Everything you wanted to know about XBMC, but were afraid to ask....

One of the important things to know about XBMC is the back-end of the application is an XML database. What this means is that it can update itself using scrapers to update information as new items are added to the database, for instance a movie. The important trick is to name files to be scraped according to the convention that the scrapers will recognise when searching online databases. An example would be the movie Scarface. Now there are actually two versions of this movie so in order to correctly scrape the information for the correct title the format is 'name' '[year]' which in this case for the Al Pacino version would be: Scarface [1983] . You can also optionally put an imdb title if the movie is still not found, but any other extraneous information i.e. a group name if it was a torrent file or whether it is HD, SD or a screener etc, in the title will only serve to confuse the scrapers.

Of course the other way to use XBMC is as a streaming service ala Netflix et al, and there are some very powerful addons which can stream just about any content your little heart desires. The easiest way to do this is to install fusion into XBMC. This link: http://www.xbmchub.com/blog/fusion-e...tion-for-xbmc/ gives a step by step walk through for installing fusion.

Speaking of Netflix- what is the current state of success with that one? Looked into it, but what I came across sounded more like heartbreak than ease. Maybe the info I read was old(-ish).

You can install and configure Netflix within XBMC if you have an account and really really want to, it is a little bit t more protracted than using fusion. It can still be done and like any other addon that is not supported directly by XBMC or the fusion installer the NetfliXBMC addon is configured by installing it (plus a couple of other addon's) from the zipfile option. Once you understand how to manually install addon programs into XBMC it is relatively easy, it just seems scary at first.

Will do some basics first, then try Netflix. We use it a lot, and the kids (yes, I said both of 'em :O ) are pretty good at navigating it.

Interface is pretty dated on the plugin. Much better on almost everything else. And plugin not as smart with inconsistent bandwidth (stalls out).

I wish that xmbc or plex would start to make this shit happen so it can go through a supported development. Especially plex since they're making money from their plex pass members. I doubt netflix would care.

Ok so I could go through the steps, but lifehacker oh so helpfully have an article on their site which explains (with pretty pictures) the steps to configure Netflix for XBMC:

http://lifehacker.com/netflixbmc-bri...x-t-1484237283

NetfliXBMC is pretty slick. I just wish there was a way to have the video play back within XBMC itself instead of it opening a browser directly to the video like it does now. It does work better than any other add-on solution I've tried though, so I guess I can't complain.

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Originally Posted by WWWebmaster

NetfliXBMC is pretty slick. I just wish there was a way to have the video play back within XBMC itself instead of it opening a browser directly to the video like it does now. It does work better than any other add-on solution I've tried though, so I guess I can't complain.

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The other choice is to buy a Chromecast dongle and use that standalone, separate to XBMC, but once again the Chromecast uses the chrome browser to run content on a PC (or a Mac).
It is more convenient to control the Chromecast from a tablet or phone though.

So what are the "must haves" of xbmc?

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Originally Posted by megabyteme

So what are the "must haves" of xbmc?

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Hardware or addons?

I was actually thinking of making a separate fred to discuss hardware recommendations.