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Appears that there are quite a few questions around getting iphoto plugin working with the ATV. Anyone has managed to get it working?

steve1977 Wrote:Appears that there are quite a few questions around getting iphoto plugin working with the ATV. Anyone has managed to get it working?

I was able to get it to work doing the following:

Assumes current standard iPhoto plugin
Share the drive that contains the iPhoto Library on Mac OS X 10.5 (this needed to be the complete drive since that is the path used in AlbumData.xml, else it never got to see the actual photos/thumbnails)
AFP mount the drive (via NitoTV in my case)
symlink the /mnt/SCRATCH/Volumes/........./iPhoto Library directory into the /Users/frontrow/Pictures path
Import the iphoto library via the plugin.

Hi

I am testing the latest download on three macs:
MacBook Pro: both the iTues and iPhoto plugins were able to import the relevant libraries and media could be managed in XBMC. VERY HAPPY.

VERY UNHAPPY:

On the MacPro and iMac I have the following exact experience: iTunes plugin imports the music, podcast etc that can be managed in XBMC.

the iPhoto plugin refuses to import on both computers, clicking on iPhoto import icon does not indicate any process and the Albums and Events icons/folders remain "empty".

Any suggestions?

Hi, I have a mixed lan with windows+linux+mac. XBMC is installed on every PC.
The ITunes and IPhoto libraries are shared on a nas via samba.
How could I modify the plugin to search on a nas?

Boseman Wrote:I was able to get it to work doing the following:

Assumes current standard iPhoto plugin
Share the drive that contains the iPhoto Library on Mac OS X 10.5 (this needed to be the complete drive since that is the path used in AlbumData.xml, else it never got to see the actual photos/thumbnails)
AFP mount the drive (via NitoTV in my case)
symlink the /mnt/SCRATCH/Volumes/........./iPhoto Library directory into the /Users/frontrow/Pictures path
Import the iphoto library via the plugin.

Awesome!!! This indeed appears like exactly what I was thinking of and it appears that you got it working. Could you help me with a step-by-step guide how you succeeded doing it. Unfortunately, my "finder skills" are limited and it looks like you do most of the stuff through finder, isnt it?

steve1977 Wrote:Awesome!!! This indeed appears like exactly what I was thinking of and it appears that you got it working. Could you help me with a step-by-step guide how you succeeded doing it. Unfortunately, my "finder skills" are limited and it looks like you do most of the stuff through finder, isnt it?

First I am making a few assumptions.
1) that the target platform is an Apple TV
2) that you have the current, un-modified, iPhoto plugin installed via manually, SVN Repo Installer, or the like
3) that you are familiar with mounting network drives
4) that you are familiar with Terminal and basic Unix commands.

This plugin assumes your AlbumData.xml file resides in the /Users/frontrow/Pictures/iPhoto Library directory.

On Your Mac OS X network connected host that contains your iPhoto Library:

The AlbumData.xml file is the same file that iPhoto uses to manage your actual photos within the iPhoto database. It would by default be found on your Mac host system in your /Users/<username>/Pictures/iPhoto Library package, but some folks move their iPhoto Library to another location like an external drive.

Its path is key here, so it is important to make sure you know the iPhoto Library complete physical path from the drive name forward. Example: "/Volumes/iPhotoDrive/Pictures/iPhoto Library"
You will need to "share" the complete iPhotoDrive on this Mac so the AppleTV can access it.

On Your AppleTV

Now that you have the physical path of the iPhoto Library package, you will need to mount the physical drive which contains it. As stated above, you will need to "share" this complete drive with the actual drive name, then afp mount it on the AppleTV using a mounting technique like can be found in NitoTV (which I use).

The mounting of the complete drive is important because it seems that AlbumData.xml has physical pointers with the entire path to locate the physical photos. Example: "/Volumes/iPhotoDrive/Pictures/iPhoto Library/Data/2009". So the plugin needs access to this same path.

Once the drive is mounted, you should be able to see the drive in /mnt/Scratch/Volumes/ on the AppleTV. Using the example above you should be able to use terminal and:
cd /mnt/Scratch/Volumes/
ls
and then you should see iPhotoDrive listed.

Now you will need to symbolic link (like alias) the iPhoto Library package into the /Users/frontrow/Pictures path. To do this you will need to use terminal and the ln command. Again, using the above example path and names:

ln -s "/mnt/Scratch/Volumes/iPhotoDrive/Pictures/iPhoto Library" /Users/frontrow/Pictures

That should do it.

Now run the iPhoto plugin in XBMC, Import the iPhoto Library, and you should see your photos.

I know this is a bit wordy and makes a lot of assumptions, but I hope it helps.

Hello!
I have just downloaded the most recent build of XBMC for my MacBook, along with the latest Aeon (Stark) theme.

I have the iTunes plugin up and running in perfect order, but I have one annoyance that I was wondering could be fixed.

Maybe it's just something that I'm not doing...

BUUUUUUT:

Whenever I hit up the iTunes subsection of the whole "Music" section, I see all my artists as cartoony Elvis heads and all my albums as multi-colored CD's in a CD holder.

Is there ANY way to change these thumbnails?!

Thank you SO much.

Everything is great, it just bugs me that there's no beautiful HD thumbnails in the Wall view of Stark.

andy.minor Wrote:Hello!
I have just downloaded the most recent build of XBMC for my MacBook, along with the latest Aeon (Stark) theme.

I have the iTunes plugin up and running in perfect order, but I have one annoyance that I was wondering could be fixed.

Maybe it's just something that I'm not doing...

BUUUUUUT:

Whenever I hit up the iTunes subsection of the whole "Music" section, I see all my artists as cartoony Elvis heads and all my albums as multi-colored CD's in a CD holder.

Is there ANY way to change these thumbnails?!

Thank you SO much.

Everything is great, it just bugs me that there's no beautiful HD thumbnails in the Wall view of Stark.

Just an informal user reply to this and I will leave the formal reply to the developers/experts.

In inspecting the default.py file in the plugin, the author states that the actual thumbnails are a to do. However, it seems you should be able to change the defaults. They are defined and referenced within the default.py from the resources/icons directory in the plugin. You will note in this directory the album.png, artist.png, etc files which are the default icons. Replacing these with the same name and format should allow you to make the default as you like. I tried it and it does work in the Basic-Vision skin.

Boseman Wrote:Just an informal user reply to this and I will leave the formal reply to the developers/experts.

In inspecting the default.py file in the plugin, the author states that the actual thumbnails are a to do. However, it seems you should be able to change the defaults. They are defined and referenced within the default.py from the resources/icons directory in the plugin. You will note in this directory the album.png, artist.png, etc files which are the default icons. Replacing these with the same name and format should allow you to make the default as you like. I tried it and it does work in the Basic-Vision skin.

Ah, thank you very much.

I should have looked a bit closer...

hey fellas,
i think i'm too dumb to get this plugin working... i have the 9.04 version of xbmc and mediastream skin. i placed the plugin into the XBMC app -> Contents -> Resources -> XBMC -> plugins -> music

I also tried to create this direcotry "~/Library/Application Support/XBMC/plugins/music/iTunes" and placed it in there... but it still won't appear if i hit music from the main menu (not in file more nor in library mode)
I also tried it the the standart skin.. still no plugin

Would be great it somebody could tell me what i am doing wrong...
Thanks, BliBlaBlo

BliBlaBlo Wrote:hey fellas,
i think i'm too dumb to get this plugin working... i have the 9.04 version of xbmc and mediastream skin. i placed the plugin into the XBMC app -> Contents -> Resources -> XBMC -> plugins -> music

I also tried to create this direcotry "~/Library/Application Support/XBMC/plugins/music/iTunes" and placed it in there... but it still won't appear if i hit music from the main menu (not in file more nor in library mode)
I also tried it the the standart skin.. still no plugin

Would be great it somebody could tell me what i am doing wrong...
Thanks, BliBlaBlo

NOTE: Make sure XBMC is closed before you do anything..
And if you'd like to start fresh, delete the directory you created, and the file
~/Library/Application Support/XBMC/userdata/Database/MyMusic7.db
(or something that's entitled MyMusic with a .db extension)


1.) The iTunes plugin should go into ~/Library/Application Support/XBMC/plugins/music/iTunes

Where "~" naturally represents your home directory


2.) Everything should be set up to go, so you shouldn't need to create any directories or anything...

The plugin is automatically set up to find your iTunes music library in ~/Music/iTunes/ | (iTunes Music Library.xml)


3.) You should now be able to open up XBMC, head to the "Listen to Music" item... Once you do, you should be able to see a list item titled "Music Plugins" - right underneath "Music Playlists"



4.) Select "iTunes - <<import my iTunes library>>

5.) You're done!

Great, thank you!!!

instead of doing it that way, can you bypass the itunes plugin completely and just mount the ~/Music/iTunes/iTunes Music Library folder via a SMB share and add that source into as your Music instead?

Boseman Wrote:First I am making a few assumptions.
1) that the target platform is an Apple TV
2) that you have the current, un-modified, iPhoto plugin installed via manually, SVN Repo Installer, or the like
3) that you are familiar with mounting network drives
4) that you are familiar with Terminal and basic Unix commands.

This plugin assumes your AlbumData.xml file resides in the /Users/frontrow/Pictures/iPhoto Library directory.

On Your Mac OS X network connected host that contains your iPhoto Library:

The AlbumData.xml file is the same file that iPhoto uses to manage your actual photos within the iPhoto database. It would by default be found on your Mac host system in your /Users/<username>/Pictures/iPhoto Library package, but some folks move their iPhoto Library to another location like an external drive.

Its path is key here, so it is important to make sure you know the iPhoto Library complete physical path from the drive name forward. Example: "/Volumes/iPhotoDrive/Pictures/iPhoto Library"
You will need to "share" the complete iPhotoDrive on this Mac so the AppleTV can access it.

On Your AppleTV

Now that you have the physical path of the iPhoto Library package, you will need to mount the physical drive which contains it. As stated above, you will need to "share" this complete drive with the actual drive name, then either SMB mount it on the AppleTV via XBMC or use another mounting technique like can be found in NitoTV (which I use).

The mounting of the complete drive is important because it seems that AlbumData.xml has physical pointers with the entire path to locate the physical photos. Example: "/Volumes/iPhotoDrive/Pictures/iPhoto Library/Data/2009". So the plugin needs access to this same path.

Once the drive is mounted, you should be able to see the drive in /mnt/Scratch/Volumes/ on the AppleTV. Using the example above you should be able to use terminal and:
cd /mnt/Scratch/Volumes/
ls
and then you should see iPhotoDrive listed.

Now you will need to symbolic link (like alias) the iPhoto Library package into the /Users/frontrow/Pictures path. To do this you will need to use terminal and the ln command. Again, using the above example path and names:

ln -s "/mnt/Scratch/Volumes/iPhotoDrive/Pictures/iPhoto Library" /Users/frontrow/Pictures

That should do it.

Now run the iPhoto plugin in XBMC, Import the iPhoto Library, and you should see your photos.

I know this is a bit wordy and makes a lot of assumptions, but I hope it helps.

ok i got lost on the part where you mount the iphoto library.

I have a powermac g5 that has the iphoto library... it is in my Pictures directory... I went into xbmc, picture, add source and put in smb:\\192.168.1.4\mike\pictures\iphoto library\ and hit OK, and now it shows up in my source list along with dev, mnt, picture plugins. how do i get it to mount and show up under /mnt/scratch/volumes/?

andy.minor Wrote:NOTE: Make sure XBMC is closed before you do anything..
And if you'd like to start fresh, delete the directory you created, and the file
~/Library/Application Support/XBMC/userdata/Database/MyMusic7.db
(or something that's entitled MyMusic with a .db extension)


1.) The iTunes plugin should go into ~/Library/Application Support/XBMC/plugins/music/iTunes

Where "~" naturally represents your home directory


2.) Everything should be set up to go, so you shouldn't need to create any directories or anything...

The plugin is automatically set up to find your iTunes music library in ~/Music/iTunes/ | (iTunes Music Library.xml)


3.) You should now be able to open up XBMC, head to the "Listen to Music" item... Once you do, you should be able to see a list item titled "Music Plugins" - right underneath "Music Playlists"



4.) Select "iTunes - <<import my iTunes library>>

5.) You're done!

will this work if your itunes music is located on another computer? can you link it via SMB share? my music is not stored locally on my AppleTV.