[krl69]

Is there any way to minimize XBMC for Windows to the taskbar? Keystroke(s)?

[BIOYAM]

I'm not sure since I'm not at a desktop with XBMC, but shouldn't the standard "ALT + TAB" key combo work?

[sn0ut]

press the key that has the windows logo on it... thats what i do anyway lol

[krl69]

None of these incredible suggestions do a "minimize to taskbar".

Could someone who actually do use the windows desktop give me a hint or a solution to my BIG problem

[fanclub]

None of these incredible suggestions do a "minimize to taskbar".

Could someone who actually do use the windows desktop give me a hint or a solution to my BIG problem

ctrl alt del then starting task manager

it's really an ass-about way to do it, but it will get you to the desktop whilst xbmc is still running

[topfs2]

Just note that even if you can minimize XBMC it would still take as much CPU as its still rendering at full speed. Its designed around a gameloop design. Also to taskbar is not supported, not with a icon and such.

XBMC never was designed to be a desktop app and probably never will be, its designed to run in fullscreen and to be the only frontend to that computer. It should be used as a DVDPlayer or MusicPlayer, not instead of foobar2000 or winamp

[krl69]

Just note that even if you can minimize XBMC it would still take as much CPU as its still rendering at full speed. Its designed around a gameloop design. Also to taskbar is not supported, not with a icon and such.

XBMC never was designed to be a desktop app and probably never will be, its designed to run in fullscreen and to be the only frontend to that computer. It should be used as a DVDPlayer or MusicPlayer, not instead of foobar2000 or winamp

"...its designed to run in fullscreen and used as..." But still there are 2 shortcuts to start XBMC - one for fullscreen and one in window mode. And the default is "windowed" and there are parameters to "force" xbmc in fullscreen. These facts don’t match with your arguments... sorry to say, but I don’t agree with you. And when I do a "ctrl + esc" and forcing XBMC in background, the task manager reports the xbmc process using between 3-5% CPU and I have a low-end PC.

Why is it so important not to support normal “minimize” function? It should be up to each user if he/se wants to use this feature.

[jmarshall]

Is CTRL+ESC the standard windows way of minimizing a window? If so, a patch implementing support for it would be most welcome.

Cheers,
Jonathan

[krl69]

Actually ctrl+esc brings up the "start menu" and xbmc would, in a way, stay in background.

The alt+shift+n is the right combination for doing a "minimize to taskbar", but this doesn't work with XBMC – at least not in “fullscreen mode”. In “windowed mode” all these standard shortcuts work as they should.

[topfs2]

"...its designed to run in fullscreen and used as..." But still there are 2 shortcuts to start XBMC - one for fullscreen and one in window mode. And the default is "windowed" and there are parameters to "force" xbmc in fullscreen. These facts don’t match with your arguments... sorry to say, but I don’t agree with you. And when I do a "ctrl + esc" and forcing XBMC in background, the task manager reports the xbmc process using between 3-5% CPU and I have a low-end PC.

Why is it so important not to support normal “minimize” function? It should be up to each user if he/se wants to use this feature.

The windowed mode is more for developers and first trials and skinners. The reason afaik for it being "default" is not because its intended to be the real way of using it but rahter because SDL is rather harsh with how it handles the underlying OS and is abit of a controlfreak and "can" (with a big maybe) lock and freeze the computer, forcing the user to do a hard reboot. Thats the main reasons why its "default". Also "force" is a very inaccurate term because its merely using a seperate default and there is no force what so ever behind it.

Also there have been talks about changing the default on stable releases but were discarded because of possible SDL nastiness.

Many skins doesnt even support a mouse in a good way and this IMHO makes is a bad desktop app. not saying that there are a number of great features for a desktop app but the GUI is not desktop friendly.

Anyhow, good to see that the cpu usage is that low on windows when minimized but Im fairly certain you have the same usage when fullscreen, otherwise Im puzzled as we use a gameloop design.

btw, Im not that much against a minimize function but changing from gameloop -> event based rendering (to get CPU lower in minimized) Im against, mainly because the headache of work that would imply for not much necessarity, patches welcomed though. Minimize would be lovely and usefull for those that have HTPC and Desktop on the same machine. Windowed Im not that much for though

Cheer,
Tobias

[WiSo]

@topfs: chadoe disabled the rendering when minimized therefore it takes less CPU. He likes to use it as MP3 player

We can put the key combo in XBapplication.cpp and add some code to minimize it that shouldn't be hard. Any key combo to maximize it again? Should it minimize in window and in fullscreen?

[krl69]

@topfs: chadoe disabled the rendering when minimized therefore it takes less CPU. He likes to use it as MP3 player

We can put the key combo in XBapplication.cpp and add some code to minimize it that shouldn't be hard. Any key combo to maximize it again? Should it minimize in window and in fullscreen?

Nice!

I have been using MediaPortal for a while now and they have solved it quite elegant - There I choose a selection in the config GUI called "Minimize to tray on exit". If I push the "exit" button on my remote, the MP stays in background and on the tray. Same if I hit the alt+f4 combo. And if I want to quit the appl, I just right click on the tray icon and select "Exit".

I'm really looking forward to a minimize solution. I'm switching a lot between desktop and MP, but I was hoping I could go back to the first mc appl I ever used(on my quite old XBOX classic).

[topfs2]

@topfs: chadoe disabled the rendering when minimized therefore it takes less CPU. He likes to use it as MP3 player

We can put the key combo in XBapplication.cpp and add some code to minimize it that shouldn't be hard. Any key combo to maximize it again? Should it minimize in window and in fullscreen?

Oh neat. my bad then.
BTW. doesnt the mainloop go wild in anycase or is there a locking for it so it doesnt go haywire in fps?

Anyways, is this available on linux, becuase if its ifdefed I think it should be un-ifdefed

[topfs2]

Nice!

I have been using MediaPortal for a while now and they have solved it quite elegant - There I choose a selection in the config GUI called "Minimize to tray on exit". If I push the "exit" button on my remote, the MP stays in background and on the tray. Same if I hit the alt+f4 combo. And if I want to quit the appl, I just right click on the tray icon and select "Exit".

I'm really looking forward to a minimize solution. I'm switching a lot between desktop and MP, but I was hoping I could go back to the first mc appl I ever used(on my quite old XBOX classic).

I think we could add that feature to the settings in system which handle default shutdown behaviour. and just expand it to trigger minimize.

Please file a ticket for it, also make sure you add the thing about alt+f4 because its handled differantly currently and always trigger usual exit (so it wont shutdown the computer)

Cheers,
Tobias

[krl69]

Please file a ticket for it, also make sure you add the thing about alt+f4 because its handled differantly currently and always trigger usual exit (so it wont shutdown the computer)

Tried to log in with my username and password from this forum, here: http://wiki.xbmc.org/?title=HOW-TO_submi...re_request
But it won't recognize my username. Do I have to register both places?