Boxee in Front Row? [Archive]

kaijuu

November 4th, 2008, 03:41 PM

Is there any way to launch Boxee from within Front Row, like it is done on the tv? I'm wanting to be able to use Boxee, Front Row, and EyeTV on the same box using only the Apple Remote.

marcel

November 5th, 2008, 04:53 AM

sorry misunderstood ..you can use boxee and frontrow with the apple remote the only minor draw back is which one to launch via the menu button but after they are launched the apple remote works great...:)

SosiaIsOn

November 5th, 2008, 06:14 PM

sorry misunderstood ..you can use boxee and Front Row with the apple remote the only minor draw back is which one to launch via the menu button but after they are launched the apple remote works great...:)

Really? My apple remove doesn't work at all even after a manual front row launch. Too bad to b/c since Boxee won't play back my DVD's it would be great if it did!

teradome

November 5th, 2008, 08:16 PM

Is there any way to launch Boxee from within Front Row, like it is done on the tv? I'm wanting to be able to use Boxee, Front Row, and EyeTV on the same box using only the Apple Remote.

I'd really love to see this as an option. This would cetainly solve my Front Row complaint re: the other thread.

SpaceBass

November 6th, 2008, 10:24 AM

I would also love to see a way to toggle between the to more easly.
Boxee is pretty close to the perfect solution for my "aquired" media files, but I still prefer the frontrow interface for iTunes content (not to mention the whole DRM thing) and iPhoto/Aperture content.

I was using SofaControl which allowed me to use VLC for video playback and then frontrow for everything else ... I've noticed its not (yet) compatable with Boxee, although it does have scripts for Plex so there may be an easy fix there....

EyeTV installes some kind of framework for FrontRow ... anyone know how they do it?

teradome

November 7th, 2008, 02:53 PM

EyeTV installes some kind of framework for FrontRow ... anyone know how they do it?

Same way you can extend the Apple TV -- using a .frappliance plugin file -- but from what I've read the binaries are not compatible and need to be compiled quite differently (how I don't know).

willmc

November 9th, 2008, 12:11 AM

Really? My apple remove doesn't work at all even after a manual front row launch.

In Boxee, go to Settings > System > Remote and uncheck "Always Running", then quit Boxee (you might actually have to restart, I can't quite remember). The Apple remote will now control whichever app is running. If neither are, the menu button will launch Front Row.

teradome

November 11th, 2008, 06:27 PM

Same way you can extend the Apple TV -- using a .frappliance plugin file -- but from what I've read the binaries are not compatible and need to be compiled quite differently (how I don't know).

BTW: Sapphire (http://appletv.nanopi.net/) is a Front Row plugin project that works on Macs (i.e., not solely Apple TV). But I've never seen a use for it. But like I noted, it's a .frappliance package that gets installed in /System/Library/CoreServices/FrontRow.app/Contents/PlugIns/ -- Boxee could do something very similar, even if it's only to launch the app (which is what I think is all the EyeTV plugin does).

Now if only ASeriesOfTubes worked on the desktop...

SpaceBass

November 11th, 2008, 08:47 PM

BTW: Sapphire (http://appletv.nanopi.net/) is a Front Row plugin project that works on Macs (i.e., not solely Apple TV). But I've never seen a use for it. But like I noted, it's a .frappliance package that gets installed in /System/Library/CoreServices/FrontRow.app/Contents/PlugIns/ -- Boxee could do something very similar, even if it's only to launch the app (which is what I think is all the EyeTV plugin does).

Sapphire is a pretty relevant example... while Boxee trumps it in a number of ways, the integration with frontrow is pretty top notch

teradome

November 12th, 2008, 05:12 PM

Sapphire is a pretty relevant example... while Boxee trumps it in a number of ways, the integration with frontrow is pretty top notch

Yeah, it is pretty slick, and it is open-source too! (Mac native and open-source? Get out!) And for clarity, when I said I haven't found a use for it, I just meant personally -- I'm a metadata junkie so I've already pulled all that extra info myself. But I can see it being sweet for other folks. :)

My question always is if Sapphire can run in Leopard Front Row *and* Apple TV Finder, why don't all the Apple TV add-ons get built to run on the desktop as well? It's very confusing.

mtbikemj

November 14th, 2008, 12:12 PM

I suggest getting a Harmony Remote to control EyeTV, FrontRow, and Boxee.

NewfD90

December 9th, 2008, 01:11 PM

Is there any way to launch Boxee from within Front Row, like it is done on the Atv? I'm wanting to be able to use Boxee, Front Row, and EyeTV on the same box using only the Apple Remote.

Your post triggered me to look at the FrontPython (http://code.google.com/p/frontpython/) stuff to see if this could be done. I just hacked the FrontMyth plugin to call Boxee instead and it seems to work. Transitions aren't pretty (you can see the desktop), but it works. I'll leave the beautification to others. ;)

The plugin can be had at:
http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/249503/FrontBoxee.frappliance.zip

unzip the file and drop it in:
/System/Library/CoreServices/Front Row.app/Contents/PlugIns

You'll have to authenticate. Kill and restart Front Row and you should see an entry for Boxee. Works for me. Hopefully it works for you too. :)

Zenara25

December 9th, 2008, 03:15 PM

Awesome Front Row plugin!! Just what I've been wanting :) Thanks alot NewfD90.

NewfD90

December 9th, 2008, 03:31 PM

Awesome Front Row plugin!! Just what I've been wanting :) Thanks alot NewfD90.

You're welcome. I assume it's working OK for you then?

Zenara25

December 9th, 2008, 03:52 PM

There are a couple things I noticed.

1. Scrolling through a long list freezes sometimes for a second or so.

2. I noticed that I can't minimize Boxee and use another program. Boxee pops back to the front.

It's worth it to me for now. Will let you know if I encounter any other issues.

NewfD90

December 9th, 2008, 04:31 PM

Yeah, it's not perfect by any means, but it mostly works.

If anybody else wants to hack at it, the source code is here:

http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/249503/FrontBoxeeSrc.zip

Also, I created an installer for the plugin. I'm more partial to the command line, so let me know if it works. :D It's here:

http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/249503/FrontBoxee.pkg

jer96

December 10th, 2008, 01:56 PM

You're welcome. I assume it's working OK for you then?

Great idea and just what I wanted but it's not working for me :( i get the menu in front row but when i choose Boxee it loads it up and just hangs on an all white screen and I can see the title bar instead of full screen - no text or anything. Just a white screen.

I am running a Mini with latest Leopard updates. Any ideas?

cmolway

December 10th, 2008, 02:04 PM

seems to be working fine for me. I tried some Hulu shows and a couple of RSS feeds. I doesn't look there is an impact in terms of performance that I can see.

NewfD90

December 10th, 2008, 02:13 PM

Great idea and just what I wanted but it's not working for me :( i get the menu in front row but when i choose Boxee it loads it up and just hangs on an all white screen and I can see the title bar instead of full screen - no text or anything. Just a white screen.

I am running a Mini with latest Leopard updates. Any ideas?

Odd. Try putting Boxee in windowed mode and see if it acts any different when called from Front Row

Zenara25

December 10th, 2008, 02:21 PM

I'm using an older Intel Macbook Core Duo 2ghz with 10.5.5. Works pretty well for me and it launches ok from Front Row. Takes about 2 seconds.

NewfD90

December 10th, 2008, 02:30 PM

That's similar to my system. A 2GHz C2D MINI with 2GB RAM.

rwltrz

December 10th, 2008, 05:55 PM

what remote are you guys using, i installed and boxee is in front row now but remote doesnt work in boxee for me, standard apple remote

tastyavocado

December 10th, 2008, 06:20 PM

this is great

Zenara25

December 11th, 2008, 07:35 AM

I'm using my harmony 670 remote. Nothing fancy. It actually uses the exact same keys presses as the apple remote.

NewfD90

December 11th, 2008, 08:10 AM

Apple remote here. No problems. Make sure you have Boxee remote usage setup correctly.

jer96

December 12th, 2008, 02:53 PM

Odd. Try putting Boxee in windowed mode and see if it acts any different when called from Front Row

you were right! i put it in windowed and it works. problem is....now i have the menu bar/title up all the time which stinks :(

NewfD90

December 12th, 2008, 02:57 PM

you were right! i put it in windowed and it works. problem is....now i have the menu bar/title up all the time which stinks :(

Interesting. Now when you put Boxee back into full-screen mode does it still not display?

mattcoyne

December 29th, 2008, 06:12 AM

Hello.

Thanks for the supplying the plug in. Before I use the installer (the command line scares me!), is there an easy way to uninstall this?

Thanks.

Best,
Matt.

Zenara25

December 29th, 2008, 07:57 AM

I used the one from NewfD90. All you do is unzip the file and put the file /System/Library/CoreServices/Front Row.app/Contents/PlugIns
When you get to Front Row.app right click and choose 'show package contents'.
Once you move the file you can just restart your computer instead of kill and restart Front Row if that's easier for you.

To remove you just delete that file.

cmolway

January 9th, 2009, 08:24 AM

Looks like the frontrow plugin is broken with the latest release of Boxee.

Anyone else notice this?

jtabb

January 9th, 2009, 08:30 AM

It's working for me. I didn't install it until after I installed the newest version of boxee. Have you tried reinstalling it?

cmolway

January 9th, 2009, 08:47 AM

I'll have to try a reinstall and double check. I thought that since the plugin was run from frontrow, the upgrade wouldn't affect it.

Zenara25

January 9th, 2009, 02:21 PM

It works for me :) Boxee version 4825

The only thing I noticed was if I had other things open such as itunes or firefox, they would be in front of Boxee. So they have to be minimized or not open when launching Boxee from front row.

Not sure if this happened with previous Boxee versions. (Can't recall if I had anything else open)

NewfD90

January 9th, 2009, 02:30 PM

I wouldn't think a new version of Boxee would affect anything either, but after I upgraded, all I get is a white screen upon launching Boxee front Front Row.

If I run Boxee separately, change it to windowed mode and exit, it then works OK from Front Row. But windowed mode sucks. I need to investigate this further...

macshome

January 9th, 2009, 08:08 PM

I just upgraded Boxee and the FR plugin continues to work without issue in full screen mode...

rb6719

January 15th, 2009, 09:12 PM

I think this is an awesome plugin but as mentioned earlier there seem to be problems when other apps are open (in my case it's eyetv). It seems to get stuck in a weird exit loop. When I quit Boxee it won't go back to FR it just shows the desktop. Usually pressing the menu button will take me back to FR but when I exit FR it takes me back to Boxee again. Sometimes it will require a restart of my MacMini.

Like I said, awesome plugin. I'd like to see more development on it. It would be a project worthy of donations.

jazzagers

January 15th, 2009, 11:28 PM

This plugin is great, I love being able to use both front row and boxee like this. Is there any way to get the boxee logo as a picture in front row instead of empty space?

Found another plugin that roughly does the same thing http://www.holeintheceiling.com/blog/2008/12/12/front-row-boxee/

NewfD90

January 25th, 2009, 07:04 PM

Is there any way to get the boxee logo as a picture in front row instead of empty space?

The logo, as requested:

http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/249503/FrontBoxee.frappliance.zip

Download, Unzip, Move to /System/Library/CoreServices/Front Row/Contents/PlugIns and Reboot.

For those of you (me included) that had a white full-screen issue when launching Boxee from Front Row: Reboot. I had no issues until I updated Boxee, and then I was getting the white screen. I then rebooted and the problem went away. YMMV.

ekrispin

January 27th, 2009, 10:48 PM

Download, Unzip, Move to /System/Library/CoreServices/Front Row/Contents/PlugIns and Reboot.

So, I am able to download no problem but how do I install it? I can get this far,

/System/Library/CoreServices/Front Row

But that's where I have to stop the "/Front Row" is not a folder. So how do I install the plugin?

Thanks,
Eric

NewfD90

January 27th, 2009, 11:16 PM

ekrispin

January 27th, 2009, 11:41 PM

Front Row is a folder. Right click on it and select "Show Package Contents". Or, open up terminal, change to the directory that you unzipped the appliance in and type "sudo mv FrontBoxee.frappliance /System/Library/CoreServices/Front Row/Contents/PlugIns"

Thanks for the Help, it worked great!! I didnt know about the right click on the package thing.

Thanks Again,
Eric

NewfD90

January 28th, 2009, 08:05 AM

No problem, glad it worked for you! Yup, packages are just a special type of subdirectory. Terminal is your friend. :)

salar101

January 28th, 2009, 08:57 AM

i downloaded the plug in and it works fine in my macbook but after downloading it on my mac mini the file does not look like the "cube shape" and when I copied it in the plugins folder its not working..! why is that ?