steve1977 67 Posted December 29, 2014 Share Posted December 29, 2014 I may be overlooking something major, but one idea just came to me. MBS is acting as DLNA server. Wouldn't the easiest way to have the full MBS experience on XBMC on RPi be to further develop the DLNA server functionality? This should avoid the need from using an python addon and thus be much faster. DLNA/UPNP will continue to see a lot of attention within XBMC as the developers' plan is to upgrade its functionality for shared database and ultimately replace its current mysql solution. Am I missing something or could this be the ultimate solution for a fast access to MBS library on a RPi? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke 37068 Posted December 29, 2014 Share Posted December 29, 2014 both have their benefits. it makes sense to pursue both to make them the best they can be. improving performance of the add-on creates benefits for every device, not just Pi. Similarly, improving the server's dlna benefits everyone in addition to Kodi users. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve1977 67 Posted December 29, 2014 Author Share Posted December 29, 2014 Thanks for your quick reply. Would it be possible to "marry" the initiatives. The XBMC3C addon does a lot more than just playing movies. It is fully integrated into XBMC skins and has a variety of features. I was just thinking whether the addon could rely on DLNA/UPNP to access the MBS library, in which case it may be even faster? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xnappo 1593 Posted December 29, 2014 Share Posted December 29, 2014 Can you explain more? I think you can already browse DLNA with Kodi, you won't get all the metadata though, and from what I understand that isn't anything we can work around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve1977 67 Posted December 29, 2014 Author Share Posted December 29, 2014 From what I know from using the XBMC3C addon is that it does a lot more than just allowing to browse the MBS library. I am particularly thinking of three things: 1) Full filtering options (by year, by genre, etc.), 2) full integration into the XBMC skins (accessing MBS movie library when clickign movies on main screen, seeing recently added movies on home screen, etc.), 3) Syncing watch flags. I am quite sure that there was more that the addon does, but these were the things top-of-mind. Not sure whether this makes any sense to have the addon work based on upnp to access the library and whether it even speeds things up? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xnappo 1593 Posted December 29, 2014 Share Posted December 29, 2014 (edited) It is really processing all the meta data that takes the time. There isn't any way to write an AddOn to use UPNP right now. We will keep an eye on the XBMC thread you are participating in (http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=212196) if they start to have the ability to sync UPNP and the database. Have you tried just connecting to UPNP through XBMC? I haven't, but based on other systems it may well be a good Pi solution. I believe when using UPNP the server will handled watched status etc. xnappo Edited December 29, 2014 by xnappo 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xnappo 1593 Posted December 29, 2014 Share Posted December 29, 2014 (edited) Yeah, I just tried it - it works really, really well on the Pi! If you use a skin like Nox4 with editable menus - you could definitely get a nice little setup going. Edited December 29, 2014 by xnappo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve1977 67 Posted December 29, 2014 Author Share Posted December 29, 2014 I think you can already browse DLNA with Kodi, you won't get all the metadata though, and from what I understand that isn't anything we can work around. Btw, I missed the last sentence. I thought there are ways to get more (if not even all) metadata? Isn't this something that is part of the DLNA server, so not influencable by the addon, but influencable by MBS? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve1977 67 Posted December 29, 2014 Author Share Posted December 29, 2014 It is really processing all the meta data that takes the time. There isn't any way to write an AddOn to use UPNP right now. We will keep an eye on the XBMC thread you are participating in (http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=212196) if they start to have the ability to sync UPNP and the database. Yup, I just posted there today and hope that this will get some traction. There are dozens fragmented threads on this topic. Some people are asking for Plex to be integrated as a server and (if this works) so should MBS be integretable. This would be fantastic. If Kodi really goes down this path, this would be the full marriage with MBS!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xnappo 1593 Posted December 29, 2014 Share Posted December 29, 2014 I have no idea - please research what fields Kodi excepts and post it. My understanding is it is fairly limited. xnappo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xnappo 1593 Posted December 29, 2014 Share Posted December 29, 2014 @@Luke - is there some configuration for what clients can except that needs to be done to get more metadata? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke 37068 Posted December 29, 2014 Share Posted December 29, 2014 i have very little knowledge of Kodi's upnp implementation. marcjero can elaborate. i'm not sure i'd recommend this because it doubles your work. so half the time you're going to use the MBS api, the other half use Upnp? That's a lot of work. You'd probably want to just switch completely to Upnp and then use MBS to fill in what's missing. I hope you have a nice abstraction layer for your skins (something nullpointer and I have encouraged)..or you'll have to be prepared to break them all in order to do this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xnappo 1593 Posted December 29, 2014 Share Posted December 29, 2014 (edited) No - this would be an alternative to the addon for low-end devices like the Pi. There isn't any way to do both. I have zero interest in this - the addon is plenty fast on any reasonable machine - but I know others like these low end things. Edited December 29, 2014 by xnappo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve1977 67 Posted December 30, 2014 Author Share Posted December 30, 2014 Good points, let me look into dlna/upnp and what is working once back to my computer. I have zero interest in this - the addon is plenty fast on any reasonable machine - but I know others like these low end things. Let me elaborate briefly about the charm of the RPi. Actually, I am also very annoyed that it is so low-end. It has two very unique features that no other htpc is offering (or at least not at ease as the RPi): 1) CEC - isn't it great that I can just use my tv remote for my htpc? No other htpc offers this functionality except the RPi. Work-arounds for non-RPi include buying a big ugly cable/adapter, but even with this it is buggy. 2) Auto-switching to 3D mode - when watching 3D movies in HSBS or HTAB, the RPi sends a signal to the television to switch the mode and switch it back to 2D after watching the computer. Also this feature exists only for the RPi and other script-based work-arounds are very complex and not particularly stable. Nothing of above changes your statements and I very much appreciate everything the addon can do and the recent speedup is excellent. Just wanted to share FYI what gets people excited about the RPi beyond its cheap price. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vidman 589 Posted December 30, 2014 Share Posted December 30, 2014 FYI while not quite as cheap as the rpi for around 100 dollars mini neo Android boxes do both of the above Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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