(How can I?) Central library at home, local library when on the go

elmerohueso · 2012-09-01 03:51

I use a shared, central at home, shared between all my devices. However, when I take my laptop on trips, I still want to use XBMC to access local content and plugins. Has anyone come up with a way to do this, in Windows, that doesn't involve manually renaming/moving advancedsettings.xml each time I leave or come home?
I've also got XBMC on my Android tablet, so does anyone know how to do the same thing in Android?
I know XML isn't a programming language, but I'm wondering if XBMC will utilize XLS if/case statements. Maybe then, I could have the advancedsettings check for the existence of my server and then choose the appropriate library.

Josh1454 · 2012-09-01 05:03

Easiest way is to create different XBMC user profiles, one for "Home" with sources pointing to your central library and another for "Away" with sources pointing to your local library.

elmerohueso · 2012-09-01 05:10

When I say central library, I mean using MySQL, not just shared sources. AFAIK, central databases setup this way can't be assigned to a specific profile as the DB settings are set in advancedsettings.xml. If I'm away from home and leave my settings alone, XBMC won't even boot because it can't find my DB.

**thrak76** · 2012-09-01 05:16

Josh1454 hit on the right answer.

http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=profiles

Everything in the userdata folder can be changed for each profile. The advancedsettings.xml, and the sources.xml are both kept in you userdata folder.

Josh1454 · 2012-09-01 05:18

Ah I see, I think I read a solution to this while setting up my own MySQL backend. Perhaps it's in one of my bookmarks... Good luck to you in the mean time!

Edit: Looks like thrak76 beat me to it! Smile

elmerohueso · 2012-09-01 05:51

So, I would set up two different profiles, each pointing to different profile folders, and set the one using a local DB as the default profile?

Josh1454 · 2012-09-01 05:54

Sounds about right. I found this how-to thread that might be helpful. It's written for iPad users but the principle is the same.

James321 · 2012-09-04 08:34

Totally agree with Josh1454. I think he just gave you the answer you wanted Big Grin

elmerohueso · 2012-09-04 16:17

Yep, I already acknowledged that. The problem I kept running into was that, as long as the master profile pointed to my central DB, even if the log in screen was turned on, XBMC wouldn't boot unless it could see the remote DB. That's why I didn't think the solution would work. However, once I assigned a *secondary* profile to use the central DB instead of the master profile, it worked.

**thrak76** · 2012-09-04 17:31

I'm glad that it worked out for you.

Profiles are pretty neat, and very useful for a family machine! I'd never tried them in the manner you're using (local and remote sources), so I learned from this thread too.

Josh1454 Junior Member Posts: 13 Joined: Jul 2012 Reputation: 1	2012-09-01 05:03 Post: #2 Easiest way is to create different XBMC user profiles, one for "Home" with sources pointing to your central library and another for "Away" with sources pointing to your local library.
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elmerohueso Member Posts: 98 Joined: Jul 2011 Reputation: 1	2012-09-01 05:10 Post: #3 When I say central library, I mean using MySQL, not just shared sources. AFAIK, central databases setup this way can't be assigned to a specific profile as the DB settings are set in advancedsettings.xml. If I'm away from home and leave my settings alone, XBMC won't even boot because it can't find my DB.
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thrak76 Moderator Posts: 1,102 Joined: Mar 2011 Reputation: 21 Location: Lake Michigan Shoreline	2012-09-01 05:16 Post: #4 Josh1454 hit on the right answer. http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=profiles Everything in the userdata folder can be changed for each profile. The advancedsettings.xml, and the sources.xml are both kept in you userdata folder. Quick Links: [Debug Log] [userdata] [advancedsettings.xml] [Add videos to the Library] [Import/Export]
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Josh1454 Junior Member Posts: 13 Joined: Jul 2012 Reputation: 1	2012-09-01 05:18 Post: #5 Ah I see, I think I read a solution to this while setting up my own MySQL backend. Perhaps it's in one of my bookmarks... Good luck to you in the mean time! Edit: Looks like thrak76 beat me to it! (This post was last modified: 2012-09-01 05:19 by Josh1454.)
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elmerohueso Member Posts: 98 Joined: Jul 2011 Reputation: 1	2012-09-01 05:51 Post: #6 So, I would set up two different profiles, each pointing to different profile folders, and set the one using a local DB as the default profile?
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Josh1454 Junior Member Posts: 13 Joined: Jul 2012 Reputation: 1	2012-09-01 05:54 Post: #7 Sounds about right. I found this how-to thread that might be helpful. It's written for iPad users but the principle is the same.
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James321 Junior Member Posts: 3 Joined: Sep 2012 Reputation: 0	2012-09-04 08:34 Post: #8 Totally agree with Josh1454. I think he just gave you the answer you wanted
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thrak76 Moderator Posts: 1,102 Joined: Mar 2011 Reputation: 21 Location: Lake Michigan Shoreline	2012-09-04 17:31 Post: #10 I'm glad that it worked out for you. Profiles are pretty neat, and very useful for a family machine! I'd never tried them in the manner you're using (local and remote sources), so I learned from this thread too. Quick Links: [Debug Log] [userdata] [advancedsettings.xml] [Add videos to the Library] [Import/Export]
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