I've did a google search and a search in the forums and didn't find anything that would point me in the good direction. Maybe I didn't search for the good words?
I'll put some background in case someone has a different idea that would work for me.
I have small kids, early school age, that uses the XBMC machine regularly. There are movies and series that I'd like to avoid them to watch, somewhat adult mattered, a bit on the violent side, etc.
I've successfully made a "kids movies" and a "kids TV" menu by making smart playlists and assigning them to the main menu. I want the kids to get into the habit to get their media from there.
However, they can still easily access the "plain old" TV and Movie selections, that include the content I'd like to avoid to expose them to. Is there a way to password protect those menu entries?
If it is any difference, I am running Eden over winXP with Transparency! skin, with an IR remote as the main input.
Thanks uni. Problem is that I do not want to "switch" to kid mode all the time, it would defeat the purpose. I would need a constant protecton, and not of plugins but of menues...
If you want constant protection, and dont want to switch to "kid mode" then dont have any violent or adult content as you will not be able to limit access.
If you segregate all this content in a source _password protected_ and add it to xbmc you either have to enter the password everytime you want to use it yourself and make sure XBMC wont remember the password (I dont think its possible). Setting up passwordprotected SMB sources is done on the NAS, not on XBMC.
Perhaps there's a way to do what you want but profiles and all the other solutions already exist.
I cant help you, sorry.
uNi
you don't have to use profiles to lock.
enable the master lock. there you can lock down the sections you want to lock down. in addition, you can also lock particular sources in the media window using the context menu. this lock is enforced on the client side, not on the server side. once you have unlocked it, it's open until you lock it again.
Well, profiles are cool, but only until you realize that, in real life, kids take the remote while the profile is already selected, or power-up the machine without your knowledge. It is NOT an appropriate solution for real life situation.
It shouldn't be that hard to add password protection to some menus just like there is already for the settings menu.
Thanks spiff. I'll look into master lock. I didn't try master locking sections... but that seems to make sense.
Sadly, the master lock for "video" will lock both the TV and FILMS section, as well as the smart playlists linking to it. Therefore, while the master lock does lock the normal sections, it also locks the kids version of those sections
is there a alter the master lock function?
no.
however, you can lock the sources they refer to. that way, if the source is locked, the content from those sources do not show in the library (until it's unlocked).
I am hoping to find an alternate way... my current setup involves a single source for all that's TV and another one for all that's movies. It is networked, but all under a single source, which helps with automation & detection of content... once I place it on the server, I only need to ask the XBMC machines to update and all is great. Separating kids content on the source instead of changing data flags would ruin that flexibility.
I don't see why this hasn't been done straight on the menu or a skin or some scripts somewhere, I figure lots of people would use it.
I'll look into the profiles.xml file where the master lock is, maybe I can macGyver something out.
no you cannot. trust me, see who did the code back in 2006..
it's not supported since nobody wrote the code for it. if you refuse to conform with the requirements of what's there, your only alternative is to do the code for whatever it is you want.
Ok, well the master lock won't do what I want, and I haven't found a better trail yet.
However, I might have a place to work something out. The main menu in the skin I am using (Transparency!) are located in includes_home.xml. I assume every skin are somewhat similar, yet all a bit different. But the Transparency skin has all the menu items, and their onclick is coded straight in the XML file.
One could replace the "openWindow" call to a script call.
I never worked XBMC scripts, but I somewhat assume it would be possible to script a password popup that, if successfull, would then go to a specific menu?
Where would I have to look about doing that?
note: I had been reading online- some things are quite old. this thread there dating 2006 talks about locking individual bookmarks
http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?showtopic=506658
I was hoping to do that with the main menu... but you're right, the master lock doesn't permit being altered. Which makes sense for a security feature.
yeah, hacking the skin to call a script instead is certainly doable. but note that it can easily be worked around with any of the RPC interfaces of xbmc.
Yes, I could see it being easy to circumvent. But it shouldn't be seen as a security measure, only a way to select what's visible to "everyone" at a glance.
What's the best place to look about making scripts?
Thanks, I'll give a look at that. Your help is really appreciated
I guess the biggest challenge will be to learn how to make XBMC calls for a password popup and catch its resulting value... and it doesn't sound that complex so I should have something working soon.