Roku Developer Program

[el_wubo]

MyMedia Private Channel

I'd like to announce the availability of MyMedia as a private channel for general testing. This release features a new installation process that doesn't require that you put your Roku into developer mode and doesn't require that you manually determine and maintain the IP addresses of your server and your Roku. This release does still require that you install python for your platform but we hope to be taking away that requirement soon as well.

To add the channel, visit this link:
https://owner.roku.com/Account/ChannelC ... de=mymedia

And post any comments, questions, successes, or failures here. I need your feedback to help iron out the installation process.

The install will (hopefully) go something like this:
(#0) Stop your existing MyMedia server if you've already installed this
#1 Add the MyMedia private channel and start it
#2 Enter the registration code it gives you into the site it tells you to go to and you'll get to the instructions for downloading the server.
#3 Start the server (by following the instructions) and then enter your registration code into your servers configuration page.
#4 Your Roku should automatically detect that you've finished the installation, link up with the server, and begin displaying the music in your configured music folders.
(#5) You can configure your server through it's new web based configuration page located at http://localhost:8001/configure

If things go terribly you can still always stop the new server, restart the old, and continue using the channel as before.

Thanks!

[CalvinMcGowan]

"el.wubo" wrote:
MyMedia Private Channel

I'd like to announce the availability of MyMedia as a private channel for general testing.

I added the channel via Roku's web site without a problem.

I started the channel and it displayed the appspot web site's URL and a registration code. I went to the web site and entered the registration code as instructed on the Roku's screen (also followed instructions given on next web page). No evidence was seen that the code was received; i.e., the Roku screen did not change. I clicked on "cancel registration" several times but the Roku would not exit the channel's screen. Pressing remote's "home" button caused the Roku to exit the channel.

Second time around, the channel displayed "retrieving..." and then appeared to have froze.

Third time around, the channel again displayed the appspot web site's URL and a different registration code. Again I went to the web site and entered the registration code. Again no evidence was seen that the code was received.

[el_wubo]

Thanks for giving this a try!

So, after you went to the web site and entered the registration code you should have landed on a page of instructions:

http://rokumm.appspot.com/walkthrough

The Roku screen won't change until you finish those instructions. Specifically, the Roku is waiting until you start the new server and configure it by entering your registration code again on it's web page. Once you do that the screen on your Roku should change and you should be able to access your media.

[el_wubo]

More details:

After you download and start the server (step #2 and #3 of the guide) you should click on the link on step #4. This will take you to your server's front page:

http://127.0.0.1:8001/

But, if your server detects that it hasn't been registered yet you should immediately be redirected to your servers registration page:


http://127.0.0.1:8001/register

Once you enter your code (again) into that box you'll have completed registration and your Roku screen will update. You can then go on and configure your server directories if you store your music and videos in non-standard places.

[CalvinMcGowan]

"el.wubo" wrote:
Thanks for giving this a try!

So, after you went to the web site and entered the registration code you should have landed on a page of instructions:

http://rokumm.appspot.com/walkthrough

The Roku screen won't change until you finish those instructions. Specifically, the Roku is waiting until you start the new server and configure it by entering your registration code again on it's web page. Once you do that the screen on your Roku should change and you should be able to access your media.

Perhaps my not re-installing the server is where the failure lies. I already had the server installed, so I didn't re-install it feeling doing so would be unnecessary. I'll try again later this evening when I get home from work. Thanks for the response.

[el_wubo]

Yes, that's the problem. The server has been updated quite a bit to support this new installation process. I'd recommend unzipping the new server to a completely new location and starting from scratch (following the instructions that come up during the install.) That way you still have your old working setup and you can always go back to the old way if the new process doesn't work for you.

[CalvinMcGowan]

"el.wubo" wrote:
Yes, that's the problem. The server has been updated quite a bit to support this new installation process. I'd recommend unzipping the new server to a completely new location and starting from scratch (following the instructions that come up during the install.) That way you still have your old working setup and you can always go back to the old way if the new process doesn't work for you.

Got it. Success. Thanks again.

[canaws]

"el.wubo" wrote:
MyMedia Private Channel
I'd like to announce the availability of MyMedia as a private channel for general testing. This release features a new installation process that doesn't require that you put your Roku into developer mode and doesn't require that you manually determine and maintain the IP addresses of your server and your Roku. This release does still require that you install python for your platform but we hope to be taking away that requirement soon as well.

Hey el.wubo. Long time, no see!
Okay, I decided to install the channel like a total newbie. I uninstalled everything and started from scratch following the walkthrough directions. Here I am with more feedback than you can shake a stick at. I should say before I start that I am using Windows Vista.

Install Issues
1. Python: the python download page shows only 2.7 and 3.1.2. The server does not work with either of these versions of python. If you have either of these installed when you start mymedia.bat the cmd box opens, but closes right back on it's own with no running python to be found in the taskbar. You have to have 2.6.6 in order to run the server.
~You should tell people to download 2.6.6 and link to it's page.

2. PIL: Since the walkthrough page didn't say anything about PIL I didn't install it. I figured out right away that it's definitely needed since the pictures were being very slow to load and I couldn't zoom. I also figured out that the newest version (1.1.7) doesn't seem to work too well with this channel, so I got 1.1.6 again.
~You should add instructions to download PIL 1.1.6 to the walkthrough.

Other Strangeness
1. Shuffling: It's broken! I got lots of error messages in the mymedia.bat window when it was attempting to shuffle. I wish I could past the traceback code for you, but it was long and I can't copy/paste from the window.

The first time I tried, it landed on an artists folder instead of an actual song for the first "song" and didn't do anything. When I hit skip the second "song" was an actual song that played, but if I hit skip again it would go back to the first "song" aka folder. It ended up crashing my roku. :cry:

The second time I tried, it landed on a song first and the second "song" was the same folder again. I thought it might be that particular folder, so I removed it from my music file but another folder ended up being listed as a song about three songs into the shuffle.

This problem only seems to occur if you are in the top two level folders (MyMusic or A-B, C-D, etc)

2. Play All: if you are in the top level MyVideo folder then pressing play all does nothing. There were no error messages or anything, but nothing played.

General Comments
The server seems snappier! :mrgreen:
The channel add/install process is pretty straightforward (once you know which version of python to get).

Suggestion
Tray Icon??? I have no idea if this is possible, but I would love it if the mymedia.bat cmd box could minimize into a tray icon.

[el_wubo]

"canaws" wrote:

Hey el.wubo. Long time, no see!
Okay, I decided to install the channel like a total newbie. I uninstalled everything and started from scratch following the walkthrough directions. Here I am with more feedback than you can shake a stick at. I should say before I start that I am using Windows Vista.

Hi canaws! It's great to be back. Thanks for giving this a run through. I really appreciate it.

1) Good points on python versions. I'll update that now.
2) Yup, PIL too. Good point.
3) Strangeness: I wasn't able to reproduce this! Can you email me a chunk of the log? You should be able to copy/paste by clicking on the icon in the top left of the window, selecting Edit > Mark, highlight what you want, and press enter. I did notice that after I picked "Play All" and then hit the up arrow and the right arrow the screen jumped back to the left (reselecting Play all.) You could also take a look at the my_media_log.txt file and email me a chunk of that if you think it's relevant.
4) I couldn't reproduce the video problem either... this could be a platform difference though. All I can test at the moment is Linux.

"canaws" wrote:

General Comments
The server seems snappier! :mrgreen:
The channel add/install process is pretty straightforward (once you know which version of python to get).

Sweet!

"canaws" wrote:

Suggestion
Tray Icon??? I have no idea if this is possible, but I would love it if the mymedia.bat cmd box could minimize into a tray icon.

Yeah, I want that feature too. It's on the list. I'll see if I can figure it out.

[el_wubo]

I just put out another update to the server that fixes a bug with the process of getting a user defined server IP address to the channel. This matters to you if:

You've gone through the new installation process and found that the autodetected server IP address on your configuration page made no sense (ex. 127.0.0.1 will never work.) Now, if you manually determine your IP address, set in the configuration page, and close and open the channel on the Roku then it should pick up the new configuration. This is in the latest release. If you've already installed using the new procedure you can update by unzipping the new release to your old installation folder and then restarting the server.