'Front Row' hack Backfired - I think ......

The problem I'm having started with the Optical Drive not responding to the Open/Close key. Then I noticed there are no System Preference icons in my Menu Bar - date & time / sound / displays / user ... it's empty. I discovered in sys prefs the the 'tick' marks for 'show in menu bar' won't stay ticked.
I think this is related to trying to get Front Row going on my G4 MDD with OS 10.4.11. After downloading and installing FR you need to download and run an app called 'Front Row Enabler'. It is supposed to 'enable' the cmd - esc key shortcut to launch FR. Well, it didn't work and I believe has corrupted my system preferences to the point of .... System Preferences crash when I try and get in to Keyboard Shortcuts and the other issues I mentioned above.
The read me that came with the 'enabler' says this:
+1 - Download Front Row 1.0.1 from Apple.+
+2 - Install the package using Pacifist. (The installer won't run unless you have a new iMac.)+
+3 - Run 'Front Row Enabler' from the disk image. This will patch OS X (BezelServices.framework and BezelService.loginPlugin, to be exact) so it thinks you have an iMac G5 remote.+
+4 - Reboot+
+5 - Open the Keyboard & Mouse Preferences and enable the Front Row shortcut under the Keyboard Shortcuts tab.+
+6 - Press cmd-esc and enjoy! (You may also change this shortcut in the Keyboard & Mouse Preferences)+
After I ran the enabler and rebooted I saw in Sys Prefs that the shortcut for FR had been automatically enabled, I did not have to select it. Believing at this point that the enabler did more than it was supposed to and failed at what it was supposed to do.
The issue is this .... I can't get my dvd drive to open. If i could I would simply reinstall my system, but ... no drive .... no install.
I've tossed sys prefs .plist among other things - at a loss.
Help Please!

wishing it were that simple ... I have no dvd drive .... at least one that I can get opened. This computer has no 'precious' data on it fortunately, it's merely a family browsing / gaming computer and it was headed for fame as our HT media center.
found this http://voice.firefallpro.com/2006/03/front-row-enabler-bringing-back-your.html but the last half is no longer available on the internet; i.e. the latest enabler and andrews fix for removing FR. I have downloaded and reinstalled the bezel files as in the first part of the directions, also went in to terminal and did the permissions part. From there on though the files and info don't exist, at least through the links provided there.
Any other thoughts please.

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Thinking of buying iMac, Front row Question

I'm thinking of getting a new iMac that would be hooked up to my media center downstairs and used by my wife for non-front row purposes (email, internet access). My problem is I've read somewhere that Front Row might not work with music from a connected iPod or shared libraries over a home network. Since my 140GB music collection is upstairs on my G5 this is an issue I need to have clarified because not being able to view content on any of my networked macs would negate one of the reasons I'm buying this mac.
So, can Front Row play music from my networked G5 upstairs or am I going to be better off fixing up my old Pismo to give to my wife and buying something like the Squeezebox (http://www.slimdevices.com/) for my media needs?

Front Row needs the audio files to be in the designated iTunes folder. However, I don't believe this folder needs to be on the iMac. If you changed the iTunes Folder Location in iTunes Preferences to the networked G5 then I believe Front Row will play those tracks from the G5 as long as you have the G5's hard drive mounted via File Sharing.
The following is from iTunes Help:
If you try to play a song in Front Row on your iMac G5 (iSight) but the application can't find the song because it's not in the default iTunes library, you'll see an alert message that either says, "iTunes cannot play this song" or "Communications error." If this happens, just show Front Row where you keep your music.
If you keep all of your music in one folder location:
Open iTunes.
From the iTunes menu, choose Preferences.
Click the Advanced tab, then click the General tab below it.
Click Change next to the "iTunes Music folder location" section.
Navigate to and select the folder that contains your tunes.
Click Choose.
Click OK.
If your music is stored in different folder locations:
Open iTunes.
From the Advanced menu, choose Consolidate Library to copy songs from all locations to your default iTunes Music folder. Let the consolidation process finish before you go back to Front Row.
Tip: If you want to play just one song from another folder, play the song in iTunes first. Front Row will be able to find it once iTunes knows where the song is located.

Front Row preferences: I think it's about time

My experience with Front Row is limited, as I've only had my iMac for a few months now. However, in the short amount of time I have spent with it I find myself wondering why Front Row wasn't built with the notion that users may just want to have control over their experience. A few of the options I've found myself wanting:
*Turn on/off file scrolling*
- I've spent many hours creating cover art for my movies, so if I only want it to display the icon I've replaced for the folder icon, then I should have that option. I don't want to see the contents of that folder.
*Ability to target a different source folder, disk, or computer*
- I realize there are workarounds to this, but it should be much simpler than it currently is to do this. Most people in this day and age have external drives, or additional computers within a single household. It shouldn't be assumed that everyone prefers to store their media in those predetermined folders.
*Option to resume movie*
- This one seems so obvious that I have to assume that I've simply overlooked this option somewhere. Shouldn't one have the ability to resume playback of a movie where they left off if the movie is interrupted?
*Keyboard shortcut and/or remote command that exits Front Row*
- Again, I feel like I'm missing something here. Is there really no way to exit Front Row with one key/button stroke? I find myself having to back out of several screens before I can finally get back to my desktop. I've tried several logical keyboard shortcuts and tried holding down the 'menu' button on the remote and got no response. I realize we're only talking about a matter of seconds here, but it does become an inconvenience over time.
*ID3 tags for movies*
- I realize this is asking a bit more than just adding a couple of checkboxes, but it would really enhance the user experience if you could give your movies ID3 tags (or equivalent) so that the process of finding cover art, previews, synopsis, cast/crew info, etc. would be automated. Currently it takes about 5 minutes per film to manually download/optimize this content. Honestly, if I didn't have OCD I probably wouldn't waste the time.
Consider this a running list of requests to Apple, if anyone out there is listening. The more I use the program the longer this list will undoubtedly get. It's an amazing feature which makes the Mac platform stand alone, but it's time to take this application to the next level. I'm a bit of a stickler when it comes to usability, and right now this product has fallen short in my opinion.
I'd be interested in hearing others thoughts on this. I'm sure I haven't covered everything here.

I would really suggest you send Apple some Mac OS X feedback for each of your suggestions.
Option to resume movie...
Movies/TV Shows/videos inside iTunes will pause and resume. It's only the movies that live outside of iTunes that, currently, won't resume.
-Doug

Is there a way to get Front Row?

I have a first gen Mac Mini PowerPC , I have Tiger 10.4.5, and i am wodering if there is a way to download Front Row on my computer or is there any way to get front row? or do i have to pay?

hi salvatore,
you'd be better off googling for this type of thing.
front row is only available pre-installed on
the new imacs
the macbook pro
and the new mini
i think it was first released with the g5 imac w/isight built in, and came with a remote. all the computers that came out with front row have come with an apple ir remote.
but front row isn't available to put on older systems. it isn't for sale or anything. and won't run on any system besides the new ones that i comes with.
or so they say. i've heard it can be done. but like i said, you should google it, cause posting that kind of hack would be in violation of the terms of use.
joey

Front Row sorting issues

Hello,
I know this issue has been posted several times and without any real solutions. But I'm going to ask again anyway in case the magical hacking gnomes have found a work-around.
I have many sorting issues. There seems to be a lot of kvetching on here already about how Front Row sorts TV shows. But not only do my shows come up backwards within seasons, in some cases seasons themselves are out of order. For example, I have all 3 seasons of 30 Rock (purchased through iTMS) and they go season 1, season 3, season 2. Several other shows with multiple seasons are the same.
But I also have a music sorting issue. The first part of this issue has to do with compilations. I've got several compilations in my library, and in iTunes I've sorted them by Various Artists rather than individual artists. In Front Row, if I scroll down to "V," there is no "Various Artists" like you might expect but instead a list of all the artists in all the compilations completely out of order. (Actually, they're ordered by their track number on the different albums. Yeah. That makes sense.) I could deal with these artists showing up in their normal places alphabetically, but not all lumped together under V.
The other issue has to do with albums with one artist who has some tracks that feature other artists. Kanye West's "Graduation" is a good example. About half the tracks on the album are him "featuring Jamie Foxx," for example. So I put "Kanye West" in the sort field of this album so it displays properly in iTunes. Not only does this seem to have no effect on how things are sorted in Front Row, but there's actually multiple "Kanye West"s now, each one identical, as well as multiple "Kanye West feat. Jamie Foxx," lines and all the other multiple artist track. Uh...what?
So I know that Front Row for some ridiculous reason is (a) not customizable and (b) operates under completely different sorting rules than iTunes (which makes no sense), but if anyone has any advice or tips or comments or whatever, that would be greatly appreciated.
I've considered switching to a different media management program, but what I like about Front Row is its simplicity. I don't really feel like learning a whole new system (let alone getting my wife to buy into that idea). I've got better ways to spend my time. So, it's a trade off, I guess.
Anyway, Apple Gods? Are you out there? Are you listening?

I can't believe we're still banging on about the sorting problems. Apple have seen fit to provide a number of features to allow the user to get iTunes working the way they like, e.g. grouping compilation artists and the use of sort fields. I think you can now even keep compilation artists grouped on the iPod. But why oh why do they then totally ignore this for the AppleTV and Front Row (which look like the same codebase to me)?
I have hundreds of genuine Artists that I want to see listed in the Artists' list, but not the thousands of others that appear on compilations. They don't even sort the artists by the Artist Sort field that they themselves provide in iTunes. This makes a nonsense of trying to use either the ATV or Front Row.
Playlists are no help as they simply lump all contained tracks in one great list. Useless.
The annoying thing is, they can get it right. iTunes just gets better and better in this regard, each release sorting out more of the omissions of earlier versions. But ATV and Front Row - nope, nothing. Still just as stupid as always. Just what will it take to convince Apple to 'sort' (ha) this out? How can they justify such entirely different ways of working on their different products?

Does Front Row work with PowerPC G4?

Does Front Row work with PowerPC G4? Where can I get it?

There are ways, but it has limited ablities since you don't have the IR based remote needed. There is a "hack" of sorts which tricks front row to install on other Macs. I have it on my Power Mac G4 and my ibook as well. Just do a google search.
There is nothing illegal about the hack since you download the free update from the apple website. All the hack does it make the installer think you have a iMac or Macbook Pro.

How Do I Use An External Drive Folder For Front Row???

I have recently bought a 1 TB external drive for my media vidoes and music and have moved all my files over to the external drive and want to use the new folders for movies on front row.
When i go to front row it only has movie folders found on my built in Harddirve, and no folders from the external drive. How to i select this drive to play movies on front row from the external drive?????

oh man thank you so much i was having a brain **** about how to run them on front row. I can't believe i didn;t think about that.
Thank you again
Jer

Why does front row keep on pausing playback?

I'm using my LCD tv as an extended display and as the main desktop. I freshly reinstalled SL and updated it to 10.6.5. Front row keeps on pausing the playback randomly. Note that its not stuttering. As soon as I hit Play on my apple remote, it resumes playback.
any guesses?

I realized that every time I open front row empty "iTunes Music" folder is created even I have "iTunes Media" folder in use. Anyone have any idea how to solve this? I tried to remove Frontrow.plist files but that does not help. I think this could be related to this issue since it is not happening on my other mac which is not having any front row problems...
-Teemu

Why do I get a black screen in front row when watching some iTunes store purchases? esp Cars 2

We bought Cars 2 a few months ago from the iTunes store. The movie won't work in Front Row, we only get a black screen (except for the blue Front Row controls at the bottom) although the audio comes through just fine. The annoying part is all of our other iTunes store movies work fine in Front Row. Just Cars 2 is broken. I don't think that it is an authorisation problem because it plays okay in iTunes, Quicktime, even via airplay to an appleTV or via Home Sharing to our iPad.
The movie is only standard definition so I am guessing that it is not an HDCP issue; I understand that there is only HDCP on HD movies. We are playing it on a Mac Mini (core 2 duo) on a Sony Bravia via a VGA connector.
After a little bit of complaining, apple let us download the movie again in case the file was corrupted, but unfortunately the same problem with the new version.
The computer did have Perian installed at one point, but uninstalling and restarting made no difference.
I have found lots of reports of movies with missing picture in Front Row but these are all ripped videos, never with an iTunes Store purchase.
Apple won't refund our money as the purchase was more than 60 days ago by the time I gave up troubleshooting and reported the problem.

Yeah! Problem solved: It's a QT issue.
Cause: Mac Update Software downloaded a faulty QT.
Solution: Download QT from Apple's QT site.
Great to have the Video back

Front row in Lion 10.7 issue (-70012) and video_ts not playing issue -solved

Hi all,
thought I just post my solution to the front row issues in 10.7. I looked for a solution for days, and when I found it, I thought it would make other peoples live easier if I combine everything in one post.
I actually had a couple of issues:
PROBLEM:
first front row stopped playing VIDEO_TS files in 10.6.
the second issue occurred when I thought upgrading to 10.7 would solve the issue; Front row still couldn't play the VIDEO_TS, because FRONT ROW was gone...
SYMPTOMS:
both issues always showed the same symptoms:
when a dvd-back folder was selected, front row would show a black screen, and then, caused by my frantic pushing the ESC button, front row would give me the dvd player not valid -70012 error.
CAUSE:
so what happened? I chose to buy my MBP 17" with the smallest HDD (yep sorry, was cheap-s-ing). Then later that year, I decided to buy the HDD caddy and switch my internal superdrive for a SSD. I ended up placing the original HDD in the hdd caddy, which I then put in the Superdrive's slot, and I placed the SSD in the slot where the original HDD was residing first. I now had a MBP 17" late 2011, with vertex3 SSD. I forgot, I also put in 16 GB, replacing the 8 GB.
So, when I back-upped all my favorite DVDs as VIDEO_TS files, (no I did not download dvds through usenet), grabbed the popcorn, and started Front Row, the disappointment began. No VIDEO_TS file would play, always the same -70012 error message. So after a lot of internet research I stumbled upon a guy who said: yeah, you have to upgrade to 10.7. After the upgrade my FRONT ROW was gone.
SOLUTIONS:
In 10.6:
As Apple's DVD player is always looking for the internal dvd player as a prerequisite to start, Front Row, which uses Apple's DVD player as video player, will throw up the -70012 error. 'Cause it finds the HDD in the HDD Caddy instead of the SuperDrive. So in 10.6 (and in 10.7 also) you can use the following solution:
(I got this solution partial from http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13727_7-20070591-263.html)
1: modify the DVDPlayback framework that the DVD Player uses so that it will recognize external drive as a valid DVD playback device. (The HDD Caddy came with an external casing for the SuperDrive)
2: download a hex editor (I used Hexedit 220 from http://hexedit.sourceforge.net/ )
3: Go to the folder /System/Library/Frameworks/ and back up the file "DVDPlayback.framework."
4: Open Hexedit_220 and use it to open the following file:/System/Library/Frameworks/DVDPlayback.framework/Versions/A/DVDPlayback.
5: Using the editor's find&replace through COMMAND-F, replace "Internal" with the text "External" and save the file. Note that Hexedit also saves a backup automatically.
6: Close the file once saved, and then run a permissions fix on the boot drive using Disk Utility. Then restart the system and you should now be able to play DVDs off the external drive using DVD Player. That is, If you use an external dvd player (which I don't use).
7: I inserted a very small USB stick in the MBP with no data on it, and Front Row and Apple DVD Player accepted this. I could now play my backupped DVDs.
ofcourse, I still wanted to upgrade to 10.7, so here's the solution to 10.7
10.7:
upgrading was a simple click with the mouse, worked like a charm, Office still worked, and some minor updates installed through software.
Front Row however, gone...
I used the steps outlined in http://osxdaily.com/2011/07/21/front-row-for-mac-os-x-lion/ to get Front Row back:
- first get the package from Madhatter: Download the free package installer by MacHatter
- install, or customize the install
- all done.
Then I used the steps from step 3 through 7 outlined above in solution 10.6.
Catch:
So I did not find a solution to fooling the DVD Player / Front Row with the USB stick. So everytime I watch VIDEO_TS in Front Row the USB stick must be inserted. But, the good news, I can still use my remote control for something.
Hope I helped some guys out there with this solution.
Regards,
Johnno

The issue has previously hit Apple TV owners. I think people came to the conclusion that it was a HDMI handshake problem. Basically the process where the device and TV greet each other, make up some rules about communicationg and what their secret key is and so on.
I haven't tried this yet, but my local service center says that basically I can do one of two things:
- Downgrade to 10.7 and then download the 10.7.1 update from Apples website. To do this without having a Mac OS X Lion disc, you can hold down CMD + R when the computer boots to be able to access the recovery partition on newer Macs that come without the OS disc.
or..
- Put something in between the computer and TV. For example, if you're using an amplifier as a part of your home theather set up, this will probably work. The service guy said he has his Mini connected to the amplifier, which in turn is connected to speakers and a projector. The inverted colors still appear, but only once per night (i.e. after the first problem is reset by resetting the link then it's fine).
For now, I'll do my little dance of changing the source on the TV from HDMI 1 to HDMI 2 and then back again to reset the link... But, I'll probably try downgrading in a few days.

Sharing iTunes Music between accounts in Front Row

I have two accounts set on my computer. The primary account shares it's iTunes library with the secondary one. The shared music works fine inside of iTunes but when when I attempt to find the shared music on the secondary account via Front Row it states that it cannot find Shared Music. Does Front Row not have access to the shared music on other accounts on the same computer?
All my apps have the most resent updates.

I have the same problem. I think Cory made an assumption in his reply, that there is music in the library of the secondary accounts iTunes. My Secondary Account has no music at all in the iTunes library. In iTunes for the Secondary Account there are two sources of shared music available in the shared music folder, both play fine from iTunes. The first source is shared music from my primary accounts iTunes library, the second source is from the library of an XP based machine on my network.
When accessing shared music from Front Row logged in on the secondary account, the music shared from the XP machine is available as listed and named in iTunes, the music shared from the primary accounts iTunes library is not available.
Purchased the Mac Mini Dual Core yesterday, did all updates to software yesterday. Any ideas, anyone?
Mac Mini Dual Core Mac OS X (10.4.6)

Front Row Sharing - Some TV shows not showing up

Hi all,
I have a problem with iTunes' shared libary - it only shows a subset of TV shows within iTunes. I have a Mac Pro in my den, which hosts a pretty large itunes library (about 750GB), of which 350GB are TV shows I've either bought from iTunes or ripped from DVD. The machine is running 10.6 and iTunes is fully up to date. Everything works as you'd expect on the Mac Pro, and Front row can see all the videos iTunes can see.
In our bedroom we have a fairly recent Mac Mini. If i use iTunes ->iTunes sharing, all the titles show up correctly and I an watch any TV show.
However, if we use the sharing feature in front row on the mac mini, only a subset of TV shows appears - and infuriatingly it's not even 100% reliable which items will fail to show - but it is about 90% reliable, which is even more frustrating, as it's clearly not totally random. The shows most likely to be effected seem to be the ones added in the last few months.
I've also tried running front row on different clients on the same LAN - both my wife and my Macbook pros do the same, as does an iMac in our kitchen, so it seems to me to be either a problem which effects Front Row generally, or a fault on the iTunes server Mac Pro. Is my library simply too big for the Front Row sharing feature to work correctly? If so - this is ridiculous!?
I've looked into alternative clients for the Mac Mini, like Mediacentral, which doesn't seem to support sharing of iTunes videos, and also Plex which again doesn't appear to support this, but is frankly so complex it's hard to tell - if it will support seamless iTunes sharing of all content, I'd be happy to give it a go - but it doesn't look like it does.
Preferably there would just be a fix like deleteing some iTunes cache files or something on the Mac Pro - I've had a sniff about the iTunes XML file, and compared the data of some of theTV shows which turn up to some of those that don't and they all look identical, schema wise, so I'm none the wiser.
All machines tested are totally up to date, OS/iTUnes wise..
I haven't managed to find anything on the internet about this, which leads me to think it's probably an obscure issue with my iTUnes installation, rather than a problem with library size, since I'm sure many other people have bigger libraries than this....
Any help greatly appreciated!

I have the same issue. My home shared library can all be seen on my iPhone or my Apple TV 3rd Gen but not on my ipad. Only some movies and tv shows show up. Also. Many of the TV shows are all mixed up. Episodes shows up in different series and all mix up. All those issues only on the iPad, on other devices, all seems fine.

Front Row movie trailers -- not connected to internet message?

I'm new to Front Row, even though it's been on my laptop for a while! Anyway, when I click on Movie Trailers, I get a message saying I'm not connected to the internet, even though I am (via Airport). I looked at Network Diagnostics as both the message and Apple Support site suggested, and everything is reported as fine (as I knew it would be; I can get to the internet with no problem). The only other thing I found in Support was for machines with more than 1 Ethernet port, which I don't have.
Is there something special I need to do to get Front Row to see I'm connected to the internet? Thanks for any suggestions!

I believe you've encountered a bug with Front Row. If you can, try plugging in an Ethernet cable even if it's not actually connected to the Internet itself. Sometimes Front Row looks only for an Internet connection through the Ethernet port even if the port, itself, is not connected to the the Internet. I think the trailers will play through the AirPort connection anyway...
-Doug

Media Center vs. Front Row

I hate to say, I just watched the keynote, and Steve made a really thoughtless comment that got the crowd cheering.
He had a comparison of the iMac remote, and 2 different Windows XP Media Center remotes from HP and Gateway. He pointed out that the MC remotes had around 50 buttons, and the iMac remote had 6. This is an absurd comparison.
The Media Center remotes allow you to pause, play, record, rewind, and fastforward TV. They also have, EQ controls, volume, audio switching, video input, and many other useful controls.
There's no surround sound with an iMac. There's no hi-def inputs with an iMac. There's just volume, play, rewind, fastforward. (with the remote).
And yes, I own a Media Center PC, and such a copy Front Row is. He's bragging about it like it's new technology, when the Media Center has been around for 4 years or so. He even copied the in-menu interface (once you choose music or video, etc.).
Vikram

Vikram's point was that Media Center has been out first for 4 years and Apple just NOW came out with it. And copied parts of it besides. By the way, other things, like Widgets, has been out for PC's a while before they were included in Tiger. Apple is not as great as they, and Steve Jobs, think they are. And everything Apple is still overpriced compared to PC's.

IPod and Front Row refuse additons to "TV Shows" Videos Category

I am having a problem where videos that I add to the "TV Shows" category of videos in iTunes refuse to upload to the same category on my iPod or in Front Row. When I add videos to iTunes (properly encoded for playback in iTunes, Front Row and on the Fifth Generation iPod) they automatically go into "Movies". If it's a music video, I'll go into "Get Info" for the file and change the "Video Kind" to "Music Video" and it will change to be in the "Music Video" category of videos in iTunes. Then, in Front Row and on the iPod, it will show up under "Music Videos" also. However, if I change "Video Kind" to "TV Shows" for a file I want to be in the "TV Shows" Category, it will move into that category in iTunes, but not in Front Row or on my iPod. It will move out of "Movies" on the iPod, but the only place it will show up on the iPod is under Video Playlists > Recently Added. Anyone else have this problem? It seems weird that I can add videos to "Movies" and "Music Videos" in Front Row and on the iPod, but not "TV Shows". If I want a video that is a tv show to show up on the iPod or in Front Row (other than the "Recently Added" playlist), I can only add it to "Movies".

I know I don't have one.
But its the mechanism that is the same - its the stik atom that controls it. Apple/iTunes doesn't let you SET that piece of information. Yes, you can take any video file and in iTunes set it to "TV Show", but delete the file from iTunes and re-add it. Is it still a "TV Show"? No, because that information is only set in the iTunes database that other applications use - like FrontRow.
The stik atom controls whether iTunes sees it in the first place as a "TV Show". The principle should be the same on the iPod. Using AtomicParsley, the actual data that Apple embeds in its iTMS video files can be seen - its called metadata. For example, in my free episode of Monk, the word "Monk" only appears a few places in the file. And with the exception of 1 place where it has to be happenstance in the actual video stream where its "MoNk", it only appears in the metadata.
iTunes doesn't let you set lots of information - can you set "Album Artist"? No, because Apple doesn't provide for it. How about description? Well, yes, but only through Applescript. For the new TV show stuff - the only current way is through the use of AtomicParsley. There is also a hack for the iPod called mrtvpod if you want to try that.

'Front Row' hack Backfired - I think ......

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