2009-05-05, 05:31
I. GENERAL
1.1 What are "Stark" and "Auriga"? What is the difference?
1.2 Where can I download the latest version of Aeon?
1.2B Will Auriga run on my Xbox? Apple TV?
1.3 Where do I get the backdrops?
1.1 What are "Stark" and "Auriga"? What is the difference?
"Stark" and "Auriga" are codenames for different releases of the Aeon skin (just like "Babylon" is the codename of the current version of XBMC). Stark is the codename for version 0.91 of Aeon, released at the end of March 2009. Auriga is the codename for version 1.0 of Aeon, which is currently still in development - so the Auriga branch is essentially a pre-release version of Aeon at this time.
Stark is a more "finished" product than Auriga and may be preferable to some users. Auriga is fully stable, however, and includes several features, such as multiplex and the night theme, that are not in Stark.
Stark is a more "finished" product than Auriga and may be preferable to some users. Auriga is fully stable, however, and includes several features, such as multiplex and the night theme, that are not in Stark.
1.2 Where can I download the latest version of Aeon?
NOTE: IT IS CURRENTLY RECOMMENDED THAT YOU USE THE LATEST RELEASE OF XBMC WITH AEON, WHICH IS v9.04 "BABYLON", AVAILABLE HERE. ADVANCED USERS MAY ALSO WANT TO TRY THE LATEST SVN RELEASES FROM THE XBMC DEVELOPERS, ALTHOUGH BE WARNED THAT THESE ARE NOT OFFICIAL BUILDS AND FEATURES OCCASIONALLY BREAK AND MUST BE FIXED AGAIN BETWEEN RELEASES (USUALLY DOESN'T TAKE MORE THAN 24 HOURS THOUGH).
Before downloading the rest of the Aeon skin, you will need to download the fonts from the aeonproject.com website (direct link). Download the fonts and put them in a temporary location for now. After you have downloaded the rest of the skin files as described below, extract the fonts and place them in a "fonts" subfolder in the same root folder as the rest of your Aeon skin.
The latest version of Auriga is hosted at Github. There are 2 methods for downloading the Aeon skin files from github:
1. The Easier Method (for less advanced users):
The easiest way to download Auriga is to simply click on the button from Github, which will give you the option to download the complete skin files as either a .zip or .tar file. This method will be all that is needed for most users, however, the advanced method described below is preferable if you would like to stay up-to-date with the latest releases or if you plan on modding Aeon.
2. The Advanced Method:
(Update 11-May-09: Now that djh has slowed down the pace of new releases, setting up github is probably not worth as much bang for your buck, so to speak, unless you are going to be modding.)
The preferred method of downloading is to use cygwin to clone a local copy of Aeon to your hard drive. Because Aeon contains a large number of files, an advantage of using Github is that, as new updates are released over time, you can download only the particular sections of code that have changed and automatically sync your local copy of the skin with the latest releases. This is also helpful if you have modded your skin files, as the modded code sections will only be overwritten if those particular sections of code have been updated by djh in a new release (i.e., even if other parts of the same skin files have been updated your mods will not be affected). A detailed guide to setting up Github for Aeon can be found here.
After you have downloaded the latest skin files from Github, remember to extract the fonts you downloaded above and place them in a "fonts" subfolder in the same root folder as the rest of your Aeon skin.
*To download Stark instead of Auriga, you can get it directly from the Aeon website at aeonproject.com.*
Before downloading the rest of the Aeon skin, you will need to download the fonts from the aeonproject.com website (direct link). Download the fonts and put them in a temporary location for now. After you have downloaded the rest of the skin files as described below, extract the fonts and place them in a "fonts" subfolder in the same root folder as the rest of your Aeon skin.
The latest version of Auriga is hosted at Github. There are 2 methods for downloading the Aeon skin files from github:
1. The Easier Method (for less advanced users):
The easiest way to download Auriga is to simply click on the button from Github, which will give you the option to download the complete skin files as either a .zip or .tar file. This method will be all that is needed for most users, however, the advanced method described below is preferable if you would like to stay up-to-date with the latest releases or if you plan on modding Aeon.
2. The Advanced Method:
(Update 11-May-09: Now that djh has slowed down the pace of new releases, setting up github is probably not worth as much bang for your buck, so to speak, unless you are going to be modding.)
The preferred method of downloading is to use cygwin to clone a local copy of Aeon to your hard drive. Because Aeon contains a large number of files, an advantage of using Github is that, as new updates are released over time, you can download only the particular sections of code that have changed and automatically sync your local copy of the skin with the latest releases. This is also helpful if you have modded your skin files, as the modded code sections will only be overwritten if those particular sections of code have been updated by djh in a new release (i.e., even if other parts of the same skin files have been updated your mods will not be affected). A detailed guide to setting up Github for Aeon can be found here.
After you have downloaded the latest skin files from Github, remember to extract the fonts you downloaded above and place them in a "fonts" subfolder in the same root folder as the rest of your Aeon skin.
*To download Stark instead of Auriga, you can get it directly from the Aeon website at aeonproject.com.*
1.2B Will Auriga run on my Xbox? Apple TV?
If you are going to be using Aeon on an xbox, apple tv or a pc that does not meet the suggested system requirements, you may want to try using a "lite" version of the skin. For xbox or pc users, there is an unofficial lite version of Aeon available from this thread, which includes instructions for basic installation and setup. For apple tv users, another lite build is in development here.
1.3 Where do I get the backdrops?
The "official" Aeon backdrops can be downloaded from the aeonproject.com website in jpg format (direct link to gallery) or from mediafire here. (Update 5-May-09:) It is recommended that you convert any backdrops for the home screen to bitmap format (since jpg is a compressed format, using bitmaps can improve performance a bit because there is no decompression required to display the images. The performance increase may be negligble, however, if you have a fast machine already, so arguably you can skip this step). If you are using windows, there is a free program called IrfanView that is highly recommended for batch converting and/or renaming image files.