How to limit user privilege to prevent unwanted modification
#1
Hi,

This is my first post.

I just started using XMBC for one month and I am extremely pleased with it. What an amazing software.

Basically this is how I set up XBMC in my home.

- I have 4 units of XBMCs in my home (1 PC and 3 TVs)
- All of them are synchronized using Mysql and sharing the same media in an NAS.
- The TVs are mainly used by my family members who are NOT technically inclined.
- The PC is only use by me.

My concerns are how to remove/hide the ability to modify the settings and prevent users to add/delete shares/media in the XBMCs in TVs? In other words, I just want to simplify the experience for my family members so that they can enjoy the content without worrying doing something wrong to the XBMC.

If this can be done by any skins, please share which one is the best. Thanks.
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#2
I would look at the profile functionality as you can restrict some things in the profile, however for maximum lock down ability consider using advancedsettings.xml to manually configure the GUI settings you do not want them to tamper with.

Any GUI settings which are configured via advancedsettings.xml are actually removed from the user interface entirely - so for example say you set the option to disable deleting of files (through the context menu) in advancedsettings.xml - that option will no longer appear in the GUI in system settings so unless they can figure out how to edit your advancedsettings.xml then you've locked that setting away from them. (This works in Confluence - not 100% sure about other skins)

A bit of work to set up but it should do what you want. Settings hidden this way will actually be hidden for all profiles so you may not even need to use a profile at all. (you may also need to temporarily disable your advancedsettings.xml if you need to go in and do maintenance work that requires accessing the settings you've locked)
Kodi 18.3 - Mid 2007 Mac Mini, 4GB, 2TB HD, Windows 7 SP1
Kodi 18.3 - Vero4k, Raspberry Pi 2. OSMC.
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#3
(2014-05-21, 13:23)DBMandrake Wrote: I would look at the profile functionality as you can restrict some things in the profile, however for maximum lock down ability consider using advancedsettings.xml to manually configure the GUI settings you do not want them to tamper with.

Any GUI settings which are configured via advancedsettings.xml are actually removed from the user interface entirely - so for example say you set the option to disable deleting of files (through the context menu) in advancedsettings.xml - that option will no longer appear in the GUI in system settings so unless they can figure out how to edit your advancedsettings.xml then you've locked that setting away from them. (This works in Confluence - not 100% sure about other skins)

A bit of work to set up but it should do what you want. Settings hidden this way will actually be hidden for all profiles so you may not even need to use a profile at all. (you may also need to temporarily disable your advancedsettings.xml if you need to go in and do maintenance work that requires accessing the settings you've locked)

OK. Thanks a lot for the head up. It seems like what I need. Looking at http://wiki.xbmc.org/?title=Advancedsettings.xml now. It is going to be a long night.
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#4
Yes if you have a lot of settings you want to hide you probably do have a bit of work ahead of you - but at least you can do it once and use the same or very similar file for all three TV's.

The easiest way is to customise the settings you want in the GUI, then look through the guisettings.xml and copy and paste the relevant options into your advancedsettings.xml.

I see there is a note on that wiki page saying it may not work properly with Gotham, hopefully that note is out of date - maybe just try a couple of settings to see if it works before you spend a lot of time on it.
Kodi 18.3 - Mid 2007 Mac Mini, 4GB, 2TB HD, Windows 7 SP1
Kodi 18.3 - Vero4k, Raspberry Pi 2. OSMC.
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#5
A possibly easier way to get what you want would be to use a skin that allows you to hide the settings menu (Conq, ReFocus Big Light are ones that I personally know of) and set things to kiosk mode. There are ways to get to the settings if you need to but your family won't be able to muck around.

It might not be the solution you are looking for but there is no messing around with .xml files this way.
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#6
So far, I manage to do this...

1) Prevent user from adding or removing sources. I change the value for canwritesources to false in profiles.xml
2) Install Transparency! skin and use it to hide the settings menu and other irrelevant menus in the home screen.
3) Enable kiosk mode.

So far so good except I still unable to hide/remove the options "Edit title" and "Remove from library" when right click on a media. If I can do that, then I can have peace of mind when my family members is using it.
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