[floink]

ok cool just a another thought then, which i actually corrected in my own previous post. if the timer is set to a too long time some stressed user might get nervous to quickly and hit the hard-reset button before the autoswitchback is effective and end up with a xbox that is set to the wrong mode... maybe 10 secs?

just a thought.

[Ph03n1x]

just a another thought then, which i actually corrected in my own previous post. if the timer is set to a too long time some stressed user might get nervous to quickly and hit the hard-reset button before the autoswitchback is effective and end up with a xbox that is set to the wrong mode... maybe 10 secs?

i agree, but there should be some obvious warning to the user on the previous screen to wait x seconds if the following screen remains blank.

[Gamester17]

ok cool just a another thought then, which i actually corrected in my own previous post. if the timer is set to a too long time some stressed user might get nervous to quickly and hit the hard-reset button before the autoswitchback is effective and end up with a xbox that is set to the wrong mode... maybe 10 secs?

keep in mind that a reboot (hardware reset, or is it software reset?) is needed in order to change the video mode so what should have to happen is; first the user will have to change to an 'advanced' mode i xbmc settings to even see the option to switch the video mode, then when select say ntsc-m when in pal mode a big fat warning(!!! message will pop-up saying someting "are you sure what you are doing?! this will change the video mode from pal to ntsc-m, you should only do this if you're using xbmc as your dashboard, if you press yes (selection will be defaulted to no) then the xbox will reboot and once xbmc starts you will be given 10 seconds to confirm the change, if you do not get a picture on your tv do not touch any buttons, simply leave it as once the 10 seconds runs out by itself the xbox will reboot and reset itself to the previos video mode (pal). note! team-xbmc take no responsibility if you choose to use this video mode switch, it may seriously mess up your xbox permenently!, you use at your own risk"

ps! as you can see by my suggestion above 10 second idea is not a good idea if you're not using xbmc as your bootup dashboard!

an alternative idea to the 10 second timeout is an idea that i personaly favour and that is to patch the eeprom/bios in memory to the selected video mode then startup a other .xbe (maybe demo like the xbmc credits and a test stating the video mode) that comes with xbmc which will show for 10 seconds during and thus the user will see if his tv can handle that video mode, after those 10 seconds the user will be given the option to set that video mode or cancel. ps! @devs, yes this should be possible via the videomode switch source code from cherry (link) that unleashx uses to switch pal <=> ntsc 'on-the-fly' when/before launching a game.

@devs, note that ntsc-m (america) is not the same as ntsc-j (japan), both needs to be available and explained in a simple way.

[jmarshall]

a restart is not necessary to change the eeprom av and region settings.

all we need is:

1. information on the screen before regarding which video modes do what, and why you might want to use it.

2. information as to what you will see on the following screen if everything goes correct.

3. information as to what to do if you don't see it (will be a timeout as well as a simple button press).

4. information on what to do to set the mode permanently will be on the screen that you'll see if the mode is valid only. it will require a complicated controller button combo to confirm. if it's not received within 10 seconds, we'll revert to the previous mode (once again with no reset needed).

hope this makes it clear.

note that i'm probably not all that likely to start coding this up for a while as i'm busy with other imo more important issues, so anyone else should feel free to take it on. i have the eeprom information needed.

cheers,
jonathan

[Gamester17]

ok i understand that a restart is not needed to write to the eeprom however my idea/suggestion is a little more complexed than that:
 what i'm trying to conway is; what if a 'test' could be preformed before xbmc writes to the actual eeprom in order to find out if the users tv support that specific selected video-mode, (because as you know an eeprom does have a writting limit plus you do not want to take a too big of a risk in messing it up). so what i suggest to is something like this; use cherry's videomode code (link) to patch the eeprom mirror that was loaded into the persistent (ram) memory area at boot (thus writting to actual eeprom chip is not needed for this test) and because that code require a restart of a/the xbe start a other executable called ex 'videomode.xbe' that will display a short demo (and a message) on the users tv in the new video-mode that will show/prove to the user that his/hers tv support and can display that specific video-mode,  ....hell, an extention on this test/feature would be to then put the actual code and option that do write to the eeprom chip into the 'videomode.xbe' instead of the main xbmc xbe (and thus make it easier for developers to debug if needed), so if the user do get a picture 'videomode.xbe' in the new video mode then he will see the message to confirm (plus see the 10 second countdown-timer) and if he press yes (should default to no) then code inside 'videomode.xbe' write that video-mode to the eeprom chip, however if the user do not get a picture then he/she will only have to wait for the 10 seconds timeout to run out which will (depending how the developer choose to choose to code this part); cause the 'videomode.xbe' to either reboot (thus restoring the original video mode as the new mode was only written to ram) or alternativly re-patch the eeprom mirror in ram (not the eeprom chip) to previous video-mode and then launch xbmc without reboot.


so exampel on my concept is a little bit different but more fool-proof (less risky):

1.  information on the screen (in xbmc) before regarding which video modes do what, and why you might want to switch mode.

2.  when user select one will get a message (still in xbmc with information as to what you will see on the following screen if everything goes correct, and information as to what to do if you don't see it (will be a timeout as well as a simple button press). option here with 'proceed' or 'cancel'.

3. if user press 'proceed' in step 2 then xbmc will first patch the eeprom mirror that's in the persistent (ram) memory area to the selected video-mode (thus not yet writting anything to the actual eeprom chip) and then launch 'videomode.xbe'.

4. 'videomode.xbe' starts and give a message "do you see this screen and text" (with demo running in background, plus maybe music or someone speaking/reading the same message so user don't think the xbox has hung) and present two options 'confirm change' or 'cancel change', plus a 10-second countdown timer running.

5a. if the user press 'confirm change' then code inside 'videomode.xbe' will write that video-mode into that xbox eeprom chip.

5b. if the user instead press 'cancel change' or wait until the timer runs out then code inside 'videomode.xbe' will (depending how the developers code it) either reboot (thus restoring the original video mode as the new mode was only written to ram) or alternativly re-patch the eeprom mirror in ram (not the eeprom chip) to the prevvious video-mode and launch xbmc without reboot.

ps! @jmarshall, can you please upload the info/code you have on writting to the eeprom chip to .it so that we can then share it?

[floink]

you do realise you just wrote a classical use case don't you gamester?

[Zikor4]

i was thinking if the xbmc team, could somehow make an emulator, within xbmc, where you could switch between what type the xbox is, right now im using a boot-disc to do that, but it would make it alot easier and faster the other way.

im asking this, because im from europe, and to run games from here, i need to be in pal mode, but to run import/backup games from usa or asia, i need to be in nstc mode.........

[Gamester17]

ok i understand that a restart is not needed to write to the eeprom however my idea/suggestion is a little more complexed than that:
 what i'm trying to conway is; what if a 'test' could be preformed before xbmc writes to the actual eeprom in order to find out if the users tv support that specific selected video-mode, (because as you know an eeprom does have a writting limit plus you do not want to take a too big of a risk in messing it up). so what i suggest to is something like this; use cherry's videomode code (link) to patch the eeprom mirror that was loaded into the persistent (ram) memory area at boot (thus writting to actual eeprom chip is not needed for this test) and because that code require a restart of a/the xbe start a other executable called ex 'videomode.xbe' that will display a short demo (and a message) on the users tv in the new video-mode that will show/prove to the user that his/hers tv support and can display that specific video-mode,  ....hell, an extention on this test/feature would be to then put the actual code and option that do write to the eeprom chip into the 'videomode.xbe' instead of the main xbmc xbe (and thus make it easier for developers to debug if needed), so if the user do get a picture 'videomode.xbe' in the new video mode then he will see the message to confirm (plus see the 10 second countdown-timer) and if he press yes (should default to no) then code inside 'videomode.xbe' write that video-mode to the eeprom chip, however if the user do not get a picture then he/she will only have to wait for the 10 seconds timeout to run out which will (depending how the developer choose to choose to code this part); cause the 'videomode.xbe' to either reboot (thus restoring the original video mode as the new mode was only written to ram) or alternativly re-patch the eeprom mirror in ram (not the eeprom chip) to previous video-mode and then launch xbmc without reboot.


so exampel on my concept is a little bit different but more fool-proof (less risky):

1.  information on the screen (in xbmc) before regarding which video modes do what, and why you might want to switch mode.

2.  when user select one will get a message (still in xbmc with information as to what you will see on the following screen if everything goes correct, and information as to what to do if you don't see it (will be a timeout as well as a simple button press). option here with 'proceed' or 'cancel'.

3. if user press 'proceed' in step 2 then xbmc will first patch the eeprom mirror that's in the persistent (ram) memory area to the selected video-mode (thus not yet writting anything to the actual eeprom chip) and then launch 'videomode.xbe'.

4. 'videomode.xbe' starts and give a message "do you see this screen and text" (with demo running in background, plus maybe music or someone speaking/reading the same message so user don't think the xbox has hung) and present two options 'confirm change' or 'cancel change', plus a 10-second countdown timer running.

5a. if the user press 'confirm change' then code inside 'videomode.xbe' will write that video-mode into that xbox eeprom chip.

5b. if the user instead press 'cancel change' or wait until the timer runs out then code inside 'videomode.xbe' will (depending how the developers code it) either reboot (thus restoring the original video mode as the new mode was only written to ram) or alternativly re-patch the eeprom mirror in ram (not the eeprom chip) to the prevvious video-mode and launch xbmc without reboot.

ps! @jmarshall, can you please upload the info/code you have on writting to the eeprom chip to .it so that we can then share it?

@developers; just fyi; nkpatcher v10 (link) has been release with it's full source code, incuding a virtual eeprom feature,
....maybe code can be used from it and together with cherry's videomode code to realize my suggested scenerio above?

[C-Quel]

any news on this at all? this would be a huge boot to us pal users who use ntsc titles... sync'd intros would be great. :thumbsup:

i currently use enigmah but to have it intergrated into xbmc and selectable via remote control as well :bowdown: would be awesome. then grab your controller enjoy some sync'd frames.

[C-Quel]

[Meisaku]

i would also be extremely happy to see this feature implemented.

as xbmc has become the only dashboard (besides ms) on my box, to be able to start my imported ntsc-backups with a click would make xbmc nearly perfect

(it nearly is that already, of which i'm of course most grateful).

:bowdown: :bowdown:

[edtremaine]

had my chipped xbox a while, but yesterday was fiddling around and managed to switch my xbox video out so now although i can still hear it, i can't see any video out. please help me!

how do i get it back to being useable????

it's a japanese ntsc xbox, but i plug it into my pal tv in uk. the tv can display ntsc though, so didn't expect to get this problem.

[Gamester17]

had my chipped xbox a while, but yesterday was fiddling around and managed to switch my xbox video out so now although i can still hear it, i can't see any video out. please help me!

how do i get it back to being useable?

it's a japanese ntsc xbox, but i plug it into my pal tv in uk. the tv can display ntsc though, so didn't expect to get this problem.

@edtremaine, please respect that your off-topic post do not belong in this thread nor in these forums, (you're using xbmp, not xbmc. ps! you should find your answer here (link) :hmm:

[divideby0]

map a button to toggle gui(480p/720p/1080)
this way we don't have to exit all the way to the main page>settings>appearance> gui
when we want to play a 720p file in hd.

[jmarshall]

so you like running the gui in a low resolution rather than 720p

why not just run everything in 720p?