Author Topic: X3D Series - RSS Internet PODCAST link user guide  (Read 35594 times)

Offline Maasbommel

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X3D Series - RSS Internet PODCAST link user guide
« on: June 02, 2013, 07:49:05 PM »
Starting from X3D firmware V2.0.0 -30May2013 and up 2 new features are added to the Internet PODCAST section.

1] ability to update the available PODCAST links presented by the Mede8er server
2] ability to customize the PODCAST internet section to your own needs

How-to update the Internet PODCAST section to the latest available on the Mede8er server
  • First check if you have installed firmware version V2.0.0 -30May2013 or later
    http://www.mede8erforum.com/index.php/board,127.0.html
    Your Mede8er also needs to be connected to your home network and have access to the Internet.
  • Starting from the main GUI screen select the Internet Menu
  • In the Internet menu select the Internet PODCAST icon (right under the Google icon)
  • When the PODCAST section is on your screen, press the menu button on your remote.
    A new submenu will open similar as below:



  • Select the update entry and select enter on your remote control
  • Your RSS PODCAST menu sections will now be updated to the latest available on the Mede8er server

How-to customize the PODCAST internet section to your own needs
  • First check if you have installed firmware version V2.0.0 -30May2013 or later
    http://www.mede8erforum.com/index.php/board,127.0.html
    Your Mede8er also needs to be connected to your home network and have access to the Internet.
  • You need an USB flash disk clean FAT32 formatted with only the files med.podcast.xml and thumb.zip on it.
    You can download a sample of both files here: RSS example files.zip
  • Unpack the zip file, you will find the 2 files in it
  • The med.podcast.xml file contains the RSS PODCAST links. You can edid this file to your needs with a text editor, eg Windows Notepad.
    Every entry should contain an Title entry, a RSS Url weblink and a link to the thumb icon in the thumb.zip file
  • You will see that the med.podcast.xml file is divided in the PODCAST Mede8er menu sections world, sports, tech, etc.
    Adding a new entry in one of those sections will results to show up under that section in the Mede8er PODCAST section.
  • Open the thumb.zip file and you will see that the folder structure is the same as the Mede8er GUI PODCAST menu. The icons in the folders are kept small to be sure to have fast load times. When adding new icons of your own try to keep the similar size and format.
  • When you have added RSS links of your own in the med.podcast.xml file and also added thumb jpg files in the thumb.zip file, place both files on an USB flash disk.
  • Now plug the USB flash disk in a free USB slot of your Mede8er, and navigate to the Internet PODCAST menu. It will now load your new PODCAST files. When finished loading it will show PODCAST Updated! in the left upper corner of the screen.
    Your modified PODCAST menu is now loaded and you can test your entry in the PODCAST menu entry where you configured it.
    The med.podcast.xml file on the USB flash disk will be renamed to med.podcast.old.xml. Be aware when you want to use this file again to load your custom settings on your Mede8er, the file needs to be renamed again to med.podcast.xml, otherwise it will not load the file.
  • If you somehow made an error in configuring your custom entries, you can always revert back to default by pressing the remote control menu button when you are in the top level of the PODCAST menu and select Restore Default. (see the picture above)

Example format of RSS link in the med.podcast.xml file:

  <entry>
    <title>TED Theme: What's Next in Tech</title>
    <URL>http://www.ted.com/themes/rss/id/6</URL>
    <thumb>tech/5250.jpg</thumb>
  </entry>

Adding custom RSS links to your Mede8er is a "bit trial on error".
You will notice that not all RSS links  you add will work - it depends on the used RSS xml format of the web link you add and also the media format of the video files they contain.
Be aware that Mede8er does not hosts the content of those pages, only delivers a feature to connect to RSS pages.
Therefore use this feature as is, and don't start to moan when a specific RSS page is not showing the video content. If that happens the format of the page or media is not compatible. Mede8er cannot change anything regarding that.

NOTE:
The sample set in the RSS example files.zip contains some extra added 18+ Adult RSS PODCAST links at the back of the fun entertainment section as a demo, so please be aware of that  ;D

We have opened a specific board section for the Mede8er Community to share/discuss experiences with the Customize RSS PODCAST feature.
Please use this specific section to discuss this feature with other community members and share your working RSS links there:
http://www.mede8erforum.com/index.php/board,159.0.html

Cheers and have fun with this new feature,

Maasbommel
« Last Edit: May 14, 2015, 02:51:01 PM by Mede8er1 »
Read the  Mede8er 400X/500X Beginners Guide
or Mede8er 500X2/400X2/450X2 Beginners Guide

Also check the Couto X3D Newbies Guide first.

Please don't PM me but post on the forum.

Offline Maasbommel

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Re: RSS Internet PODCAST link user guide
« Reply #1 on: June 02, 2013, 09:08:21 PM »
Reserved space for future additions.
Read the  Mede8er 400X/500X Beginners Guide
or Mede8er 500X2/400X2/450X2 Beginners Guide

Also check the Couto X3D Newbies Guide first.

Please don't PM me but post on the forum.

Offline HiDiHo

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Re: RSS Internet PODCAST link user guide
« Reply #2 on: June 06, 2013, 11:40:00 PM »
Worked great! Nice feature!
Did not even removed files from USB drive, just copied the 2 files and insert it in mede8er
Did update in Internet menu and it worked!

Some questions; can I customize the xml and what are the limitations?
Can I change/add categories and how many?

Offline Maasbommel

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Re: RSS Internet PODCAST link user guide
« Reply #3 on: June 07, 2013, 06:51:50 AM »
Yes, you can customize the XML files, please read up into my guide.

The categories like World News etc are fixed.
The entries in there not as far as I am aware of.
Read the  Mede8er 400X/500X Beginners Guide
or Mede8er 500X2/400X2/450X2 Beginners Guide

Also check the Couto X3D Newbies Guide first.

Please don't PM me but post on the forum.

Offline urkens_jp

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Re: RSS Internet PODCAST link user guide
« Reply #4 on: July 17, 2013, 07:02:14 AM »
When I open the Internet PODCAST on my MEDE8ER 1000X3D and press the menu button nothing happens. No menu appears at the right side of the screen. I've installed the firmware version 2.0.0.
Strange thing is that the PODCAST doesn't seem to work at all. When I select one I just get an empty screen. I am not sure since when this happened (I used to be able to see the podcasts but since the latest firmware update this doesn't seem to work anymore. Note that I had previously installed the v2.0.0beta version. Maybe the upgrade to the v2.0.0 final version didn't succeed. I tried to reinstall the v2.0.0 final version but the firmware upgrade procedure simply tells me there is no upgrade available. Is there a way to force the (re)installation of the v2.0.0 firmware?

Offline Maasbommel

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Re: RSS Internet PODCAST link user guide
« Reply #5 on: July 18, 2013, 05:17:51 AM »
When I open the Internet PODCAST on my MEDE8ER 1000X3D and press the menu button nothing happens. No menu appears at the right side of the screen. I've installed the firmware version 2.0.0.
Strange thing is that the PODCAST doesn't seem to work at all. When I select one I just get an empty screen. I am not sure since when this happened (I used to be able to see the podcasts but since the latest firmware update this doesn't seem to work anymore. Note that I had previously installed the v2.0.0beta version. Maybe the upgrade to the v2.0.0 final version didn't succeed. I tried to reinstall the v2.0.0 final version but the firmware upgrade procedure simply tells me there is no upgrade available. Is there a way to force the (re)installation of the v2.0.0 firmware?

Please use recovery install mode to reinstall the firmware.
Reading your comment you are using upgrade methode by gui setup.

Firmware recovery method is:
1] download latest firmware and follow the installation instructions:
http://www.mede8erforum.com/index.php/board,127.0.html
2] put the downloaded install.img file on a fresh formatted usb stick (use fat32 format)
3] with your mede8er in standby (red led on) place the stick in a usb slot
4] press the power on button on your mede8er and keep it pressed for 15-20 secs and then release
5] firmware update will start, wait until it is finished (1-2 minutes to install)
6] your mede8er will reboot, configure all settings again in setup
Read the  Mede8er 400X/500X Beginners Guide
or Mede8er 500X2/400X2/450X2 Beginners Guide

Also check the Couto X3D Newbies Guide first.

Please don't PM me but post on the forum.

Offline AC(E)

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Re: RSS Internet PODCAST link user guide
« Reply #6 on: June 16, 2014, 10:11:20 AM »
I have recently bought the med450x2s and have setup with little/no problem,
This is my first attempt to update the podcast so I may be half the trouble.

I have med450X2S, updated firmware to V3.0.4.
Followed instruction to update the podcasts, everything went fine except no update.

Questions.
1) Can the podcasts be updated on the 450x2s
2) Must the thumb folder be archive or folder?
3) Will the light on the usb flash during podcast update?
4) is it neccessary to reboot?

The mede8er is connected to the internet with lan cable. 
Have been able to listen to internet radio and watched a number of podcasts with no trouble. The only trouble is that the preloaded podcasts outdated or in German, Dutch etc
I have little knowledge of uPnP DNS etc