XBMCLauncher / Launcher4Kodi - All in One Tool for Change Shell, Set Focus and more (2025)

baijuxavior
Posting Freak

2012-07-24, 15:50 (This post was last modified: 2015-06-11, 03:26 by baijuxavior.)

DOWNLOAD XBMCLauncher V4.1 box.com

DOWNLOAD XBMCLauncher V4.1 dropbox.com

DOWNLOAD Launcher4Kodi from box.com

DOWNLOAD Launcher4Kodi from dropbox.com

In order to avoid kodi copyright violations, KodiLauncher will be known as Launcher4Kodi from now on. Those who using KodiLauncher are requested to uninstall it and install the new Launcher4Kodi.

Features added in Launcher4Kodi V1.1

1. Fixed custom shutdown menu not working.
   
2. Fixed external player focus problem.
   

Features added in XBMCLauncher V4.1

1. Can add four external players to the focus exclusion list.
   
2. External players can also be now focused.
   
3. Added a third group for external applications to start with xbmclauncher
   
4. Fixed explorer not loading when xbmc is closed after resuming from suspend mode.
   

Features added in XBMCLauncher V4.0

1. Improved setup installer. Avast no longer reports suspicious file.
   
2. Added GUI for easy settings configuration. GUI is not loaded at start, so the start time is not affected.
   
3. Option to start the GUI using Win+S shortcut.
   
4. Option to create desktop and Taskbar icons for GUI.
   
5. Added a menu to close XBMC forcefully. Useful if XBMC is not responding.
   
6. Option to install original MCE registry code.
   
7. Option to set any exe file as shell. XBMCLauncher will not load in this mode.
   
8. Desktop context power menu is now available for Win7 also.
   
9. Option to create power button icons on desktop [Win8].
   

Features added in XBMC Launcher V3.5

1. Replaced the menu with cascading sub menus.
   
2. Option to start Explorer using Win+E shortcut in shell mode.
   
3. Option to disable the focus permanently. Setting focus delay to '0' seconds also works.
   
4. Focus command is sent only if xbmc is not active.
   

Features added in XBMC Launcher V3.1

1. Option to start XBMC in portable mode.
   
2. Option to start upto six applications and to disable xbmc focus if needed. Courtesy 'Snood' for the programming.
   
3. Option to start the Windows 8 Metro Start when xbmc is closed.
   
4. Option to close and restart XBMC from the custom confluence shutdown menu.
   

Features added in XBMC Launcher V3.0

1. Option to enable/disable XBMC startup. Useful for non htpc users.
   
2. Option to start upto three applications and to disable focus if needed.
   
3. Option to view the settings file.
   
4. Option to Turn off the display using hot key Win+F11.
   
5. Option to add Power Options to desktop context menu of Windows 8.
   
6. Option to add Power Button shortcuts to Windows 8 Metro Start.
   

What XBMCLauncher can do?

1. Start XBMC automatically when Windows starts.
   
2. Or set XBMC to boot directly without loading the Windows explorer and desktop by changing the shell.
   iMONonXBMC users should not change the shell as explorer is needed for iMONonXBMC to work correctly.
   
3. Keep XBMC on focus so that no other application can steal the focus of your remote control presses.
   
4. Creates a System Tray icon for XBMCLauncher from which you can configure its functions.
   
5. Set the time for focus check.
   
6. Temporarily disable the focus by using Win+F9 shortcut.
   
7. Change the Shutdown menu of XBMC to set Shutdown, Sleep or Hibernate the system.
   
8. When resumed from Sleep and Hibernation, XBMC is started again.
   
9. Start Windows desktop when you press Exit button of XBMC if you changed the shell to xbmc.
   
10. Handle MCE Remote control Green Start Button to start XBMC
    
11. Start XBMConIMON and IMON manager automatically for those with IMON products.
    
12. Option to manually specify the path of XBMC, XBMConIMON and IMON manager
    
13. Paths are automatically selected without any user interaction.
    
14. Customized installation. Select only the components you need.
    
15. All replaced files are backed up so that your system is returned to the previous state when you uninstall the XBMC Launcher.
    

Features added in XBMC Launcher V2.0

1. New menu button to start xbmc.
   
2. Option to completely disable the focus by inserting time as '0' seconds.
   
3. Option to send the focus message only one time as requested by many users.
   
4. Option to enable or disable force close of xbmc when system is send to sleep or hibernation.
   
5. Start Windows explorer on closing xbmc (in shell mode) now supports any skin without installing my custom shutdown xml file.
   
6. Option to disable the focussing when external player is used.
   
7. Menu for opening XBMC program folder and application data folder.
   
8. Minor bug fixes.
   

Features added in XBMC Launcher V2.1

1. Show XBMCLauncher menu using 'Win+F10' even when in shell mode. No need of Explorer to change settings.
   
2. Capture 'Alt+F4' to show shutdown menu (keypress 'S') instead of closing without warning.
   
3. Bug Fix - In V2.0, Explorer was loaded when xbmc is force closed during suspend. Now explorer is started only when you close it using Exit button.
   

Feature added in XBMC Launcher V2.2

1. Option to set time delay for XBMC to start. Those who are using version 2.1 can install v2.2 without uninstalling v2.1.
   

Source Code

XBMCLauncher Source

Launcher4Kodi Source

The application is entirely coded using autohotkey scripts. Source code can be downloaded from the same folder. You will need latest version of Autohotkey_L for compiling .ahk files, Inno Setup Creator to create setup file and Notepad++ for editing . XML files. For editing .ahk scripts, Notepad++ can be used. But I prefer SciTE4AutoHotkey Script Editor.
GUI programming is done in VB.NET 2010.

Special Thanks to elitegamer360 whose GSB script, keymap file and MCERemote registry codes are used in this installation with slight modification to suite my needs.

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Nimo
Senior Member
Posts: 238

2012-07-25, 01:17

nice tool, will try it few days.

cheers

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Nimo
Senior Member
Posts: 238

2012-07-25, 11:12 (This post was last modified: 2012-07-25, 11:35 by Nimo.)

my first tries work well but xbmconimon doesnt find imon. i tried to launch the launcher with eventmanager and admin rights but doesnt help.
and could you explain what the components in setup do? i only want to use launcher as shell because i dont have an mce remote and have to start xbmconimon with eventmanager (maybe x64 related) and imon manager itself. i didnt install your shutdown menu because i use an other skin but can you change your launcher that on exit it will launch explorer.exe?

cheers Nimo

edit: ok, its not xbmconimon problem. but booth tools are loaded and i see the standard xoi message but it says it cant connect to imon.
edit 2: after wake from s3 my vfd stay clear (black)

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baijuxavior
Posting Freak

2012-07-25, 12:17 (This post was last modified: 2012-07-31, 17:35 by baijuxavior.)

Thanks Nimo. I will post the installation steps with images.

Installation steps

XBMC Launcher - Main application.

XBMC Advanced settings file - Installs an advanced settings file for xbmc. I use it to skip the movies by 10 seconds instead of the default 30 seconds when you press left or right arrow keys. Also it will treat multiple artists in songs using the separator /. This is the default separator used in media monkey.

XBMC Keymap file - Creates a custom keymap file for xbmc to be used with MCE remote controls.

Change XBMC Shutdown Menu - Changes shutdown menu as shown in the image in first post. I need only these three menus. The shutdoen button can be configured to Sleep or Hibernate also.

Set XBMCLauncher as Windows Shell - Changes the windows shell to xbmc launcher instead of Explorer.exe. This way your system will boot directly into XBMC without loading windows desktop thus speeding up the boot processing considerably. On exiting xbmc, you can start explorer.

Select this option if you want MCE remotes to work with the included keymap file. Restart your PC for the change to effect.

Click finish to run XBMCLauncher. If everything is fine, it should start xbmc.

The application expects that you have installed xbmc in the default 32 bit Windows Program Files Directory which is usually C:\Program Files\XBMC for 32 bit and C:\Program Files (86)\XBMC for 64 bit. If XBMC is not found in the default location which the app will prompt you to select the xbmc.exe file. Once selected, it will start XBMC.

Menu accessible from Windows System Tray.

Change Focus Delay. Default is 10 seconds which means every 10 seconds XBMCLauncher will send a signal to focus or bring xbmc on top of all other windows.

XBMC Shutdown action. This menu is visible only of you select the custom shutdown file. Choose the action you want when you press the 'Shutdown' button in XBMC. I am using Hibernate and my htpc resumes to XBMC home window within 10 seconds from power down state.

You can change Windows Shell from the application without reinstalling xbmclauncher. If XBMCLauncher is set as the shell, then windows desktop is not loaded until you exit xbmc.

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e2zippo
Senior Member

e2zippo
Senior Member
Posts: 211

2012-07-25, 12:35

This looks great, I'll give it a try when I got some spare time.

Cheers!

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baijuxavior
Posting Freak

2012-07-25, 12:35 (This post was last modified: 2012-07-25, 17:41 by baijuxavior.)

(2012-07-25, 11:12)Nimo Wrote: my first tries work well but xbmconimon doesnt find imon. i tried to launch the launcher with eventmanager and admin rights but doesnt help.
and could you explain what the components in setup do? i only want to use launcher as shell because i dont have an mce remote and have to start xbmconimon with eventmanager (maybe x64 related) and imon manager itself. i didnt install your shutdown menu because i use an other skin but can you change your launcher that on exit it will launch explorer.exe?

cheers Nimo

edit: ok, its not xbmconimon problem. but booth tools are loaded and i see the standard xoi message but it says it cant connect to imon.
edit 2: after wake from s3 my vfd stay clear (black)

For iMON and xbmconimon to work, Windows explorer is needed. If you set xmc as shell, imon won't work.

For iMON, the software expects the location to C:\Program Files\SoundGraph\iMON\ or C:\Program Files(86)\SoundGraph\iMON\
For xbmconimon I use C:\Program Files\xbmc-on-imon-v0.1.9.5\ or C:\Program Files (86)\xbmc-on-imon-v0.1.9.5\
If any other location is used, you will need to manually specify the path from tray icon menu.

You can edit the skin DialogButtonMenu.xml to insert a simple code to start windows desktop.

In confluence skin, it is under C:\Program Files\XBMC\addons\skin.confluence\720p

Open the file DialogButtonMenu.xml and add the line <onclick>XBMC.RunScript(C:\program files\XBMC\StartWindows.py)</onclick> just above the <onclick>XBMC.Quit()</onclick> under the Exit button code as follows:

<control type="button" id="2">
<description>Exit button</description>
<width>340</width>
<height>40</height>
<textcolor>grey2</textcolor>
<focusedcolor>white</focusedcolor>
<align>center</align>
<textwidth>290</textwidth>
<texturefocus border="25,5,25,5">ShutdownButtonFocus.png</texturefocus>
<texturenofocus border="25,5,25,5">ShutdownButtonNoFocus.png</texturenofocus>
<onclick>XBMC.RunScript(StartWindows.py)</onclick>
<onclick>XBMC.Quit()</onclick>
<pulseonselect>no</pulseonselect>
<font>font13</font>
<label>13012</label>
<visible>false</visible>
</control>

Or you can edit the XBMCLauncher.ahk file in the source code to start explorer when xbmc is exited by adding the code in a loop.

Process, Exist, xbmc.exe ; check to see if xbmc.exe is running
If (ErrorLevel = 0) ; If it is not running
{
Process, Exist, explorer.exe ; check to see if explorer.exe is running
If (ErrorLevel = 0) ;if explorer is not running
{
run explorer.exe
}
}

return

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Nimo
Senior Member
Posts: 238

2012-07-25, 12:56 (This post was last modified: 2012-07-25, 13:03 by Nimo.)

wow fast answer. i havent time to test ATM
maybe later. i will use standard shell so i dont need to edit my menu but i could if i want add an eventghost key with explorer.exe
so i will install with only "XBMCLauncher" in setup and check the paths. the everything should work and im happy.

cheers Nimo

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Nimo
Senior Member
Posts: 238

2012-07-25, 14:42

so configuration done, works very well. i just installed xbmlauncher without any mods, set path to xbmconimon and restarted. BAM it works. sleep and wake without any problems. my cec-usb also work.
really nice work. ive used before focusbitch but sometimes after wake up i see the taskbar but xbmc is in focus. with your tool xbmc is the only one on screen

cheers Nimo

+1

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baijuxavior
Posting Freak

2012-07-25, 17:42

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meridius
Posting Freak

meridius
Posting Freak
Posts: 1,786

2012-07-25, 22:14 (This post was last modified: 2012-07-25, 22:21 by meridius.)

Hi there

I have problems now and again when coming out of sleep as video is jerky. I have used task manager in windows and Hibernate Trigger and seem to work for awhile but start acting up

So will this app fix that

Q1 can you close xbmc down before it goes into standby and then when you wake the pc up can it load it. The problem with the other fixes like this is that they don't close xbmc down when you go into standby when u come out of standby it shuts xbmc down then loads it back up. so wanted to know if it shuts it down first before it goes into standby

Q2 can u set this up so that if you turn the computer on from cold it boots into windows loads windows desktop up then loads xbmc automatically and keep focus as I can do this all the way up to the point that xbmc minimizes when u have xbmc setup n the startup menu.

Cheers

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baijuxavior
Posting Freak

2012-07-26, 07:12

Quote:Q1 can you close xbmc down before it goes into standby and then when you wake the pc up can it load it. The problem with the other fixes like this is that they don't close xbmc down when you go into standby when u come out of standby it shuts xbmc down then loads it back up. so wanted to know if it shuts it down first before it goes into standby

Yes. It will close xbmc when you send your pc to sleep or hibernate by using the hardware shutdown button also. xbmc is started again when windows is resumed. Just install the main application XBMCLauncher only, if you don't want other features.

Quote:Q2 can u set this up so that if you turn the computer on from cold it boots into windows loads windows desktop up then loads xbmc automatically and keep focus as I can do this all the way up to the point that xbmc minimizes when u have xbmc setup n the startup menu.

Yes. This is actually the main feature of this app.

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meridius
Posting Freak

meridius
Posting Freak
Posts: 1,786

2012-07-26, 16:16

thanks

just a couple more questions.

1. can you permanently disable lose focus ?
2. can you have focus only run once or check once

its i am not to sure what would happen to xbmc if it keeps checking for the focus as strange things can happen to xbmc.

3. does this just run in the background on the windows desktop ? does not change anything.

xbmc only losses focus once for me if i put it in the startup as its somthing to do with my ati ccc. but if i boot windows and then run xbmc by clicking on it with the mouse it does not lose focus.

i now use standby but like i say after awhile video starts to judder and i have tried task manager and apps to shut xbmc down and then load it up but seem to prolong it but comes back.

i am just trying different things to try and stop the problem.

I just hope the new xbmc 12 will fix it but i dought it as this might be a windows thing. maybe xbmc can build your app into xbmc 12 if it works, or hopfully xbmc can stop xbmc from lossing focus in windows when not using window mode.

cheers

will give it a try but wating for the video to start jerking again before tests and this might take a few weeks to try out you program but will keep you infromed

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baijuxavior
Posting Freak

2012-07-26, 18:26 (This post was last modified: 2012-07-26, 18:30 by baijuxavior.)

1. Not in this version. You can disable it temporarily for a session. When pc is restarted or resumed from sleep, it will again try to keep xbmc on focus.
2. No. you can change the focus delay to a higher value from the default 5 second. Or edit the script in source code file.
3. It runs in the background like any other autohotkey scripts as it has no GUI interface. It is minimized to the system tray on startup.

Just give this app a try. If you don't like it then you can always uninstall it without causing any change to your system.

If you know how to edit autohotkey scripts then try the source code and change as per your requirements.

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LordMerlin
Member

2012-07-27, 11:40

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baijuxavior
Posting Freak

2012-07-27, 13:04

(2012-07-27, 11:40)LordMerlin Wrote: We would like also to the following: Selection of downloadable programs in the mode of the shell, except for those that are loaded by default.

I didn't get what you meant by' downloadable programs in the mode of the shell'. Do you want to add an option so that you can select another application as shell instead of Explorer and XBMCLauncher?. At present only Explorer and XBMCLauncher are the shell options. I can add that option to select other exe files and set it as shell. But remember XBMCLauncher can't be started if you set any other application as shell. For now you can select any program instead of xbmc to start it automatically.

I am thinking of another version where xbmc is not given focus while using external players like TMT5 or PowerDVD. Also please suggest if you want any new feature to be added.

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