[teeedubb]

New Version:

Code:

0.2.2
Changes to steam-launch.bat and default.py

[xeibo]

Thanks for those changes, but still not working for me..

Tested both file locations in cmd prompt and they open up fine..

[teeedubb]

Hmmm... hopefully I'll have enough time this weekend to set up non standard installs for both xbmc and steam to test out on. Out of curiosity what version of windows and what are the install locations for both xbmc and steam?

[MeMeMe]

Just tried this out, and it worked, with one glitch.

Since I run in offline mode, it prompts to switch to online upon steam start up. This isn't a deal breaker, but ideally I would like to avoid seeing that.

Is it possible to have steam (not big picture) running in the background, then when the steam is launched from xbmc, it switches to big picture, then when leaving big picture (to return to desktop), it starts up xbmc again?

This way takes less time to start steam bigpicture too.

[teeedubb]

Just tried this out, and it worked, with one glitch.

Since I run in offline mode, it prompts to switch to online upon steam start up. This isn't a deal breaker, but ideally I would like to avoid seeing that.

Is it possible to have steam (not big picture) running in the background, then when the steam is launched from xbmc, it switches to big picture, then when leaving big picture (to return to desktop), it starts up xbmc again?

This way takes less time to start steam bigpicture too.

Yeah I got that popup too, not sure if there is anything that can be done about it. Reading up on offline mode I saw some info about editing steam's cfg/ini files to always force offline mode, maybe that will prevent the popup, but I have not tested it. AFAIK there is no command line switch to force offline mode.

If steam desktop mode (DM) is open when the add on is launched it will kill xbmc and toggle steams BPM - probably best to autostart steam DM at a os level for this. As for restarting xbmc when you leave steam BPM for steam DM I'm not really sure how to do this automatically as I don't know of any way to tell that steam DM has been launched from steam BPM. Maybe adding a .bat file as a launcher to steam that will toggle steam DM and launch xbmc would work - I'll look into this. You can manually start xbmc after switching to steam DM - I have a button on my remote that kills and restarts xbmc using event ghost and it causes no issues if I kill/restart xbmc while steam has been launched via the add on.

You're using a non standard install location for steam right? How about for xbmc? Did you use version 0.2.2? Can you please post your version of windows and the locations of steam + xbmc as in steam-launch.bat?

[MeMeMe]

My XBMC is in default location, but steam is D:/steam/steam.exe. I have changed that in the bat file.

I use windows 7 64bit, and I used version 0.2.2.

I know someone used AutoHotkey to recognise the differences between steam desktop mode and bigpicture mode.
They have the same process name, but different window class names. I dont if the program you're using can access window class names. In case it#s helpful, this is the AutoHotkey code I found at this advanced launcher thread:
http://www.gwenael.org/forum/viewtopic.php?id=349

Code:

#NoEnv  
SendMode Input
SetWorkingDir %A_ScriptDir%
#Persistent
#SingleInstance

if WinExist("ahk_class CUIEngineWin32")
    WinActivate
else
    run, %A_ProgramFiles%\Steam\Steam.exe -silent steam://open/bigpicture

WinWait, ahk_class CUIEngineWin32
WinWaitClose, ahk_class CUIEngineWin32
WinActivate ahk_class XBMC
ExitApp

[teeedubb]

Thanks for the info. AutoHotKey looks very interesting, being able to have steam return to the desktop and have xbmc launched would be nice.

[teeedubb]

New version using AHK in OP:

Code:

0.3.4
AutoHotKey .exe used instead of batch file, now when exiting to desktop xbmc relaunches in windows. AHK script is included in case you want to make changes to the default timeouts etc, eg: start steam, wait X seconds then kill xbmc. The AHK script will force focus on either xbmc/steam when they are run. Script usage is SteamLaunch-AHK.exe "d:\games\steam\steam.exe" "d:\xbmc\xbmc.exe"
Fanart added.

[buymeapc]

Is this new AHK version just a straight translation from the vbs/bat files that you were using previously? (Just curious since I noticed you didn't update the first post.)

Really dig the script, by the way!

[teeedubb]

Is this new AHK version just a straight translation from the vbs/bat files that you were using previously? (Just curious since I noticed you didn't update the first post.)

Really dig the script, by the way!

Cheers

Yeah its pretty much the same, but better it feels snappier plus I've updated the above post with the changes, it was late last night when I posted

MeMeMe steam can be launched at startup with the -silent switch. This will launch it in desktop mode to the system tray with out any advert popups, haven't had time to see if it prevents offline mode popup when launching in BPM.

[MeMeMe]

Great!
I'll test it early in the week (the weekend is bad - family hogs the TV and don't like to do any tweaking then in case of problems).

[MeMeMe]

It took me a while, but i got to test the upgraded version finally.

In a word, perfect!

With 0.3.4, when i start up steam:
* If steam is not running, it starts up, and I'm prompted to stay in offline mode.
* If steam is already running, it starts up straight away, and no offline message is recieved. This is what I wanted.

Then whether I exit by shutting down steam completely, or when I exit to desktop and leave steam running, XBMC starts up properly.

I thought it wasn't working at first, because i installed 0.2.2 by mistake!
I found with that, it worked exactly as described above with one difference: when using "Exit to Desktop" from steam (so steam was still running), xbmc didn't start up again. I could have worked with that because i have button on my remote to start xbmc up, but the autohotkey version is much more seamless.

[edru]

Is there anyway to organize the events of the script to call upon Steam BP without having to lose focus of XBMC that way everything is seemless?

[teeedubb]

Do you mean not close xbmc? Or keep xbmc open longer while steam BP loads? Currently (in windows only) when the addon is run it will launch steam BP, wait 2 seconds, kill xbmc and force focus on BP. The AHK script is included in the addon zip file so you can make edits and compile the changes, you could even make it so xbmc isnt killed by editing out those lines, but running steam/emulators over xbmc has always given me issues so I dont recommend it. Also for faster startup of steam you can run 'steam.exe -silent' at bootup to have steam startup minimized so BP starts up faster or install steam to a ssd while keeping your games on a hdd using a junction link, If you like I can post some info for having steam on a ssd.

[bwall244]

teeedubb, are you aware of a way to launch an addon - IE this one, from an advanced launcher? Like for example I have a homescreen link to a favorite that opens to a launcher for individual PC games ( as one launcher) and one for wii games(and dolphin launcher) I would like a add a third to that to just launch steam, but to use your add on to do it? Ideas?