XBMC4Xbox Remote - Android app

If you need any help with XBMC4XBOX, such as installing or using the software, please post it in here.
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Re: XBMC4Xbox Remote - Android app

Post by GhostlyGamer »

Dan Dar3 wrote:Is Cydia for iOS, cause then I'm a bit lost... cause if there's more XBMC4Xbox users on iOS maybe I need to change my steering :-)
Cydia is the Jailbreak Appstore (Homebrew for iOS)
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Re: XBMC4Xbox Remote - Android app

Post by Gasman »

Dan,
Any chance you could allow for a 'default' address.?

I have my XBOX on static at 192.168.2.5. Currently the scanner goes right past 5 and I can access the webserver from a browser on my laptop and Galaxy Ace on port 8080.

Really like this idea. I have a Creative Ziio 7 that would be great for this.
Dan Dar3 wrote:@noyus
You seem to have enabled the web server. Try pointing the browser on your PC to confirm the connection:
http://192.168.1.78/xbmcCmds/xbmcHttp?c ... rverstatus

Might want to try the scanner a few times, especially if on wireless, it only waits for 100ms for a connection, I will try to enlarge the timeout in next version or maybe even allow to be configurable (although the longer the timeout, the longer it will take to scan the entire range).
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Re: XBMC4Xbox Remote - Android app

Post by Dan Dar3 »

@Gasman
I wrote the scanner feature for users with dynamic IPs - once it's found, it will retain the entry and show it to you next time. I haven't wrote just yet the "maintenance" pages for XBMC4Xbox entries, in which case you will be able to manually add static entries (or change them), for more savy users like yourself that either set their boxes on static IPs or find / know the IP - it's on the list and I will add it in the next version.
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Re: XBMC4Xbox Remote - Android app

Post by Gasman »

No probs. It would be much nicer than using the DVD remote I am currently using.

At present it is not picking up my XBOX and I believe I have changed all the settings required.

As mentioned I can access it from a browser.

I'll try and get some screen shots, but do you have a list of all the settings that need modifying.?

Great work BTW

I particularly like the fact that the apk is available outside Google Play.

Creative in their wisdom brought out a great piece of hardware called a Ziio, that does not have access to the Play market and which makes getting hold of apps difficult to say the least.

TIA
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Re: XBMC4Xbox Remote - Android app

Post by VanZan »

I installed Dan's app on my Xperia Play and couldn't get it to "see" my xbox either. The scanning just went right past it. I have webserver enabled and can access the xbox that way. I never had a lot of luck with the xbmc apps to be honest.
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Re: XBMC4Xbox Remote - Android app

Post by Dan Dar3 »

Ok, let me try do something about that...
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Re: XBMC4Xbox Remote - Android app

Post by Xphazer »

VanZan wrote:I installed Dan's app on my Xperia Play and couldn't get it to "see" my xbox either. The scanning just went right past it. I have webserver enabled and can access the xbox that way. I never had a lot of luck with the xbmc apps to be honest.
I had this problem too with my living room machine.. 1st I was blaming my DD-WRT Client Bridge... but no..
After installing a vanilla nightly build, Set the network to DHCP (unlike "default" (dashboard)) Turn ON the HTTP server.. it was working fine.
Also, from your phone.. try to access the HTTP server (Xbox IP) from your web browser.. If you cannot access it its a network problem.
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Re: XBMC4Xbox Remote - Android app

Post by Dan Dar3 »

It's fine, it actually happens to me sometimes as well - Develo dLAN kit acting up lately - having the xbox in living room and the cable connection upstairs, with Xbox set on DHCP, the network scan may no find it. Just to clarify what happens now, the scan features goes through all IPs in the your IP class and tries to connect to port 80 and see if it can connect, waits 100 ms and then moves on to the next IP. I'll try to increase the timeout to say 200ms, and the app will provide a default entry that you can long press and edit to change the IP, if you know it.
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Re: XBMC4Xbox Remote - Android app

Post by VanZan »

Thanks Dan! :)
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Re: XBMC4Xbox Remote - Android app

Post by Gasman »

Dan,

Does the app allow control of the volume.?

I use the DVD remote control 3 & 6 buttons to alter the volume on my XBOX

I cannot see how XBMC Remote does that, as you are probably expected to use the speaker control.?

I'm looking forward to the modified version.
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Re: XBMC4Xbox Remote - Android app

Post by Dan Dar3 »

@Gasman
That's a very good suggestion - eventually I'll get around to building a whole playback screen where you pause, play, jump to etc, but for now I was thinking first to add a new "Commands" section (with various things like clean library, enable debug etc) where I might add a volume slider for now, thanks for that! Hoping to finish a version tonight, will let you know.

@all
Done now (v1.4), hope it works well.
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Re: XBMC4Xbox Remote - Android app

Post by Gasman »

I do not know what is wrong with my setup. :?

I've downloaded 1.4 and put in the ip address of the xbox, port is 80 which XBMC Remote connects to. The browser on the Galaxy connects to that successfully as well.

The app still went all the way though the ip range?, and said it could not find the Xbox.? :(

Edit, Ah..being a dummy :) , using the My XBMC4XBOX i manged to connect, but unfortunately it crashed as soon I use anything other than Keyboard and Commands. Saw the volume slider BTW, nice.

Have sent in one crash report. Also I seem to have lost the Music sub menu. This was the first option I tried.
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Re: XBMC4Xbox Remote - Android app

Post by Dan Dar3 »

@Gasman
Send me an email / PM with the response (browser > view source) from the http://ip_address/xbmcCmds/xbmcHttp?command=webserverstatus please.
What version is your XBMC4XBox - try the System menu.

No, Music was not there (not yet anyways), must be thinking of a different app.
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Re: XBMC4Xbox Remote - Android app

Post by Dan Dar3 »

v1.5 is out.
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Re: XBMC4Xbox Remote - Android app

Post by AZImmortal »

Up until now, I had been using an older version of the Team XBMC Android remote app, and I just tried the XBMC4Xbox remote app for the first time and I noticed that unlike the Team XBMC app, this app doesn't list my video sources when I select the Movies or TV Shows options. I don't use the library functionality of XBMC and I suspect that this is the reason why. Would it be possible to include a simple browser where I can just browse through my individual sources to select what I want to play? Or if this functionality already exists, can you let me know where to find it or how to activate it?

I also have a feature request, although it might be hard to implement. Would it be possible to replicate the OSD menus during playback as menus in the app? I'm referring to things like the audio and video OSD menus, where you can do things like amplify the volume, select subtitles, etc. I'd like to be able to handle such things in the app if possible so that it doesn't interrupt the viewing of the video.
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Re: XBMC4Xbox Remote - Android app

Post by Dan Dar3 »

@AZImmortal
Thanks for the feedback.

Can you try running this query from a web browser and send me an email (dan.dar33 at gmail.com) with the response (right click and view source, or save as a file and attach)
http://<XBOX-IP>:80/xbmcCmds/xbmcHttp?command=QueryVideoDatabase(select idMovie, c00, strPath, strFileName from MOVIEVIEW order by c00)
Yes, I have plans for a similar "Now Playing" screen to show info on the item playing, change the volume, a slider to jump through playback, for videos to pick the subtitles, maybe even include some of the logic I wrote in OpenSubtitles and Sublight plugins so you can download a subtitle from the net and save on XBMC4Xbox (easier to use than plugin navigation) or use with web streams.

A file manager screen would be interesting alright, you could use it to view logs, or even edit files (like XMLs / config files) on the phone / tablet and be able to save back, and why not to be able to pick files for playback, like .strm files or in your case a workaround for a not working Movies or TVShows screen (although I plan to follow this with you and fix it if it's a library type of issue).

Also want to add a section for plugins and scripts, so you can pick and run them from the remote, rather than having to navigate around.

Any ideas are welcome, I might not do them as fast as I'd like, but I'll definitely consider them.

PS: I see what you mean, mainline XBMC Remote app has a set of tabs at the bottom where you can navigate the sources and pick files from in there. I'll definitely think about that, is quite neat.
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Re: XBMC4Xbox Remote - Android app

Post by AZImmortal »

That url doesn't seem to return anything for me. I just get a blank webpage and when I view source, there's nothing there except open and close html tags. I tried in both Chrome and IE, and I made sure that the IP and port match XBMC. Let me know if you still need this.

A plugins and scripts section would be great. I'm thinking that maybe the app could just mirror the basic structure of XBMC in regards to menu options for what you want to play, so it can have Videos, Music, Pictures, and Plugins options at the root level, and when you choose one of them you can view your sources for each one (I have no idea if this conflicts with Library mode, but maybe Movies and TV Shows can be "sources" under the Videos menu). A file manager would be nice as well in case there's anything outside of your sources that you might want to view/play. I didn't realize that the app didn't have a Now Playing screen but yes, that would be great (I use the slider in the Team XBMC app all the time). I don't know if your app has the option to add/remove/reorder items from the playlist queue, but I'd love to see that implemented as well (I don't think that the Team XBMC app has this). Thanks for your response and your hard work.
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Re: XBMC4Xbox Remote - Android app

Post by Dan Dar3 »

@AZImmortal
No, the fact that returns a blank result is fine with me, thought it might return an error message. I'll play with the enabling / disabling library, but I thought either way the information on video items would be stored in the database, but maybe the MovieView is not populated unless library is enabled, I'll need to try a a couple of other things.

Thanks for the usage feedback, that is very useful - I agree, at the moment this app is pretty bare, will require more features and some polishing, will definitely include some of your suggestions. Things might get faster as I get more comfortable with the technical insides (and that is for both Android and XBMC4Xbox :-), but I'll definitely keep at it.
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Re: XBMC4Xbox Remote - Android app

Post by AZImmortal »

I'll gladly be your test subject for whatever changes you decide to make. :ugeek: XBMC and Android are two of my favorite things.
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Re: XBMC4Xbox Remote - Android app

Post by Dan Dar3 »

A quick update, followed by what some might see as a not so happy announcement.

I haven't got much time to spend on the app lately, being busy with work and other stuff, the good news though is that I've got some new ideas and might find some time to spend on it.

Now to the not so good part - when I started this I knew it won't have thousands of users, but somehow I hoped the free / ad supported system will show something back, at least enough to keep me interested. Since its release in June, it has seen a growth to 114 active / 447 total installs, and the "fabulous" return of 93c (I'm not asking you to click ads, that would be wrong and it could get my account suspended; not complaining, just telling the facts).

So, in conclusion, I will be starting a new paid version, I'm thinking a couple $/euro (I'd be curious to know how much would you be willing to pay). I won't and don't want to make a fortune out of this, but at the same time, I'm a bit past the self-proving / romantic age. I understand not everyone want or can afford to pay, so I will be keeping the free (ads) version, but it will not be updated as often and will be a couple versions behind the paid one.

I do want to continue, I'm sorry I had to come to this decision, but unfortunately sometimes life is unfair...
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