Windows SideShow Development Forum

Windows Media Center SideShow Gadgets - Development for Windows 7

Sat, 26 Sep 2009 12:59:19 Z

Now that Windows 7 is on its way, is there a plan to migrate the Media Center Gadgets to work with Windows 7?

I'd love to see this happen, and would be willing to test as well.

Announcing the Universal Driver for Windows SideShow 1.5!

Tue, 20 May 2008 16:15:48 Z

On behalf of the Windows SideShow team, I am pleased to announce the release of the Universal Driver for Windows SideShow 1.5! This driver is now available on Windows Update, and the protocol documentation is available off of our WHDC site (http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/device/sideshow/Univ-Drv_SideShow.mspx).

If you're implementing a USB, Bluetooth, or TCP/IP connected SideShow-compatible device, the Universal Driver can save you from having to write your own driver on the PC. We've documented the wire protocol and what you need to do to connect up to it. And the best part: it's free!

So, go ahead and take a look, and post any feedback or questions you have here in this forum. We hope you find this new driver useful!

Thanks,

Dan (& the Windows SideShow team)

Win 7 media center sideshow compatiblity

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 13:05:01 Z

I read on this thread (couldnt post to it though hence new post) that Windows 7 versions of the sideshow media center gadgets are still (as of SEPT 28) not concrete, please can we have an update as to when they can be expected, this is not very drawn out and frustrating to say the least.

can´t connect on windows mobile 6

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 19:47:42 Z

I´m trying to use my phone as a remote controll to windows media center on vista, with this guide as an help: http://merelyexisting.wordpress.com/2008/07/25/windows-mobile-media-center-remote-control/

Everything just work fine except when I´m trying to push the connect button on my phone. I keep getting this error message, saying "make sure your phone is paired with the computer over bluetooth" or something like that. What am I doing wrong? I do exactly as the guide says, but still nothing happens, I have tried to reinstall the program a couple of times too.

Sideshow on Acer Neo Touch (F1) messes with bluetooth

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 19:57:56 Z

After installing Sideshow on Acer Neo Touch (F1) bluetooth connection automatically gets enabled on every reboot. It did not happen on my HTC S730 ,so guess it's not normal behaviour? Or is something changed in latest version? It is for sure very annoying :(
WM 6.5 installed.

VERY Slow progress and maturity of SideShow!

Sun, 23 Mar 2008 15:30:27 Z

So I believe that SideShow is turning a year soon. I have seen the same articles about hardware in prototype phases, etc.. (Ricavision). The hardware that has been released even recently supporting SideShow is the same old simple stuff. The maturity just has not been there to get this to get this to catch on in my opinion. The opportunities that were written about a year ago were way beyond where we are today and that is a HUGE disappointment and I think ultimately the failure of this platform.

OS Desktop.. Yes gadgets on the desktop. Great.. been there done that.

Workstation/Laptop Hardware.. Some very spotty workstation and laptop sideshow pane/window deployments. Just no where even close to what it should have and could have been.

Remotes.. Again very spotty and just poor.

Appliances.. Promised but not delivered and again in my opinion the biggest failure of them all. Go take a look at the chumby (www.chumby.com). This should have been an immediate focus in the SideShow push after the OS desktop to really get the SideShow solutions to catch. I was excited at one point and they all failed to delivery past a prototype where they site today. HUGE potential here!

XBox360.. Why not?? I mean if we could develop and customize the delivery of the information that we want then we need to close the circle.

Sync.. Again close the circle. We put this effort into developing gadgets, selecting gadgets that provide us the relevant information. When I get home and park my car or start it up in the morning before leaving why not "Sync" so I can have that information show in my car while I listen to my MP3's.

Mobile... Hmm.. "Start Doing More". Again this one should be a no brainer. Some is there but not to the extent that SideShow content could provide. Funnel it through the Live.com capabilities that is fine just get the capability into the devices and ultimate the operating software on those devices whether it is windows mobile or windows vista get some consistency going to maximize the technology!!!!

This is a huge let down in my eyes to what could have been. Huge potential that nobody seems to be pushing on or doing anything about. Microsoft has a huge pipeline for resources of any kind but yet the follow through is all it takes and I just don't see it happening.

My 2cents. Hope that the SideShow team reads it and pushes on whomever and whatever to make it right.

Thank you.

Jason Rosenberg

Themes

Fri, 02 Oct 2009 04:02:38 Z

After downloading the SDK for the Micro framework and seeing that instead of just one simulator like the other SDK it has 3 different kinds which is great and all, even though the touch simulator seams to be a resource hog for some reason and its very slow and laggy on this Quad 3.0 CPU with 4gigs memory on Vista Ultimate, but thats not really the question.

On different sideshow platforms, the three simulators, and even the one for windows mobile, each has a different color 'theme', such as the SDK is nice and blue, and how you can switch the Touch Simulator from white to black, and even how the Mobile SideShow is a plain white background. I was told once that this is controlled my the manufacture or the sideshow device.

The problem is, is there a way i can see what the 'theme' is?
I need to have all my text black in order to see it on SideShow for Windows Mobile, but yet it is more readable if white on the SDK Simulators, and then the Touch Simulator can do both white and dark backgrounds, but yet if i switch to one i can read my text anymore, and who knows what colors other devices are using.

Is there away to have it to where my text can be shown? Like does each SideShow device has a default color setting?
Or is there a automatic way of using a white text on a black background? or Black on a white background?
I know i could add it on the menu to do it manually, but if that menu text color is wrong and you cant read it to switch it then that wont work.

any ideas?

SideShow Universal Driver document broken link

Thu, 08 Oct 2009 12:34:39 Z

Hello there!

I've been developing a ShowShow device that uses the Universal Driver. I have been using the document (Univ-Drv_SideShow.docx) reference here:
http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/device/sideshow/Univ-Drv_Sideshow.mspx

However, the link now appears broken, returning a 404.

Is this a deliberate removal that I should be worried about, or simply an oversight?

Sideshow driver 64 bit

Thu, 24 Sep 2009 13:03:43 Z

Hi

I want to compile our drivers to be used on Vista 64 bit (for now).
WDK used is 7600, tried build environment ia64 and amd64 too.
The compilation is successfull on both but the 64 bit Vista doesn't recognises the drivers.

Tried manual instalation (which works in x86) and the result is "the folder does not contain compatible software ... make sure it's designed to work with 64 bit ..."

The inf file what I use has x86, ia64 and amd64 entries but I also tried the generic aproach from the NoDevice generic sideshow driver with NT$ARCH$
The result is the same error.

Do I have to do something else too, am I missing something?

regards,
Barna Csenteri

Windows SideShow for Windows Mobile Troubleshooting

Mon, 02 Jun 2008 22:35:03 Z

Basic help - reply with any other questions you might have!

a. Phone fails to connect. It shows “Could not connect to PC” message within two minutes.

· Turn the phone on and off, and try again. In some cases, the PC may take a few minutes to reset after a failed connection attempt.

· Make sure the SideShow service is enabled. On your PC, click the Start button, click Control Panel, and then click Bluetooth Devices. Right-click the phone, and then select Properties. On the Services tab, make sure the SideShow service is selected, and press Connect again on your phone. If you do not see the SideShow service, make sure the SideShow application is running on your phone.

· Some phones require the PC to be discoverable to connect over the SideShow service. Click the Bluetooth Options tab in Bluetooth Devices and select the Allow Bluetooth devices to find this computer check box. Turn the phone off and on, open the Windows SideShow application again, and then click Connect.

· This release is not compatible with Toshiba Bluetooth drivers on the PC. If you have Toshiba Bluetooth drivers, you can uninstall them and download Microsoft Bluetooth drivers to operate Windows SideShow for Windows Mobile. To do this, open Device Manager on your PC, click Bluetooth Radios, right-click the Toshiba Bluetooth radio and click uninstall and delete drivers for this device. Then turn your Bluetooth radio off and on, or click the Action menu, and then select Scan for Hardware Changes. Windows will automatically download the drivers.

· This problem may occur if Bluetooth pairing has been initiated from the phone. Delete the pairing from the PC and the device, and then follow the setup instructions to begin pairing from the PC.

· If you are attempting to use the device in a crowded area with many Bluetooth devices nearby, try connecting the phone in an area with less interference.

b. Phone fails to connect. It shows a wait cursor indefinitely.

This is an indication that your phone has prevented the SideShow application from exposing the service in the registry, most likely because your service provider has locked the phone to outside applications.

c. Windows Media Player is not functioning reliably. Commands to play music sometimes do not result in different music playing, and some menus only show back and home instead of playback options.

This is a known issue. Trying to play music again, Turning the phone off and on, or initiating playback from different sections of the gadget (for example, browsing by album instead of by artist) may work.

d. Pages are coming up as not available, then refreshing to show the correct data a few seconds later.

This is a phone-specific performance issue. Running fewer applications on your phone and being closer to the PC may help solve this problem.

e. Encountering problems when the phone is paired to more than one PC.

In some cases, the phone may not function correctly when it is paired to more than one PC. If user data is not being cleared when pairing with the new PC, select Menu in the SideShow application, and then select Options. Choose the appropriate user name under Current User.

f. Poor performance. The phone is crashing. Menu and back buttons disappear.

Certain phones, including the Treo 700w, may crash or exhibit other undesirable behavior due to low memory conditions if they are turned on within Bluetooth range of the PC and when there is a lot of traffic to SideShow. Gadgets with large background images or applications running in the background may make the problem worse. If this happens, when turning on the phone within Bluetooth range of the PC, wait a minute to finish receiving SideShow data before opening the SideShow application. Running fewer applications on your phone may also help.

A minority of phones, including the O2 XDA Atom, will freeze periodically when using SideShow or when left idle with SideShow running. Certain phones may also crash when they wake up from hibernation while SideShow is running. There is currently no workaround for this.

g. The list of users is not updated when the user logs off the PC.

There is no workaround for this, although it should not cause problems in regular use.

h. After closing and re-opening Windows SideShow for Windows Mobile, there are multiple instances of the application active and shown in Running Programs.

There is no workaround for this, although it should not cause problems in regular use.

i. Certain gadgets stop responding when the PC is brought in and out of sleep, or do not send data when the phone is disconnected and reconnected.

This is generally a gadget-specific issue. To help verify whether problems are specific to gadgets or related to Windows SideShow for Windows Mobile, you may use a USB SideShow-compatible device, or the device simulator from http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=120427 .

Sideshow control missing in Control Panel of Windows 7 RC

Mon, 01 Jun 2009 11:15:45 Z

I've searched already through this forum but could not find help for my problem:
I cannot locate Sideshow control in Windows 7 RC Control Panel or in any othe place. I have already installed the WindowsSideShowManagedRuntime.msi package, I have a bluetooth device (this all worked nicely on the same computer under Vista). Also the Windows Mobile 6 PDA does not find the PC.
What am I missing?
Thanks for help in advance!

Menu selection events fired twice for one selection

Fri, 12 Jun 2009 18:32:08 Z

I seem to get MenuSelect fired twice for one menu selection. It is intermittent but is a problem for my gadget when it happens. This is also the case for ContextMenuSelect. This is on Vista with the Device Simulator if it makes a difference. Is there something I can do to avoid this? Thanks.

i-Mate Momento Digital Frame Driver for Windows Vista Sideshow

Wed, 02 Sep 2009 03:49:26 Z

I purchased the Momtento Digital Frame from i-Mate a couple of years ago and would now like to utilize the Windows Sideshow feature on that frame. However, since the frame has now been discontinued, I have been umable to locate the driver that is apparently needed in Windows Vista to communicate with the digital frame. While I am able to use the Wifi feature through Windows Media Center, I am unable to use the Sideshow gadgets, since Windows Vista dos not shoe the frame as a device in the control panel for Sideshow. Any help would be much appreciated.

Installing Windows SideShow for Windows Mobile

Mon, 02 Jun 2008 22:38:37 Z

Here's the most straightforward way to set up SS for WM. Reply if you have any installation hiccups.

Download and run WindowsSideShowForWindowsMobile.exe on your PC, and open the folder it was installed to.
Connect your phone to your computer over USB and select "Open device to view files".
If the .NET Compact Framework 2.0 or later is not installed on your device (it is not on most Windows Mobile 5 devices), install it:
1. Copy NETCFv2.wm.armv4i from the installation folder to the My Documents folder on your device.
2. On the phone, open File Explorer.
3. Open NETCFv2.wm.armv4i in File Explorer, and follow the instructions to restart the device.
Connect your PC to the Internet if it is not already connected.
Drag WindowsSideShowForWindowsMobile.CAB to the My Documents folder on the Windows Mobile device.
On the phone, open File Explorer.
In File Explorer, select WindowsSideShowForWindowsMobile.CAB in the My Documents folder. Click OK if you get a publisher warning. The program will install on your phone. Note: Installation adds a plug-in which allows you to see SideShow glance data on your Phone’s home screen. This may switch your layout from what you had previously. To toggle layouts, open the home or today screen settings page on your phone.
From your PC, pair and connect your phone over Bluetooth.
1. On the device, click the Start button, click Settings, click Connections, and then click Bluetooth. Turn Bluetooth on and make the phone discoverable.
2. On your Windows Vista PC, open the Bluetooth Devices control panel, and then click Add.
3. Select your device and click Pair. If you do not see your phone, make sure it is in discoverable mode, and that there is a Bluetooth adapter connected to your PC and turned on.
4. Select "Let me choose my own passcode", and then enter a passcode.
5. A dialog box will appear on the phone asking you to enter the passcode.
6. Enter the passcode and then press return. If notifications to enable other services come up, click Allow All Connections.
When a message appears on the PC to install driver software, click Locate and install driver software.
After the drivers install, go to your phone's home or today screen, where you will see the SideShow logo with the text not connected (you may have to scroll to see this). Select the text. If you do not see this text, click the Start button, click Programs, and then click Windows SideShow.
1. If you get an error saying you do not have the latest version of the .NET Compact Framework installed, perform step 3 to install the .Net Compact Framework. Remove and reinstall Windows SideShow for Windows Mobile by clicking Start, clicking Settings, clicking Remove Programs, clicking Windows SideShow, and then clicking OK. Then start again at step 7.
Wait a few seconds for the phone to connect. If it does not connect automatically, click the Connect button on the lower left. Your phone may take up to 30 seconds to connect. If the phone does not connect, try turning it off and on, and see the“Troubleshooting – Phone fails to connect” section in the readme.
Choose your user account on the phone, when prompted. You can change this later by clicking Menu.
1. If you do not see your username in the drop down, it may be due to an ActiveSync partnership using a domain and username different from that on the computer you are using.
Open the Windows SideShow control panel to pick gadgets to use on your phone. You can click the "Get more gadgets online" link at the bottom of the screen to access the Windows SideShow section of the Windows Live Gallery.

Now Playing info(VMCE sideshow gadget) not working on PPC, all others working properly

Mon, 01 Sep 2008 12:59:42 Z

Hi,

First i like to thank you all for the cool sideshow PPC (mobile 2005) plugin for Vista MCE.
All is working, accept the Now playing info on my PPC. That's a shame, because I have manualy shutdown VMCE( 1 week old ) and disconnct from Bt.
Is there a reason/solution for this?

Thanks in advance

Sizing and GetCapabilitiesForDevices

Sat, 25 Jul 2009 05:47:52 Z

Ok i have a question, i want to use my SideShow gadget across many devices at the same time.

The problem i am having is that each one is a different screen size and resolution, i read that you use GetCapabilitiesForDevices to find the sizes:
.GetScreenHeight() .GetScreenWidth() but GetCapabilitiesForDevices gets them as a Array depending on what devices are plugged in.

Is there away to connect the Array numbers, with the devices to then change the size depending on the devices it sends it to?

Like:
Send Device A the Image this Size
Send Device B the Image this Size
Send Device C the Image this Size

I know i can just have one device selected and use its size and i also know that i can sort through them all and get the smallest size so that they fit all of them but some sizes are drastically different between the devices.

Any ideas?

Sideshow help needed now.

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 22:54:49 Z

I need some more help. I was having a problem getting my tilt to connect to my computer and initiate the sideshow connection. Well I can get the windows mobile sideshow app to connect but only for about 2 seconds and then it disconnects again. I still have no user account to select from in the drop down box and if i do manage to get connected more that a second the screen sorta freezes on my tilt. I think the problem is that my phone can't stay connected to the pc through bluetooth long enough for sideshow to really realize that it's there. The only way I have been able to get as far as I am now is to connect to the computer through bluetooth activesync and that connects the phone to the pc long enough for things to progress a bit. If I don't then the phones tells me it is not connected and gives me an error message when i click connect. When I left my bt properties box open on the pc I could see where the phone would connect for 5 seconds and then disconnect, then connect for 5 more seconds, then disconnect, on and on, over and over. I don't know what is causing this but it needs to be discovered asap as I think it is the main reason that I can't use sideshow. So why is phone connecting for 5 seconds then disconnecting over and over? No one has ever given a complete answer as to why so many people cannot connect to sideshow and I don't know about u but I want answers now! I am going to figure this out asap but I need your help. Does anyone know why the phone cannot stay connected to vista more than 5 seconds repeatedly over bt? I also still don't have the sideshow option in bt option for my pc on the phone. So someone please help me asap. I am so close, I can feel it. Thanks.

Does or will SideShow in Windows 7 support the Play To Feature?

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 13:47:08 Z

I am interested if a SideShow remote type of device would be able to create a playlist and send it to a Play To compatible Device, or Windows 7 PC.

It seems to me that if you had low cost Acer Aspire Revo devices in multiple rooms you could use them much like the Slim Devices Duo setup, using a sideshow remote in place of the duo controller?

Anyone know if this is/could be made possbile?

Sideshow missing from Control Panel in 7 RC

Mon, 18 May 2009 17:48:34 Z

I have just about expended all the effort I want to put into this program.

I have set up everything the way it's supposed to be and the control panel on my laptop os still not showing the UI for sideshow.

Sideshow client crashes when installing on WM6.1

Sat, 30 May 2009 05:15:03 Z

After installing W7 on my laptop I wanted to try the sideshow with my WM6.1 TYTNII mobile phone to control the media center on lenovo x200 running W7 (build 7100) 64bit . Everything went fine until the installation on the WM6.1 phone got crashed, after rebooting sideshow appeared in the programs and even could run. But when trying to connect over bluetooth it gives the error can't connect , " make sure that this device is paired with the Pc over Bluetooth and .... " My phone is paired with the pc over bluetooth and mobile device center can connect...

One thing is that slideshow appears on the computer as a bluetooth service and its turned on but it does not appear on the WM6.1 device as a service in bluetooth settings.

Windows SideShow for Windows Mobile Developer Preview released!

Mon, 02 Jun 2008 22:20:46 Z

Today at TechReady 2008, we released the Windows SideShow for Windows Mobile Developer Preview, which you can download at http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=79f19684-f862-4e02-a2b0-0003b4565f34&displaylang=en .

Using this software, any Windows Mobile 5 or 6 phone can work as a Bluetooth-based SideShow device! We’ve got some favorite uses of it already, including using it to control PowerPoint presentations while viewing the speaker notes, using it as a remote control to Windows Media Player, and viewing RSS feeds on the road. Really, though, we’ve barely scratched the surface of what’s possible here, and developers have the opportunity to invent a whole new range of scenarios using the software and the Managed API SDK (see below) that allows Visual Basic and C# development, so we’re really excited to see what’s going to come out next!

This is a discussion thread for feedback and gadget ideas - I've created a seperate one for install help and known issues.

Toby Muresianu

Program Manager, Windows SideShow

sideshow setup failing

Thu, 23 Oct 2008 05:15:11 Z

I've got an att tilt with the latest 6.1 rom. I followed the instructions and everything goes fine until i get to the part where i have to hit connect on the phone. I hit connect and the phone goes from saying "the device is not connected to the computer" to " no gadgets are turned on". After that I went to sideshow on vista and when i open it i see 3 gadgets (inbox- windows mail, office outlook calender 2007, windows media player) and i see devices (none). That's really all I can do now, i can't seem to go any further. i really need some help guys. thanks.

Windows SideShow Bitmap Driver released on CodePlex!

Tue, 02 Dec 2008 18:00:09 Z

The SideShow team is excited to announce the Windows SideShow Bitmap Driver!

This is an open source project that we are hosting on CodePlex:

http://www.codeplex.com/SideShowBitmap

We have provided source code for a Driver and a Simulator. This solution renders pages on a computer and sends bitmap images to the SideShow-compatible device, so the device can be lower cost. This solution allows SideShow functionality to be easily adapted to existing, in-market hardware, in many cases without any hardware modifications. This solution differs from other SideShow solutions. Typically, the SideShow device would parse and render the SCF content. In contrast, the Windows SideShow Bitmap Driver is doing the parsing and rendering.

There are 2 major wins that this project brings to our partners and platform:

To tailor the driver for your device, you may download the source, alter the look and feel of the user interface as you see fit, and add different transports to the driver. In this sample Windows Rally technologies have been implemented including Plug and Play Extensions for Windows (PnP-x) and Device Profile Web Services (DPWS) as the transport. Because the heavy lifting (parsing and rendering of SCF XML) is handled by the driver, this project is very well suited for devices that have low CPU power or for devices that are always connected.
The Windows SideShow Bitmap Driver serves as the first published Simple Content Format (SCF) implementation! It allows you to port the code to your device so that it parses and renders SCF. Combine this with our recently published protocol for the Universal Driver for Windows SideShow, and you can quickly build a complete SideShow solution for your device.

We want the community involved! We want to hear your ideas for this driver, and we want your feedback. Check out our CodePlex site and get involved today!

Thank you!

Darryl Brown - MSFT

Win Mob via WiFi ?

Wed, 17 Dec 2008 23:48:11 Z

Hi,
I'd like to try out the sideshow on my Windows Mobile (v5) device but my home PC (Vista Ultimate) doesn't have Bluetooth :S

I know I can purchase a cheap USB Bluetooth "dongle" to add Bluetooth to my PC but is there any chance that we'll be able to do sideshow via WiFi soon on Windows Mobile ?

Even some digtial photo frames can do sideshow via WiFi so why not Windows Mobile ?
I imagine that more Win Mob devices have Bluetooth than WiFi...

Cheers,
Sam.

Confused sidebar sideshow

Fri, 29 May 2009 10:33:35 Z

Hi All

I am looking to develop one of the gadgets which is displayed on the right side in windows vista ( such as weather or shareprice which come pre installed ) now I think this is called a windows sidebar.

I would love to be able to develop such a thing using either c# or vb.net, the only thing I could find is the sideshow toolkit ( WindowsSideShowManagedRuntime.msi ) is this possible ?

Can someone help be understand what are advantages and disadvantages http://gallery.live.com/home.aspx there seems to be sideshow, sidebar, web, gadgets

Thanks
Paul

HAMA BT Driver problem

Sun, 26 Apr 2009 12:29:21 Z

Hi All,

seems I am in trouble installing the HAMA BT dongle on Windows 7 64bit.

It is a 00049229 Hama Bluetooth USB-Adapter, Version 2,0, Class 2

I tried both the Windows/Microsoft drivers and the one available on the vendor's website.

Currently the vendor one is installed, called:
Broadcom 2045 Bluetooth 2.0 USB Device with trace filter

I have bluetooth options / places now, but it can not detect and can not be detected at all.

I did set both my handheld (HTC Touch HD) and the PC to discoverable mode, but it does not help.

Any ideas on this?

Thanks.

Outlook Gadget - Is there a way to choose the inbox folder?

Tue, 28 Apr 2009 04:23:12 Z

Greetings,

I'm sure that many people like myself have multiple email accounts. With that in mind I was hoping that sideshow would allow me to monitor a specific email folder and let me know when new mail arrived there. However it would seem that the outlook gadget isn't capable of that.

So.... is it possible? Perhaps I missed a setting somewhere? Or is that something that's done better via "mobile notifications" in outlook?

Thanks!

How to pre-enable SideShow on Windows Mobile for the MCX1 Extender User to control the MCE Extender session.

Tue, 28 Oct 2008 23:06:21 Z

Hello all,

This is one of those features people are waiting for, controll the Xbox 360 Extender session without the use of your television. Currently I cannot find any remote controls who fulfill this need. The latest released gadgets (TV/Pictures/Music) all for the MediaCenter are working just fine. You only need to enable them for the logged on user, has stated in the manual, to use it with the MediaCenter Extender sessions you need a SideShow enabled device which is capeable to pre-enable the MCE gadget for you.

I tried to find the according registry entries and apply them by loading the ntuser.dat hive. No luck just to much changed going on when enableing the gadget. I tried to reset the password and start an InterActive session as the MCX1 user, no luck, I was trown out the RDP session just after the welcome screen (I was willing to do a restore of the MCX1 password afterwards)

Does somebody know a way to activare the Media Center Gadgets for a Windows Mobile 6.1. sideshow device? it shouldn't be that hard, I gues some people on the PDC 2008 congress in LA can do it

Best Regards, Tom from the Netherlands...

installation of sideshow to a HTC TYTN WM6 Professional

Sun, 07 Sep 2008 08:09:47 Z

Just tried installing sideshow onto my HTC TYTN which is running Windows Mobile 6 Professional and when i comes to opening the Bluetooth Devices control panel, then double-clicking your phone, and then clicking the Services tab, sideshow does not appear in the dialog box?

Ive tried unistalling and reinstalling the software and i followed the installation instructions word by word.

Please can someone point me in the right direction, i realise im probably doing something stupid wrong.

O yeh my PC is a Dell XPS 1330, i know there is a known problem with toshiba BT devices but i carnt seem to find wat brand is in my laptop.

Cheers

James

Slideshow service missing on PC/PDA

Wed, 22 Apr 2009 14:46:55 Z

All,

Since a week I am the owner of a Vista pc. I had the HTC Touch Diamond with WM6 already. After searching the internet to make my mobile a perfect remote, I came across the SideShow developer preview. I tried all procedures (off course the ones Ive found) and read the FAQ's to solve my problem, which is:

- After pairing my WM6 device with the PC, I cannot find the Slideshow service in my WM6 device (within the PC BT icon) or in my PC (within the WM6 BT icon). And it would not connect, of course.

The procedure I followed are as follows:
1. Installing the Vista BT drivers for Slideshow (which then shows as 1 weird character in the device control panel under the 'SlideShow driver' group.
2. Installing Generic BT device drivers from Microsoft (because I have a Toshiba BT stack)
3. Installing Slideshow.cab on the device,
4. Restarting WM6,
5. Pairing from the PC.
6. Disabling the 'Telephone' service within Vista, otherwise a 'Perepheral' device driver has to be installed, which cannot be found by Vista looking/updating through windows update.
7. And wait...

I tried the above procedure in several different orders; installing the cab on WM6 after pairing, etc.

My point is that I do not have any idea on which device it is going wrong, my PDA or my Vista PC (Premium). On both devices, the servcie Slideshow is missing.

I hope one of you professionals/insiders have any idea what is going wrong here.. If you know any possible way of solving this issue, it would be appreciated!

Thanks! Kind regards, Jeroen.

Cannot select primary user

Wed, 17 Sep 2008 07:06:25 Z

Hello,

I installed windows mobile sideshow on my Samsung Blackjack II windows mobile 6.1 smart phone.

My phone sucessfully connects to my computer via bluetooth, however the primary user list is not populated.

Who is the primary user?

I am running Windows Vista ultimate x64 SP1

Samsung Blackjack II with windows modile standard 6.1

When I checked the sideshow control panel applet it also show that my phone is connected to the device but when I click on the device it displays this message.

"You are not currently logged on as the user. To change settings, first log on to you user account on the device"

However as I mention before the user list is not populated on the device.

I checked the device manager and everything is fine..

In the control panel sideshow applet I have a few sideshow gadgets selected for my phone and the status of my phone is shown as "connected".

So, why can't i select or enter a primary on the phone?

+Bluetooth Radios

-- Dell Wireless 355C bluetooth 2.0 + EDR module

-- Microsoft Bluetooth Enumerator

-- Windows Mobile-based decive support

+Windows SideShow

--(The name of my phone)

Windows 7 - unable to turn on gadget sideshows.

Wed, 21 Jan 2009 19:31:32 Z

Sorry, I might be on the wrong forum but I am using Windows7 and Mobile 6.1.
I have no problem to connect my Toshiba g810 with my PC using Bluetooth.
Windows Sideshows seems to work fine on my device as I can choose my account, but then it says "No gadget are turned on.
In fact, the sole problem I have is that on my PC, I cannot turn on the sideshows. The radio button stay grey and I have no ability to turn them on. After a while, my device ask me again for my account on Sideshow.
I haven't try with Vista yet as I am a bit lazy :) to it so now.
Do you think I missed something or is it just Windows 7 that is still in beta that is teasing me?

Gadget didn't start on the Phone

Thu, 26 Mar 2009 07:40:31 Z

Hello,

When I installed the WM Sideshow i got the error: There is a problem with tmarshaller.exe.
But he end the installation and shows the Sideshow entry in the startfolder.

My Problem is that my phone always said: No gadget are turned on (I choosed the weather and the Mediaplayer plugin) and after a few minutes he go back to the screen where I can choose the account.
When I choosed a account and go to Options, Current User is blank. When I choose in the drop down menu the account click OK and go than again to the Options, Current User is blank again.

OS: Vista Ultimate
BT: Broadcom 2045 Bluetooth 2.0+EDR USB Dongle
Handy: WM 6.1 Samsung Omnia 900i
Connectet: Yes
Can choose Plugins: Yes
Active Sync: off

Can a gadget be displayed constantly?

Sun, 22 Mar 2009 08:54:48 Z

I've had my XPS 420 with its sideshow device for almost a year now. I haven't done much with the sideshow device, but I thought I'd get into developing some gadgets. These would probably be mostly for my own use unless I can come up with something I think others might be interested in. I thought I'd start with something simple like a gadget that displays the current time fullscreen on the display. It would be useful to me for when I'm playing games. I don't have any clocks nearby (I know, it would be easier to just get a clock), so I thought it would be nice to be able to glance down and see the time.

Before I get too deep into this, I've noticed on the XPS's sideshow device it only displays a gadget for a few minutes and then goes into a mode where it will display the installed gadgets one at a time for a few seconds each. If a button is pressed on the device, it will go back to displaying the previously selected gadget. Is this the standard way sideshow devices behave or is this specific to the XPS? Is there some way to make the gadget be displayed constantly or have the gadget application communicate with the sideshow device to redisplay the gadget? The XPS 420 comes with a nice processor status gadget that can display several things including CPU load. It would be nice if it didn't switch away from the graph after a few minutes.

Thanks in advace.
-JT

SideShow Query

Thu, 12 Mar 2009 07:24:31 Z

Requirement:
1. To test the SideShowConsole application on the ARM based target running WinCE5.0
2. Install the Windows live gadgets on Vista machine and test it on the target platform.

Steps taken:
For SideShow Support in WinCE5.0 following steps needs to be done:
1. Install Platform Builder for Windows CE 5.0.
2. After you install it for the first time, launch Platform Builder for Windows CE 5.0 once, and then close it.
3. Install all current updates for Windows CE 5.0 at this Microsoft Web site.
4. Install SideShow by double-clicking Windows SideShow For Microsoft Windows CE 5.0.msi.

Enabled the "Support for SideShow over USB connections" in WinCE

When the SideShow Enabled device (SideShow USB Transport selected in WinCE5.0) is connected to Windows Vista PC, It was asking for Windows SideShow driver.

Q1. Whether Microsoft provides this Windows SideShow Driver?
Q2. We installed the SideShow SDK in that universal driver, and when driver was asked we pointed to universal driver in SDK, but it was not taken. Can we use the Universal Driver for SideShowConsole Application?

We installed the SideShow Simulator in the Vista Machine, then when the SideShow Enabled device was connected, The driver for the device was loaded but error was reported after few seconds (Code 10)

On the target side, in the SideShowConsole applicatiojn, the connection was established, but the user was not selected.

Q3. Are we missing any important steps?
Q4 For the windows live gadgets, do we need to write application on the target device side i.e, the User Interface has to be written depending upon the gadget that needs to be supported.
Q5. If User Interface is required, Is it possible to cross compile the Windows SideShow Simulator for my ARM platform, so that I can use it just like on my vista machine?

help, about Sideshow and PnP-X

Mon, 09 Mar 2009 02:21:38 Z

I am a BIOS engineer, I am studying to build a SideShow device, this device will connect to my vista computer via TCP/IP network, I decide to use PnP-x to connect the Sideshow driver and Sideshow device. after studying the PnP-X, I think I can use the uPnP APIs. but I am confused, I want to know whether I should use uPnP control APIs on driver or on device side. who can clarify it for me?
thanks

daming

Seeking SideShow beta testers for Windows Mobile, iPhone/iPod Touch, Nintendo DS/Wii, PSP/PS3, and Java ME

Mon, 25 Feb 2008 06:53:30 Z

If you have any of the following devices and would like to use SideShow on them, please sign up for our beta program:

Windows Mobile
Apple iPhone/iPod Touch
Java-enabled phone
Sony Playstation Portable (PSP)
Nintendo DS
Sony Playstation 3 (PS3)
Nintendo Wii

http://www.controlthink.com/thinkremote/

We have limited slots available, but will be awarding invites on an ongoing basis. If you are a hard-core beta tester, are developing SideShow gadgets, and would like to be involved in some of the "earlier" SideShow betas we're working on, please e-mail me separately after signing up so I can flag your submission

Thanks!

Chris

---

Chris Walker, VP/CTO

ControlThink

WoW Armory Gadget now available!

Sat, 14 Jun 2008 17:40:57 Z

The World of Warcraft Armory gadget for Windows SideShow is now available on the Live Gallery. Shows information for your character and up to 10 friends. Includes your character stats, full inventory, reputation levels, and more.

Full details are on my SideShow gadget blog.

Please let me know if you like it and pass it along to your friends.

Disclaimer: This is not an official Microsoft product.

Sideshow for Mobile RTM?

Sat, 03 Jan 2009 15:36:31 Z

Hi,
Haven't used Sideshow for Mobile lately so I redownloaded the preview and when I fire it up, I get "This version has expired. Please install RTM."

Can't seem to find a newer release then the dev preview.
Any help is appreciated.

Alemaker

Symbian?

Wed, 04 Mar 2009 14:59:18 Z

Hi guys :)

I have a smartphone running symbian and I am dying to try sideshow out with it, will this be possible anytime soon?

I already have it running on my windows mobile device and I love it!

Thanks,

Paul.