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

[DeViL303]

Well some kind of tool or script is required for creating large categories like my themes one or the PSN download list, Even if I did have enough time its too much room for error. I would love a simple tool that could generate categories and subcategories/items based on selections and folders of files. It would be nice to take some of the tediousness out of it so more people would get involved too.

 

[bguerville]

Well some kind of tool or script is required for creating large categories like my themes one or the PSN download list, Even if I did have enough time its too much room for error. I would love a simple tool that could generate categories and subcategories/items based on selections and folders of files. It would be nice to take some of the tediousness out of it so more people would get involved too.

Can you explain with more details what you have in mind with this 'tool' ?
Like a XML node builder?

 

[DeViL303]

Can you explain with more details what you have in mind with this 'tool' ?
Like a XML node builder?

Yeah I think that is what I mean.

Its hard to explain how it would be laid out though. Some simple forms with choices for adding subcategories to the item and then select what type of links they would be and the prefix to the icon etc, take out as much of the manual work as possible, I don't know exactly. I got a friend of mine Haru to create a script that could run on the server and output the themes xml items used in XMBPD based on the .p3t files I put in the folder, So I could just click the php to get a new xml if I added new themes, so that kind of thing but expanded to include pkg links, further subcategories etc. An XMB item builder I suppose you could call it. Its just a dream really as Im lazy.

 

[bguerville]

Yeah I think that is what I mean.

Its hard to explain how it would be laid out though. Some simple forms with choices for adding subcategories to the item and then select what type of links they would be and the prefix to the icon etc, take out as much of the manual work as possible, I don't know exactly. I got a friend of mine Haru to create a script that could run on the server and output the themes xml items used in XMBPD based on the .p3t files I put in the folder, So I could just click the php to get a new xml if I added new themes, so that kind of thing but expanded to include pkg links, further subcategories etc. An XMB item builder I suppose you could call it. Its just a dream really as Im lazy.

Am asking because while working on a personal project a few years ago I wrote a VB.net utility, a GUI to assemble xml documents from snippets. The document was represented by a collapsible tree, the nodes could be modified using a system of combo boxes for available values & attributes. Snippets could also be imported from external sources and/or edited manually.
I wonder how much work it would require to adapt it to your needs... Maybe not that much, I will look into it when I have time...

 

[DeViL303]

Am asking because while working on a personal project a few years ago I wrote a VB.net utility, a GUI to assemble xml documents from snippets. The document was represented by a collapsible tree, the nodes could be modified using a system of combo boxes for available values & attributes. Snippets could also be imported from external sources and/or edited manually.
I wonder how much work it would require to adapt it to your needs... Maybe not that much, I will look into it when I have time...

Sounds really good, Each "snippet" could be a different type of XMB item, folder, module etc, with blank entries. Could be a nice release for the community too, not just me. As you can tell from the thread I made "why isn't there more XMB mods", there are people who are interested but either don't know how or don't realise how easy it is, who knows what could be created with such a tool.

 

[0_obeWAN]

Sounds really good, Each "snippet" could be a different type of XMB item, folder, module etc, with blank entries. Could be a nice release for the community too, not just me. As you can tell from the thread I made "why isn't there more XMB mods", there are people who are interested but either don't know how or don't realise how easy it is, who knows what could be created with such a tool.

It's not as easy as you mean to mod XMB because you forget it's a lot of differents basics knowledge that you need. exemples with What is FTP, dev_blind/, witch files to change, how to edit xml file... etc
Because you know all about that it appear to you easy but for some one that don't have the basics it' a long time to understand and more longer and harder to find valides informations (especially if you are not good in english like me). It's a long way with a lot of time...
I have helped and shared my work many times when PM me. But 98% of people don't go to end of them ideas when they realise what it is completely

 

[bguerville]

Of course, the majority of ps3 users would find xmb modding difficult but still xmb modding is accessible to all. .
No need to know anything about programming, learning how to mod is a matter of time, curiosity & interest to balance out the lack of proper documentation.
But anyone sufficiently interested is capable of modding the xmb.
A would be xmb modder would start with modifying an existing xmb entry, adding a new entry & after a while would be able to make global changes

 

[0_obeWAN]

Of course, the majority of ps3 users would find xmb modding difficult but still xmb modding is accessible to all. .
No need to know anything about programming, learning how to mod is a matter of time, curiosity & interest to balance out the lack of proper documentation.
But anyone sufficiently interested is capable of modding the xmb.
A would be xmb modder would start with modifying an existing xmb entry, adding a new entry & after a while would be able to make global changes

Maybe not too difficult step by step but for me for exemple it takes me "years" LOL with focussed a big part of my free time. I know what is start from the scratch. I have no developper skills. Only do some "hacks" that I understand ans apply from reals devs in fact. My chance is the people that help me (like you) and others. that is the real things do the difference. Whith out help it more and more harder.

 

[bguerville]

As I said, the difficulty comes mostly from proprietary implementations & the lack of proper documentation. The little documentation we have on psdevwiki (thanks to the contributors btw) is in English of course so if language is a barrier as well, it's yet another obstacle...
With xml modding the worst that can happen is a soft brick, which is easily solved by a simple CFW reinstall. No need to have a flasher handy like with other types of modding. Trial & error presents no risk to the console, that helps a lot actually...
Nowadays, with a number of xmb mods examples available, it should be much easier for noobs to reuse existing stuff & develop their own mods from there...
Also we are here to help anyone in need! [emoji6]

 

[DeViL303]

XMBPD v0.60.000 Rebug 4.80.1 Only

• Added a new category for wallpapers, with 9 sub categories.
• All wallpapers with local preview icons.
• The wallpaper/background will open in the webbrowser and then you can press triangle and go to "File>Save Image". Then you can exit the browser and go to the Photo category to set it as a wallpaper.
• There are 2 hidden wallpaper categories commented out, I have commented them out as a form of parental control, if you can FTP and edit the main xml to uncomment them then you are probably to old enough to view them.
• Added a new settings category for wallpapers.
• Added Webman 1.45.00 pkg and changed the title to 1.45.XX (as it is regularly updated I have it named like this now).
• Also added WebMAN Mod to the Tools section as it has so many uses.

Previous Version changelogs: (WIP)


v0.50.006

• Moved XMBPD up one layer on the XMB (still inside XMBM+)
• Added all of Berions icons, Looking real good. (massive THANKS! for doing those, really brought XMBPD up a notch)
• 3 icon styles to choose from now, Mixed, Bubbled and Unbubbled.
• Changed the update system so it now works via auto installing pkg instead of by downloading an xml.
• Added a few more packages to the PSN section, Spotify, Singstar.
• Added checkbox icons to show which package setting is enabled and which Style setting is enabled.
• Few other small cosmetic changes.

v0.50.005

• Added Style / Theme Settings > Mixed (Default), All Bubbled and All Unbubbled.
• Added Reboot Option (handy for after updating or changing settings)
• Added Update XMBPD via downloading the latest XMBPD.xml directly
• Added an About section (contains Note, Support Link, Credits, Current Version with update status icon)

v0.50.004

• Added a new category for PS3_EXTRA iso files (Contains 4 created by 0_obeWAN)
• Few cosmetic changes, grammar etc.

v0.50.003

• Added Package Handling Settings > Install, Keep, Download.

v0.50.002

• Moved XMBPD from Rebugs package manager to XMBM+.

If this is your first time trying this then you can install this package (For Rebug 4.80.1) = Download
(This package includes the latest XMBM+ from aldostools, Once installed you will find XMBM+ on the game category with XMBPD inside)

Or..If you already have XMBPD installed you can simply update to v0.60.000 via the built in update icon inside XMBPD setup.

NOTE: The FULL version of the latest WebMAN MOD is required to use most of the features.

Screenshots:

Spoiler

Note the wallpapers category will show 100 items per sub category by default, you can increase this, once you go over 200 though you might notice missing icons as you move around through the categories more, that's why I have labelled settings above 200 as "experimental" for now, Just so you know, If icons start to go missing inside XMBPD you will need a reboot. Its probably RAM issues due to so many items. (over 7000 when set to max)

Credits: Aldostools, Berion, Bguerville, Bitsbubba, DeViL303, Haru, 0_obeWAN.

Biggest thanks goes out to Aldostools for all the neat features he has been incorporating into WebMAN MOD.

 

[DeViL303]

So..about the missing icons when the wallpaper category is set to show more then 200 per category. You might not notice it quickly, you might be able to browse through the full list in a few categories before you notice it..due to this all the wallpapers can be available when its set to max, its just you cant browse through them all in one session without a reboot.

I wonder has anyone maxed out the amount of items on the XMB before or is there any tips or workarounds? Or maybe it is simply a RAM issue (only so much allocated for the XMB?)and the icons/xmls are being cached or something like that and it cant be cleared.

 

[aldostools]

XMBPD v0.60.000 Rebug 4.80.1 Only

It is now available on Brewology.

A couple of suggestions:
1- Girls & unsorted don't contain obscene images.... I think you could enable them in the next update. I already did it in XMBM+ 0.24.04
2- A plain black wallpaper would be a nice addition.

 

[DeViL303]

It is now available on Brewology.

A couple of suggestions:
1- Girls & unsorted don't contain obscene images.... I think you could enable them in the next update. I already did it in XMBM+ 0.24.04
2- A plain black wallpaper would be a nice addition.

Thanks for suggestions, Sounds good. I will just continue with your 0.24.04 as a base and leave them enabled. I was just being extra careful, you never know.

I will add a few plain backgrounds. Good idea.

Thanks for putting it up on brewology, although I dont think I should or will release anymore pkgs containing XMBM+ files as its just confusing things, I shouldn't have released this one really. I will just stick to updating the current XMBPD file pkgs at their current links, If I do need to distribute a separate pkg I will make it an update/addon to your xmbextras.pkg. So we can both update freely while still having the items combined on the XMB. Then when you release a new pkg you can include my latest files (if you want).

 

[aldostools]

Thanks for suggestions, Sounds good. I will just continue with your 0.24.04 as a base and leave them enabled. I was just being extra careful, you never know.

I will add a few plain backgrounds. Good idea.

Thanks for putting it up on brewology, although I dont think I should or will release anymore pkgs containing XMBM+ files as its just confusing things, I shouldn't have released this one really. I will just stick to updating the current XMBPD file pkgs at their current links, If I do need to distribute a separate pkg I will make it an update/addon to your xmbextras.pkg. So we can both update freely while still having the items combined on the XMB. Then when you release a new pkg you can include my latest files (if you want).

Yes it's a bit confusing. Anyway your XMBPD 0.60 and XMBM+ 0.24.04 are almost identical (except for a couple of minor changes), so they don't cause conflicts.

It would be very helpful if you could release a standalone WM Launcher 0.11 (like this), since the current package on brewology also installs the old XMBPD 0.31.

 

[DeViL303]

@aldostools : I will do that with Launchpad very soon, there is a small tweak I want to do to it in an rco aswell so instead of saying "launching website" when mounting a game it says something else like "performing action, please wait" that way it is generic so can be used for functions and makes more sense, any other ideas let me know.

I was thinking maybe in the xml that WM creates for Launchpad, it could just have 3 functions like you suggested before (if you want), and what do you think about putting the functions at the top? The reason I ask is that i have found when using it, if you have loads of games it can be a long way down to access a function, and also due to the fact that the games list is not always dividable by 3, the functions end up spread over 3 lines sometimes and looks messy so putting them at the top would sort out that issue. Anyway work away with whatever ideas you have for it, Im just throwing some ideas out there.



@all: There is a tiny update available for XMBPD via built in update. v0.60.001, it opens up the 2 categories so that it matches aldos xmbextras pkg (incase people on his pkg updated they would have lost those categories, so now they all match), and also it fix's an icon that I threw together when I seen that WebMAN 1.45.00 was out as I wanted to include that pkg in an update to the lists. Thanks again to @Berion for all the current icons.

 

[aldostools]

@aldostools : I will do that with Launchpad very soon, there is a small tweak I want to do to it in an rco aswell so instead of saying "launching website" when mounting a game it says something else like "performing action, please wait" that way it is generic so can be used for functions and makes more sense, any other ideas let me know.

I was thinking maybe in the xml that WM creates for Launchpad, it could just have 3 functions like you suggested before (if you want), and what do you think about putting the functions at the top? The reason I ask is that i have found when using it, if you have loads of games it can be a long way down to access a function, and also due to the fact that the games list is not always dividable by 3, the functions end up spread over 3 lines sometimes and looks messy so putting them at the top would sort out that issue. Anyway work away with whatever ideas you have for it, Im just throwing some ideas out there.

While you're in the rco, also fix the label "WebMAN Launchpad" for the other languages. It shows that label only if English is selected.

Here is a test build with only 3 functions at the top of the list.
http://aldostools.org/temp/test/webftp_server.sprx

I removed the following icons:
- "Clear LaunchPad Cache" due it can be done selecting *Clear Cache on the :Triangle: menu on the webMAN Launchpad icon.
- "Clear Recently Played" due clearing the cache
- "Restart" it can be done using combo or VSH menu or using the Custom Firmware Tools menu.

In this test build I also removed the function "No SingStar icon" due it seem it's still buggy.

 

[Checcolino80]

I do not understand why undertake any action Webman Mod gives me the 400 Bad Request error

 

[DeViL303]

I do not understand why undertake any action Webman Mod gives me the 400 Bad Request error

Make sure you have the FULL version of webman mod installed, (to install the full version, when running WMM Updater hold L1 until you are back on the XMB). also make sure you are on at least v1.43.36, best to use the latest (1.45.00) due to recent improvements.

Then when you have installed new WMM, go to WM Setup once and just save the settings. This will ensure your settings file has the correct entries/values.

Let us know how it's going after that, it should help.

 

[Checcolino80]

Make sure you have the FULL version of webman mod installed, (to install the full version, when running WMM Updater hold L1 until you are back on the XMB). also make sure you are on at least v1.43.36, best to use the latest (1.45.00) due to recent improvements.

Then when you have installed new WMM, go to WM Setup once and just save the settings. This will ensure your settings file has the correct entries/values.

Let us know how it's going after that, it should help.

perfect, it worked out great, but my advice is to put it in writing in the news if others might have the same problem

 

[DeViL303]

Good idea, I will make sure to include it in release notes etc. Thanks.

I did include a small note inside the XMBPD about section on the XMB saying that 1.43.36+ was required, but I forgot to note that it must be the FULL version. oops.

Good you got sorted.

Remember to update XMBPD via the built in shortcut every so often so you keep up to date with the latest pkgs and improvements . There is already a small update available since v0.60.000