[Deano316]

I don't personally have a problem with the speed of availability, but that may be largely due to me having a ton of stuff to watch. Couch Potato works really well for movies, you can set the quality you want it to look for and then have it update the quality as it becomes available. As for adding TV shows, yes you do have to add the shows manually but its a two second job and bearing in mind the amount of time it saves you its not really a problem.

[rpmccormick]

It would just be cool to have it let you find new shows and subscribe to them / download old seasons... all from within XBMC. I find shows by reading reviews and top-lists on TVTorrents.com, and it is trivial to click the "Mark as Favorite" button for it to be auto downloaded via uTorrent RSS.

All this automation in to XBMC sounds more awesome though and I'm working on the setup now, but a key component that is still missing is browsing reviews/ratings for everything available, and the ability to "download" as easy as you "record" with a DVR.

Also a final thing missing from the full experience is fake "channels" where videos in your library play back-to-back without user interaction (but that's an entirely different topic).

[dsimages]

Question 1: Does everyone here have to manually add new TV shows, or is there any way to browse a list of new TV series with descriptions and reviews from within XBMC, and then set a series to auto-download (all from within XBMC or an Android app)?


Question 2: How fast are releases/downloads of usenet vs. private torrents (I get shows about 30min after they air EST, and download at 1.8MB/sec)


Question 3: Does that auto-movie getter based on IMDB criteria really work? I mean, is it good about getting something you've been waiting to watch shortly after it is released on BR-rip/DVD-rip/R5, and does it ignore Cam/TS/PPV/4GB-DVDR?

Answer 1: I use and adroid app called MediaDog to add new tv series. i also add them on the server box that I store all my media on. Once you add the show to sickbeard and tell sickbeard the quality, its all automated. 90% of the time an episode is downloading about 5 mins after it airs.

Answer 2: I know you say you get 1.8mbs download but that is only if your getting content from some one with a good upload speed. I too would get speeds like that but not every time. Usenet downloads speeds obviously depend on your download speed. Example: I have a 20mbs download and 6mbs upload. Every movie or tv show downloads at 1.9 - 2.3mbs. Every time.
I was skeptical about this as well before I made the switch to usenet. torrents are unreliable and not secure.

Answer 3: If your referring to CouchPotato then yes. When you add a movie title to "wanted" category, while adding you have to set the desired quality. You can fine tune these "qualities" in the settings. You can even have a "quality range". For example I made a quality range that consist of 720p,1080, BDrip. Then I fine tuned those 3 qualities by the size of the file. The 1080 is not to exceed 4gb. So while CP is searching, if it cant find any 1080 files less than 4gb, it will drop down to the 720p quality because it is set to not exceed 2gb. (if it finds a file less than 2gb). I select this "preset quality range" for every title that I want.

Both programs support torrent downloading. You can always try them with torrents before switching to usenet. YOu can also buy what is called "blocks" before switching to a monthly subscription. (Basically a prepaid gb amount of downloading.)
The quality of the rips and files that you download on usenet are (seem to be) superior than torrents.

[rpmccormick]

1) I was already looking for FREE alternatives to MediaDog. Are you saying that it allows you to browse TV show ratings/reviews and easily add any show to SickBeard?

2) With a good private tracker, torrents are secure and reliable. Still, I'm considering news.

...so that's the catch? You have to pay monthly (or in blocks) to download from news groups? I didn't realize that, and I think that is a deal breaker. Guess I'm going to have to config for torrents. Do I chose uTorrents completed directory as the "Black Hole"?

[rpmccormick]

1) I was already looking for FREE alternatives to MediaDog. Are you saying that it allows you to browse TV show ratings/reviews and easily add any show to SickBeard?

2) With a good private tracker, torrents are secure and reliable. Still, I'm considering news.

...so that's the catch? You have to pay monthly (or in blocks) to download from news groups? I didn't realize that, and I think that is a deal breaker. Guess I'm going to have to config for torrents. Do I chose uTorrents completed directory as the "Black Hole"?

EDIT: Sorry, last questions about configuration options for the OP's setup. Didn't intend to hijack the thread. Thanks for starting it. If usenet does cost $ though (even pennies/mo) that is an important point people should know.

EDIT2: I swear I had pressed edit, not quote :/

[dsimages]

I dont think your hijacking the tread. Your just wanting info on specifics of setups!

Mediadog is not free. But two bucks or so goes a very long way in this case.
You cant actually browse new Tvshows that you dont already have, but you can add new tvshows through the app.

So in my case, my wife says "I want YOU to add a new show called Glee" I say "bite me...", no really I say "Yes mam". I grab my android phone or tablet, open up mediadog, then go into the sickbeard section and add the tv show. Depending on the size of the files (episodes), I will have the show automatically added to my xbmc box's within mins.

Yes, you do have to pay to use Usenet. I do not see it being a "catch" in this case though. Usually gimmicks have a "catch". I am suggesting that you do some research on usenet. Watch some videos about it. It was a deal breaker for me as well. Until I came across a free trial. Then I tried a 20$ block account (around 200gb). That lasted me about 2 1/2 months. I was hooked after that. Im not a media hoarder, meaning I dont keep everything I download. Just the good stuff and I usually only have the current season of each tv series I have, not all 9 season of whatever.. This way, I dont have to invest in more TB space and I can download everything in high quality HD.

I dont have cable/uverse/Dtv/dish or whatever. I have had them all in the past. I will never go back to paying 100 bucks a month when I can do it all for 10 bucks a month.

[rcrh]

I'm using the uTorrent RSS-downloader with labels for each tv-show. After each show is downloaded a vbs-script runs and tells xbmc to update its library for that folder. Simple fast and no user intervention other then adding the shows.

I was about to ask about the vbs script but I'm guessing you're running XBMC under windows and that it's all happening on the same box.

I'd like to do something similar but my downloads happen in one place, my files end up on my amahi server, and my XBMC is running on an Ubuntu box.

But, I'd still like my download process to trigger a library update. Just not sure how to do this.

[>>X<<]

2) With a good private tracker, torrents are secure and reliable. Still, I'm considering news.

Lets not be silly there's no such thing as a secure tracker any site that relies on users to join is not secure anything you can join the MPAA, RIAA can join to

Seedbox is probably the safest way to use torrents

Sorry didn't mean to go off topic sickbeard and sab is all I use

[dsimages]

...there's no such thing as a secure tracker any site that relies on users to join is not secure anything you can join the MPAA, RIAA can join to

Sorry didn't mean to go off topic sickbeard and sab is all I use

+1

[fryed_1]

But, I'd still like my download process to trigger a library update. Just not sure how to do this.

Couple ways:

1) Set a cronjob/scheduler task to force an update nightly at whatever time.

2) sabnzb+ will auto-update after every completed download if you want.

I use option 2 to send the update to my xbmc-live front end. It's setup with a MySQL backend running on my media server (ubuntu server - also runs sabnzb+, couchpotato and sickbeard). So all my front-ends are setup to use the same MySQL backend, with shared folders for all the media, thumbnails, etc... so when one updates, they all reflect the changes. Works great. As an added feature, sabnzb+ also shoots me out an email to say "XXXX is now ready to watch" when all has been completed. I wish there were a hook in XBMC Commander on iphone/ipad so when I got the email, I could one-click from the email to play it.

Usenet vs torrent. I pay $11/mo for usenet unlimited. I like it because it's always 100% speeds and usually available within an hour or so of airing. Plus I don't get any pesky notices from my ISP anymore!

[rpmccormick]

I dont have cable/uverse/Dtv/dish or whatever. I have had them all in the past.

I haven't had TV (other then OTA) for over 5 years myself... using free torrents. I'm just missing the pretty XBMC automated deal, but I'm used to using my Logitech DiNovo Edge all the time with utorrent/rss/websites. News sounds like a better setup for XBMC, but I'm not sure if it is worth even $5/mo for unlimited (which is cheaper then I can even find)

Lets not be silly there's no such thing as a secure tracker any site that relies on users to join is not secure anything you can join the MPAA, RIAA can join to

How about an invite only tracker in a different country over https? I hear the argument for newsgroups for organization, but for security, download-speed, and speed of scene-release availability, I don't see how news could be better then a good private tacker site (probably the same). If you don't agree, you probably have never had an invite to a good site.

I'm more worried about news usage being traced by spending money (news service logs, banks, etc) more than I am by https p2p transfer to a closed eco-system.

[>>X<<]

How about an invite only tracker in a different country over https? I hear the argument for newsgroups for organization, but for security, download-speed, and speed of scene-release availability, I don't see how news could be better then a good private tacker site (probably the same). If you don't agree, you probably have never had an invite to a good site.

I'm more worried about news usage being traced by spending money (news service logs, banks, etc) more than I am by https p2p transfer to a closed eco-system.

I don't want to hi jack this thread and go completely off topic but invite only is a private tracker and unless the person giving the invite has some kind of MPAA, RIAA detector then you have no way of knowing who they are, in any case its pretty easy to get invites anyway especially if you have something to offer in return

Once they are in all they need is a monkey with a client and they have all the info they want and most prosecutions are for sharing not downloading

I don't think I've ever come across a server that doesn't max out the fastest lines and speed of releases is no different

As for safety of newsgroups they would need to have a court order to get your details and even with one it wouldn't make much difference as uploads and downloads aren't logged

Anyway nothing is 100% safe but a system that lets other users see what your doing is far less safe

[Deano316]

Also a final thing missing from the full experience is fake "channels" where videos in your library play back-to-back without user interaction (but that's an entirely different topic).

Just started using PsuedoTV which is excactly that, a TV network made up of shows/movies in your library. You can create your network based on real networks (HBO, NBC etc.) or create custom channels from playlists. It has an EPG just like regular tv and you can change channels in real time. Dude, it's SWEET!!!!

[dsimages]

Just started using PsuedoTV which is excactly that, a TV network made up of shows/movies in your library. You can create your network based on real networks (HBO, NBC etc.) or create custom channels from playlists. It has an EPG just like regular tv and you can change channels in real time. Dude, it's SWEET!!!!

Yes very cool. IMO only useful with large libraries though. Still a very cool plugin.

[dsimages]

For those of you looking to get a little more automated, you should check out this guide. Actually, it was able to take a few things from it and simplify my setup some.

This guide is for Dharma. Im not to sure how much this differs from nightlies/eden.

Look in the Sickbeard/CP section of this guide.
http://tbueter.com/XBMC/Guide/XBMC_DharmaGuide.pdf