The Making of "The Boss Box"

[mike boss]

Two questions regarding skinning.
I have a bunch of skins that I had started and never completed saved as you would any skin.
However I know I will never use these, nor will I complete them.
Can I simply delete the folders, or should I open the program, hilte the skin and delete is using the software ?

When I was doing the test for my new skin, I load it, see where things fall, tweak it, try again, etc, etc.
(wanting to make sure the spacing is correct)
Now when I go into the skin to load it it says invalid image and the program crashes.
Same question with respects to this, do I just go into the folder where I can see my skins and delete ?
Or would it be best do delete via the program ?

My concern is again that for some reason when trying to load this skin the program will crash.

Lastly , if I were to create skin specific art for "No Image Available" will your program allow me to use it ?
When I had tried prior I got a message about the image being protected. But I wasn't sure if I was just having problems as PC's sometimes do.

Thanks

[unclet]

Safest thing to do is delete it through the software of course .....  I cannot remember if deleting the folders directly would do it

[mike boss]

Am I able to delete and replace the images for "Empty" & "No Image Available" as long as I keep the file names the same ?
As I mentioned I'd like to do skin specific images.

[unclet]

Yes, just keep the file names the same

[mike boss]

AWESOME NEWS ! I'm working on a new skin that right now I'm happy with.
(It can be seen on my blog)
I've prepared images for "EMPTY" & "NO IMAGE AVAILABLE."
I'm also going to work on images for each letter of the alphabet. (as I have done prior)
I have a folder called "various hits" contained within that folder are folders from "A to Z."
Each letter including the # sign have individual folders, and as can be seen on the blog each folder has an artist.
For example E has ELVIS, D has DMX, Y has YAZ(OO), Z is ZZ TOP, etc etc.
I'm playing to create images for each letter that will feature any given artist, but the backgrounds will be universal.
Or perhaps only differ in shade of blue used to provide some variety.
Right now I'm looking over on www.dafont.com (AWESOME SITE) for some kick ass fonts.
As the jukebox takes shape I'm getting very excited and I really want it to look great.
I think having an awesome skin is a huge part of that. SOOOO by having the skin as custom as I can, meaning, if it can be changed ILL CHANGE IT will really add to the over all look.

One more question I have, I'm yet to reboot the PC and try to load my new skin again.
What do I do when I do that and it keeps crashing Uncle T's upon trying to load the skin ?
In that case would you suggest to delete the skin from the skin folder ?
Or try a new image with the same name to see if perhaps the image file is corrupt ?

I had a busy weekend so I didn't do any other work then what can be seen on the blog.
This week I'd like to get the jigsaw out and cut out the portion of the shelf that remains.
Once done I can start the dry fitting of parts.
I'm still searching for a receiver that will work, and plan on taking apart my old speakers tonight.

[unclet]

What is your question?   Are you making a skin inside the skin editor but it is crashing?  Make sure you back up the skin folders in the "skins\AlbumsMenu" and "skins\MediaMenu" folders so you do not lose any of your hard work.

Is the skin allowed to be editted via the skin editor?  Please explain what is not working.

PS:  I would assume you are only using JPG, GIF and BMP images?

[mike boss]

I apologize, I should have made it more clear.
I am at work right now so I don't recall the exact error message.
I design many of the elements I use for skins in photoshop, save them as jpeg and then allocate them where needed within the software itself (skin creator).

I decided to brand the skin "touch tune" and below that "the boss box." This was done in photoshop and can not be removed from the image. Anyway I wanted to make sure that it was positioned correctly, and would not interfere with any other element. I had to resize the text two or three times. However while in the skin creator the program itself crashed. When I power down and power up the PC my original BOSS BOXX skin is the skin used. When I goto select the new skin "BOSS BOXX V 2.0" the program crashes.

Again later tonight I will update and make reference to the error code. Not much work was done on the skin so I don't mind the loss. It it makes more sense to simply leave the folder and simply skip over it when changing skins I can easily do so. If I can goto the folder that contains the skins and delete, I would do  that. If however it is ideal to delete the skin from within the skin creation process I don't have the ability to do so. As the skin is selected the program will crash.

I am only using JPEG files created in photoshop and saved as RGB files.
This new skin however will be my most complex and complete skin, as mentioned I've created images in place of the stock images that come with the program. So when no selection is made and you would normally see a black box with white text reading "EMPTY" I've changed that. The new image works flawlessly to enhance the look of the skin. The same treatment was given to the "NO IMAGE AVAILABLE" file.

Later I'll post the images as well as the error code.

[unclet]

If you want, you can email me the complete skin folder of the one which crashes for you (media or albums skin folder) and I can try to load it in my software and see what happens.

I would assume some file is trying to be manipulated or saved and it can not update it (or possibly find it) so it crashes.  Just a guess though.

[mike boss]

Thanks Uncle T,

My dog was sick so I never logged any PC time last night. I'm going to try again tonight as it could have simply been a moody PC .............they tend to do that sometimes.

I appreciate the help.

[mike boss]

Been killer busy as of late so the boss boxx (and new skin) have taken a back seat.
Im working on some bar top machines that I'd like to have done for X-Mass.
I will resume work on the juke soon