Theme Question

Can I add a single “tweaked” XML page as a theme ??

Will the WD SMP simply use the rest of the MOCHI theme but with this new addition?

If not where can I download the original theme so that I can replace the Page with the tweaked one?

I only want to weak the gallery view “rv_gallery_browse_page.xml”

Thanks

Can I add a single “tweaked” XML page as a theme ??

Will the WD SMP simply use the rest of the MOCHI theme but with this new addition?

If not where can I download the original theme so that I can replace the Page with the tweaked one?

I only want to weak the gallery view “rv_gallery_browse_page.xml”

Thanks

Can I add a single “tweaked” XML page as a theme ??

Yes

Will the WD SMP simply use the rest of the MOCHI theme but with this new addition?

Yes

If not where can I download the original theme so that I can replace the Page with the tweaked one?

http://community.wd.com/t5/WD-TV-Live-Streaming/Stock-OSD-Mochi-2-01-86/td-p/642509

_ Quote: I only want to weak the gallery view “rv_gallery_browse_page.xml” _

 

When editing XML’s you must be precise and exact … grammatical errors in your theme will cause your device to crash and reboot.

(i know you meant  “tweak”… but when editing XML’s something as simple as that, will cause major problems)

Joey,

Thanks for the info.

Will I still need to zip up the "_ rv_gallery_browse_page.xml" page ?_

 

Im aware of how explicit XML can be and the fun of Node properties but thanks for the heads up

silki wrote:> Will I still need to zip up the "_ rv_gallery_browse_page.xml" page ?_

 

Yes

Create a Folder eg. SilkiMod      

place your modified

rv_gallery_browse_page.xml in it, as well as a meta.xml     (get this from the link i gave you above)

 

select both XML’s then right click on both and zip them (no compression … aka “store”)  *this is important*

and you’re ready to upload the zip file and apply the “theme”

example: here’s a simple No Weather/Time xml edit i did and uploaded for someone

http://www.mediafire.com/download/2a3r62482wi32d8/NoTimeOrWeather.zip

(all it is … decoration.xml and meta.xml … zipped at root level … no compression)

To piggyback on this…I’m new to the whole “custom theme” thing.  Is there an area on this board, or a thread, or a different site where it explains theming for the SMP?

I see the Hub has its own Theme Forum, but nothing for the SMP, and from what I’ve read so far, a lot of the stuff that applies to the Hub doesn’t apply to the SMP.

If anyone can point me in a direection where I can learn more of what you can and can’t do on the SMP, I’d appreciate it.

fhall1 wrote:

I see the Hub has its own Theme Forum, but nothing for the SMP, and from what I’ve read so far, a lot of the stuff that applies to the Hub doesn’t apply to the SMP.

on the contrary, virtually everything in the WDTV Live Hub Themes forum applies to the SMP

there’s only a couple of minor differences here and there (eg. SMP themes must be zipped, HUB themes don’t)

Explanation of how to “Theme” ?

There is plently of advice, guides and information in the WDTV Live Hub Theme’s forum which also applies to the SMP

eg.

http://community.wd.com/t5/WD-TV-Live-Hub-Themes/XML-DATABASE-formerly-Request-for-all-Themers/td-p/125086

http://community.wd.com/t5/WD-TV-Live-Hub-Themes/Some-tips-on-theming/td-p/144024

http://community.wd.com/t5/WD-TV-Live-Hub-Themes/WDTVLiveHub-ThemeDefinition-v1-0-Here/td-p/373315

There isnt really a definitive guide stating what you can and can’t do with themes … there’s only experimentation or asking questions

Sorry to bump this thread but I cannot find the meta.xml file in any of the links you referenced.  I’m also curious, in reference to the link you mentioned, how people are downloading their default mochi theme from their SMP?  Are they using the exploit script or is there an easier method I’m just missing in my searching?  I understand I can get it from others but I’m curious how to do it myself :slight_smile:

Thanks!

stock mochi can be found here http://community.wd.com/t5/WD-TV-Live-Streaming/Stock-OSD-Mochi-2-01-86/m-p/642509#M25988

meta.xml is in every theme

so take your choice and extract it

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Thank you for your quick response.  I downloaded the stock OSD mochi you have linked here and it does not contain the meta.xml file you were mentioning.  That is why I was wondering where it was, unless I’m completely losing my mind :slight_smile:

The other question I had was whether you used the exploit scipt to pull that as you stated it was pulled directly off of your SMP, or if there is a more simple and direct method I just haven’t seen yet.  Thank you!

download my link under KADs and you will find it   C:\resource\resource\theme_builtin\mochi\meta.xml

or … you could simply “create it” copy and paste the following into a *.txt file then save as change the extension to meta. xml

 

 

 

<?xml version=‘1.0’ encoding=‘UTF-8’?>
<meta  version=“0.01” service=“wdtv” ptype=“villa” date=“2010/08/01”/>
<theme id=“0001”>
        <title>Mochi</title>
     <screen_shot title=“home” thumbnail=“http://service.wdc.com/api/thumbnail1.jpg”> http://service.wdc.com/api/screenshot_1.jpg</screen_shot>
     <screen_shot title=“browse”  thumbnail=“http://service.wdc.com/api/thumbnail2.jpg”> http://service.wdc.com/api/screenshot_2.jpg</screen_shot>
     <author>Western Digital</author>
     <publish_date>2010/08/01</publish_date>
     <rating>05</rating>
     <downloads>0</downloads>
     <description><![CDATA[The WD TV Live Hub Spectrum Theme (Mochi) will enhance your media interaction by getting the best out of your High Definition TV.
        The whole family will enjoy browsing content with the colorful styling and friendly elements.]]></description>
     <package_url>http://service.wdc.com/api/default.theme </package_url>
     <ui_style>tabs</ui_style>
     <review>TBD</review>
</theme>

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Thanks again for the quick responses.  I did manage to find it elsewhere, but I wanted to make sure I had the most recent to go along with the version of mochi in the latest release.  I’m very familiar with XML, but not really sure of the purpose of the meta.xml file.  I guess I’ll figure it out with more research, I am just stumped as it is required if I just want to make subtle change to a theme.  Maybe it’s describing what theme the change applies to?  Just throwing out guesses here.

I’m also wondering if I’m asking an illegal question regarding how you and others are downloading it from your SMP’s as I’ve asked it twice now and no one has responded :slight_smile: Either that or it is just a dumb question…I don’t know :slight_smile:

I just download the GPL Code Package which Western Digital makes available in the downloads page :smiley:

http://support.wd.com/product/download.asp?groupid=1011&sid=161&lang=en

and extract the Legacy theme xml and graphics files  (which is perfectly legal) :smiley:

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Thanks again!  I will definitely check that out.

I assumed you guys also had a way you were actually accessing the file system of the SMP.  I come from a world that I’ve only used XBMC for the last 15 years or so, all on linux and before that on the original hacked XBOX itself.  So I was assuming there were ways you were accessing it outside of building custom firmware or utilizing the expoit script I’ve also read about.

Thanks again for helping out a WDTV newbie…but by now means a newbie to the hobby :slight_smile:

nmiller0113 wrote:

I assumed you guys also had a way you were actually accessing the file system of the SMP.

 

 

I’m pretty sure that’s how KAD79 is doing it 

 

(but the GPL Code Package contains a lot more graphics… havent checked wether there are more xml’s)

 

Download both mine and KADs links and compare the size and difference

 

 

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Yeah, your download is over double in size than his.  So I’m confused how that could be, but just do to my understanding of how this all ties together still.  If he’s downloading his straight from the SMP built from the same source your pulling yours from, why would yours have more graphics than his?  Is it just that his download didn’t include it even though all those graphics are still on his SMP?  I can’t make sense of why his wouldn’t include all those graphics.

I hope KAD responds as to how he does his download as well as I’d really like to know all my options and ways to browse the file system.  Thanks!

yes, I gain cmd line access, then copy everything

actually the first time I did this I used the cp command

http://community.wd.com/t5/WD-TV-Live-Streaming/Attention-Themers-1-12-14-Mochi-OSD/m-p/499030#M13953

cp is very straight forward and resolves all symlinks

the second time I did this I used rsync

http://community.wd.com/t5/WD-TV-Live-Streaming/Stock-OSD-Mochi-2-01-86/m-p/642509#M25988

this has good and bad

good is it’s a more accurate representation of exactly what is required

the bad, rsync does not resolve symlinks, instead I provided a list of symlinks and a word of caution about compatibility

symlinks don’t present a problem for anybody runing a linux distro, but symlinks are not supported in windows

symlinks also reduce the size of the osd, as they allow only needing 1 copy of each image

and if they are used in multiple places the symlinks, just point back to the original image reducing the size fo the archive

additionally, in the GPL code I’ve never looked, but I suspect there’s probably additional images which are not actually used, but that themer’s may find useful for developing their custom theme’s

in the future, I think I should try to remember to use cp

because, it will be more themer friendly, assuming that majority of themer’s are using a windows based OS

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Definitely familiar with symlinks.  That all makes perfect sense.

Care to share how you’re getting cli access :slight_smile: I’d definitely appreciate it!

Thanks again for the detailed response btw!

you’ve got some options for cmd line

easiest is a firmware I put out

http://forum.wdlxtv.com/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=8707

it’s beta, but very stable with no known bugs, other than bugs existing in official firmware

some of your other options includes b-rads alpha firmware, but is based on older firmware and is bug ridden

another option is to google SMP root exploit and you’ll get lots of hits about how to relatively easily gain root access while running an official firmware

note - I say relatively easy, I mean for somebody that is familiar with linux cmd line

most windows users, will probably be lost

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Man, you guys sure know how to make a WDTV newbie feel welcome.  Great answers and detail from all of you!  I have plenty of options.  I may go the exploit route, but your firmware does look impressive.  My reason for going this route was because the wife was sick of dealing with the little issues we’d always get from my 15 years of working with XBMC.  So I went to plex next and still had some issues.  Read some good things about WDTV so I thought I’d give it a shot, running stock firmware :slight_smile:

So far I’m very impressed with the latest SMP firmware and the built in scraper for all my movies.  It generated all the XML’s and placed them in my movie folder on my filer’s NFS share.  I believe these are called moviesheets??  I’ve read a TON about moviesheets vs. linksheets but don’t think I’ve got a full grasp on them or the meaning yet.  I read your post  http://community.wd.com/t5/WD-TV-Live-Hub-Themes/Moviesheet-vs-linksheet-vs-whatever/td-p/543891 and it gave a good description between the two, though all the information I’ve read seems to overlap in some ways.  One way is I don’t understand why you’d need programs, like thumbgen to create moviesheets when the built in scraper seems to do a great job.  I also don’t understand why linksheets are faster as everything I’ve read makes me think they are XML files as well, just placed in the theme root rather than with the movies themselves.  All the XML files in my moviesheets just have links to external artwork and whatnot, so if linksheets are still XML’s wouldn’t that be the same?  Or do linksheets point to something local and that is why there 30MB limit comes into play, because I couldn’t imagine a bunch of small XML files could fill 30MB that quickly.

Maybe I’m just way off base in my thinking or followings…I’ll keep reading and likely post these questions in another thread as I wouldn’t want to get this one too off topic.  Anyway…thank you again for all your help!

nmiller0113 wrote:

Man, you guys sure know how to make a WDTV newbie feel welcome.  Great answers and detail from all of you! 

 

 One way is I don’t understand why you’d need programs, like thumbgen to create moviesheets when the built in scraper seems to do a great job.  I also don’t understand why linksheets are faster as everything I’ve read makes me think they are XML files as well, just placed in the theme root rather than with the movies themselves.  All the XML files in my moviesheets just have links to external artwork and whatnot, so if linksheets are still XML’s wouldn’t that be the same?  Or do linksheets point to something local and that is why there 30MB limit comes into play, because I couldn’t imagine a bunch of small XML files could fill 30MB that quickly.

 

1) You could use Thumbgen to create sheets that are specific to a theme, by using a template for that theme.

2) Linkhseets are JPGs not XMLs. They can be faster since they are always physically on the device, while the XMLs are wherever your movies are stored. Also the XMLs files need to be used to dynamically build what you see on the screen and call external files, while the linksheet being a JPG has already been created and is ready to go.

3) The 30MBs come into play with Linksheets since as JPGs that are 1280x720, they take up around 250k or more depending on the sheet. If you have a lot of movie and or TV episodes, you would fill up the space that is left in the 30MBs (after the theme itself) pretty quickly.

Good Luck

-P

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