[RELEASE] iTunes and iPhoto integration plugins for XBMC

simpsons · 2008-10-09 22:10

I have just installed beta2 on both my ATV (take 2.2) and on my MacBookPro (10.5.5) and I have tried to use the iTunes import plugin, but it only works on my Macbook and not on my AppleTV. I have tried to install python on my ATV, but that didn't help. I was wondering if it may be because the ATV iTunes implementation does not look like the one on my Macbook? (itunes on ATV is synced from macbook). On ATV it puts all the files in /mnt/Scratch/Media/Media Files or something like that, and there isn't any xml file in ~/Music/iTunes/ (no such dir) which is referenced in default.py.

Isn't the iTunes plugin working on Appletv yet? Or is there some other hack that I need to use?

On my Macbook it imported the entire itunes library without problems (itunes 8)

**d4rk** · 2008-10-09 23:25

Hi simpsons, currently the iTunes plugin isn't functional on the Apple TV, so you will need to resort to adding the directory that has your music as a source to XBMC. I haven't had a chance to actually investigate the issue so I don't have an ETA on when and whether at all it the plugin will work on ATV.

simpsons · 2008-10-09 23:49

Hi d4rk, ok thanks for the reply... then there is no reason to keep fiddling with it Undecided

Eventhough I have all my music on my macbook, one of the reasons for having the ATV is to serve music to my stereo so I hope that You can make the plugin work somehow. I've seen somewhere descriptions to parsing the ATVs iTunes index files, so I'd imagine a solution can be found but don't know how easy it can be done.

james341 · 2008-10-11 22:28

good day to you
my appletv is sync with itunes ( all my music and my iphoto pic were transfered to my appletv)

no i go to - pictures and see <<import my iphoto ibrary>> press it and nothing happened - i see in the screen "loading directory" but for a second and nothing happened
it's the same with music with import from itunes library

i went to ~/Library/Application Support and i dont have there /XBMC/plugins
so i made the libraries and download the plugins and putted them there

but i have the same result

need to help to figure out what to do

thanks

Dodi71 · 2008-10-11 23:31

look at the following thread it will provide you with all the needed help.

http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=37313

or press the following to get more help

http://forum.xbmc.org/search.php

Regards,,,

jingo_man · 2008-10-14 21:44

i also had success with this plugin on my mac with a local itunes library. my appletv failed.

then looking at default.py, i changed the following:

Code:

def get_itunes_library():

    filename = os.getenv("HOME")+"/Music/iTunes/iTunes Music Library.xml"

    return filename

to:

Code:

def get_itunes_library():

    filename = "/mnt/Scratch/Volumes/JINGOmusic/iTunes Music Library.xml"

    return filename

which is where i have mounted my mac's "iTunes Music" directory, using AFP, on the appletv.

with this changed parameter, it scans the library when i add it as a source, and then again when i try to browse the library in file mode. so its mostly there.... i think that the last bit to fix is the path to the actual mp3 files which i assume it reads from the files when they are scanned in. is it possible to deviate the standard "local" path and change the beginning part to be "/mnt/Scratch/Volumes/<mountname>...?

an additional question is whether a symbolic link for the JINGOmusic mount point to the /Users/frontrow/Music/iTunes Music/ directory?

regards

jingo_man

jingo_man · 2008-10-15 10:35

unfortunately, using symlinks doesnt work either, having various ways of mounting different directories from my mac, and also symlinking different directories on the appletv.

i think the only way this might work is to do some string manipulation, or whatever, when the URL is obtained from each track. i see alot of references to:

Code:

plugin://music/

i am assuming this points to the local Music directory of the user, so /Users/frontrow/Music/ in the case of appletv. could this be amended so it reads?

Code:

plugin://mnt/Scratch/Volumes/JINGOmusic/

else, what alternatives are available for this "plugin://" path?

regards

jingo_man

**d4rk** · 2008-10-16 20:28

Hi jingo_man,

Sorry I didn't respond sooner. Basically you're on the right track. Since you've already got the Apple TV to import the iTunes library, you're half way there. The next step is to make XBMC think that the filenames are in the same path as in the XML file.

To do that, you can open up the XML file and look at the file paths in the "Location" key. They should read something like file://localhost/... Currently the plugin doesn't support any way to specify a remote share, so what you'll need to do is to create a mounted share on your Apple TV in such a way that it looks like it's in the same location. For example, if the "Location" entry in the XML for one of the songs reads:

Code:

file://localhost/Users/d4rk/Music/Amazon%20MP3/Sargeist/track1.mp3

then create a directory on your apple TV with

Code:

mkdir -p /Users/d4rk/Music/

and share that Music folder from your Mac and mount it on the directory you just created. That way, when XBMC looks for the particular file on the local drive, it will find it where it expects.

The correct way, of course would be to improve the plugin so you can specify a remote share without having to resort to this level of convolution, but for the time being, a solution like this might work. I haven't actually tried it though, but theoretically it should work Smile

jingo_man · 2008-10-17 00:27

hi d4rk

thanks for the suggestions, and no need for any apologies. i have been trying it since... unfortunately, i still get the same error:

could not connect to network server

in my case, the location string in the xml file are all in sub folders of:

file://localhost/Volumes/JINGOdisk1/iTunes%20Music/

so, mounted the JINGOdisk1 as /Volumes/JINGOdisk1 on the appletv, so it looks the same. i tried 2 mounts, one with "iTunes Music" the other with "iTunes%20Music" - no difference. the path to the xml file is still hard coded to a different afp share i have, but is scanning in fine.

i have had issues with itunes not using aliases in the expected manner, and it will actually follow the symlink to its proper destination. maybe this is part of the issue...?

also of note, my imac install of xbmc also returns the same error, with all the config left as downloaded. my ~/Music/iTunes/iTunes\ Music folder is actually symlinked to /Volumes/JINGOdisk1 (hence why the xml file lists it) and this maybe tripping over the same issue, in that it isnt in the default directory...

any more suggestions..?

jingo_man

tomsan · 2008-10-17 08:11

Hello,
still searching for a way to use my itunes playlists in my XBMC.

No problem to access all songs with a Firefly-Server running on my PC. But makes not much fun, due to the huge numbers of songs.... Support for playlists would be perfect.

Any Plugin in that direction?

Thanks!
Tom

Dodi71 Junior Member Posts: 3 Joined: Oct 2008 Reputation: 0	2008-10-11 23:31 Post: #35 look at the following thread it will provide you with all the needed help. http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=37313 or press the following to get more help http://forum.xbmc.org/search.php Regards,,,
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tomsan Junior Member Posts: 8 Joined: Jun 2008 Reputation: 0	2008-10-17 08:11 Post: #40 Hello, still searching for a way to use my itunes playlists in my XBMC. No problem to access all songs with a Firefly-Server running on my PC. But makes not much fun, due to the huge numbers of songs.... Support for playlists would be perfect. Any Plugin in that direction? Thanks! Tom
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