RadioSherpa Apple Dashboard Widget

About | System Requirements | DOWNLOAD | Installation Instructions | Usage Instructions | Uninstallation Instructions | Known Issues | Questions?

ABOUT

RadioSherpa Widget brings terrestrial radio to your dashboard along with real-time program listings. The feature list includes:

• 50+ stations from New York, Boston, San Francisco
• Includes new commercial-free HD2 Radio Stations
• Real-time radio listings
• Customizable station list by city and genre
• Automatic tagging integrated with iTunes
• Universal audio format support with VLC media player for Mac
• Automatic update check

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

• Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger is required..
• VLC media player for Mac OS X 0.8.6c and higher.

INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS

1. VLC Web Browser Plug-in

   1. VLC Web Browser Plug-in is required for playing audio. Download one of the following:

      • Intel version
      • Power PC- version

   2. Double click the downloaded .dmg file (vlc-0.8.6c-powerpc.dmg). It will get mounted in Finder as vlc-plugin-0.8.6c-powerpc.

   3. The mounted disk image contains a .pkg file (VLC Internet Plug-in.pkg). Double click on that file and follow the on-screen instructions.

      Please note even if you already have VLC player installed, it is still necessary to install the VLC web browser plug-in.

2. RadioSherpa Widget

   1. Download the widget by clicking on the following link: RadioSherpa.wdgt.zip.

   2. If you are using Safari, skip to Step 6 below. If you are using a browser other than Safari, continue with Step 3.

   3. It will be downloaded to your desktop, or the location you've specified in your browser's preferences.

   4. Double click the .zip file to extract RadioSherpa.wdgt.

   5. Double click the extracted file with widget icon to install it in Dashboard.

   6. The widget installer will ask if you wish to install the widget. Click the "Install" button.
      

   7. Next, the installer will ask if you wish to save the widget. Click the "Keep" button to save the widget.
      

   8. [OPTIONAL] Detaching Widget
      
      
      • If you would like to keep the RadioSherpa widget permanently on your desktop, as shown above, you can do the following:
        • Open a Terminal and type "defaults write com.apple.dashboard devmode YES" and press RETURN key.
        • Log out and log back in.
        • Enter Dashboard by pressing F12 (or any key assigned to Dashboard).
        • Start dragging the widget by holding the mouse button down.
        • Press F12 again, before letting up on the mouse button.
        • Place the widget wherever you want it.
        
        It is important to note that these steps would work for any widget. For instance, I have placed Calendar and RadioSherpa widgets on my desktop.
        Keeping the widget in the foreground has an important use: you can reload the widget by pressing Command-R.
        
      
      
      • If you want to remove the RadioSherpa widget from desktop, you can do the following:
        • Start dragging the widget by holding the mouse button down.
        • Enter Dashboard by pressing F12 (or any key assigned to Dashboard).
        • Let got the mouse button.
        • Press F12 again to exit the dashboard.
      
      
      • If you want to disable the devmode, you can do the following:
        • Open a Terminal and type "defaults write com.apple.dashboard devmode NO" and press RETURN key.
        • Log out and log back in.
        
        This section of the documentation was written based on an article in MAC OS X hints.

USAGE INSTRUCTIONS

1. Flip the widget over by clicking its info button at the top right corner.

2. Choose a city and/or genre.
   

3. Press the "Done" button to return to the front.

4. Now, choose a station to play.
   

5. Your selected station will automatically start to play.

6. If you like a song, you can buy it from iTunes store by pressing the iTunes button .

7. Btw, you can run multiple instances of the widget to see what is playing on your favorite radio stations. (Obviously, you can turn off the audio on all but on the one that you would like to listen to.)
   
   ENJOY!!

UNINSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS

You can uninstall the RadioSherpa widget by performing the following steps:

1. Enter Dashboard by pressing F12 (or any key assigned to Dashboard).
2. Click on the '+' sign on the lower left corner of your screen.
3. The Dashboard will show the link "Manage Widgets". Click the "Manage Widgets" link to see a list of widgets installed on your system.
4. Scroll down to locate RadioSeherpa Widget and you can do one of the following:
   • Disable - Uncheck the checkbox next to the RadioSherpa Widget. This will keep the widget from loading, however, it will be on your computer and you can re-enable it, if you wish.
   • Delete - Click the red circle icon (with a line through it) next to the RadioSherpa widget. This will completely delete the widget from your system.
5. if your are not able to uninstall through your Widget manager, you can do that manually by deleting RadioSherpa.wdgt folder from "/Library/Widgets" (if installed as a system widget) or from "/Users/YOUR-LOGIN/Library/Widgets".

KNOWN ISSUES

The RadioSherpa has the following unresolved issues:

1. Occasionally, the widget loses connection with the radio stations' streaming servers. You will notice that the audio is broken and is barely audible. Usually, the widget automatically resynchronizes with in a minute. If it is frozen or doesn't reconnect properly, you can reload the widget by pressing Command-R. Most of the times, it would fix the issue.

QUESTIONS?

If you have any questions, pls free to contact us at widgets AT radiosherpa DOT com.