I can see where that would be a problem. After thinking about what you said, I wanted to find a universal solution so I don't have to deal with the hassle of modifying the scripts every time, as well as find a solution for the flashing title bar. I think I have come up with a solution that works for me and is perfect, as well as should work with any application on any PC. Also, should be noted that this method will disable the mouse pointer for the whole time you are using XBMC, but most people use remotes, controllers or the keyboard to navigate their HTPC anyway.
A few preparations must be made:
1. Set the Desktop Wallpaper to complete black. You can save this as a separate theme if you don't use your machine for an HTPC exclusively.
2. Right click on the desktop, hover over the "view" menu and uncheck "Show Desktop Icons". This is reversable and you can get all your icons back with their current positions by checking "Show Desktop Icons" again.
3. Set the launcher full screen toggle to "Off", otherwise XBMC will minimize when launching and you will see the XBMC window on the desktop.
4. Download "
TaskBarHider", extract the program to C:\Windows.
5. Download
nomousy and extract it to C:\Windows.
Code:
HotKeySet("{ESC}", "Terminate")
If $CmdLine[0] == 1 Then
ProcessClose ( "XBMC.exe" )
Run( '"G:\xbmc\games\snes\snes9x-x64.exe" -fullscreen -autostart "' & $CmdLine[1] & '"', "", @SW_HIDE)
While 1
Sleep(100)
WEnd
EndIf
Func Terminate()
ProcessClose ( "snes9x-x64.exe" )
Run ( '"C:\Program Files (x86)\XBMC\XBMC.exe"' )
Exit 0
EndFunc
I have used the processclose command because I don't think there is a way to use the suspend/resume command without the title bar showing when the script calls for XBMC to maximize. It's really not a big deal since XBMC starts up so quickly and I actually think I prefer it this way rather than returning to the games menu. It is completely seemless. No mouse pointer, no flashing screens, no taskbar and no title menus are displayed. The only disadventage is the amount of preperation that must be done before launching XBMC each time.
To solve this I'm trying to create a custom launcher for XBMC itself, but I'm a little stuck. XBMC seems to use it's own keyboard hook and ignores the hotkeyterminate function from AutoIt, so I can't figure out how to close XBMC with AutoIt. Maybe there is a way to make AutoIt perform the commands from the script when XBMC is closed in the normal way from the exit menu or some way to bypass the keyboard hook? My launcher code is as follows:
Code:
HotKeySet("{\}", "Terminate")
Run("nomousy.exe /hide", "", @SW_HIDE)
Run("TaskBarHider.exe -hide", "", @SW_HIDE)
Run ( '"C:\Program Files (x86)\XBMC\XBMC.exe"' )
Func Terminate()
Send("!{F4}")
Run("nomousy.exe", "", @SW_HIDE)
Run("TaskBarHider.exe -show -exit", "", @SW_HIDE)
Exit 0
EndFunc
With this code, XBMC launches, the taskbar and mouse pointers are both hidden, but I can't test the rest of the script since XBMC doesn't terminate when I press \. Any tips on how to proceed?
Anyhow, I just wanted to post this for anyone who wanted a completely seemless solution. It's not really practical but maybe it can be with a modified launcher for XBMC using AutoIt. I also wanted to thank you again Angelscry for your work on Advanced Launcher and for your great support via the forums.
