(2015-09-28, 20:40)Fail$tyle420 Wrote: Ok, so I bit and decided to try out your steps and I'll be damned you were right
I've done nothing but upgrades since helix and the skin works just fine. I did a clean install of Jarvis nightly and I can see what you mean. I don't understand how a version upgraded(no changes to skin/xml files) can work but a clean install of the same files doesn't(more of a personal thought really). Anyways, what goes well with a plate full of shoe?
When you dirt install a new Kodi version over an older main version if the addon is already installed there is no check of needed version and additional requirements for addons, sometimes these addons could be flagged incompatible and/or doesn't work at all.
When you clean install a Kodi version and then you try to install addons, the addons who declare the need of an older main Kodi version can't be installed.
This "declarations" are defined on a file named addon.xml:
Quote:Every skin, script, or plugin in Kodi contains an addon.xml file which describes the add-on, providing credits, version information and dependencies. Below, we will explain how this file is structured and which elements must be used to create an add-on for Kodi.
http://kodi.wiki/view/Addon.xml
Open the public preview 2.4.0.beta 1 addon.xml and you can read these lines (between others):
<addon id="skin.aeonmq6" version="2.4.0" name="Aeon MQ 6"
provider-name="MarcosQui">
<requires>
<import addon="
xbmc.gui" version="5.3.0"/>
The bolded part means this addon requieres Kodi Helix (14.x) to be installed.
Now look the same lines in the aeon mq5 7.1.12 (scott967's Aeon MQ 5 Isengard)
<addon id="skin.aeonmq5" version="7.1.12" name="Aeon MQ 5 Isengard"
provider-name="MarcosQui">
<requires>
<import addon="
xbmc.gui" version="5.9.0"/>
The bolded part means this addon requieres Kodi Isengard (15.x) to be installed.
Now look at this table the GUI column who define the number of the supported main XBMC/Kodi version by the skin engine (xbmc.gui) :
http://kodi.wiki/view/Addon.xml#Dependency_versions
The table is not yet updated to include the version flag for
Kodi Jarvis (16.x): 5.10.0.
These are the lines from Transparency! skin for nighty builds (right now Jarvis):
<addon id="skin.transparency" version="9.0.3" name="Transparency!" provider-name="ronie">
<requires>
<import addon="
xbmc.gui" version="5.10.0"/>
Each xbmc.gui version change implies changes in skin engine and menus structure/elements (dialogs)/items (buttons)/etc who must be adapted in skin code by developers to be compatible:
Changes to the skinning engine for Kodi Helix:
xbmc.gui version bump
5.0.2 (details)
5.1.0 (details)
5.2.0 (details)
5.3.0 (details)
http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=194515
Changes to the skinning engine for Kodi Isengard:
xbmc.gui version bump
5.9.0
http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=211896
Changes to the skinning engine for Kodi Jarvis:
xbmc.gui version bump
5.10.0
http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=231270
When we understand that skin engine change trough main Kodi versions it's easy to understand why skin addons developed for older Kodi version can't work properly on newer kodi.