Taming ITunes
9. Taming ITunes
Here are a couple of code examples of what I've done with iTunes for those of you chained to this program. This should enable you to make the program work correctly without the mouse function on the FireFly remote.
Remember to set iTunes as the music button by using the Beyond media basic settings. Now open the profile section I mentioned earlier and edit iTunes-Apple-4.xml. Next find the code sample:
| Actions Button="Right" Description="Right"
KeyAction Keys="{right}" / /Actions |
and replace the {right} with {tab}. This enables tabbing from selecting a playlist to choosing the exact songs by pressing right twice on the remote (the first right press goes to the search area in ITunes), then pressing down.
The next example enables visualization to be turned on and resized:
| Actions Button="A" Description="Visualization"
SpecialKeyAction Type="Down" Key="ControlKey" / SpecialKeyAction Type="Down" Key="t" / SleepAction Sleep="250" / SpecialKeyAction Type="Up" Key="t" / SpecialKeyAction Type="Up" Key="ControlKey" / /Actions |
| Actions Button="B" Description="Visualization Size"
SpecialKeyAction Type="Down" Key="ControlKey" / SpecialKeyAction Type="Down" Key="f" / SleepAction Sleep="250" / SpecialKeyAction Type="Up" Key="f" / SpecialKeyAction Type="Up" Key="ControlKey" / /Actions> |
This went over well at many of my dorm parties.
Another annoyance was that the volume control in iTunes could not be adjusted; only the computer (Windows) volume control. This can be fixed by adding the following:
SpecialKeyAction Type="Down" Key="down" / SleepAction Sleep="250" / SpecialKeyAction Type="Up" Key="down" / SpecialKeyAction Type="Up" Key="ControlKey" /> |
SpecialKeyAction Type="Down" Key="Up" / SleepAction Sleep="250" / SpecialKeyAction Type="Up" Key="Up" / SpecialKeyAction Type="Up" Key="ControlKey" /> |
This also worked well, but then I found myself without a way to control the music while the visualization was up. So I created a new profile for the visualization. You can name the profile whatever you want but ITunes-Visualization.xml works fine. Just add the following text to the top of the newly-created profile:
Then copy in all the action keys and rest of the text from the iTunes profile below the text above. Don't paste the header from the iTunes profile, because its header is different.
Sorry for going geek there for awhile, but I think you'll find the info useful when getting FireFly and GB-PVR talking.
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All this is great if you can get free listings (EPG). Now that Zap2It, Schedules Direct ($20/yr.) & others charge, is there another service that will work for generating free XMLTV listings (for Canada)?
I have been getting frustrated trying & opted to use a trial version of Beyond TV but would like to try GB-PVR &/or Media Portal after reading rave reviews. However, the key it seems is a free & accessible EPG.