[brandonj]

Hello,

I would like to announce the first release of a new Control4 XBMC driver for Eden, which uses JSON-RPC:

http://github.com/RDX/Drivers/tree/master/XBMC-JSON


I know there are other projects out there that have tried to accomplish the same thing, but they either didn't do what I wanted, or are no longer free. So I started development of my own driver, and this is the result, and I am releasing it free for everyone to use.

I hope you control4 users out there find it useful, and if you would like to contribute to the further development of the driver, it would be very much welcomed.

There are a few minor issues that are currently known, but please report any issues on the github page, and I will try and fix them right away.

Basic navigation/playback is supported, with more features coming as quickly as possible. There are some commands that are not yet available in the JSON interface, so I use the HTTP interface for those instead. When they become available in the JSON interface, I will move them over.

Enjoy!

[ajburnet]

This is great news and will be fantastic - many thanks for sharing!

I tried to add it to Composer Pro (v2.2) however it crashes and exits every time I try!

Have you come across this at all?

Thanks,

Alex.

[brandonj]

I tried to add it to Composer Pro (v2.2) however it crashes and exits every time I try!

I have not seen it, but I can look in to it. Do you happen to have the exact build number of your C4 system? (e.g. 2.2.0.xxxxxx)
Also, if you see anything in any logs that is relevant, that would help as well.

I'll let you know what I find.

-Brandon

[ajburnet]

I'm on build 2.2.0.158343.

Error log extract below:

Exception: System.NullReferenceException
Message: Object reference not set to an instance of an object.
Source: Client
at Control4.Client.ConfigDataManager.UpdateConfigInfo(String fileName, Boolean forceOverwrite)
at Control4.Designer.DesignerForm.OnDriverAdd(Command cmd)
at Control4.Designer.Command.Execute()
at Control4.Designer.MenuItemExecutor.menuItem_Click(Object sender, EventArgs e)
at System.Windows.Forms.MenuItem.OnClick(EventArgs e)
at System.Windows.Forms.MenuItem.MenuItemData.Execute()
at System.Windows.Forms.Command.Invoke()
at System.Windows.Forms.Command.DispatchID(Int32 id)
at System.Windows.Forms.Control.WmCommand(Message& m)
at System.Windows.Forms.Control.WndProc(Message& m)
at System.Windows.Forms.ScrollableControl.WndProc(Message& m)
at System.Windows.Forms.ContainerControl.WndProc(Message& m)
at System.Windows.Forms.Form.WndProc(Message& m)
at System.Windows.Forms.Control.ControlNativeWindow.OnMessage(Message& m)
at System.Windows.Forms.Control.ControlNativeWindow.WndProc(Message& m)
at System.Windows.Forms.NativeWindow.Callback(IntPtr hWnd, Int32 msg, IntPtr wparam, IntPtr lparam)

Thanks!

Alex

[brandonj]

I just tested the driver on a clean project with the same build number and didn't have any issues.

The message you are getting looks like it is trying to update the composer config file and fails.
Can you PM me the contents of this log file:

C:\Users\[username]\AppData\Roaming\Control4\logs

Reinstalling Composer may fix the problem as well, if you want to try that.

-Brandon

[mrjosborn]

Hi Brandon,

I tried adding to the same version/build of composer and received the same crash error as Alex. I checked the composer.log and debugged a few html format errors (below), however even when i manage to get composer to load error free i am unable to find the driver, when trying to "add driver" it does not crash anymore but still cannot find it?? Any ideas.

Thanks, James


2012-04-17 22:25:16,829 [6064] ERROR Control4.Client.ConfigDataManager - Error opening C:\Users\James Osborn\Documents\Control4\Drivers\XBMC-JSON-EDEN.c4i
Exception: System.Xml.XmlException
Message: The 'link' start tag on line 28 does not match the end tag of 'head'. Line 39, position 5.
Source: System.Xml
at System.Xml.XmlTextReaderImpl.Throw(Exception e)
at System.Xml.XmlTextReaderImpl.Throw(String res, String[] args)
at System.Xml.XmlTextReaderImpl.ThrowTagMismatch(NodeData startTag)
at System.Xml.XmlTextReaderImpl.ParseEndElement()
at System.Xml.XmlTextReaderImpl.ParseElementContent()
at System.Xml.XmlTextReaderImpl.Read()
at System.Xml.XmlTextReader.Read()
at Control4.Client.ConfigDataManager.GetConfigFileInfoWithWarningsXML(String file, Boolean& hadProblemsLoading, Boolean xmlStream, String configXml)

2012-04-17 22:25:16,842 [6064] WARN Control4.Client.ConfigDataManager - Unable to open C:\Users\James Osborn\Documents\Control4\Drivers\XBMC-JSON-EDEN.c4i

[mrjosborn]

Ah ok... when i went to this page - https://github.com/RDX/Drivers/blob/master/README.md and downloaded the zip file it had the correct driver.

Now to have a play, thanks Brandon.

[brandonj]

Ah ok... when i went to this page - https://github.com/RDX/Drivers/blob/master/README.md and downloaded the zip file it had the correct driver.

I wonder if that's the same problem that ajburnet is having. Alex, can you try downloading from the zip file instead and see if you get any better result?

-Brandon

[ajburnet]

Looks like my first attenpt to add the deiver uploaded a corrupted file. Manually removed and re-added and all is well! Does the driver import media into C4 - or is that next on the to do list?

Thanks!

Alex

[brandonj]

Does the driver import media into C4 - or is that next on the to do list?

Currently it does not support this, but I am working on it. There are some limitations on the C4 side that I have to overcome to implement it, so I don't know how well it will work yet.

Currently, if XBMC is using the same share and credentials as the Network Storage driver in your C4 project, you can play files from navigator that way.

Hopefully I will be able to get a good solution implemented soon.

-Brandon

[Craig P]

Hey Guys

nice work, PM me if you want sections of my XBMC driver, I have a whole bunch of power management like using a relay to power the system on or off or using Wake-On-Lan, etc...

Nice work

[penfolds]

Hey Guys

nice work, PM me if you want sections of my XBMC driver, I have a whole bunch of power management like using a relay to power the system on or off or using Wake-On-Lan, etc...

Nice work

The driver posted here does not appear to allow media scanned into C4 to play (unless I have the wrong version)

Craig, The version of your driver I have is great (allows media playback), but it does not allow xbmc menu navigation. Have you updated this? Would you share your latest driver?

cheers

[Craig P]

I have done a little work, i was waiting for XBMC to move all (like context menu, etc) of the commands to the new JSON stuff (which i see is happening now).

i was also waiting for C4 to finish their new media proxy so that C4 can import the movie info from XBMC rather than C4 scanning a folder.

My driver might not load into Composer as i was playing around with it but you can copy and paste some code out of there. I use the WakeOnLan stuff every day with another driver i have...

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/14849352/mediapl...c_json.c4i

[penfolds]

Thanks Craig, I'll give it a go..

I wasn't aware of the new media proxy, sounds interesting...

Is a driver works version released per composer pro version?

[penfolds]

Brandon, just an FYI - Your driver seems to crash (link light goes off and loose composer pro access) the controller when I delete the driver. When composer re-established a link to the controller the driver is still there. Tried about 5 times and even removed the "connection" to TV first, but still crashes. Not sure if it is just particular to my environment or not.