I understand that keeping the cache cleared will help prevent or reduce buffering. I am running Gotham 13.2 and there is a tool which clears the cache, however that is not allowed to be discussed on this forum - fair enough.
Also it is theoretically possible to clear cache from within the Android apps, by going to Android settings > Apps > XBMC and then clearing cache. When I do this my cache drops from 49MB to 12kB. If I then launch XBMC and then immediately exit it, and go back into the XBMC App the cache has again gone back to 49MB without XBMC having done anything.
Am I therefore wasting my time deleting cache from within Android? If so, what steps should I take to keep the cache controlled?
I love the product and am anxious to learn more.
The cache that must be manually "cleared" is due to poorly written add-ons that don't clean up their old files, so they collect and you eventually run out of memory, which causes odd behavior. That should be unrelated to the cache that can be cleared in the Android settings.
The cache "full" message that pops up in XBMC/Kodi is a playback cache that is deleted the moment playback stops, and requires no manual deleting.
My advice: don't use the poorly written add-ons. Regardless of if the add-on is one we can talk about or not, this is fairly universal advice. Not all add-ons are created equal.
EDIT:the/they typo
Many thanks for your reply.
In my naivety I thought all add-ons performed in a similar manner, so I have learnt something new there. I shall be more selective in the future.
My main bugbear with using XBMC/Kodi (not the product itself, which is brilliant) is the buffering of live streams from time to time. I know there are many possible causes of this problem and I am working through them one by one, so your advice is well received.
I am particularly looking forward to the final release of Helix, whose improvements over Gotham, as I understand, may well assist in ameliorating the problem.
I would be curious if you disabled some addons and no longer see the 49MB cache reappearing.
To be honest, with the number of addons I have it would be too time consuming to do what you suggest, even though it is a reasonable thought.
My currently used Beta 2 was buffering all the time when first installed then since yesterday only buffers at evening time leading me to think it is only an addon problem, but then, why does that addon work on Gotham all the time with no problem?
Tomorrow I am going to download the latest night build and see what happens. Fortunately I have Gotham on the box under the app name XBMC so I am able to switch from my trials of Kodi back to Gotham easily.
Evening is the most popular time, so I wonder if your problems are related to network traffic.
I had a lot of problems before I used a wired connection. I have to use wired for my set top box and for my source too.
I think you are right to some extent.
On Gotham when streaming live TV using an addon I cannot name here there is a bit of buffering at peak times which makes it the server's problem but with Helix the buffering is more frequent and destructive for want of a better word.
However, I am updating Helix every morning now with the latest nightly and am finding the buffering is reducing each time. I cannot really explain why that should be but I hope the developers keep doing their thing.
Finally, I definitely use wired connections everywhere, including the use of powerline adaptors, to ensure the maximum data transfer.