What is XMTracker?

XMTracker is a service offered by a few web sites that will dynamically generate a "signature" used to tell the world what you're currently listening to on your XMPCR.  If you've visited any of the unofficial XM fan site message boards, you've probably seen people parading around with something like this at the end of their posts:

How does it work?

Each time the song you are listening to changes, XtreMe PCR will attempt to send the channel, artist, and title information to one of the known XMTracker servers. 

For the technically curious, this information is transmitted via an HTTP request on port 80 to the server configured within XtreMe PCR's setup screens.  If your firewall software suddenly pops up telling you that XtreMePCR.exe is attempting to access the Internet on port 80, you've probably got this option enabled.  If you prohibit this access to the Internet, your signature information will not be updated.  If you have this situation occurring, and you did not intend to share this information with the world, you should disable the XMTracker integration within the setup screens (it is disabled by default on a new installation).

To make this work, you need the following:

• An XMPCR (XM Satellite Radio PC Receiver)
• A live connection to the Internet while listening
• A registered account at one of the tracker servers.  At the time of this writing, I knew of two: XMNation (http://www.xmnation.net) and XMFan (http://www.xmfan.com).  Registration is free at both sites.
• A willingness to share this information with the Internet at-large.  This is not for the paranoid -- people WILL be seeing what you're listening to.  Depending on the tracker service, this information may or may not be shared with XM Satellite Radio.  XtreMe PCR does not currently offer a tracking service...  all channel/song/title transactions are done to 3rd party web sites.  People will see that you're currently listening to Michael Jackson and N'Sync.  They may even laugh at you.  I cannot guarantee anything.

That's great, how the heck do *I* make it work?

Getting your signature onto your posts is a multi-step process.  There are quite a few variables involved, so a bit of patience will be required.

• The first thing to do is to register an account at one of the XMTracker sites (see How does it work? section, above).  You will need your user name and password handy for one of these sites in order to continue.

• With your account name and password handy, load up XtreMe PCR, click on the "Options" menu item from full-view mode, then select "Settings...".  Expand the Internet tree by clicking the "Plus" sign, then click on "XMTracker".  You should come to a screen that looks like this:

• In the "XMTracker Site" drop-down, select the appropriate site.  The site you choose here must be the site where you have registered an account.  If you are attempting to disable XMTracker integration, select "Disable XMTracker Integration" from the site drop-down.

• In the "User Name" and "Password" fields, enter the user name and password that you registered at the XMTracker site.

• Unless you are an expert user, no other configuration needs to be done on this screen.  If you are an expert user, you will either not need these instructions, or your questions would be best answered by posting a message at the XtreMe PCR Forums.  Click "OK" to save the new configuration.

• The next step is to tell the message board you are posting to to use the signature information that is generated.  Here is where you'll need to poke around a bit with each message board's interface -- they are all a little bit different.

• You need to first register an account with the message board you're posting to (if you do not have a registered account, you cannot create a custom signature).

• Log into the message board where you will be using the signature.  You need to locate the "User Profile" settings for your account.  The table below has direct links to a few message boards: