Wiz Beta Of Ommpc2X 0.4.0

[sbock]

Short test, not much time:

Good news first:

-Seek-bar now works great.
-Additional ID3 informations show up.
-Korean UTF-8 characters now work well with the crystal skin.

Bad news: The db crash is still there, I investigate it further...


Thanks for the update, Tim!

 

[Coder_TimT]

Short test, not much time:


Bad news: The db crash is still there, I investigate it further...


Thanks for the update, Tim!

Okay, I believe I finally found it. I was fixing the wrong problem before, it needed to be fixed or the two databases could be out of sync, but it apparently wasn't causing our crash. I restructured the code(again) and was able to catch the condition of the segfault, it's a NULL pointer condition while polling the status from mpd. So I've moved from a segfault to an neverending loop unable to correctly get the status, but I'm currently still not sure why that section of code starts failing and won't recover... Time to dig deeper, hopefully I'm really on the right track this time...

As a fun side note, the f200 doesn't like it when you accidentally put the config file for the wiz in place and thus set the cpu speed to 533Mhz...it pretty much crashes immediately...

 

[Coder_TimT]

I've attached a new test build which I think really fixes the db crash...of course I've said that before. I went ahead and updated the full builds also, but thought I'd go ahead and post this here also.

It appears my mpd connection in the song db update thread was timing out and closing. And it seems worsen when I had the main mpd polling thread poll more often, which I did for the wiz version. I made it poll even more often and was able to recreate the crash almost every time. Reopening that connection every time we run the thread now... Anyway, let me know how it acts on the wiz...

 

[sbock]

French language from German forum member Passy. Thanks!

http://www.sbock.net/upload/fr

Received some feedback via email from Chechumaru (Spanish boards):

Thanks for all! The player is wonderful! Please give my congratulations to Tim ^^.

Testing the update now...

[Edit:] No crashes yet. Looks good...

 

[sbock]

Russian language support from German forum member Squire. Thanks!

http://www.sbock.net/upload/ru

I now tested Ommpc extensive and received no more db crashes. Good work, Tim

Regards,
Stephan

 

[Coder_TimT]

French language from German forum member Passy. Thanks!

http://www.sbock.net/upload/fr

Received some feedback via email from Chechumaru (Spanish boards):

Thanks for all! The player is wonderful! Please give my congratulations to Tim ^^.

Testing the update now...

[Edit:] No crashes yet. Looks good...

Russian language support from German forum member Squire. Thanks!

http://www.sbock.net/upload/ru

I now tested Ommpc extensive and received no more db crashes. Good work, Tim

Regards,
Stephan

Thanks for heading up the gathering of translations Stephan, and send my thanks to the translators on the other boards... I'm feeling so...monolingual.

Anyway, I'm currently researching fonts attempting to find the best fit for a default, having the most character support while not being huge in filesize...I think I have a decent choice now. Then I will be putting together a new build with some additions and an additional skin based on the GANT icon set.

 

[derdritte]

Hey guys,

Seems to be running great, no crashes since the last update.
I also updated the German language-file, but German words are longer in general than the average English word,
so I am having trouble with word-length and wrapping.
Will multiline be supported, or is it?

File-upload with .txt because it doesn't allow only "de".
Also the timeout on the delete is bad if it is mapped to HOLD_*.

Will keep testing, if you want me to

so long,
derdritte

 

[Coder_TimT]

Hey guys,

Seems to be running great, no crashes since the last update.
I also updated the German language-file, but German words are longer in general than the average English word,
so I am having trouble with word-length and wrapping.
Will multiline be supported, or is it?


File-upload with .txt because it doesn't allow only "de".


Will keep testing, if you want me to

so long,
derdritte

Hey, thanks for testing...definitely keep testing. Also did you send a IM request to my gmail address? I refused it because I didn't know where it came from...feel free to send again if you would like...

As I've tested some of the translations, I've seen the word length issue. Wrapping to multiple lines would take care of it, but the method I'm using to render text in SDL only renders single lines of text...so it will have to manually be broken apart. Easiest method would be to interject some sort of special break code into the language file to show where to split the text, then have the menu drawing code deal with the split text. Probably have to limit it to two lines also or we're going to run out of vertical space. I'll see what I can come up with...

Also the timeout on the delete is bad if it is mapped to HOLD_*.

More details? Too long? Too short? Deleting more than one item? The hold time currently set to right about 1sec. before the hold action takes place...

Again thanks for testing/feedback.

 

[pedator]

Hi, TimT. I'm testing my Liquido skin for your app. I have any suggestions for best appearance.
If was possible, include a left margin in the text lines like Title, Artist, playlist, song, etc... in the header, the letters are too close to the edge of the screen. In playlist the songtitle/filename/Filter, are too close to the icons. And those icons are too close to border. A little space of separation would help.
Include a bg image for NowPlaying screen... if not exists yet. About this i've seen any images that are not used but are present: bg_np.png, artback.png
Another images that i don't understand what use they have: vol_backBig.png, vol_foreBig.png, test.png, etc.
The difference betwen seek.png and seek_big.png (and his *_back.png).
I've discovered the lack of any images that could be necessary for a well done skin: rpt_back.png or rnd_back.png
If was possible a test skin with a complete set of images. Deleting dummy files and including all the images that could been used. Would be great for skinners.

I've attached a preview of my skin. Screens captured in version 0.4 for GP2x F-100.

 

[Coder_TimT]

Hi, TimT. I'm testing my Liquido skin for your app. I have any suggestions for best appearance.

Wow, looks awesome.

If was possible, include a left margin in the text lines like Title, Artist, playlist, song, etc... in the header, the letters are too close to the edge of the screen. In playlist the songtitle/filename/Filter, are too close to the icons. And those icons are too close to border. A little space of separation would help.

This is doable, I will add an extra option to the skin file...

Include a bg image for NowPlaying screen... if not exists yet. About this i've seen any images that are not used but are present: bg_np.png, artback.png

So just another separate background image for the entire main area of the nowplaying screen? Or use a different image than the white headphones that are there when there is no album art? In the case of the latter, I just need to pull that image into the skin area... It's currently "default.jpg" in the root directory...

Another images that i don't understand what use they have: vol_backBig.png, vol_foreBig.png, test.png, etc.
The difference betwen seek.png and seek_big.png (and his *_back.png).

The vol_*Big.png were for a touchscreen volume control that isn't currently implemented, seek_big was when the Nowplaying screen was not going to utilize the common header seek bar. Those along with test.png are basically just old files not used.

I've discovered the lack of any images that could be necessary for a well done skin: rpt_back.png or rnd_back.pnga

The code will look for those files, my skins just don't have them. So put them there and they should get used... If not, I will have to see why...

If was possible a test skin with a complete set of images. Deleting dummy files and including all the images that could been used. Would be great for skinners.

Grab the latest version from http://code.google.com/p/ommpc/downloads/list and it should be closer to what you need. Also, there have been some changes in the latest version(using skin.conf, created a common font dir, etc). But the included skins folders have been cleaned up of unused images...still missing rpt_back and rnd.back though. Latest version is 0.4.6, I've submitted the News items, but a mod hasn't approved them yet...

I've attached a preview of my skin. Screens captured in version 0.4 for GP2x F-100.

Again, it looks wonderful. Love Liquido, need to put it back in place for gmenu...

 

[derdritte]

Hey, thanks for testing...definitely keep testing. Also did you send a IM request to my gmail address? I refused it because I didn't know where it came from...feel free to send again if you would like...

Will do, request should have been resent.

As I've tested some of the translations, I've seen the word length issue. Wrapping to multiple lines would take care of it, but the method I'm using to render text in SDL only renders single lines of text...so it will have to manually be broken apart. Easiest method would be to interject some sort of special break code into the language file to show where to split the text, then have the menu drawing code deal with the split text. Probably have to limit it to two lines also or we're going to run out of vertical space. I'll see what I can come up with...

Two-line should be fine and if there is no other way, adding "\n"s or whatever linebraker is used shouldn't be a problem either.

More details? Too long? Too short? Deleting more than one item? The hold time currently set to right about 1sec. before the hold action takes place...

Again thanks for testing/feedback.

The timeout is too short. Way to short. It is okay for the first item that gets deleted, but if you aren't getting of the button very quickly, there will be at least one other item deleted. I personally mapped it to GAME_X because I usually know what I am doing, but other users might delete by accident, so the HOLD might not be a bad idea. Could it be related to CPU Clock? (Just a shot in the dark here).

Also, you might want to edit the topic-title.

[Edit] Uh, I forgot, being able to browse into your playlists without appending or playing them would be nice.

[Edit 2] I also noticed that the OSS mixer you use isn't accessible outside the app. Which is a problem if you detach the client and can't turn down the sound any more (you have to get back into the app first). Ideas on that?

so long,
derdritte

 

[pedator]

So just another separate background image for the entire main area of the nowplaying screen? Or use a different image than the white headphones that are there when there is no album art? In the case of the latter, I just need to pull that image into the skin area... It's currently "default.jpg" in the root directory...

Not the default.jpg. The complete background. At the moment only bg.png is used for all modes. I think an individual image for "Now Playing" Mode would be great and could give more possibilities for design. Something like the attached image would be possible. Colored text and more info of ID3 tags. And move the bitrate and Frequency fields to the top-right. Take a look.

The code will look for those files, my skins just don't have them. So put them there and they should get used... If not, I will have to see why...

These files are correctly loaded. Don't worry.

 

[Coder_TimT]

...

The timeout is too short. Way to short. It is okay for the first item that gets deleted, but if you aren't getting of the button very quickly, there will be at least one other item deleted. I personally mapped it to GAME_X because I usually know what I am doing, but other users might delete by accident, so the HOLD might not be a bad idea. Could it be related to CPU Clock? (Just a shot in the dark here).

Also, you might want to edit the topic-title.

[Edit] Uh, I forgot, being able to browse into your playlists without appending or playing them would be nice.

[Edit 2] I also noticed that the OSS mixer you use isn't accessible outside the app. Which is a problem if you detach the client and can't turn down the sound any more (you have to get back into the app first). Ideas on that?

so long,
derdritte

Ah, the timeout thing is a bug then. It should just delete one item and stop. No other action should take place until the button is released and another button pushed. Can you change that back to HOLD_GAME_A and confirm it happens every time....

Have to add the playlist browsing to the wish list...infrastructure is not in place for that so it would take a decent amount of code...

Ah, you've discovered the "gp2x doesn't have a global volume control" problem. Same thing with the f100/f200...not really much that can be done. I have a background program I call 'watchdog' that watches for volumes spikes and resets it...I guess I need to provide that for the wiz also. Something to play with at least... EDIT: Just realized, you might not be having volume spikes on the wiz, but just want to adjust the volume in general. I'm not sure that there's much at all we can do about that. Does using the volume control in other applications not affect the music vol? I'm not entirely sure of the expected behavior while using the software mixer like we do on the wiz.

So just another separate background image for the entire main area of the nowplaying screen? Or use a different image than the white headphones that are there when there is no album art? In the case of the latter, I just need to pull that image into the skin area... It's currently "default.jpg" in the root directory...

Not the default.jpg. The complete background. At the moment only bg.png is used for all modes. I think an individual image for "Now Playing" Mode would be great and could give more possibilities for design. Something like the attached image would be possible. Colored text and more info of ID3 tags. And move the bitrate and Frequency fields to the top-right. Take a look.

Ah, yes I see the design benefits. That should be a pretty easy change. I think I can pull off the bitrate&Freq in the corner also with just a new optional "button" type. That corner is pretty empty most of the time...seems like a good use of space.

EDIT: Nothing is as easy as it seems at first glance. Creating an item to display in the corner is simple, but what if folks don't want that up there, but want the bitrate info accessible where it currently is. I'm going to need to brainstorm some more to see if I can come up with a generic solution to easily place id3 tag information where a skin wants it... Good visual design makes for more complex coding.

Not sure when I'll be able to get to the changes. Most of my coding takes place on the weekend while the wife is at work. But as soon as I do, I'll make a build available for you to work with...

 

[derdritte]

Ah, the timeout thing is a bug then. It should just delete one item and stop. No other action should take place until the button is released and another button pushed. Can you change that back to HOLD_GAME_A and confirm it happens every time....

Confirmed (for version 0.4.6), it has a longer time-out on songs you are currently playing, and somehow that also changes from song to song. Means it isn't reproduce able.

Ah, you've discovered the "gp2x doesn't have a global volume control" problem. Same thing with the f100/f200...not really much that can be done. I have a background program I call 'watchdog' that watches for volumes spikes and resets it...I guess I need to provide that for the wiz also. Something to play with at least... EDIT: Just realized, you might not be having volume spikes on the wiz, but just want to adjust the volume in general. I'm not sure that there's much at all we can do about that. Does using the volume control in other applications not affect the music vol? I'm not entirely sure of the expected behavior while using the software mixer like we do on the wiz.

For me, it seems like applications that can't access the audio-output (like when mpd is running) just crash. Also I don't quite understand why the Wiz doesn't use a software-mixer, I mean, wouldn't that make everything easier?

Have to add the playlist browsing to the wish list...infrastructure is not in place for that so it would take a decent amount of code...

Please do, sure would be a cool feature.

Not sure when I'll be able to get to the changes. Most of my coding takes place on the weekend while the wife is at work. But as soon as I do, I'll make a build available for you to work with...

Good luck with that

so long,
derdritte