New Frontend for Windows and Linux

gbr · 06-30-2005, 10:34 AM

UPDATES:
October 14, 2005

I felt bad about taking so long between releases, so here is version 0.06 WIP

song title now smooth scrolls (with a bit of flicker)
playlist generation works much better
builds playlists for non-tagged/non mp3 files
initial database build is faster
theme updated for higher contrast
startup screen
bug fixes

Playlists for non-tagged/non mp3 files is really geared towards the way I lay out my directorys. For example, if the directory the file is in is:

g:\music\Clannad\Themes\song.mp3

Movin'Media will name the song 'song', the album 'Themes', and the artist 'Clannad'.

download
Windows: movinmedia-setup-0.06-WIP.exe
Linux : Not available

(and yes, source WILL be available)

* Please send me any bug reports, and feature suggestions. I'm using this in my vehicle now, and it does what I want so far. If you want something different, I'll need to know.

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July 27, 2005

Here is version 0.06

bug fixes - there should be no more 'crashing' bugs left
when browsing playlists, browsing an artist specific directory and going back now works correctly
larger fonts in theme
all screens and music list are now pre-loaded

Adding launchable applications:
the carpc.ini file needs to be edited:

[apps]
app1name=xterm
app1exe=/usr/bin/xterm

app3name= firefox
app3exe=firefox

download
Windows: movinmedia-setup-0.06.exe
Linux : movinmedia-setup-0.06.tar.gz

I see I forgot to upload the Linux version last time. I'll do better this time.

I'm on holidays. There will be no updates before I come back. Heres what I'm currently working on:

Cleaning up source to make it available to all
docs for creating skins
install docs
Mac version... should be really straight forward
skip/repeat song buttons
song shuffling
(for the previous two items) I'm running out of screen real estate, anybody with skin creation experience want to lend a hand?
If anyone wants to chuck a USB or serial GPS my way, I'll get moving on that.
remembering stuff between shutdowns (I can't seem to hibernate my Linux box yet)

* Please send me any bug reports, and feature suggestions. I'm using this in my vehicle now, and it does what I want so far. If you want something different, I'll need to know.

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July 22, 2005

Here is version 0.05.

better error checking
themes now have a clock
default theme more car friendly
apps button added

there are some apps in the carpc.ini file already

you can have up to 200 apps

apps may change from the ini file to the database in the future

Windows: movinmedia-setup-0.05.exe
Linux : Not available yet

The Linux version will be up this evening.

I'm going on holidays starting Wednesday July 28. There may be another update before then, but no promises. Heres what I'm currently working on:

pre-initialize all screens (slower startup, faster runtime response)
docs for creating skins
install docs
Mac version... should be really straight forward
skip/repeat song buttons
song shuffling
(for the previous two items) I'm running out of screen real estate, anybody with skin creation experience want to lend a hand?
If anyone wants to chuck a USB or serial GPS my way, I'll get moving on that.

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July 15, 2005

Correct Link..

Windows: Not available
Linux : Download Version 0.04

The Linux file is just a tar'd directory. Unzip and untar it, and running movinmedia. It has a ton of library dependencies, which I'm working on minimizing. A standard gnome/gtk2 install should work. Two of the oddballs may be libid3 and libsqlite (version 2)

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July 14, 2005

Version 0.04

We are pretty much feature complete for version 1.00, although some bugs remain. Version 2.00 will be some sort of GPS support.

linux alpha blending now works (3)
slight modification to text labels
better looking resize (1)
toggle buttons (2)
font scaling (1)
scrolls text that won't fit into a label

(1) The default skin is 800x600, but setting the resolution in the carpc.ini file will scale the skin and fonts to any size you want. Font scaling is okay, but may need hand tweaking in the screen.ini file.

(2) The front and rear music selection buttons indicate the current state.

(3) I'll be packaging up the linux version this weekend.

Bugs: After the initial start, when we build our database, Movin'Media hangs and crashes. The database is okay, so just restart Movin'Media and all is well.

Windows: bad link removed

I haven't had too much feedback on this, so I'm hoping for some this time around.

Current GPS Status: The default skin will show a GPS button. Clicking this button simply launches the application specified in carpc.ini

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July 11, 2005

All the old features, plus:

full playlist (m3u) support
playlist generation
better conversion of mediacar skins
new default skin (see screen shots)
labels
better list control

display bug: If you specify (in the ini file) your screen size to be exactly the same size as your background, the png alpha transparency fails. The new default skin is 800x600, but the ini files specifies the size as 800x599, in order to get a proper display.

The screen shots below have been updated to match the default skin.

** OOPS **
Just noticed with this, rear audio will not work. Rear video is fine. Argh!

Windows: Not available
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July 4, 2005

All the old features, plus:

plays cd's front and back
music: mp3, aac, ac3, wma, ogg, mp4
video: whatever mplayer plays
song and video lists are now skinned
better conversion of mediacar skins (it's still not great)

If you have a skin you want converted, send it my way, and I'll see what I can do. No promises.

The Linux version should be available later this week.

The attached images are still the old ones.

Windows: Not available

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ORIGINAL
Hi,

I looked at some of the frontends available, and didn't find one that did exactly what I needed, so I wrote my own.

My specific need that wasn't covered, was that I needed to have 2 separate displays and 2 separate audio outputs. I wanted the front display and sound tied together, and the rear display and sound tied together. That way, I could listen to my tunes, while the kids in the back seat could listen to thier own tunes, or watch a video.

This program is written in C++ using wxWidgets as the base. In order to get cross-platform audio and video, I started using mplayer.

I'm not much of an artist, so my skin is pretty bad. I've attached some images for you to see.

I've written a convertor for MediaCar skins, but it's not great. I've also attached some images of that. I'm not sure I'll too much futher with the convertor, since it doesn't have all the functionality I need, and I had to hack someof the code to get it all working.

What works:
play music front and back
play video front and back
play dvd front and back
m3u playlist support

What doesn't work
gps
cd player

Currently works only with mp3s, but almost any video format.

Anyway, it's up here for your perusal. Let me know what you think. If anybody wants to make a nice skin for it, let me know!

Gerald

gbr · 06-30-2005, 10:46 AM

Here is another mediacar style image

Also attached is the Windows installer. I'll try to package up the Linux stuff into a tar file later (my car computer runs Linux).

If anybody knows how to force mplayer to use different audio cards and displays under Windows, let me know!

Also, the images uploaded have window borders on them, which is an option in the carpc.ini configuration file.

As you can see from the images, not everything is skinned yet... yet!

The setup.exe file can be downloaded from (edited: download link in first message)

The download is 5 MB, with my skin, and a badly converted mediacar skin.

RoyN · 06-30-2005, 06:53 PM

Cool... are you going to try something like using FreeDrive with Wine on linux?

or are you going to dev your own based on the d3 sdk with wine? (Apparently it is almost at a working point from previous tests by other developers)...

I think linux would be a much "smoother" alternative for CarPCs

xBrady · 06-30-2005, 07:22 PM

Good work, that's a very good idea to have two differant audios and videos.

gbr · 06-30-2005, 09:08 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by RoyN

Cool... are you going to try something like using FreeDrive with Wine on linux?

Honestly, I haven't thought about GPS yet. I'd like to have something integrated, but my Garmin IQue 3600 works pretty good.

Quote:

or are you going to dev your own based on the d3 sdk with wine? (Apparently it is almost at a working point from previous tests by other developers)...

I won't be developing my own GPS software, definately integrate someone elses. Where can I find freedrive?

Quote:

I think linux would be a much "smoother" alternative for CarPCs

So far, the Linux one seems smoother to me. It's also the one I use all the time. Both work exactly the same, except that I'm not sure how to get video and audio out to alternates.

Gerald

gbr · 06-30-2005, 09:09 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by xBrady

Good work, that's a very good idea to have two differant audios and videos.

Thanks!

RoyN · 07-01-2005, 03:00 PM

If FreeDrive would work on linux, I'd switch right away

www.freedrive.co.uk

forevertheuni · 07-04-2005, 10:35 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by RoyN

If FreeDrive would work on linux, I'd switch right away

www.freedrive.co.uk

have you rtried wine/cedega/crossover wine? or vmware?try to emulate a windows and work with that kind of apps in there..has soon I have a good frontend for linux is what I'm going to do

gbr · 07-11-2005, 04:27 PM

- updates posted in first message

forevertheuni · 07-11-2005, 08:25 PM

aahhh

what about the linux version?lool

RoyN · 07-11-2005, 08:29 PM

I dont want to run a full vmware, that is out of the question... if I have to do that than I'll just run a dedicated windows carpc... no advantage from running linux...

if we can get wine or soemthing to run freedrive quickly enough and it works well than that is a different storry...

forevertheuni · 07-12-2005, 07:34 AM

lol sure..if I get mapmonkey to work

that's the prob..they don't make the .so's for linux....infomap navigator works..but I thinks the .so is not avaiable too

gbr · 07-12-2005, 08:39 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by forevertheuni

aahhh

what about the linux version?lool

I actually run the linux version. Right now there is a problem with alpha blending the png files under linux. Once I have that done (this week), I'll post a linux version. (Statically linked, so the executable will be big)

Gerald

forevertheuni · 07-12-2005, 11:39 AM

hmm you aren't giving the source?btw can u put a GPS button to embedd in the frontend a choosen aplication?

gbr · 07-12-2005, 01:32 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by forevertheuni

hmm you aren't giving the source?btw can u put a GPS button to embedd in the frontend a choosen aplication?

Hi,

1. Source eventually, prob GPL. It's not quite ready for the world.
2. The default skin has a GPS button, but the code doesn't have it link to anything yet (and it's commented out in the screen.ini file)