[nickr]

I had problems with MB3 storing UNC paths in .nfo's, for metadata, and thus
my OPENElec box couldn't access the metadata.

MB3 running on a Windows 7.

Per

Why are you using nfo's? What is wrong with the mb3 addon?

[Dark_Slayer]

Why are you using nfo's? What is wrong with the mb3 addon?

MB3 writes metadata to nfos by default (can be changed)

I had problems with MB3 storing UNC paths in .nfo's, for metadata, and thus
my OPENElec box couldn't access the metadata.

MB3 running on a Windows 7

Doesn't make sense. Can you not access your shares from OpenELEC? All my nfos use UNC paths no problems getting the metadata in android, OEx64, etc. I've also scraped the nfos in Kodi just to see that everything would be picked up, and it was

[nickr]

I thought the point of the mb3 addon was to use the MB3 database, not rescrape nfo files.

[pjakesson]

Doesn't make sense. Can you not access your shares from OpenELEC? All my nfos use UNC paths no problems getting the metadata in android, OEx64, etc. I've also scraped the nfos in Kodi just to see that everything would be picked up, and it was

Well, can OpenELEC (i.e Linux) access metadata through UNC paths?

I didn't get any posters nor fanart in my OpenELEC client, but it worked on my Windows XBMC client obviously.

I thought I had to use smb:// paths in OpenELEC .

Per

[Dark_Slayer]

I thought the point of the mb3 addon was to use the MB3 database, not rescrape nfo files.

It does

The database could be configured to not save metadata in media folders then there would be no nfo files. It's just not the default

I like the nfo files, artwork, and trailer saved alongside my video in a folder. If whatever database I'm using for metadata management mucks up then I don't have to pull all that crap down again.

[nickr]

SO if you are using the mb3 database why do you care what NFO is written?

[aaronb]

SO if you are using the mb3 database why do you care what NFO is written?

I like the nfo files, artwork, and trailer saved alongside my video in a folder. If whatever database I'm using for metadata management mucks up then I don't have to pull all that crap down again.

.

[Dark_Slayer]

SO if you are using the mb3 database why do you care what NFO is written?

Well, I'm not really intending to combine various replies, but it seems like I am accidentally

I don't care that it's written that way because it works for me without issue

Well, can OpenELEC (i.e Linux) access metadata through UNC paths?

I didn't get any posters nor fanart in my OpenELEC client, but it worked on my Windows XBMC client obviously.

I thought I had to use smb:// paths in OpenELEC .

I can't say whether it does or doesn't work in every facet of Kodi, but I thought unc paths get parsed to smb:// . . .

Whether or not my above sentence is correct, I have scraped my MB3 nfos into Kodi (android) without issue before. I scraped my blu-ray folder setting the type to movies with the "Local Metadata Only - NFO" option selected and it pulled in all of my local artwork. I did this as a temporary workaround because the mb3 add-on does a lot of python object processing and my movies library is nearing 1800 titles, and the processing is pretty slow on x86 systems.


As an aside, what would be interesting / outstanding is if the upcoming feature to "scan a upnp" library pulled disc and clear art in and had mb3 compatibility. Definitely needs two way cooperation, but that "native library replacement" with upnp feature could take away the python crunching and may allow this to work with lower power systems like the pi. There may still performance to be squeezed out of json / python crunching as well

[Mostlydave]

Plex Media Server is absolutely free and does not require Plex Pass to work. Plex Pass provides some extra features (like syncing content to devices). Plex Media Server, Plex Home Theater, and the service for sharing your libraries with your friends are all free. I am one of the founders of Plex, and don't mind seeing comparisons and criticims where people say MB3 or Kodi are better than Plex (not in my opinion, of course), but let's make sure the information is accurate. There are millions of Plex users, less than 5 percent in my estimation actually pay for a Plex Pass, and it's those who want those advanced features (that aren't available at all in MB3 or XBMC at any price), or they just want to help support development.

If you really are from the Plex team you need to head back over to your own forums and take a long hard read, your users are not happy, your software is extremely buggy and you're overstretching yourselves.

Plex has been on a rampage adding any new client they can to add more paying members while neglecting current paying customers.

You need to be a paying Plex Pass member to fully access the forum and see all the complaints of all the other users.

Huge blog post about "Plex Home" that's great but how do you call that a feature when only some of your clients can use it.

XBMC/Kodi's UI makes Plex look like it was designed ten years ago, and offers vastly superior features like skin support and collections that actually work

with Plex you're expected to pay $5 for the privilege of syncing your own media to your own devices, and it is in an alpha state at best, completely ridiculous

I left XBMC for Plex because of the integrated server, ios app and sync support but after spending some time with it I'm starting to regret switching. I'm looking a switching back to Kodi and using something like Air Video HD to sync to mobile.

If Kodi ever adds these features you're going to see a massive influx of disgruntled Plex users.

[aaronb]

You complain about having to pay for an extra feature, and then a couple sentences later say that Kodi doesn't have it? New software functionality doesn't happen by magic, someone has to put in time and effort to code it.

I use Kodi at home every day, and I use plex for syncing videos to my ipad, and streaming to ipad/phone/laptop when travelling, and everything works flawlessly. Also have 4 remote users who stream daily (often 3-4 at a time), with no issues. I frequent the Plex forum and see a lot of people complaining about issues when it's clear they haven't followed instructions. I'm sure there are legit bugs that need fixing, as there are in most software.

Don't know why people get so hostile about this stuff.

[timstephens24]

More options in this area is always welcome, so if Kodi supports remote transcoding out of the gate at some point in the future that would be great. Just another option for users to have, like MediaBrowser and Plex.

1. Huge blog post about "Plex Home" that's great but how do you call that a feature when only some of your clients can use it.

2. XBMC/Kodi's UI makes Plex look like it was designed ten years ago, and offers vastly superior features like skin support and collections that actually work

3. with Plex you're expected to pay $5 for the privilege of syncing your own media to your own devices, and it is in an alpha state at best, completely ridiculous

4. I left XBMC for Plex because of the integrated server, ios app and sync support but after spending some time with it I'm starting to regret switching. I'm looking a switching back to Kodi and using something like Air Video HD to sync to mobile.

5. If Kodi ever adds these features you're going to see a massive influx of disgruntled Plex users.

I added numbers to reply:
1. Plex Home was recently added and some clients just take more time to update than others, and have different processes they have to go through. Roku has to approve the Plex Channel, The Xbox team (2 different teams) have to approve the Xbox 360 and Xbox One apps. So on and so on...

2. I disagree here, but this is generally going to be user preference. The Plex Home Theater UI is more to my taste than Kodi's default UI. It also has skin support. Collections that actually work, sure. But in PHT, if I have two different qualities of the same movie, it combines them together and when I hit play it asks me to choose the resolution. Better than Kodi (in my opinion).

3. You don't have to pay for the privilege if you don't want to. Use another service. Developers, be they here or with Plex, need money to live. I'm more than happy to give people money for a program that I use almost constantly. Disclaimer: I'm a PlexPass Lifetime member.

4. AirVideo HD is another great piece of software that I've paid for and run for remote people that use it. I actually find that it transcodes/streams better than Plex but the interface is lacking for most users. My brother actually uses Plex to see what's new/what he wants to watch and then switches to AirVideo HD to play it. A downside is that AirVideo HD is only for iOS devices.

5. If Kodi ever adds these features it'll be awesome to try out and see how it works. I don't think you'll see a massive influx of disgruntled Plex users, but instead a massive influx of the same issues that people have with Plex. Most of the issues with Plex that people have are networking issues/server issues/media format issues from what I've seen, not from a server issues. There are some issues with Plex's default profiles and settings that I would love for them to make more of questions when installing instead of just buried in the settings.

With that said though...

You complain about having to pay for an extra feature, and then a couple sentences later say that Kodi doesn't have it? New software functionality doesn't happen by magic, someone has to put in time and effort to code it.

I use Kodi at home every day, and I use plex for syncing videos to my ipad, and streaming to ipad/phone/laptop when travelling, and everything works flawlessly. Also have 4 remote users who stream daily (often 3-4 at a time), with no issues. I frequent the Plex forum and see a lot of people complaining about issues when it's clear they haven't followed instructions. I'm sure there are legit bugs that need fixing, as there are in most software.

Don't know why people get so hostile about this stuff.

I do the same, aaronb. I love Kodi for home use and the support for external players so I can load up my iso files and play them with full menu support and even 3D BluRay ISO play which is hard to find. I love the add ons that Kodi has and the ability to use different skins to make it fit what I like. The customization of Kodi is second to none, and it's wonderful. For a HTPC, Kodi is generally the player to go to, but Plex Home Theater is a close second. I have everything synced between the two using Trakt, so no matter if I'm on Kodi or Plex, I can see what I have unwatched and quickly start watching what I want. Plex lets me sync to my devices to watch while I'm out and about (generally on lunch at work) or for my kids while we're traveling. It also generally handles 5-6 remote users who, granted, occasionally have a few networking issues (PSA - Wifi sucks), but are still really happy to be able to stream from me and constantly ask for a new show or movie.

[puithove]

This is unfortunately beginning to devolve into a fanboy thread, and was obviously not intended to be so at the start. Leave it be, use what you like, let others have their own opinions.

What I'd like to see from Kodi is a add-on framework to allow library server add-ons (much like the live TV stuff was integrated) so that any server backend can become a full-fledged library data provider. Let Kodi treat it like data from the native internal library. That way individual skins wouldn't need to add their own integration and we could use any Kodi skin while having a fully integrated experience.

Users could choose whatever server backend suits their needs for hardware and other features.

Maybe the UPNP library plans are the way to do that, maybe not. Right now it seems like there's a long way to go in that regard.

[steve1977]

Users could choose whatever server backend suits their needs for hardware and other features.

Maybe the UPNP library plans are the way to do that, maybe not. Right now it seems like there's a long way to go in that regard.

UPNP would indeed be the way to go. I hope it is not too long as it "only" requires to integrate an already very well working UPNP receiver with the local library. Your idea about having server backends matching all the many different servers out there is a long never-ending journey, so I would strongly vote for the UPNP way to go...

[ToXIc69]

Having Kodi do all the necessary server stuff is certainly on our wishlist for 2015, but many things are on our wishlist, so who can really say what'll actually make it.

did this ever happen? or is media server still the alternative to plex and limited features inside kodi.

[mxlance]

you may want to give the PlexKodiConnect addon a look. i just started using it after i could not get emby to work on my mac.
it is working very well a week or so in. support is great