File path for network drive

I currently have XBMC installed on my original xbox. I just recently heard of your application. I am planning on building a xbmc linux pc in the future and would like to put all the data for my movie files in the same location using your application I have a few questions.

First off, my media files are stored on a different PC in the location of U:\DVD Library\. Each movie is in a separate folder inside that directory. The media files are either .wmv or .avi (xvid) files. My Question is, should the media path for these files be as follows for my xbox (or new pc) be U:\DVD Library\<movie folder>\<movie file.avi> or should it say //<computer_name/DVD Library/<movie folder>/<movie file.avi>? My concern is if the location is only local to the pc in which the storage device is connected - which I do not want.

My next question, is once all the data (fanart, thumbnails, nfo) is create, how do I go about used this data instead of having XBMC re-query for this content. Normally, i just add an SMB location into XBMC. Then i define the context to "Movies" using IMDB. Then I have to "scan content" to get the data into the library mode. Is this process still needed?

Welcome to the Wedia Companion forums

To answer your first question, the easiest way to set XBMC up to recognise the paths is from within XBMC itself. Make sure that the folders containing your media have permissions that will allow XBMC to access them, this can be either simple filesharing or secure and need a username and password, then from XBMC Video Section select add source, and browse to your media folder(s) and add them. If you do use secure filesharing then the username and password can be added in XBMC preferences and will then only need to be added once.

As for your second, you still need to tell XBMC to scan for new content, if XBMC finds a media file with an associated .nfo, .tbn, and -fanart.jpg, it will use these files as its source and doesn't use the internet. This has 2 big advantages over scraping from the internet, (1) scraping from an nfo file located on a network is much faster than scraping the websites, and (2) XBMC will no longer get the wrong movie.

The only thing that the above doesn't apply 100% to at the moment is actor thumbnails, XBMC still needs to download these from the internet, the url of each thumbnail is stored in each nfo file so no scraping is neccessary, but if cast thumbnails are enabled XBMC will download these images. There is something in the works though, that would allow these thumbnails to be stored locally by Media Companion aswell.

Thanks for the quick reply. So, it sounds like the path that stored in the nfo file (ie. U:\DVD Library\<movie title>\<movie file.avi> does really matter. That path is only used on the windows machine running the XBMC companion. Once I setup the content through my xbox or new XBMC pc, that machine will know the current file locations ( something I am used to doing).

I did give your program a try last night. Everything seemed to work well. The only problem I seem to be experiencing with the application is I cannot scrape any fanart. I tested this for about 16 movies. I enabled the fanart option from the configuration menu. In addition, I also used the tools menu to try and grab fanart from there. For all the movies, it was a no go. Is there something I am missing?

dbldown768 wrote:

Thanks for the quick reply. So, it sounds like the path that stored in the nfo file (ie. U:\DVD Library\<movie title>\<movie file.avi> does really matter. That path is only used on the windows machine running the XBMC companion. Once I setup the content through my xbox or new XBMC pc, that machine will know the current file locations ( something I am used to doing).

I did give your program a try last night. Everything seemed to work well. The only problem I seem to be experiencing with the application is I cannot scrape any fanart. I tested this for about 16 movies. I enabled the fanart option from the configuration menu. In addition, I also used the tools menu to try and grab fanart from there. For all the movies, it was a no go. Is there something I am missing?

What version are you using, old versions got fanart from the meligrove website which is no more unfortunately. I've just tested the latest version (2.085) and it works fine, it is available from the announcements forum, or as from earlier today, the main Media Companion website which has just today been given a big overhaul.

It should also be noted that not all movies have fanart, Media Companion should find some if it is available, the website is here, if you want to check a particular movie

Ill have to check what version I using when I get home. I know i grabbed it from your home pages yesterday - this was before the update to the new style. Maybe I clicked on an old link. Thanks for your help, hopefully I will get everything working once I get home from work.