Adding sources to XBMC

Ok, now that XBMC is up, its time to add in the sources. A source (or bookmark as known in previous incarnations of XBMC) is basically a location where your media files are located.

This can take the form of a local file directory, shared folder on your network, UPnP AV Media Servers on local network, and even internet feeds like online radio and video streams. Check the XBMC wiki for the types of media sources and how to add them.

For me, my primary source will be from my NAS via the smb protocol (aka network shared folder). Thought about using the UPnP media server software that runs off the NAS but am unsure of the advantages of it vs just smb. Will explore more in the future.

Other than LAN content, I was really keen in trying out the internet streams using the guide found here. I used the STRM approach which is rather tedious as each station (i.e. the URL) has to be in its own .strm file. Remember to put these files in a path where XBMC can find them; in my case, I created a new local folder where I ftp the files into and defined this folder as a source in the sources.xml file.

I had limited success with the stations I've selected; only a couple of radio stations worked and none of the video streams worked at all. I couldn't troubleshoot the problem as the status messages disappears from the screen rather quickly and I have no idea where to find the debug logs on the XBMC. Guess I have to do alittle more digging here.