[salawinder]

Hi all, I am fairly new to this and running into problems on all avenues, so hope someone can point me in the right direction!

I have previously had XBMC running under Windows 7, but it was slow, the remote would not work correctly and there were other minor issues, so I have binned that and am trying Live - I love it for it's simplicity, it just installs and works - remote and all, but I am having some connectivity problems:

I tried for ages to get a USB wireless dongle working but have failed, so am resorting to Ethernet. I know nothing about linux, but followed a number of guides and finally gave up. I was planning on running a cable eventually anyway, so it's no biggie.

I have a Windows 7 machine which is sharing folders to three other Windows 7 machines around the house. I have set up the sources to point to these using SMB and it works great - until I reboot XBMC, then it fails immediately when opening any shared location. The workgroup is set correctly, but if I enter the workgroup field and the click done XBMC says it needs to restart - then the networking works flawlessly again. Unfortunately this needs to be done every time it boots up so is unacceptable (wife & kids need to use this).

I have tried using XBMSB, I setup ccxgui on the PC with the shares and pointed XBMC to it fine, but when opening a file it spins an hourglass for 20-30 seconds before playing the file. I have tried this with mpg and avi files, both do the same.

So I am looking for help - is there a fix to the SMB issue I am having, or is there a fix to the XBMSB issue, or is there another system I could use?

About the set-up: I am using an old laptop which I have stripped and put in a VCR case, it is an Intel P4 3.0 CPU and has 1Gb of RAM with an ATI graphics chip. the Network is using a Marvel chip, and XBMC is v10.0, clean installed several times.

Any help would be appreciated.

[salawinder]

Sorry, I realise I should have provided more info, but it was late! Here is the required info:

Version of XBMC: Linux XBMCLive 2.6.32-26-generic
Linux Distribution and Version: Ubuntu 10.04.1 LTS - XBMCLive Dharma
Architecture: i686
Install Method: Live CD installed to IDE HDD
SVN Revision: not sure (10.0 r35648 ?)
Detailed Instructions to Reproduce the Problem:

Preparation:
Clean Install of XBMC Live to hard drive.
Set Workgroup (System > Network > SMB client > Workgroup ) to 8 (yes, my workgroup is just the number 8).
Add Source to Video (Browse > Windows network (SMB) > 8 > 8-SERVER > Enter Username (8) & Password, tick Remember for this path > 06. Movies > 2011 > 02 - February. Name the source SMB & Set the content as Movies).

At this point I can browse the share and play the movies within.

To reproduce the fault:
Power up the System, wait for the Home screen to appear.
Select Videos, Select SMB.
The error message that appears immediately is: Error, Connection timed out.
Followed by another saying: Remote share, Could not connect to network server.

Further Information:
If I now return to the Home menu, select System > Network > SMB client > Workgroup, edit the setting (already shown as 8) and without actually changing anything, click done. Move to another setting and the system will say it needs to restart, I allow this then I can access the share with no issues.

FULL Debug Log:
Log 1 is the reproduction of the fault. (Log 1

Log 2 is after carrying out the steps in Further information. Log 2
(I believe this is only showing the log after the restart of XBMC, don't know how to get the log before the restart).

Backtrace: N/A
Compiler Output N/A

I'm sticking with the SMB option rather than the XBMSP as it is my preference. I have found other posts regarding the "connection timed out" error, but none that I found had a resolution.

I hope this is sufficient information, if you need anything else please be clear, I know very little about Linux. so will need the actual commands to enter!

Thanks.

[salawinder]

After more reading (and a clearer head to comprehend the suggestions), I understand how to work around this issue. It is not a fix, that would mean XBMC worked correctly with Windows Workgroups, which it does not appear to do at the moment. This is a workaround, but it is good enough, and in the world of networking might actually be the right way to do things anyway!

The solution is to assign a static IP address to the PC sharing your files, and use this IP address as a root location in XBMC.

For others who are new to all this and come across this thread I hope the following will be easy enough to understand, and will help you on your way.

There are 3 steps involved:

1. Assign a static IP address to your PC sharing your files.
There are many alternatives here, and a good deal of information on the net, so I will not pack this with too much info, I decided to leave the PC using DHCP, but set my router to assign a pre-defined IP address based on the MAC address of the PC - that way if I reload the PC I don't have to remember to set the IP address.

2. Create a Network Location in XBMC pointing to the Sharing PC.
I have one PC sharing Films, TV shows, Home Movies, Music & Photos. If you have more than one PC you want to access files from repeat these instructions for each PC.

From XBMC, select:
Pictures
Add source
Browse
Add network location...
Protocol: Windows networking (SMB)
Server name: <THE IP ADDRESS OF THE SHARING PC, e.g.: 192.168.2.150)
Shared Folder: Blank
Username: <THE USERNAME ON THE SHARING PC>
Password: <THE PASSWORD ON THE SHARING PC>
OK

3. Add the actual Source locations.
Now that XBMC knows how to access the PC(s) sharing your files, we need to point it to the different types of files.

From XBMC, select:
Pictures (or Videos, Music, etc.)
Add source
Browse
smb://192.168.2.150/ (This will show the IP address of your PC)
Photos (This will be the name of the shared folder with the Photos)
OK
OK

Repeat the above for Music, Movies, TV shows, etc., and you should be good to go.

So far I have restarted the machine a dozen times and it has browsed/played the files fine.

Now I just need to get my USB DVD drive working, make the remote less sporadic and preferably get the wireless working and I will be a happy bunny!

Best wishes.

[salawinder]

After more reading (and a clearer head to comprehend the suggestions), I understand how to work around this issue. It is not a fix, that would mean XBMC worked correctly with Windows Workgroups, which it does not appear to do at the moment. This is a workaround, but it is good enough, and in the world of networking might actually be the right way to do things anyway!

The solution is to assign a static IP address to the PC sharing your files, and use this IP address as a root location in XBMC.

For others who are new to all this and come across this thread I hope the following will be easy enough to understand, and will help you on your way.

There are 3 steps involved:

1. Assign a static IP address to your PC sharing your files.
There are many alternatives here, and a good deal of information on the net, so I will not pack this with too much info, I decided to leave the PC using DHCP, but set my router to assign a pre-defined IP address based on the MAC address of the PC - that way if I reload the PC I don't have to remember to set the IP address.

2. Create a Network Location in XBMC pointing to the Sharing PC.
I have one PC sharing Films, TV shows, Home Movies, Music & Photos. If you have more than one PC you want to access files from repeat these instructions for each PC.

From XBMC, select:
Pictures
Add source
Browse
Add network location...
Protocol: Windows networking (SMB)
Server name:192.168.1.1 <THE IP ADDRESS OF THE SHARING PC>
Shared Folder: Blank
Username: User <THE USERNAME ON THE SHARING PC>
Password: Password <THE PASSWORD ON THE SHARING PC>
OK

3. Add the actual Source locations.
Now that XBMC knows how to access the PC(s) sharing your files, we need to point it to the different types of files.

From XBMC, select:
Pictures (or Videos, Music, etc.)
Add source
Browse
smb://192.168.1.1/ (This will show the IP address of your PC)
Photos (This will be the name of the shared folder with the Photos)
OK
OK

Repeat the above for Music, Movies, TV shows, etc., and you should be good to go.

So far I have restarted the machine a dozen times and it has browsed/played the files fine.

Now I just need to get my USB DVD drive working, make the remote less sporadic and preferably get the wireless working and I will be a happy bunny!

Best wishes.