PS3 XMB Package Downloader - An XMB MOD that intergrates a Homebrew Store on the XMB v0.70

[bguerville]

Once such an installer was made it could be used for loads of mods. Could be made noob friendly like the XMBM+ installer, for example, people include a searchfor.txt/.bin and a replacewith.txt/.bin inside folders with the correct path, and then the files to install to hdd etc or something like that, you know what I mean, could maybe even be built onto the XMBM+ installer as that already has the backup and install to hdd functions, I dunno, would be a nice project for someone with the skills. Wish I had them.

You know, you already have the mind for it all, from there acquiring the skills is not that complicated. All you would need is time.. [emoji6]

 

[Berion]

Based on screenshots from first post I have few suggestions about graphic side of this project. There are some style inconsistency.

1. Packages icons are in completely different style that others, rather flat icons.
2. Update Package List is not inside a bubble.
3. All flat pure white icons are mixed with original one which are gradient gray and a little convex.
4. Package Manager "in front XMB" are unnecessary in bubble.
5. And to be honest, why most of the things are in bubbles? Do we really need them? Sony mark such files in PDB "temporary" packages to be easy recognizing from unpacked/installed content.

I can prepare for You matched icons to default style but I need all in one zip in some normal format like PNG.

 

[aldostools]

I want to answer this better as I was busy when I replied to it.

I like all the ideas about integrating into XMBM+ and updating XMBM+ etc. Creating an installer that could find strings / backup and edit files etc would be great. For example in the game category xml, the section where the xmbm+ query is added could easily be searched for on a hex level as that wont really change in other FWs.

Here is a basic idea for starters, (Im sure you guys will come up with better ideas but just for discussion anyway):

This string/section could be searched for in the category_game.xml's (on a hex level or a plain text level):

<Query
class="type:x-xmb/folder-pixmap"
key="game_xmbm_hdd0"
src="xmb://localhost/dev_hdd0/game/XMBMANPLS/USRDIR/game_main.xml#seg_xmb_hdd0_app"
/>

If it exists then the installer knows that XMBM+ is already installed (flash files anyway), either because its Rebug FW or because someone has installed it already on other FW.

If it doesn't exist then the string below can be searched for (again on a hex level or a plain text level),

<Query
class="type:x-xmb/folder-pixmap"
key="seg_package_files"
src="#seg_package_files"
/>

If it is found then the first string can be added below it. If its not then the installer can throw an error. This same theory could be used to offer options on where to install it to exactly.

As its only a 1 line edit (could all be added on 1 line I mean), and its conditional on an exact string being found first, and its only a query being added at that, I think not much can go wrong..

Once such an installer was made it could be used for loads of mods. Could be made noob friendly like the XMBM+ installer, for example, people include a searchfor.txt/.bin and a replacewith.txt/.bin inside folders with the correct path, and then the files to install to hdd etc or something like that, you know what I mean, could maybe even be built onto the XMBM+ installer as that already has the backup and install to hdd functions, I dunno, would be a nice project for someone with the skills. Wish I had them.

Zar & matsumot0 implemented something similar to this algorithm in webMAN MOD's updater, except that instead of add XMBM+, it adds the query for webMAN games.

You can find the source code of the updater in my github.

 

[DeViL303]

You know, you already have the mind for it all, from there acquiring the skills is not that complicated. All you would need is time.. [emoji6]

It is on my list of things to do alright, main thing stopping me is my epilepsy I developed a few years ago, and the medication I take for it. Mess's with my memory and I need to be careful concentrating on things too much or getting stressed, spending too much time in front of screens etc. Someday though.

Based on screenshots from first post I have few suggestions about graphic side of this project. There are some style inconsistency.

1. Packages icons are in completely different style that others, rather flat icons.
2. Update Package List is not inside a bubble.
3. All flat pure white icons are mixed with original one which are gradient gray and a little convex.
4. Package Manager "in front XMB" are unnecessary in bubble.
5. And to be honest, why most of the things are in bubbles? Do we really need them? Sony mark such files in PDB "temporary" packages to be easy recognizing from unpacked/installed content.

I can prepare for You matched icons to default style but I need all in one zip in some normal format like PNG.

Yeah Im definitely no designer, I just went with what was easy, and I got a few comments from people who liked the first icon set so I stuck with it.

I just love how well integrated this looks in the XMB and am hoping for more homebrew support in the time to come. I also love the attention to details in the choice of icons, such as that tiny space invaders icon for the "Emulators and Games" section. Very cool!

Clean look using system functions and variations of the official icons, good release

1. Yeah I know they don't all match exactly, help with them would be great.
2. I didn't put update package lists in a bubble because its not a sub category with packages inside but it can be in a bubble or they can all be removed from bubbles.
3. Again that is just as good as I can do, Im only one guy who is learning and don't have that much time for the icons.
4. That has changed on the latest version, it no longer changes the icon or title of package manager top level.
5. No real reason, It was just the initial icon style i used and I stuck with it for simplicity. Im up for suggestions, also very easy to have different icon sets for this, themes if you will just like XMBM+, just paste over the ones in the game/XMBPKGDLR folder.

If you want to prepare a different better icon set that would be cool, cheers. Would be great to have some help. This is the set I have so far. XMBPD_icons.zip , I'll try sort out the originals I used to make them if thats what you want? (from the RCO's). I am also working on sub categories for themes that will require another 5-10 icons but havnt decided on the exact category layout yet. They should be 178x178, somehow I ended up with 179x179, oops.

EDIT: One possible reason for leaving these in bubble icons is that they are similar to the PDB bubbles, in that they are "temporary", they delete after install so the pkg is never really on the system. Unless its background downloaded, then it goes into a real bubble.

 

[aldostools]

I am also working on sub categories for themes that will require another 5-10 icons but havnt decided on the exact category layout yet.

You can simply split the list in Group 1, Group 2, etc.. without any special category. I think that would be enough.

IMO the issue with themes is just that the list is too long. If you organize them with some criteria would be a plus.

 

[DeViL303]

You can simply split the list in Group 1, Group 2, etc.. without any special category. I think that would be enough.

IMO the issue with themes is just that the list is too long. If you organize them with some criteria would be a plus.

Yeah, That would be a lot easier at the moment.. maybe "A - D" , "E - H"..."V - Z" etc. I was thinking of having Abstract,Cars,Dynamic,Games,Moves/TV etc etc, but its a lot of work. I have about 500 sorted but the other 500 would take a long time as I dont know what a lot of the remaining themes are from just the name, so I would need to install them or google them to check where they go. Then there are themes that would be suited in 2 categories so it gets complicated/tedious tbh.

BTW: I have separated the themes from the main xml in the new version Im working on, so there is a query in the main xml for the theme section, if a XMBPD_Themes.xml exists in the XMBPKGDLR folder then the themes will be shown. Ive done this for 2 reasons, one it makes the main update xml 10% of the size (so leaves very little time to press background download), and two, people can just delete the themes xml if they don't want that category.

 

[aldostools]

Yeah, That would be a lot easier at the moment.. maybe "A - D" , "E - H"..."V - Z" etc. I was thinking of having Abstract,Cars,Dynamic,Games,Moves/TV etc etc, but its a lot of work. I have about 500 sorted but the other 500 would take a long time as I dont know what a lot of the remaining themes are from just the name, so I would need to install them or google them to check where they go. Then there are themes that would be suited in 2 categories so it gets complicated/tedious tbh.

BTW: I have separated the themes from the main xml in the new version Im working on, so there is a query in the main xml for the theme section, if a XMBPD_Themes.xml exists in the XMBPKGDLR folder then the themes will be shown. Ive done this for 2 reasons, one it makes the main update xml 10% of the size (so leaves very little time to press background download), and two, people can just delete the themes xml if they don't want that category.

If you have 500 already sorted, I think you can use that and leave the other 500 unsorted (or grouped by letter). 500 is better than nothing

 

[DeViL303]

If you have 500 already sorted, I think you can use that and leave the other 500 unsorted (or grouped by letter). 500 is better than nothing

Yes, I was thinking that. I have another problem though before I can put them into the categories, the php file I used (which a friend made) to make the themes xml wont work in this new sorted category situation due to duplicate keys etc (plus it wasn't right anyway, I had to do lots of find and replace to fix it). So I can only break up the xml I have at the moment, so I could do the A-D thing..I'll try get him to help change it to suit soon.

Emm..Remember you helped me out with this command to extract and rename the ICON0 from pkgs. Thanks again, Very very handy for me and I will be using it to add individual icons for the packages in this new version at some stage.(soon probably).

@echo off
for %%I in (*.pkg) do ( PS3P_PKG_Ripper_1.3.exe -o . -s ICON0.PNG "%%I"&&ren ICON0.PNG "%%~nI.png")

Well I hate to bother you and know you must be busy with your own projects, but I wonder would you (or anyone) be able to help me to do something similar with themes and extracting all the preview_1.gim.png's from a folder full of .p3t files, to a single folder and renaming them to the Themes Name .png, using THIS (or some other) extractor if its possible? I don't mind if it takes lots of steps. At the moment I can only get it to extract one at a time via drag and drop and then I would have to rename and move the png's manually so it would be thousands of operations. I just don't have that kind of dedication.

I think an icon is important for the themes (more important than for the pkgs even) as it can be hard to tell much from the title in some/most cases, but the preview pngs are the perfect solution.

I notice ps3tools doesn't have any p3t related stuff..hint hint, be nice to be able to tell which were dynamic, right click to extract batches etc.

 

[aldostools]

Yes, I was thinking that. I have another problem though before I can put them into the categories, the php file I used (which a friend made) to make the themes xml wont work in this new sorted category situation due to duplicate keys etc (plus it wasn't right anyway, I had to do lots of find and replace to fix it). So I can only break up the xml I have at the moment, so I could do the A-D thing..I'll try get him to help change it to suit soon.

Emm..Remember you helped me out with this command to extract and rename the ICON0 from pkgs. Thanks again, Very very handy for me and I will be using it to add individual icons for the packages in this new version at some stage.(soon probably).

@echo off
for %%I in (*.pkg) do ( PS3P_PKG_Ripper_1.3.exe -o . -s ICON0.PNG "%%I"&&ren ICON0.PNG "%%~nI.png")

Well I hate to bother you and know you must be busy with your own projects, but I wonder would you (or anyone) be able to help me to do something similar with themes and extracting all the preview_1.gim.png's from a folder full of .p3t files, to a single folder and renaming them to the Themes Name .png, using THIS (or some other) extractor if its possible? I don't mind if it takes lots of steps. At the moment I can only get it to extract one at a time via drag and drop and then I would have to rename and move the png's manually so it would be thousands of operations. I just don't have that kind of dedication.

I think an icon is important for the themes (more important than for the pkgs even) as it can be hard to tell much from the title in some/most cases, but the preview pngs are the perfect solution.

I notice ps3tools doesn't have any p3t related stuff..hint hint, be nice to be able to tell which were dynamic, right click to extract batches etc.

ATM I can't help you with this... if you already can extract one by one, probably a batch script could extract several.

Could you post the command that you use to extract the preview?

 

[DeViL303]

I've only been able to extract by dragging and dropping onto the exe (can't do more than one at a time that way). I will figure it out at some stage. It's not a big deal really. Themes are only an extra bonus.

 

[aldostools]

I've only been able to extract by dragging and dropping onto the exe (can't do more than one at
a time that way). I will figure it out at some stage. It's not a big deal really. Themes are only an extra bonus.

You could with this code (where tool.exe is the name of the exe that you use):

@echo off
for %%I in (*.p3t) do ( tool.exe "%%I" )

if the output file is always the same, then it also needs a rename like in the .pkg script.[/code]

 

[aldostools]

What do you think of this @bguerville, @aldostools? This is just for now and Im open to suggestions, and Im still up for building this into XMBM+ (either instead or aswell) at a later time.

Download XMBPD_v0.40_TEST_01.pkg HERE (Rebug 4.80.1 Only)

My suggestions:
http://aldostools.org/xmbextras.pkg
(Instead of tell you what to do... I implemented them in this pkg)

This doesn't touch Rebug Package Manager and /dev_flash is not touched either (since Rebug 4.80.1 already includes support for XMBM+)

For the moment I've redirected the update url to my server to avoid conflicts with your version... if you agree with this new structure I will change back the url to your server, so you can keep updating XMBPD.xml (just let me know the new path)

Also this is an updated category_game.xml with XMBPD.xml pointing to XMBM+ folder (and the queries in the Package Manager are like the ones in XMBM+)
http://aldostools.org/category_game.zip

DISCLAIMER: These files are for testing purpose only... I did my best effort to don't cause problems. Use them at your own risk.

 

[bguerville]

Just tried Aldo's files & in terms of xmb organisation I think it's basically what I wanted. Perfect guys... [emoji6]
However when it comes to using the downloader, I seem to have issues.
I get errors with the first 2 pkg I tried to install. I updated the list just in case but the errors remain...
Multiman Covers pkg:
An error occurred during the download operation (80010006)
WebMAN-MOD Updater 1 43.35
A server error has occurred (HTTP Status Code: 404)
Is there a reason for this?

 

[DeViL303]

My suggestions:
http://aldostools.org/xmbextras.pkg
(Instead of tell you what to do... I implemented them in this pkg)

This doesn't touch Rebug Package Manager and /dev_flash is not touched (since Rebug already includes support for XMBM+)

For the moment I've redirected the update url to my server to avoid conflicts with version... if you agree with this new structure I will change back the url to your server, so you can keep updating XMBPD.xml (just let me know the new path)

Also this is an updated category_game.xml with XMBPD.xml pointing to XMBM+ folder (and the queries in the Package Manager are like the ones in XMBM+)
http://aldostools.org/category_game.zip

DISCLAIMER: These files are for testing purpose only... I did my best effort to don't cause problems. Use them at your own risk.

Its perfect, and the themes sorted too, good man. The only thing I think could maybe be changed is the title for PlayStation Network Content section to just Downloaded Content or something more generic as it wont be JUST for PSN pkgs anymore , but its up to you.

I have hosted your modified XMBPD.xm! as it is unchanged at http://xmbmods.co/XMBPD.xm! (this link wont work here cos the ! isn't added properly but the file is hosted there), I will work from there and update it

Just tried Aldo's files & in terms of xmb organisation I think it's basically what I wanted. Perfect guys... [emoji6]
However when it comes to using the downloader, I seem to have issues.
I get errors with the first 2 pkg I tried to install. I updated the list just in case but the errors remain...
Multiman Covers pkg:
An error occurred during the download operation (80010006)
WebMAN-MOD Updater 1 43.35
A server error has occurred (HTTP Status Code: 404)
Is there a reason for this?

I think aldo probably used the XMBPD.xml from the 0.40 test pkg or an early update as a base, and due to the webman pkg being updated the pkg name/link has changed (due to the new time stamps). I made the mistake of deleting the old file, should have left it in place really so that people on an old xml wont get errors. live and learn..oops

Not sure why the coverpack is effected though.

FYI: Updating the list wont actually update it in this case as its just the same list coming from aldos server for now. Its getting late here now but ill sort it out tomorrow with updated lists and separate the themes into another xml (that wont get updated very often if it all)

 

[bguerville]

Weird though, the 404 error code I can understand but the 80010006 error...?

No problem. I will resume testing tomorrow then.. [emoji6]

 

[aldostools]

Just tried Aldo's files & in terms of xmb organisation I think it's basically what I wanted. Perfect guys... [emoji6]
However when it comes to using the downloader, I seem to have issues.
I get errors with the first 2 pkg I tried to install. I updated the list just in case but the errors remain...
Multiman Covers pkg:
An error occurred during the download operation (80010006)
WebMAN-MOD Updater 1 43.35
A server error has occurred (HTTP Status Code: 404)
Is there a reason for this?

I tried multiMAN Covers and it started fine... however I didn't let it to finish.
Indeed I didn't touch the urls until now to fix the error 404 with webMAN MOD.

You can update XMBPD from XMB... restart VSH or the console to see the changes.

 

[aldostools]

Its perfect, and the themes sorted too, good man. The only thing I think could maybe be changed is the title for PlayStation Network Content section to just Downloaded Content or something more generic as it wont be JUST for PSN pkgs anymore , but its up to you.

I have hosted your modified XMBPD.xm! as it is unchanged at http://xmbmods.co/XMBPD.xm! (this link wont work here cos the ! isn't added properly but the file is hosted there), I will work from there and update it



I think aldo probably used the XMBPD.xml from the 0.40 test pkg or an early update as a base, and due to the webman pkg being updated the pkg name/link has changed (due to the new time stamps). I made the mistake of deleting the old file, should have left it in place really so that people on an old xml wont get errors. live and learn..oops

Not sure why the coverpack is effected though.

FYI: Updating the list wont actually update it in this case as its just the same list coming from aldos server for now. Its getting late here now but ill sort it out tomorrow with updated lists and separate the themes into another xml (that wont get updated very often if it all)

I have changed back the update link. Now it points to your server. Please update it with this file:
http://aldostools.org/temp/XMBPD.xm!

 

[bguerville]

Ok.
I updated the xml file & there are no 404 errors anymore.
However now I get the 80010006 error with all the downloads, no exception so far....

 

[aldostools]

Ok.
I updated the xml file & there are no 404 errors anymore.
However now I get the 80010006 error with all the downloads, no exception so far....

I just tested downloading Zelda and it downloaded & installed fine. Try re-installing webMAN MOD.
Also a hard restart help with some bugs.

 

[DeViL303]

It should be updating from my server now, Im hosting the new file.

Not sure why you are getting the 80010006 error, I had someone PM me early on (back on webman 1.43.35) that they were getting the same error. I went through a few things with them but they had no luck.

Okay that helped i dont get the webman error now i get An error occurred during the download operation (80010006)

Not sure tbh..something else conflicting maybe. Or random.