2013-04-02, 07:40
I know Burbulence covered a bunch of this, but I figured I'd throw in some information as well. I'm going to try to cover a LOT of info in this post, so please bear with me...
For starters, when reading this post, please note that nothing I say here is meant to be rude or condescending to anyone and some of the things may seem broad or simplistic, but most likely just worded that way to get the 'basics' across without being to technical.
Some users seem to misunderstand or are unaware of the purpose of "XBMC Constellation" (this applies to most/all apps from the Apple AppStore with "XBMC" in the title) these apps are "Remote Control" applications for use with the media available to XBMC that is running on the same system, another computer or device. If you're interested in running XBMC itself on your iPhone or iPad, you need to research "XBMC for iOS" which requires you to Jailbreak your iOS device (we wont be covering that here). Now the reason I say "media available to XBMC" is because when you run XBMC on your Windows, Mac (OSX), Linux based computer or an AppleTV (2nd or 3rd Generation) you essentially have two options for your media:
Granted, Constellation (among others) use "XBMC" in their app title, but this isn't because they can stream from XBMC or are trying to emulate it, but because they work alongside it to allow you to control XBMC that is running on a different device. For users that either don't have or don't want local media and are just interested in streaming media to their iDevice, I suggest they look into "Plex" (which originally branched off from XBMC)... in fact, FSS (the team behind XBMC Constellation) has an app for that as well (Plex Constellation) which works very well to stream both local and web content. {We wont really get into Plex much on this site, but you can feel free to ask about it on the Constellation Forums. Ferrari355, you can feel free to PM me if you want more info, I could even help you set it up if you'd like.}
Speaking of the Constellation Forums...
sukceso was nice enough to point them out again (the link is in my signature) and they were created (by me) because the XBMC Forums isn't really set up for an app to have more than one dedicated thread for it and with over 2200 posts here, obviously some of the tech support, bugs, general comments can easily get lost or over looked (not intentionally).
Yes you'd have to register to another site but we do NOT keep records of email addresses, personal info, etc. so there are no chances that we would ever send you spam. After you sign up for those forums, you will have to deal with Captcha for your first five posts, but that's due to the amount of spambots that have hit us... we try to notice the 'good' users (non-spambots) after 2 or 3 posts when we can and turn off the Captcha for them early but worse case it ends automatically after 5. I'm really sorry for any inconvenience with all this, but I'm open to suggestions on how to make those forums better for the users.
On to "Where are the developers of the app?":
Although there is a team behind this app, Dawid is essentially the "Public Face" of FSS and it's true he hasn't been visibly as active lately but he and the team are still working on this (and their other apps). As far as I know, he still views this thread (and the Constellation Forums) semi-frequent but he's been very busy.
For the most part, when Dawid isn't around, Burb and I cover as much of the tech support as we can, but since neither of us actually work for FSS we obviously can't 'go in and fix it' for you guys and since we both volunteer to do this there are times when our personal lives get in the way of helping. Not getting too personal, but I know Burb has a job and a family and as most of you guys know I have a lot of medical issues that I deal with on a daily basis.
Specifics:
@F150trk34
Jason, can you please PM me in regards to your connection issues. What version of XBMC did you install? What version of iOS are you using? I have no issues connecting from a 1st Gen iPad to a Windows 7 HTPC.
@Tarantino124
Can you please provide the following information?
Ex. A Russian friend of mine (who now lives in Mexico) had issues with his iPhone when he first got it because he set up an AppStore account for Russia so he could get apps in his native language, apparently some apps didn't work because of it. It's doubtful, but you never know with Apple sometimes.
* Do NOT try to purchase "Constellation Extended Services" if the option is available.
"PRO Version for iPhone" will work for both iPhone and iPod Touch but will not activate it for iPad
"Constellation PRO universal" works for all compatible iDevices (iPad,iPhone,iPod Touch)
@ARYEZ
I don't use PseudoTV but from the sounds of it both issues are probably due to the addon.
1. Sounds like it is caused by it not sending the updated information via the API (either improperly or not at all)
2. This may have been somehow caused by the changes to Constellation's volume control (allowing you to use the iDevice's physical buttons) but from the way I'm reading your post, this only happens while using PseudoTV which makes me think that this as well is caused by the addon.
Have you tried contacting the developer of PseudoTV? Did you by chance notice the addon was updated recently prior to these issues? Technically there are no files that are user editable and all customization is to be done via the Settings inside Constellation and the additional settings in the Apple Settings app. I don't think there's a way to customize the keymap in XBMC in a way that it targets 3rd party apps or addon specific things... I think it kind of falls into the "all or nothing" kind of thing.
@flippertygibble
I just installed a fresh copy of Constellation from the AppStore on my iPad (didn't check my iPhone) and configured it fine. The light in the upper corner is green like it should be.
I know you said you upgraded to Frodo, but was it 12, 12.1, or a nightly and for what operating system?
What type of device and version are you running Constellation on?
You can feel free to PM and we can try to trouble shoot the issue.
@Fibre
Not sleeping, just very busy.
@Gecho666
If this problem still exists:
As far as I can tell, you can not configure Constellation to send a WOL packet to a "Third Party System" which is what you're talking about (if you need WOL on the AppleTV as well) here which boils down to a couple options that I can see... If anyone can see any other options please chime in. Warning: Option 2 through 4 suck, but all I can think of at 1am after being awake for the last 31 hours.
Option 1. Possibly the easiest way is to set up a custom command in Constellation to ping the media server (via IP) and hope that the ping is enough to trigger it to wake.
Option 2. I don't know any details about it off the top of my head, but I remember seeing some kind of WOL addon listed in the official addon repo that may be able to wake that system for you, you'd just have to remember to run that if you know the server is sleeping or schedule it to run at certain times.
Option 3. Create some kind of script (most likely Python) that you can trigger via a button on your Home Screen that will send the WOL packet?
Option 4. Install a copy of XBMC specifically on the Media Server solely to intercept WOL packets and set up a second "Host" in Constellation, then you just have to touch the "Wifi" icon where your host is listed, touch the one for the media server, give it a bit to wake up, then touch the 'real' host to get back to what you were doing.
EDIT: Before you deal with all the above, I haven't tested it yet, but since the "WOL MAC" setting for each host doesn't verify the Mac belongs to the XBMC system, you can probably put the Media Server's Mac in there instead of the AppleTV's one and that would wake it up, however that would obviously stop it from sending the packet to the ATV if you needed that as well. Which I now realize is pretty much exactly what Burb told you...
@nelsonamen
Can you be more specific? What exact version of XBMC? What is XBMC running on? Which iDevice is Constellation on? Which version of iOS does it have? Can you describe "xbmc starts to do something but then stops" a little more?
If you're running on Windows (or any OS for that matter), can you quit XBMC, go into it's folder and delete the "xbmc.log" and "xbmc.old.log", then start XBMC back up. Since we're trying to debug this, wait and don't touch anything for at least a full minute (possibly more if you notice your database updating or scraping etc.). Once it looks like your system has been idle for a bit (to help with the logs) open Constellation and try to start a movie. If it doesn't play but gives no error messages, give it another 30 seconds to a minute and try to play a song. After you've tried both, quit XBMC again, post your log file to xbmclogs and PM Burb and/or I the link to check it out.
@sukceso
In regards to the "only can start things" post you made... Can you be more descriptive? What OS/Device is XBMC on? iDevice info? etc. would be helpful... Based on the post I'm unsure what's happening.
====
Again, sorry for the long post and not being around much the last couple weeks. P.S. Adding to our rep with the Reputation button on our posts when Burb or I help you guys out is greatly appreciated and makes us want to help more. (Man I should NOT be drinking on this medication)
For starters, when reading this post, please note that nothing I say here is meant to be rude or condescending to anyone and some of the things may seem broad or simplistic, but most likely just worded that way to get the 'basics' across without being to technical.
Some users seem to misunderstand or are unaware of the purpose of "XBMC Constellation" (this applies to most/all apps from the Apple AppStore with "XBMC" in the title) these apps are "Remote Control" applications for use with the media available to XBMC that is running on the same system, another computer or device. If you're interested in running XBMC itself on your iPhone or iPad, you need to research "XBMC for iOS" which requires you to Jailbreak your iOS device (we wont be covering that here). Now the reason I say "media available to XBMC" is because when you run XBMC on your Windows, Mac (OSX), Linux based computer or an AppleTV (2nd or 3rd Generation) you essentially have two options for your media:
- Local Media - Files stored on the same machine or internal network that XBMC is on
- Streamed Media - Via YouTube for example or many other 'add ons' available
Granted, Constellation (among others) use "XBMC" in their app title, but this isn't because they can stream from XBMC or are trying to emulate it, but because they work alongside it to allow you to control XBMC that is running on a different device. For users that either don't have or don't want local media and are just interested in streaming media to their iDevice, I suggest they look into "Plex" (which originally branched off from XBMC)... in fact, FSS (the team behind XBMC Constellation) has an app for that as well (Plex Constellation) which works very well to stream both local and web content. {We wont really get into Plex much on this site, but you can feel free to ask about it on the Constellation Forums. Ferrari355, you can feel free to PM me if you want more info, I could even help you set it up if you'd like.}
Speaking of the Constellation Forums...
sukceso was nice enough to point them out again (the link is in my signature) and they were created (by me) because the XBMC Forums isn't really set up for an app to have more than one dedicated thread for it and with over 2200 posts here, obviously some of the tech support, bugs, general comments can easily get lost or over looked (not intentionally).
Yes you'd have to register to another site but we do NOT keep records of email addresses, personal info, etc. so there are no chances that we would ever send you spam. After you sign up for those forums, you will have to deal with Captcha for your first five posts, but that's due to the amount of spambots that have hit us... we try to notice the 'good' users (non-spambots) after 2 or 3 posts when we can and turn off the Captcha for them early but worse case it ends automatically after 5. I'm really sorry for any inconvenience with all this, but I'm open to suggestions on how to make those forums better for the users.
On to "Where are the developers of the app?":
Although there is a team behind this app, Dawid is essentially the "Public Face" of FSS and it's true he hasn't been visibly as active lately but he and the team are still working on this (and their other apps). As far as I know, he still views this thread (and the Constellation Forums) semi-frequent but he's been very busy.
For the most part, when Dawid isn't around, Burb and I cover as much of the tech support as we can, but since neither of us actually work for FSS we obviously can't 'go in and fix it' for you guys and since we both volunteer to do this there are times when our personal lives get in the way of helping. Not getting too personal, but I know Burb has a job and a family and as most of you guys know I have a lot of medical issues that I deal with on a daily basis.
Specifics:
@F150trk34
Jason, can you please PM me in regards to your connection issues. What version of XBMC did you install? What version of iOS are you using? I have no issues connecting from a 1st Gen iPad to a Windows 7 HTPC.
@Tarantino124
Can you please provide the following information?
- What type of iDevice are you using? (iPhone or iPad, which generation?) Ex. iPhone4, iPad3, etc.
- What version of iOS is running on that device?
- Is the device jail-broken?
- What exactly does the button say that you are pressing to purchase?*
- Are you connecting to the AppStore for your Home Country, if so, which one? (US, UK, etc.)
Ex. A Russian friend of mine (who now lives in Mexico) had issues with his iPhone when he first got it because he set up an AppStore account for Russia so he could get apps in his native language, apparently some apps didn't work because of it. It's doubtful, but you never know with Apple sometimes.
* Do NOT try to purchase "Constellation Extended Services" if the option is available.
"PRO Version for iPhone" will work for both iPhone and iPod Touch but will not activate it for iPad
"Constellation PRO universal" works for all compatible iDevices (iPad,iPhone,iPod Touch)
@ARYEZ
I don't use PseudoTV but from the sounds of it both issues are probably due to the addon.
1. Sounds like it is caused by it not sending the updated information via the API (either improperly or not at all)
2. This may have been somehow caused by the changes to Constellation's volume control (allowing you to use the iDevice's physical buttons) but from the way I'm reading your post, this only happens while using PseudoTV which makes me think that this as well is caused by the addon.
Have you tried contacting the developer of PseudoTV? Did you by chance notice the addon was updated recently prior to these issues? Technically there are no files that are user editable and all customization is to be done via the Settings inside Constellation and the additional settings in the Apple Settings app. I don't think there's a way to customize the keymap in XBMC in a way that it targets 3rd party apps or addon specific things... I think it kind of falls into the "all or nothing" kind of thing.
@flippertygibble
I just installed a fresh copy of Constellation from the AppStore on my iPad (didn't check my iPhone) and configured it fine. The light in the upper corner is green like it should be.
I know you said you upgraded to Frodo, but was it 12, 12.1, or a nightly and for what operating system?
What type of device and version are you running Constellation on?
You can feel free to PM and we can try to trouble shoot the issue.
@Fibre
Not sleeping, just very busy.
@Gecho666
If this problem still exists:
As far as I can tell, you can not configure Constellation to send a WOL packet to a "Third Party System" which is what you're talking about (if you need WOL on the AppleTV as well) here which boils down to a couple options that I can see... If anyone can see any other options please chime in. Warning: Option 2 through 4 suck, but all I can think of at 1am after being awake for the last 31 hours.
Option 1. Possibly the easiest way is to set up a custom command in Constellation to ping the media server (via IP) and hope that the ping is enough to trigger it to wake.
Option 2. I don't know any details about it off the top of my head, but I remember seeing some kind of WOL addon listed in the official addon repo that may be able to wake that system for you, you'd just have to remember to run that if you know the server is sleeping or schedule it to run at certain times.
Option 3. Create some kind of script (most likely Python) that you can trigger via a button on your Home Screen that will send the WOL packet?
Option 4. Install a copy of XBMC specifically on the Media Server solely to intercept WOL packets and set up a second "Host" in Constellation, then you just have to touch the "Wifi" icon where your host is listed, touch the one for the media server, give it a bit to wake up, then touch the 'real' host to get back to what you were doing.
EDIT: Before you deal with all the above, I haven't tested it yet, but since the "WOL MAC" setting for each host doesn't verify the Mac belongs to the XBMC system, you can probably put the Media Server's Mac in there instead of the AppleTV's one and that would wake it up, however that would obviously stop it from sending the packet to the ATV if you needed that as well. Which I now realize is pretty much exactly what Burb told you...
@nelsonamen
Can you be more specific? What exact version of XBMC? What is XBMC running on? Which iDevice is Constellation on? Which version of iOS does it have? Can you describe "xbmc starts to do something but then stops" a little more?
If you're running on Windows (or any OS for that matter), can you quit XBMC, go into it's folder and delete the "xbmc.log" and "xbmc.old.log", then start XBMC back up. Since we're trying to debug this, wait and don't touch anything for at least a full minute (possibly more if you notice your database updating or scraping etc.). Once it looks like your system has been idle for a bit (to help with the logs) open Constellation and try to start a movie. If it doesn't play but gives no error messages, give it another 30 seconds to a minute and try to play a song. After you've tried both, quit XBMC again, post your log file to xbmclogs and PM Burb and/or I the link to check it out.
@sukceso
In regards to the "only can start things" post you made... Can you be more descriptive? What OS/Device is XBMC on? iDevice info? etc. would be helpful... Based on the post I'm unsure what's happening.
====
Again, sorry for the long post and not being around much the last couple weeks. P.S. Adding to our rep with the Reputation button on our posts when Burb or I help you guys out is greatly appreciated and makes us want to help more.
(Man I should NOT be drinking on this medication)
