[spellweaver]

hi all,

I just installed xbmc for the first time -> great! Still I got one problem:

Most of my media is on a USB drive that's connected to the HTPC
(setup: Zotac ZBox ID84 running xbmcbuntu on a 64GB SSD, latest version (eden))

I set up a master user who got access to all the libraries. Now I set up a profile for our daughter who's supposed to only watch kids' stuff.

I set her profile to separated and locked and now the profile's not able to add any stuff to the library -> ok so far.

The big problem: the usb drive is listed under Video -> Files and the profile's allowed to do the complete file browsing and thus has access to all the media on the drive including horror and action movies. ARGH!

I can't find the mistake in my configuration. Could anyone please give me a hint?! The xbmc setup sofar seems to be so perfect, but this is a total show stopper.

Any help appreciated!

Thanks and best regards,
Kai

[spellweaver]

Trying to find anything about the topic, I found that post:
http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=87838

and a corresponding ticket, being closed - I don't get it. With the ticket being closed, the issue should be addressed, right?
http://trac.xbmc.org/ticket/10923

Still, I am not able to find a solution - any help out there? Thanks!

[spellweaver]

hi all,

I'm trying to give a workaround for this issue.

But first, it seems there will be a config option for this in the next release of xbmc.

Anyhow, until then, I found sort of a workaround for me (using XBMCbuntu, should be working on Windows as well, but not tested):

I have 3 profiles (names differ, but this will show the intention):
- younger_kid: profile's not password-restricted.
- older_kid: profile with password protection
- parents: profile with a different password

On my USB drive I added 3 corresponding directories containing the media that's allowed to be watched on that level:
- /media/drive/younger_kid (contains only things that are suitable for an 8 year old kid)
- /media/drive/.older_kid (contains things that are suitable for a 12 old kid, but that you don't want the little one to see)
- /media/drive/.parents (contains all the stuff that you don't want your kids to see)

Note the ".", that makes the directories hidden!

Now you set up corresponding libraries for the profiles (profile = directory).

AFTER setting up the libraries, you go ahead and strip the kids' profiles of the rights to view hidden files and directories and set a master lock on the settings page for the kids' profiles. Once the library is set up, it stays intact, even with the hidden directory.

The kids will be able to use the libraries and can file-browse the not hidden directory (younger_kid).

The only problem that remains: the library for the older_kid has to be pretty OK, because you won't be able to file-browse that while being in one of the kids' profiles, because the corresponding directory is hidden.

Right now, it looks like it works for me. If you ran into the same rights management flaw than me, maybe this helps.

Regards,
Kai

[Ned Scott]

Sorry for the slow reply on this. The ticket you linked to was closed because the patch it contained was outdated (and still needed some work even before it was outdated, I believe), and we have a new system for accepting patches (so an updated patch would go through the new system, instead of being in the same ticket).

This and general improvements to "parental controls" are "on the radar/to-do list" things things that no one has gotten around to yet. Lots to do, and only so many hours in the day, but certainly not forgotten!

Great idea on the work around, though! Should make for a good solution for some people until XBMC's parental controls improve.