there’s basic instruction in the zip file
of coarse for more questions, etc
please post to wdlxtv.com forum
The.King wrote:
- Custom Theme such as ‘goodbye Black Mamba’ - if it will work with my WDTV Live.
- Renaming stuff and figuring out where to add the codes above.
- Using TG in conjunction with the custom theme above.
- Implementing the hack to get past the 30mb limit on my SMP.
Joey and KAD have given you a ton of info to go through. Have fun doing some reading. 
I am running a linksheet theme on my SMP so will add my 2Cents.
I have tried two linkheet themes on my SMP so cannot speak to all of them, but you brought up Black Mamba and that is one I have used on the SMP, as well as Simplicty.
To address your list:
1) The version of the Black Mamba theme you would want to use is called “Good Bye Black Mamba”, and it does work on the SMP. I am currently using Simplicty on my SMP with good success as well. I am sure many other Linksheet themes will work fine but cannot confirm from personel experience. The space issue will be a problem but we’ll get to that below.
2) If you install that specific theme (GBBM), you would not have to change any of the theme code. As it is already a linksheet theme, it will by default know how to present the sheets. I believe this would be the case for all Linksheet themes. You will have to do the file renaming that Joey wrote about, and then place the files in the theme’s root directory on your SMP. That theme does come with an instruction manual on how to do this.
3) That theme has a “bundle” for Thumbgen that will set it up to be used correctly for the theme. Once you have installed the bundle, you will have the options to choose templates for Movie linksheets and TV Show linksheets that are designed to match the theme. You will not have to do any real configuration of Thumbgen.
4) KAD gave you the link above to the info you need to work on the 30MB limit and has had a big hand in that side of the WD world as you can tell be the link. I’ll let you evaluate if that works for you and you feel comfortable going through the process. Down the rabbit hole you go…
@KAD - does SAMBA work on that implementation?
I love linksheets and to me it’s worth whatever it takes to get them running. If not though, moviesheet theme with the XMLs on your drives still look great and do not require any hacking of your SMP to get them to work.
Your other option would be to find and buy a WD LiveHub. Since there is an internal drive that the themes can fit on, linkhseets are simple to install and use, no hacking required. You could either sell off your SMP, or use it in another room as a client to the HUB. The Hub is by far my favorite device in the WD media player lineup.
Good luck on whatever path you decide to take.
-P
yeah, the most recent release
has no known bugs - other than what bugs official firmware has
so yes - samba works
wireless works
netflix, and other services work
additionally, I think the most usefull feature for noobs is
if you create “.theme” folder on the same thumbdrive as the firmware provided
the theme path will automatically be set to use .theme
so user’s don’t actually need telnet to get linksheets working on SMP
just boot that firmware and create .theme folder to contain the theme and reboot
Wow, truly amazing work. thanks for sharing!
-P
Huge thanks for your post and detailed info - really made sense without any tech jargon and good to know the GBBM theme worked for you also on a SMP.
So, to make sure I have everything right before I begin this…
-
Turn off and remove media libary on my existing WDTV Live setup as all of those auto-generated MetaThumb files and XML files are no longer required if I am using WDTVLX FW, Linksheets, GBBM Theme bundle and TG.
-
Remove all existing (old) MetaThumb and XML files that were auto-generated by my WDTV Media Libary from each of my folders.
-
Download the 2.01.86-EXT3_Palace_Stock_Plus-0.0.4 (380MB) file from the link KAD79 kindly provided. Follow the included instructions etc. for booting and this will give me WDTVLX Firmware on my WDTV Live SMP - instead of the crappy stock FW. (If I have any issues, post in the WDTVLX forum as opposed to here.)
-
Download TG and open.
-
Download GBBM Theme Pack from here ( http://community.wd.com/t5/WD-TV-Live-Hub-Themes/Theme-GoodBye-Black-Mamba-LinkSheet-Updated-Dec-14th/td-p/510386), follow the instructions and add the theme pack to TG. (a) In the pdf instructions, it says something about renaming but as I don’t have a current moviesheet, I assume this won’t apply to me? (b) When links and instructions refer to putting things in the ‘Theme Root Folder’, I know this is usually the uppermost (beginning) folder, but can someone please give me an example of the ‘path’ for clarity?
i.e. Say all of my movies/TV programs are in separate folders on Drive L (my NAS) -
“L:\HD Movies”
and or
“L:\HDTV\Homeland.Seasons 1-3.[HD]”
…if I am creating sheets for Homeland, is there a folder that will be auto-generated by WDTVLX, GBBM and/or TG that I move all of these files to, or what?
-
Check forums and YouTube etc. for a better understanding of TG and how to utilise it properly.
-
Figure out the workaround for the 30MB limit on my SMP (or 13MB limit when using GBBM Theme). After reading the links provided, it only seems possible to work-around this limit with a USB Stick permanently inserted into the back of the WDTV Live. Is there no other way around this? Considering my WDTV Live is directly connected to a 6TB NAS (and my NAS directly networked to a 30TB Tower Raid) is it not possible to set up a folder somewhere on any drive and point the WDTV Live to this for all the Linksheet info I generate? If not, I can dig out an old USB key, but the folder option would be easier and more future proof - especially when looking at thousands of Linksheets.
-
The Linksheet step-by-step guide (pdf) says: “5. copy the renamed movie sheet into the root folder of the theme…done”. Where is the root folder of the theme?
Step-by-step (pdf) guide that came with GBBM Bundle.
Steps 1 & 2 - fine.
Step 3 - confused. The ‘cover box’ & ‘sheet’ are the exact same jpg for a start (I thought they would be different) as in, I thought one would look like the image in the bottom right corner of TG - the main sheet in MovieSheet Editor.
Step 4 - ok I think. I changed the moviesheet file extension .jpg to (in this case) .avi, but do I only change the extension?
Step 5 - as I written above, copy the renamed moviesheet to where? What root?
Step 6 - fine. Changed (removed) .jpg extension. It now just reads ‘folder’.
Sorry for all this, I’m just trying to get off on the right foot here. A bit like a learner driver - we were all one once, now they just annoy everyone, so sorry if this post is VERY Noob. Hopefully it will really explain things for other Noobs just getting started.
Many thanks for your posts also and for pointing me in the right direction. And to @JoeySmyth too, who gave me a lot of info (and a headache which I clearly asked for :smiley: )
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@The.King , here are some answers to your questions, to the best of my ability. I applaud your enthusiasm as you embark on this epic journey to turn your SMP into a tricked out killer media device. Now if it were only easy….
Answers to your Questions (hopefully):
I am not going to quote your questions as this post is more than long enough already. Just refer back to your previous post.
1) Yes, turn off media library
2) Yes, remove all existing metadata and XML files that are in your movie directories.
3) Yes, installing that Firmware will get you the space you need, butyou will have to get support for it on the other board. Then of course once you get it up and running, thank KAD for all his hard work, incredible tech skill, as well as generosity to give it to the community for FREE! (Flowers is probably over the top, but maybe putting him on your holliday card list would be appropriate.) :smileyvery-happy:
4) Yes, you will need to install Thumbgen
5) Correct, you do not have to delete any of your old Black Mamba 1.9 moviesheets since you do not have any. The root folder will be the actual root of the theme, so “\Goodbye Black Mamba Theme” on your SMP after you have installed it by uploading the zip file. Inside that folder you will see all the theme’s XML files. That is where you are going to put your linksheets as well.
When you generate your sheets and covers, TG will place the cover with the movie, and then the linksheet one directory back. That said, those are configurable variables in TG and you can have it place the sheet wherever you like. In Thumbgen under “options” there is a tab called “Input/output naming” which you can specify where you would like each of the pieces it generates to be placed when they are made.
6) No. Do not go to youtube to learn Thumbgen. You could, but since DeVicious has written a guide on exactly what to do, you just need read the two PDF’s that come with the theme. The PDF “Black Mamba 1.9 User Guide for old Sheets.pdf” will clearly walk you through using Thumbgen for the theme. The second guide, “Link Sheet Manual - Black Mamba.pdf” will give you a bit more info on the process, how to rename the linksheets appropriately, and where to place them (answered in #5 above). If you want to get more in depth, then go back and read up on TG, but for starters, don’t overload yourself with too much info. Let’s just get one or two linksheets working so you have proof of concept. Others here may disagree with me, but too much information at once can be overwhelming. She has made this easy for you, take advantage of that and learn the in-depth part later, or when you have no choice because of the need to trouble shoot a problem that arises.
7) This is a question you would have to discuss on the other board. Sorry, not appropriate for here since it is about the alternate FW and not made by WD. My suggestion though is to use a thumb drive for your theme, and keep it separate from your NAS. Just an opinion though.
8) The root folder question has already been answered in #5 - “\Goodbye Black Mamba Theme”. That is on your SMP once you have installed the theme.
8A+) In step 3 in the guide, she explains that you will be creating two files with the same name. One of them (the cover art) in the movie’s folder, and one of them (the linksheet) in one folder “up”. Though they will have the same name (“moviename”.jpg), they should look very different. The first should just be the cover. The second (one folder up) should be a sheet with all the movie info, scene picture, etc. That is the one you will rename to the same EXACT name as the movie, EXTENSION and all, and put in “\Goodbye Black Mamba Theme” on your SMP. I would not worry about making linksheets for folders yet until you get a few working movie linksheets. I don’t recall, but I don’t think there are folder templates for GBBM so stick with movies for now. Just make the covers for the folders and deal with the sheets later. Get the basics down first, then move forward from there.
Other Advice:
Lots of stuff here but you are on your way. I am unclear what you have actually done. My advice would be to go in this order. You have way too many things going on at once and it will be impossible to troubleshoot if you don’t test things one at a time and make sure each step works. You are dealing with custom FW and a semi-complex linksheet theme. This works great and looks killer, but you will likely encounter and issue or two along the way and it would be nice to know what is working well, versus what is not.
This is the Order I Would Use:
1) Turn off media library and delete all metadata form you NAS
2) Install alternate FW KAD linked you to, and get used to using it
3) Install GBBM theme by zipping and uploading through web interface as directed. Play with and enjoy for a bit, make sure is working on thumbdrive. Make sure all the screens look good and that you actually have installed the theme correctly. Reboot the SMP several times to make sure that GBBM has stuck and the SMP does not go back to the default theme.
4) Install Thumbgen onto your computer, and then install GBBM bundle that came with the theme
5) Make 1 or 2 linksheets for movies in TG. This is a test; do not make tons of linksheets till you know if you have this working correctly. Leave cover jpg with movie. Find linksheet one level up. Open it up in a graphics viewer/editor and determine if it looks correct.
6) Rename linksheet, and copy to “\Goodbye Black Mamba Theme” on SMP
7) Put view to gallery view, go to that movie, and see if sheet comes up. If no sheet but just movie cover along the bottom, you have made a mistake in either then naming or the directory you put the sheet in.
8) If does not work immediately (it should though) you may try a full re-boot of the SMP and then go back and look at that movie again in gallery view.
“A picture is worth a thousand words”:
Here are two pictures of my device when it was running GBBM.
The top picture is the linksheet itself that I created in Thumbgen, then opened on my computer with a graphics program before renaming it. Yours should look somewhat similar when you open it in your graphics editor.
The bottom picture is what GBBM should look like on your screen in gallery view when browsing through your movies. The selected movie should be showing the linksheet for it, and the movie cover(s) should be below. If you can get this to work with ONE or TWO linksheets, you then know that you have the process down, and are ready to proceed with creating sheets for all of your movies. Expect this to take some time with that many TBs of video.
Good Luck my friend. You are in for a wild ride, but it will be well worth it.
-P
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Seriously dude, I can’t thank you enough for your last post. I REALLY appreciate the time you took to reply and to be so thorough with your instructions. Serious thanks - I’m putting you on my holiday card list also! :smileyvery-happy:
That’s you, KAD and JoeySmyth!
I suppose the only tiny thing I never asked or covered was my actual folders for all my movies and TV programs - to ensure everything works as intended.
If I have the likes of this as the path for ‘some’ movies: “L:\HD Movies\Classic Movies in HD\BD-BR Rips [HD]” and then within that folder I have a sub-folder for each movie (approx. 565 folders and within those sub-folders there would also be some (a lot of) other sub-folders for trilogies/quadrilogies etc.) - can I leave them like that? Or in order for the GBBM Theme to work as intended (and copying all renamed sheets to the root, do I need to have all movies out of folders and all just stored in the root also?
I don’t think that would be right, as (a) I’d have thousands of different containers [.mkv., .m2tS, .mp4, etc.) and their accompanying .srt files for subs all in the one root and (b) I’d assume folders would be required if you wanted to set up genres such as ‘Comedy’, ‘Action/Adventure’, etc. - but hey, I’ve asked everything else, so I might as well make sure I get the folder set-up right from the offset as well.
I have many folders for movies to cover off 720p, 1080p, full BR Rips, Classics, New Movies, DVDRips, etc. The same can be said for all TV programs - usually one folder for each series (say ‘Mad Men’) and then within that folder, I’d have a subfolder for each season (‘Mad Men - Season 1 [HD]’, ‘Mad Men - Season 2 [HD]’, etc.).
I only ask this because I noticed when using the crappy FW that came with my WDTV Live, after adding my media libary, I noticed that about 70% of all files were auto-updated successfully with XML files and Metadata, but all movies/TV programs stored within sub-folders for trilogies etc., nothing was created. Obviously WDTV had issue with this, so I just want to make sure that as I embark on this wild ride, I get it right for the Theme.
Again, massive, massive thanks Pearl , I genuinely think I would have become overwhelmed before I even got started and just ‘put up with’ the crappy pre-installed FW. Now - I’ll defo look forward to tackling this project.
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@The.King
You do not need to put all of your movies in the root of your NAS, you can have them in subfolders if you like. That said this will be a nightmare if you have each movie in its own folder. You would not see the linksheet until you went into that individual folder. Most people use genre folders (similar to what you have), and put all the movies for that genre in that folder. Yes though, I do also have sub folders for trilogies etc. If you look at the movies along the bottom of my picture above, you will notice that the first two are actually folder for the Iron Man movies and the X-Men movies. The rest are actual movies. Making linksheets for folders is not that difficult, but you do not want to make it for hundreds of them. More reasonable would be “Action”, “Comedy”, “Drama” etc.
I did check though and the theme does have folder templates which you can use if you like how they look. Note that the folder sheet template is made specifically for genres, so you could not use that template for a specific movie.
For GBBM, I believe I just made the folder linksheets by hand. Remember that these are just JPGs that are 1280x720. I made the jpgs for the folders in a graphics editor, and then renamed it to the name of the folder and dropped it into the theme root. If you have any decent graphics skills, just make a jpg that is 1280x720, find the pics you want to use on the net, add the info you want (title of the genre etc), and then save it. Do your rename and “Ta Da” you have a linksheet. For folder, you name them the EXACT name of the folder with no extension. And I mean EXACT, capitalization will matter for folder sheets.
Yes, these genre folders will have a lot of movies of different formats, as well as their cover art and any subtitle files. You could of course convert all of them to a standard format like MKV if you wanted. You are also correct about TV shows. A folder for the show, and subfolders for the seasons. The theme has templates for TV Show folders, TV Show Season Folders, and TV Show Episodes. Those templates will make the linksheet and the cover art.
Now, figure out the folders thing you have going on. A folder for each movie is not going to work out very well. You want to go into a folder like “Classics” and see all of the movies along the bottom, and the highlighted one to be showing the linksheet above. Get those arranged on your NAS in way that will be easy to find what you want. Subfolders will work, just don’t go too deep. For an example, I have a folder for “Comedy” and then underneath that I have “Classic Comedy” and “Modern Comedy”. For me that was manageable and easy enough to make the folder sheets for, and I don’t have to have a Chaplin or Buster Keaton movie next to Anchorman when I am browsing.
Time to get moving on this my friend. Things will make more sense once you get going. Get KAD’s FW and the theme installed and make sure you have that down first. TG comes after that.
-P
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Roger that. Most of that made sense, but I have a TONNE of work to do, to create new genre folders and then individually copy/paste movie & .srt files for over 980 items - and that’s just on my NAS. When I get to my Raid tower, you can add another ‘0’ onto the end of that figure.
I never really liked using the Genre folders idea. I tried it years ago when I first started out, but it was difficult to find the movie I wanted to watch at the time (due to the lack of a search feature on my media player back then) and it was also impossible to get through newer movies as opposed to older classics I’ve seen before, as everything was mixed together within each genre. I like to separate the new from the old. Still, I can appreciate the logic behind the genres and I understand why it would be a nightmare to leave things as I currently have them, when trying to implement the GBBM Theme. SO I will attempt to ‘come over’ to the other side.
I think I may be going ‘dark’ for a long while now in order to try my hand at everything previously discussed on this forum, so for now - I again, would like to thank you (and the other contributors to this post - for info and for their FW links, etc.) and with a bit of luck - I can post in a while (weeks, months?) to proudly confirm everything worked a treat (I hope!) In the meantime, if I run into any minor issues or have a (stupid Noob) question - I hope it’s ok to ask for help.
Again, many thanks - I certainly wouldn’t be trying any of this had I not had the help and experienced insight from all you guys.
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I’ve just sat down with a coffee and re-read this entire post from beginning to end before I started my work - clicking into and re-reading the various links provided too. Apart from feeling like a brain hemorrhage is quickly coming on, I’m highly confused and having a couple of doubts (about my ability) to implement this 30MB hack.
The reason I didn’t go with a WDTV Live Hub is due to a complete automated Smarthomes system integrated throughout my house - i.e. miles of Cat6 throughout the walls, one central hub and an 8x8 Matrix Switcher controlling the lot (think Control4). Therefore, only a basic WDTV Live was required to connect to my NAS, but I can switch to the WDTV from any room in the house and watch content on any TV, hence a Live Hub was complete overkill. (However, given the information I’ve come across regarding linksheets, TG and custom FW since I got my SMP, I’m beginning to wish I had purchased the Live Hub just to get past this 30MB limit.
I know there’s a tonne of info out there and I have read, re-read and re-read (several times in some cases) the various links provided for hacking this limitation…
http://forum.wdlxtv.com/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=7663&start=0
http://forum.wdlxtv.com/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=8707
The problem I have being; some of these posts were initially posted in the infancy or early stages of development (Dec 2012), so the information contained within is not entirely clear or concise as it was still in development - certainly not for a non-techy, non-developer Noob anyway. I also have no idea which of the links to ignore and which to follow step by step (putting yourself in my shoes, it’s hard to deciper when half the language being used is (or reads like) advanced developer lingo). I’ve seen more Cap letters here than after a surgeons name 
Going by KAD79’s link, this seems to give me the right WDLXTV custom FW and also the hack to get around the 30MB limit, so do I even need to be reading the other two links or are they just giving me an unnecessary headache?
The other problem being, just how techy it all seems. i.e. DMAOSD.logs, Telenet, CMD lines via browser to input IP to place a palace.bin file somewhere, Config scripts, etc. All just to get a USB stick inserted and get around the 30MB limit?
With the absolute greatest of respect, some of the instructions are a little vague for the non techy, non developer…
i.e.
_ Overview: First you run one of the scripts in homebrew/ - confirm palace is in homebrew mode _
Ok, but run the script from where? Am I running the script from my PC or am I heading down to my cinema room, turning on my WDTV Live, connecting to my PC from my WDTV via the network and then running the script on my WDTV?
_ On Windoze: to execute: _
Step 1) edit device-ip.txt and enter in the file *ONLY* your media players IP address
Step 2) win-homebrew-upload.bat
Step 3) win-homebrew-brewme.bat
Step 4) win-homebrew-status.bat
I’m already lost after step 1! Where or how do I edit the device-ip.txt for example? When you first read this, there’s no clue as to whether you’re referring to a file on the downloaded content on a PC or if the ‘device-ip’ file is some hidden file located on the WDTV somewhere. OK, after about 3-4 mins of looking through everything, I found the device-ip file, but it would have been easier if step 1 was written like this…
Step 1) After un-zipping your download, locate the ‘homebrew’ folder and inside it - the text document labelled ‘device-ip’. Open this and change the existing IP address to that of your own WDTV media player’s IP address.
Maybe I’m reading too much into it (I’m just trying to get my head around it before starting, otherwise I know that I’ll hit a wall half way through and have NO WDTV at all - which would be a nightmare), but even one guy in the links above had Linksheets implemented on an older WDTV previously - and even he had a couple of questions and queries to get around. If he had done it all before and still couldn’t figure out some of it - what chance have I got? In a way, it’s very much like a different language - I can see the words, but it ain’t making much sense.
I certainly have no intention of coming across as ungrateful here (genuinely), I fully understand and appreciate the amount of time and info you have all given to this post to help me out and I know that no one can ‘do it for me’ - but if there was one link with a cleaned up set of instructions (in simple-ish language) - it would make this far less daunting for me and any other Noobs attempting this. I am sure it would then be something that would take around 20 minutes to implement as opposed to reading through pages and pages of forums for days and I could spend that time sorting out all of my files and folders and working on TG. From what I’ve read - I’m sure a lot of people wanted to try custom FW & Linksheets, but read a few of these links, got overwhelmed and thought “Ehhhhh, maybe I’ll just leave it alone, life’s too short”. Everytime I re-read some of these links, that’s exactly what I’m thinking too. I’d really like linksheets and some custom FW, but I still want to be sane after I’ve completed the work.
I can imagine how this post could be taken incorrectly, so I want to say again that I really appreciate the help to date and I am not trying to rub anyone up the wrong way. If would just be immensely helpful if there was a straight talking foolproof instruction guide to go about doing this, as I am sure a lot of people visiting these forums and enquiring about custom FW are the same as me, a Noob with no clue on this topic who would like to a slick looking WDTV thanks to your hard work.
I know I have the bones of it to hand and I could nearly recite the pages throughout the forum that I’ve read so many times, but as I mentioned before, I just want everything to make sense before I kill my existing WDTV FW. Apologies for the long post.
well, most of these questions are going to be better answered over at WDLXTV - trying to keep some separation between official firmware and custom fw
but just a bit here
majority of those links you can ignor
http://forum.wdlxtv.com/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=7663&start=0 - this is an ok reference, at least for how to do the boot process
http://community.wd.com/t5/WD-TV-Live-Streaming/Getting-around-the-30MB-theme-limit-and-repointing-the-SMP-to/m-p/631463/highlight/true#M25055 - Defintely ignor this
http://forum.wdlxtv.com/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=8707 - this is the firmware you should run
The way this firmware has been designed so that you don’t need any cmd line, etc …
it’s availabe if you want it, but not needed
you just go through the windows boot process
anways, how about we continue the conversation at http://forum.wdlxtv.com/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=8707
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Hi KAD,
Thanks for replying to this. As suggested, I’ve just set myself up over on WDLXTV and sent you a reply from there to discuss further.
Thanks.
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Need help!
This is going to be fun. OK, so I’ve progressed things a little as per my other post over here on the WDLXTV Forum. I’ll try to keep this as simple as I can…
I downloaded KAD’s FW (2.01.86-EXT3_Palace_Stock_Plus-0.0.4 * updated 1/13/14), unzipped it, followed all instructions and uploaded it to my SMP - all went ok so far thanks to KAD’s help and the FW version on my SMP now reads 2.01.86-EXT3_Palace_Stock_Plus-0.0.4.
I then started to tidy up one movie folder as per your suggestion @pearl. I didn’t go and tidy everything up until I know I have everything working as intended - as it will take days to do that.
I downloaded the GBBM Theme and TG. I opened TG and applied/uploaded the GBBM Theme to it. All ok - see two photos below (and minor queries within each photo).
TG produced two jpg’s (one called ‘Despicable Me 2.jpg’ and the other called ‘Despicable Me 2.mkv_sheet.jpg’).
I renamed the former to ‘Despicable Me 2’ and the latter to ‘Despicable Me 2.mkv’ - as per the instructions on this forum.
I then took my thumb drive which currently has the following four files placed on the root (as per KAD’s instructions here…
wdlxtv-palace.bin
wdtvlivegen3.bin.mpm
runsit.sh
wdtvlivegen3.bin.mpm.sha1sum
To that root on the thumb drive I added a ‘new folder’ and renamed it ‘GBBM Theme’. I copied both folders and all 65 XML documents from the ‘goodbye Black Mamba Theme’ folder (included in DeVicious’s download and as per the instructions.)
I then copied both renamed ‘Despicable Me2’ files (mentioned above) to this theme folder which is still on the root of my thumb drive. I turned off my WDTV Live, inserted the thumb drive into the rear USB slot and powered it back on.
When my SMP comes back online, I still have the old (stock) desktop appearance (as if nothing has changed) and there’s no sign of a cool looking GBBM UI?
To my knowledge, I’ve followed all instructions correctly thus far - yet from the image my TV displays - I’ve just wasted a few hours as everything is the exact same - even though it still says I’m running the 2.01.86-EXT3_Palace_Stock_Plus-0.0.4 FW?
As per my last post over on the WDLXTV Forum here, I had two main queries. (a) Did I rename the “.theme” folder correctly (instructions not entirely clear for a Noob)? And (b) Do I still need to download some WDTVLX FW or something? i.e. When I log onto my SMP via IE (192.168.x.x) I still get the old (stock) UI and not some WDLXTV UI?
Anything else I have/am doing wrong - please weigh in. (I currently have an expensive paperweight). I know this predominantly relates to custom FW, but you have all been very helpful to date and I don’t know if @pearl and @JoeySmyth are members of the other forum - hence the post here looking for help.
As a ‘thank you’ to the community when I get this completed and working properly, I am going to post a comprehensive list of links and instructions with step-by-step guidance for all NOOBS out there - written from the viewpoibnt of a NOOB. Hopefully it will help everyone in my situation and avoid so many question to you guys/gals.
Again, many thanks for your help in advance.
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If your SMP looks the same as it always did, then that is your first issue. You do not have the theme installed. The linksheets part is secondary for now. This has nothing to do with Thumbgen.
If your refer back to my previous posts:
-You need to install the alternate FW ( not supported here) and get used to using it
-You need to Install the GBBM theme, use it for a little while and get used to it
Then, you will be in good shape to work on your linkhsheets.
You will need to work with folks on the other board to figure out why the theme install has not gone correctly, since it is going to be a little different then on WD’s stock FW. I can guess that you do not have the theme path variable set up correctly but this is out of my area of expertise, and of the purview of this board.
On the TG side, did you follow my note to open the jpg (in this case “Despicable Me 2.mkv_sheet.jpg” ) in a graphics viewer before renaming it so you could see that it looked correct? As long as looked like the linkhseets you have seen posted, then you know that you have made it correctly. Besides renaming that file (assuming it looks correct), then you have done all you can do in TG. Looking at the bottom right corner of the TG picture you posted, that does look like the expected linksheet that is then going to be generated.
Get the theme installed. Without that everything you are doing in TG is a waste of time (besides making some really nce jpegs of course :smiley: )
Good Luck.
-P
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Hi there,
I guess you have on too many Folders.
The Theme must be inside the “.theme” Folder on the thumbdrive.
So, simply rename your “GBBM Theme” Folder to “.theme” and copy it to the thumbdrive. That´s it.
Good luck 
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I use linksheets on the hub and this is the routine on that.
You shouldn’t have to rename the GBBM theme folder, just place it in the Theme folder on thumbdrive/hdd.
The Despicable Me 2.jpg is the cover file and should be left as is, the Despicable Me 2.mkv_sheet.jpg should just have the .jpg extension removed.
The Despicable Me 2.mkv_sheet should be located into the GBBM theme folder on thumbdrive/hdd and the Despicable Me 2.jpg should be located in the same folder as the Despicable Me 2.mkv movie file
NB. If you download DeVicious’s Simplicity linksheet theme she provides a very good tutorial that explains how to set up linksheets.
Cheers
@pearl - as ever, thanks for your reply.
Ok, I’ve posted an update over on the other forum here. With huge thanks to KAD, I finally got around renaming that folder to just .theme and included all relevant files in it. As a result, I now have the theme installed and more importantly - displaying correctly - well almost…
The smaller folder/thumbnail jpg (after being renamed to remove ‘.jpg’ will just not display regardless of which of the two locations (I have tried) putting it in? This may be due to my question written on the 2nd screenshot I posted - i.e. which of the boxes in TG should be ‘ticked’, or maybe it has nothing to do with it?
All I know to date is, KAD’s FW is working great, the GBBM theme is working great for the most part, I can see my (renamed) linksheet with the movie plot and IMDB rating etc. no problem, but any of the folder/thumbnail jpgs created by TG and renamed to remove the ‘.jpg’ just won’t display? Full details are included in my other post at the link above.
Have you come across any of these issues when using this theme yourself, or would you have any idea on what I’m doing wrong?
P.S., yep, I followed your note to open the jpg (in this case “Despicable Me 2.mkv_sheet.jpg” ) in a graphics viewer before renaming it, to make sure it looked ok and had all info - all was good.
@engineer14 - thanks for weighing in. Your suggestion is precisely what KAD clarified for me over on the other forum and worked a treat.
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The.King wrote:> The smaller folder/thumbnail jpg (after being renamed to remove ‘.jpg’ will just not display regardless of which of the two locations (I have tried) putting it in?
You only remove the file extension for ‘folder’ Linksheets… you do not remove it for file/folder Thumbnails
(Thumbnails which are placed next to your actual movie files … not in the theme folder)
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Do not remove the .jpg extension from the Despicable Me 2.jpg, that is the cover thumbnail and should be located where the movie file is.
Any folder thumbnail should be created as folder.jpg
i.e Movies (folder name), within that folder should be Despicable Me 2.mkv (movie name) Despicable Me 2.jpg (movie thumbnail), folder.jpg (folder thumbnail)
Cheers
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