+- Kodi Community Forum (https://forum.kodi.tv)
+-- Forum: Support (https://forum.kodi.tv/forumdisplay.php?fid=33)
+--- Forum: Tips, tricks, and step by step guides (https://forum.kodi.tv/forumdisplay.php?fid=110)
+--- Thread: HOW-TO synchronize your XBMC Media Center between every room in the house: Lifehacker (/showthread.php?tid=80829)
- svenh - 2011-07-09
kiboy6 Wrote:Is there any reason not to just create a symbolic link to the main machine's Appdata folder for all machines on the network? (ie not bothering with MySQL at all)
This works just fine for me, albeit with a noticeable slow down. Would the slow down be avoided if I went down the MySQL route? Or is that inevitable if sharing a large database with 100s of images over the network?
The database only stores the library information, like what titles you have, where you last were in the title etc. It does not store the large images for fanart etc.
I have wondered the same thing after I set up the Mysql stuff, but I have relatively minimal amounts of content (like 30 movies, and maybe 700 tv episodes or so).
The only downside to doing it the way you have it is that you are putting all the strain on one machine as opposed to spreading it out a bit; also, if you were to lose that machine everything would be gone.
What I opted to do was to simply use Dropbox to sync the fanart/thumbnails etc between the two XBMC pcs that I have. It works pretty well once the initial sync is done, and it is cross platform which worked the best for me!
I put together a little post here:
http://xbmcstuff.tumblr.com/post/7400497711/syncing-thumbnails-dropbox-style
- tboooe - 2011-07-09
svenh Wrote:What I opted to do was to simply use Dropbox to sync the fanart/thumbnails etc between the two XBMC pcs that I have. It works pretty well once the initial sync is done, and it is cross platform which worked the best for me!
I put together a little post here:
http://xbmcstuff.tumblr.com/post/7400497711/syncing-thumbnails-dropbox-style
I like this idea. Currently I am using symbolic links for my "clients" with one main XBMC "server" storing the thumbnails folder. My main issue with this is the delay caused by the clients accessing he thumbnails folder over my network. I like the idea of this dropbox method because it allows each instance of XBMC to have its own local thumbnail folder.
Question, have you seen any delay when you make a change on one machine for Dropbox to sync? My limited experience has shown Dropbox to be fairly quick with syncs.
- svenh - 2011-07-11
Once the initial sync is done with, any extra artwork is pretty fast to sync. I have not really played with it too much to find out what the delay is, but usually, like you said dropbox realizes the files aren't matching across the instances and syncs it right away.
If you have to navigate the menu from one item to another, I would assume that that is enough time to sync it up. Especially since it can sync locally without having to do it over the Internet.
- PetSue - 2011-07-13
Can anyone please tell me if this works for the Apple TV 1 & 2 as I was told it's not working yet for the 2?
Thanks
- PetSue - 2011-07-16
Anyone please?
- mrdally204 - 2011-07-16
Apple tv 2 uses a new version for the database so it will be incompatible with 10.1 installed on other systems. I made the mistake of trying it use it, it updated things as expected but made my database unusable to the other machines as it uses a new version.
- PetSue - 2011-07-16
Thank you mrdally204, hopefully it will be fixed in the new version then
- gabbott - 2011-08-14
svenh Wrote:The database only stores the library information, like what titles you have, where you last were in the title etc. It does not store the large images for fanart etc.
I have wondered the same thing after I set up the Mysql stuff, but I have relatively minimal amounts of content (like 30 movies, and maybe 700 tv episodes or so).
The only downside to doing it the way you have it is that you are putting all the strain on one machine as opposed to spreading it out a bit; also, if you were to lose that machine everything would be gone.
What I opted to do was to simply use Dropbox to sync the fanart/thumbnails etc between the two XBMC pcs that I have. It works pretty well once the initial sync is done, and it is cross platform which worked the best for me!
I put together a little post here:
http://xbmcstuff.tumblr.com/post/7400497711/syncing-thumbnails-dropbox-style
Thanks so much for the tip and helpful how-to on your site.
After some initial pains getting syncing completely working last night with thumbnails, looks like everything is working as it should now.
Now it got me thinking about trying Unison as a cross-platform, open source alternative.
- ederson - 2011-08-17
i`ve just updated my test machine with the latest nightly buikd and it can`t connect to the db
i`ve looked at the logs and it seeme that it uses wrong port.
in the advancedsettings i have set the correct port and when i use the older stable installation it works as it should
is there another place i should change the port number??
- gabbott - 2011-08-17
ederson Wrote:i`ve just updated my test machine with the latest nightly buikd and it can`t connect to the db
i`ve looked at the logs and it seeme that it uses wrong port.
in the advancedsettings i have set the correct port and when i use the older stable installation it works as it should
is there another place i should change the port number??
Are you sure it just cant connect or maybe it is because you are trying to connect to a library database that is for Dharma? (because they aren't compatible)
- aptalca - 2011-08-17
gabbott Wrote:Thanks so much for the tip and helpful how-to on your site.
After some initial pains getting syncing completely working last night with thumbnails, looks like everything is working as it should now.
Now it got me thinking about trying Unison as a cross-platform, open source alternative.
I was planning to do the same with rsync and cwrsync.
But there are a couple of potential problems I can think of. Especially because I am adding stuff to the library several times a day. I would appreciate you guys' ideas.
1) XBMC boxes are off/sleep unless they are being used, so syncing between them at scheduled times is not an option
I could sync all the thumbnail folders on different machines with a backup thumbnail folder that resides on the server that also hosts the mysql because it is always on
2) One xbmc box updates library, another one is missing the newly added thumbnails until next scheduled sync. When should the syncs be scheduled to minimize the occurrance of this scenario?
Script can be run on xbmc start-up. (Does not work if boxes are put in sleep mode with xbmc on)
Maybe the script can also be run following each update. So for instance, machine 1 updates library, script automatically runs and syncs machine 1's folder with the server folder. When machine 2 is turned on and xbmc started, machine 2's folder syncs with the server folder. But the question is can xbmc be set up to run scripts following library updates?
Maybe the script can also be run following each update. So for instance, machine 1 updates library, script automatically runs and syncs machine 1's folder with the server folder. When machine 2 is turned on and xbmc started, machine 2's folder syncs with the server folder. But the question is can xbmc be set up to run scripts following library updates?
Another way would be to have the scheduling independent of xbmc, and very frequent. Such as having each machine syncing their folder with the server every five minutes whenever the are on. That way the maximum window of having missing artwork would be 10 min (following lib update on machine 1, up to 5 min delay for syncing the server folder and another up to 5 min delay for syncing machine 2's folder). Do you guys think that would be overkill? I mean running rsync with no updates would take a split second and very very little resources. Right? Would that be bad for an unraid setup where there is server access every 5 min from multiple machines?
- svenh - 2011-08-17
I was originally going to go the RSYNC route as well just like you said, and was going to use a cron job to move the data back and forth, but finding a decently working rsync server for Windows was just a pain.
If my server would have been Linux I would have gone that route for sure, just because you never have to worry about running out of space in your drop box folder.
To answer your question though, if you use a cron job that syncs at start up, and then every 2 minutes after that chances that you will miss an update are pretty slim. As you said, rsync will not hammer the discs, and the split second access is nothing to worry about either.
For me it ended up being too much of a hassle. Tryign to figure out how I had to sync between the devices (too many what-if scenarios; is the bedroom one out of date, but the living room didn't sync? etc) Dropbox does it all rather elegantly in the background with minimal configuration, and you even get the "benefit" of "offsite backup". Plus it does local lan replication so you shouldn't have to worry too much about replication between clients on the lan.
I sync my thumbs folder to dropbox, my db server (windows) and two revo's running xbmc-live, and never had a problem. I would like to clean out the thumbs folder/textures.db eventually, but I have not had a chance to really do that yet.
- aptalca - 2011-08-17
So dropbox pretty much syncs every client folder with their online server? Up to 2GB is free, but then you have to pay. The only thing is, last time I checked, my thumbs folder was larger than 2GB so I would have to pay.
You mentioned local LAN replication. Is that an offline replication process (only between the clients on the same LAN) that wouldn't use up your 2GB online quota??
**EDIT**
I guess the LAN sync only speeds up the sync process and minimizes ISP traffic.
I wish they had a LAN only sync solution that would be free. Essentially that is exactly what I'll be trying to achieve with rsync.
Btw, I use cwrsync for windows, and it actually works really well. It is a simple no gui, command line only software that you use with arguments just like in linux. In windows, you can use the task scheduler to run it at set intervals
- svenh - 2011-08-18
Yeah unfortunately it only syncs faster, not for free. As you said if you have a really large thumbnails folder it won't work for you.
I agree with you, a lan only sync solution that is multi platform, and as easily configured as dropbox would rock.
Can you share a quick howto for people who may not be as familiar with how to use cwrsync? Might help some other people out!
- ederson - 2011-08-18
gabbott Wrote:Are you sure it just cant connect or maybe it is because you are trying to connect to a library database that is for Dharma? (because they aren't compatible)
i`ve tried this with an empty database and i get the same error
20:45:15 T:9980 ERROR: Unable to open database xbmc_music_eden