Automatic video mode switching when loading game
#1
Lightbulb 
hi,

i allways seem to get the odd game or prog that won't run at all, or won't run properly in pal-50 mode.
to make them work properly i need to switch the xbox to pal-60, which on my tv squashes the picture and deforms the top and bottom, or rarely ntsc, which on my tv plays squashed and in black and white.
would it be possible to set individually (in a default.txt file even) to switch outputs on program launch, and then revert back when xbmc opens again (which would be after a cold or warm reboot)?

so when i boot xbmc it stays in pal-50 mode, but if i boot say, hitman contracts ntsc (which doesn't work in pal-50 mode) then xbmc will automatically switch to pal-60 just before launching the game. this would take slightly longer to launch i think, however it's much easier than going into the ms dash everytime i want to play hitman. for other games which haven't been set to change, it would be the same loading time.

is this possible?
thanks
morien
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#2
i believe that ava launch can handle doing this. a work around would be to set up ava launch and use that to launch your games. (you can launch ava from xbmc if you don't want to use it as a dash.)
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#3
hmm. well i guess i'll do that until a time when it's implemented into xbmc... if ever.. thanks for the heads up.

morien
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#4
Exclamation 
i've got the videomode switch source code from cherry (link) that unleashx uses to switch pal <=> ntsc 'on-the-fly' when/before launching a game if someone would like to look at it. this code does not write to eeprom (however it do require a restart of a xbe so can't be used to switch video modes within xbmc), i believe it does this by patching the xbox bios (or eeprom?) that gets loaded into the protected memory are in the ram at boot(?). ps! i believe nexgen also have source code available for this(?), evox and avalauch also have this fucntion but i believe they do it in a other way(?).

maybe an unofficial dev could code a patch for this from that?, (as i don't think any devs on team-xbmc prioritise this?)
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#5
this feature would certainly be great Smile

i did look for a xbe to changed it and then load the original renamed xbe, but never found it Sad

hope some one can implement this :thumbsup:
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#6
auto switch to ntsc(only games that only run under ntsc) when i start a game.

i like to have this because some of my games only run under ntsc..like psychonauts (i must run video disc switch and switch to ntsc for this game to work)

my xbox is pal
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#7
sf.net patch #1194146

all cred/blame to cherry for sharing his code Smile

spiff
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#8
great will this be implanted in later builds of xbmc or must i do it myself??
Image
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#9
i tried to compile but it gives the following error:

Quote:util.obj : error lnk2019: unresolved external symbol "bool cdecl cutil::launchxbe(char *,char *,char *)" (?launchxbe@cutil@@saxpad00@z)
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#10
uhm,

perhaps i accidentially uploaded the wrong version. will check it out this evening, i was might tired yesterday

spiff

edit: had a look at the uploaded code. everything looks correct from here. are you sure that you added all necessary files to the project? perhaps a clean is required. no bool cutil::launchxbe(...) exists in the cvs tree anyway, it's a void function.

will try to apply it to a vanilla cvs tree when i get back home
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#11
compiled fine here. although i've yet to actually try it out (wife's watching tv).
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#12
i had to add cherrypatch.cpp to the xbmc project and compiled fine.

edit: i just tried it and seems to work very well but i think it also should be added to the context menu to choose between ntsc, pal50 and pal60 modes because some games, for example pal version of halo, are very choppy with pal60.
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#13
hi,

i actually wondered why cherry's code enabled pal60. i'd reckon that the switch from pal->pal60 would be something handled by the game.

do anybody know the behaviour of the msdash? mine is non-startable (damn starwars dvd's) and i don't feel like fixing it today..
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#14
ms dash doesn't have an option of starting a game in pal60 - there's only 2 choices: pal or ntsc.

if you have pal60 enabled in the ms dash, then it is up to the game to choose to use it (or give you the option of using it).

there is a "forced-pal60" mode, but it is unavailable in the ms dash, and is not documented at all in the xdk docs. this hasn't stopped modchip makers + software writers employing it, however. basically it is equivalent to running in ntsc as far as resolutions + timings go.

cheers,
jonathan
Always read the XBMC online-manual, FAQ and search the forum before posting.
Do not e-mail XBMC-Team members directly asking for support. Read/follow the forum rules.
For troubleshooting and bug reporting please make sure you read this first.


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#15
okay,

i figure that this means that i should alter the patch to ignore pal60 settings and launch pal games in pal.

unless someone shouts, i'll upload a new version soon. also, i'll add a parameter to force which mode to launch in, if somebody decides to add it to the context menu (i could always add it, however it should be stored in the db which i think should be done by somebody with the experience..)

edit: done

spiff
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