMC4Xbox Beta 4 is out, which includes the following changes:

  • Fixed string encoding issue on system information screen.
  • Fixed some cases where XBMC addons would fail due to our strict type checking – now automatically convert parameters for listitem’s to the correct type where possible.
  • Additional Python API infolabels / infotags.

Should there be no more major issues, we hope the final release is just around the corner 🙂

If you enjoy using XBMC4Xbox and want to show your support for the ongoing development please consider making a donation to the project. Please also do join in the discussions over at our Forum.

XBMC4Xbox 3.5 Beta 3 is out

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After a few more months of development, we are very pleased to announce the release of XBMC4Xbox Beta 3. We are getting very close to a final release of 3.5 now, and hopefully if there are no major issues, 3.5 could be out in a matter of a week or two.

Changes since the last beta release include:

  • Python 2.7.6 with some stability improvements.
  • Much improved Addons4Xbox installer, with better dependency handling, meaning many addons designed for XBMC can now be installed and work out of the box. It should also run somewhat faster due to less logging, and the better use of local caching.
  • FFmpeg Libraries updated to 1.2.5
  • Added support for .po files for language strings and updated translations using Transifex and XBMC‘s excellent toolset for handling them. Users can now join in and help translate the project into their favourite languages. More details below.
  • PAPlayer codec improvements
  • Many other bug fixes and improvements

Thanks to XBMC and their useful tools for handling translations, we are now using the online service http://www.transifex.com to manage translations for the project. This means anyone who wants to help improve translations can now go and sign up over at https://www.transifex.com/organization/xbmc4xbox and start translating the software to their favourite language via the easy to use web interface. The updated translation can then be merged back into the XBMC4Xbox code base by us.

Massive thanks to all those who have contributed, from reporting bugs over at the bugtracker, to those that help out with the forum and answering users’ questions.

Finally we would like to congratulate XBMC for their release of the latest version of XBMC – XBMC 13 Gotham – our favourite media player for Linux, Windows, Android, and IOS. You can read all about it over at their blog – http://xbmc.org/xbmc-13-0-gotham-rises/. Awesome work – and we have certainly merged a few of your improvements back into our code base. Thanks 😉

If you enjoy using XBMC4Xbox and want to show your support for the ongoing development please consider making a donation to the project. Please also do join in the discussions over at our Forum.

XBMC4Xbox 3.5 Beta 3 is out

by

After a few more months of development, we are very pleased to announce the release of XBMC4Xbox Beta 3. We are getting very close to a final release of 3.5 now, and hopefully if there are no major issues, 3.5 could be out in a matter of a week or two.

Changes since the last beta release include:

  • Python 2.7.6 with some stability improvements.
  • Much improved Addons4Xbox installer, with better dependency handling, meaning many addons designed for XBMC can now be installed and work out of the box. It should also run somewhat faster due to less logging, and the better use of local caching.
  • FFmpeg Libraries updated to 1.2.5
  • Added support for .po files for language strings and updated translations using Transifex and XBMC‘s excellent toolset for handling them. Users can now join in and help translate the project into their favourite languages. More details below.
  • PAPlayer codec improvements
  • Many other bug fixes and improvements

Thanks to XBMC and their useful tools for handling translations, we are now using the online service http://www.transifex.com to manage translations for the project. This means anyone who wants to help improve translations can now go and sign up over at https://www.transifex.com/organization/xbmc4xbox and start translating the software to their favourite language via the easy to use web interface. The updated translation can then be merged back into the XBMC4Xbox code base by us.

Massive thanks to all those who have contributed, from reporting bugs over at the bugtracker, to those that help out with the forum and answering users’ questions.

Finally we would like to congratulate XBMC for their release of the latest version of XBMC – XBMC 13 Gotham – our favourite media player for Linux, Windows, Android, and IOS. You can read all about it over at their blog – http://xbmc.org/xbmc-13-0-gotham-rises/. Awesome work – and we have certainly merged a few of your improvements back into our code base. Thanks 😉

If you enjoy using XBMC4Xbox and want to show your support for the ongoing development please consider making a donation to the project. Please also do join in the discussions over at our Forum.

Music Collection Updates

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Tuesday, 25 February 2014


At the end of last year http://asma.atari.org/ released v3.7 of its Atari SAP Music Archive bringing the collection to a total of 5016 tunes! ExoticA provides a mirror of the archive as well as a web interface for searching and browsing. This has now been updated, and can be used to stream the music as ogg or mp3 without the need for a specialised player.

We also run a mirror of the Modland music collection. Our mirror is now up to date again after Modland moved home, and some changes have been made to the web interface we offer for it, including switching to XMP for playback of some of the multichannel module formats. With this change some additional (mostly PC) tracker formats can now be streamed as ogg/mp3 including – Digibooster Pro, Digitrakker, Epic Megagames MASI, Farandole Composer, Graoumf Tracker, Imago Orpheus, Liquid Tracker, Multitracker, Octalyser, Polytracker, TCB Tracker, Ultratracker and X-Tracker. Note the support and accuracy of this can vary between tracker – further information regarding XMP can be found at http://xmp.sourceforge.net/. These changes also affect the XBMC frontend – http://addons.xbmc.org/show/plugin.audio.modland/ – which allows streaming of tunes from Modland direct to your HTPC. The Modland addon for XBMC is available from the official XBMC Repository.

UnExoticA had a small update back in January with the addition of the music from two recent Amiga games – Solid Gold and Putty Squad. Thanks to Codetapper for providing these rips.

Finally I would like to thank Ronaldvd for his many contributions to the wiki over the past couple of years, including important corrections, structural cleanups and improvements. You have made a massive difference, and your help is always appreciated. Cheers :)

Links:

XBMC4Xbox 3.5 Beta 2 is released

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Shortly after the release of 3.5 Beta 1, Beta 2 is now ready for testing.

Changes since the last release include:

  • Fix for freeze when launching some Python plugins.
  • Fix for custom movie set fan-art being displayed on all sets.
  • Issue with weather showing “busy” under certain situations.
  • Improved RTMP stream pause functionality.
  • Fixed duplicate sources on Filemanager.

Thanks to those that reported back bugs and contributed fixes.

See the development page for links to the source code and the svn repository. For binary builds, read the information on the download page. For those that want to build from source, 3.5 beta 2 is tagged here: https://svn.exotica.org.uk:8443/xbmc4xbox/tags/3.5-beta2/.

XBMC4Xbox 3.5 Beta 2 is released

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Shortly after the release of 3.5 Beta 1, Beta 2 is now ready for testing.

Changes since the last release include:

  • Fix for freeze when launching some Python plugins.
  • Fix for custom movie set fan-art being displayed on all sets.
  • Issue with weather showing “busy” under certain situations.
  • Improved RTMP stream pause functionality.
  • Fixed duplicate sources on Filemanager.

Thanks to those that reported back bugs and contributed fixes.

See the development page for links to the source code and the svn repository. For binary builds, read the information on the download page. For those that want to build from source, 3.5 beta 2 is tagged here: https://svn.exotica.org.uk:8443/xbmc4xbox/tags/3.5-beta2/.

XBMC4Xbox Remote 2.9.5 for Android

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Changelog:

  • v2.9.5 (Sun, 12 Jan 2014):
    • Main:
      – better use of space on large screens / landscape mode;
    • Movies, Music, Addons, System Info, Analytics, Feeds:
      – horizontal swiping between tabs (“Library” tabs require edge swiping)
    • Translation :
      – French, Spanish (first draft)
    • Technology changes (ActionBarCompat, Picasso, OkHttp);
  • v2.9.4 (Sun, 1 Dec 2013):
    • TV Episodes :
      – fill entire horizontal space (collapsible);
      – display fanart background;
    • Media Send :
      – YouTube filter too broad (listed for URLs that could not be handled);
      – allow to send other media URLs (HTTP, audio + video);
  • v2.9.3 (Fri, 29 Nov 2013) :
    • Main:
      – ability to add new XBMC4Xbox entries (spinner);
    • Movies > Library:
      – group movies by first letter (collapsible);
      – fill entire horizontal space;
    • Analytics :
      – show country flags;
  • v2.9.2 (Sun, 3 Nov 2013):
    • Crashing at startup or missing premium features
  • v2.9.1 (Sat, 2 Nov 2013):
    • Widget – home / lock screen:
      – full functionality to premium only;
  • v2.9.0 (Sat, 12 Oct 2013):
    • Touchpad:
      – full functionality available to premium only;
    • Feeds:
      – highlight new entries;
    • Wi-Fi Hotspot (in-car) scenario (thanks to sealeysonic);

For guides on how to configure & use, see more at:
https://sites.google.com/site/xbmc4xboxremoteandroid/

For support / feedback / suggestions use this forum thread:
https://www.xbmc4xbox.org.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=203

Download from:

XBMC4Xbox Remote 2.9.5 for Android

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Changelog:

  • v2.9.5 (Sun, 12 Jan 2014):
    • Main:
      – better use of space on large screens / landscape mode;
    • Movies, Music, Addons, System Info, Analytics, Feeds:
      – horizontal swiping between tabs (“Library” tabs require edge swiping)
    • Translation :
      – French, Spanish (first draft)
    • Technology changes (ActionBarCompat, Picasso, OkHttp);
  • v2.9.4 (Sun, 1 Dec 2013):
    • TV Episodes :
      – fill entire horizontal space (collapsible);
      – display fanart background;
    • Media Send :
      – YouTube filter too broad (listed for URLs that could not be handled);
      – allow to send other media URLs (HTTP, audio + video);
  • v2.9.3 (Fri, 29 Nov 2013) :
    • Main:
      – ability to add new XBMC4Xbox entries (spinner);
    • Movies > Library:
      – group movies by first letter (collapsible);
      – fill entire horizontal space;
    • Analytics :
      – show country flags;
  • v2.9.2 (Sun, 3 Nov 2013):
    • Crashing at startup or missing premium features
  • v2.9.1 (Sat, 2 Nov 2013):
    • Widget – home / lock screen:
      – full functionality to premium only;
  • v2.9.0 (Sat, 12 Oct 2013):
    • Touchpad:
      – full functionality available to premium only;
    • Feeds:
      – highlight new entries;
    • Wi-Fi Hotspot (in-car) scenario (thanks to sealeysonic);

For guides on how to configure & use, see more at:
https://sites.google.com/site/xbmc4xboxremoteandroid/

For support / feedback / suggestions use this forum thread:
http://www.xbmc4xbox.org.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=203

Download from:

Kernel/Package Rollups

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Current images have been updated with kernel 3.2.53 as well as having all the distribution package rollups applied. There is also an improvement to the eth0 MAC address script which was not working correctly on the btrfs images before (I recommend using the EXT4 images anyway as most people seem to have better performance and reliability from them). The latest images include XBMC 12.3. When XBMC 13 is ready, it will be added to the repositories for those that want to upgrade.

You may have noticed I did not release a Xubuntu 13.04 or 13.10. I lack the time to work on new releases every 6 months, especially considering the number of distros being managed here. From now on I will concentrate on the LTS releases only. This update to Joli OS will be the last, as http://www.jolicloud.com is no longer maintaining it as they are concentrating on their web/cloud based interface to social media. From now on I will concentrate on Xubuntu, the Ubuntu Base image, and may also do a Linux Mint LTS release later this year if there is demand.