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[UPDATED] Aeon65 v10.5 (Dharma) compatible - Help/Support/Bugs/Feature Request
#46
pix, maybe it is better that you link to the official XBMC nightlies instead of the unofficial?

http://mirrors.xbmc.org/nightlies/
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#47
I'm making some good progress on getting Aeon to speed up significantly! The main slowing factor right now that I can see is that all of the textures are stored in .png files in the media folder. While this is great for easy editing, it's pretty slow for low power machines such as my ASRock 330. It's a lot like having the home screen backgrounds in .jpg format instead of .bmp. I got a pretty big boost in speed when I converted all my multi-image background images to .bmp format. XBMC has had the capacity to load compressed DXT files for a while now, but from the looks of things it looks like this was never implemented into Aeon in it's long history.

The point is that compressing the textures can give a similar speed boost to using .DDS files for fanart and posters. Rather than each image having to be decompressed by the CPU, the GPU can load these images directly into memory, giving a pretty big speed boost to the GUI.

I did a rudimentary test today by compressing the entire media folder into one .xbt (XBMC's compressed texture file) using the TexturePacker program in the SVN. On the plus side, I got a big increase in GUI speed by using the .xbt file over all the usual .png files. On the downside, I'm not sure if multi-image paths work with an .xbt file. The only issues I noticed was the default images on the home screen didn't show up with the new system; everything else seems to work fine.

I'm sure it will require a little tweaking, but it looks to me like this would be a great way to make Aeon a lot more responsive on the increasingly popular media center machines like the ASRock and Aspire.

I'll keep working on it in my spare time, but in case anyone else wants to experiment I'll let you know what I did.

All I did was make a backup of the media folder in the skin folder, then empty it so there were no files in it. Then I used the TexturePacker program (under SVN/trunk/tools/TexturePacker when you compile XBMC from the SVN) and used the following command:

Code:
sudo ./TexturePacker -input /pathtobackedupmediafolder/ -output Textures.xbt

Then wait while the program compresses all the files in the media folder into one .xbt file. After it's done, move the new Textures.xbt file into the empty media folder in the skin folder.

That's it. I didn't edit any .xml files or do anything else to the skin. The downside to this is that if any new images are added or any existing images are changed, the whole .xbt file needs to be remade for the new images to be accelerated. I did confirm with another skinner that if you just add a new image to the media folder and reference it in an .xml file it will still work, so you can have the .xbt as well as new images in the media folder.

This is good, because I am thinking of trimming down the files in the .xbt file to only ones used in GUI elements, not the multi-image background files and the weather files. This should fix the problem of them not showing up, and people like me who have their own sets of pictures can use their own and get rid of the others if they want.

I'll keep updating when I have new news, and I'll answer any questions I can about this if someone else wants to handle it regularly.
Client: XBMCuntu Frodo - ASRock ION 330 Pro - Logitech Harmony One
Server: 4U NORCO RPC-4220 20-drive case - UnRAID 5.0 - 38 TB parity-protected storage
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#48
IceNine Wrote:I'm making some good progress on getting Aeon to speed up significantly!

I tested TexturePacker earlier this week, the problem i saw is that it was imposible to easily tell it to only include some subdirectories.
One thing worth noting is that file loading in xbt is case-insensitive (I had some trouble with case and media flags) What is the loading order ? first xbt file, then media/ or is it the opposite ?
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#49
Yeah, the only way I can figure out for it to not compress some sub-directories is to take them out of the media folder before I compress, then put them back. I'm not sure yet what order XBMC looks for the files in, I have a thread open in the Skin Development section where I am asking right now.
Client: XBMCuntu Frodo - ASRock ION 330 Pro - Logitech Harmony One
Server: 4U NORCO RPC-4220 20-drive case - UnRAID 5.0 - 38 TB parity-protected storage
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#50
The official XBMC nightlies include everything you need to run the scripts and plugins that are available via the official repository. This includes AMT Lite. The full AMT script will be available shortly as well.

Don't use builds from elsewhere - especially if they can't follow the clear build instructions on the wiki.

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.


Image
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#51
pix, how about submitting this version of the skin to the official addon repository? So that more users can enjoy it? Smile

http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=Off...Repository
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#52
How do you guys get your XBMC install?

I use MediaFreak Live. Do you guys use the nightlies?
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#53
chanders Wrote:How do you guys get your XBMC install?

I use MediaFreak Live. Do you guys use the nightlies?

I use nightlies from http://mirrors.xbmc.org/nightlies when I don't build my own.
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#54
Nightlies only for me
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#55
Nightlies
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#56
So if I am on linux, I guess I have to use the PPA as the nightlies don't have complied versions?
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#57
chanders Wrote:So if I am on linux, I guess I have to use the PPA as the nightlies don't have complied versions?

In the first post:
Quote:Linux: https://launchpad.net/~team-xbmc-svn/+archive/ppa
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#58
You guys manage to get to playlist function for movies or tv shows? Music has it, when you enter library and even as a submenu button. Any chance for movies?

My goal is to a add a smart playlist to home and i find it impossible with this skin Sad
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#59
@ Pix/Mindweaver
Just updated to a nightly and your latest aeon65. Wow. Not enough people say it: Thanks for your work, and for keeping this awesome skin alive!
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#60
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[UPDATED] Aeon65 v10.5 (Dharma) compatible - Help/Support/Bugs/Feature Request2