Troubleshooting

The "AdvancedSettings.xml" file, which does not exist by default, may be created by a user in their "\XBMC\UserData\" folder, this file can contain additional settings and pre-defined values for the settings available in the GUI (thus removing them from the GUI settings screens). "AdvancedSettings.xml" is useful for advanced/expert users and for installers. (The "\XBMC\UserData\" folder is located where you installed XBMC, so usually under "E:\XBMC\UserData\", "F:\XBMC\UserData\", "E:\Apps\XBMC\UserData\" or "F:\Apps\XBMC\UserData\")

NOTE! This file will not exist unless created by the end-user, meaning YOU!

The XBMC software will never write to this file, so any settings you define will not be overwritten by any XBMC GUI settings. So you can only edit this file manualy on your computer, via a text-editor (like Notepad in Windows or a XML-editor). All the settings available outside of the GUI are documented on this page.

Layout

The layout of AdvancedSettings.xml is as follows:

<xml> <advancedsettings>

   <setting>value</setting>
   ...
   <setting>value</setting>

</advancedsettings> </xml>

where "setting" gives the name of the setting, and "value" gives it's value.

A list of the available "setting" strings and their values is given below.

List of available settings

<loglevel>

The logging level that XBMC will use to log errors and information. Available values are:

• -1 No logging, supresses all log output.
• 0 Normal logging, only logging errors (Default)
• 1 Debug logging.
• 2 Debug logging with freemem shown on screen.
• 3 Debug logging with freemem and full smb logging.

<cddbaddress>

The address of the online CDDb database. You may set this to another freedb mirror if there is a more suitable one. Defaults to freedb.freedb.org

<imdbaddress>

The address of the online IMDb database. You may set this to another of IMDb's servers for more localized results. Defaults to akas.imdb.com

<autodetectfg>

Set to false if you have an old bios that can't handle the auto-detection of the F and G partitions of the XBox Hard disk drive. Defaults to true.

<autodetectfg>False</autodetect>

<usefdrive>

Set to true if you have an F partition. Only read if <autodetectfg> is set to false.

<usefdrive>True</usefdrive>

<usegdrive>

Set to true if you have a G partition. Only read if <autodetectfg> is set to false.

<usepcdvdrom>

Set to true if you have replaced the XBox DVD-ROM drive with a standard PC DVD-ROM. Expect performance to be somewhat variable. Defaults to false.

<detectasudf>

Set to true if you wish to detect joint ISO9660/UDF disks as UDF. Defaults to false.

<cachepath>

Set to the path on the XBox Harddisk that XBMC should use for when it caches files (such as when caching subtitles or for unzipping or unrarring). Defaults to Z:\

<pictureextensions>

A list of additional file-extensions to allow (add) or exclude (remove) in the My Pictures window.

These are the current default extensions for PICTURES:

.png .jpg .jpeg .bmp .gif .ico .tif .tiff .tga .pcx .cbz .zip .cbr .rar .m3u

<xml> <pictureextensions>

 <add>.ex1|.ex2</add>
 <remove>.ex3|.ex4</remove>

</pictureextensions> </xml>

<musicextensions>

A list of additional file-extensions to allow (add) or exclude (remove) in the My Music windows.

These are the current default extensions for MUSIC:

.nsv .m4a .flac .aac .strm .pls .rm .mpa .wav .wma .ogg .mp3 .mp2 .m3u .mod .amf .669 .dmf .dsm .far .gdm .imf .it .m15 .med .okt .s3m .stm .sfx .ult .uni .xm .sid .ac3 .dts .cue .aif .aiff .wpl .ape .mac .mpc .mp+ .mpp .shn .zip .rar .wv .nsf .spc .gym .adplug .adx .dsp .adp .ymf .ast .afc .hps .xsp

<xml> <musicextensions>

 <add>.ex1|.ex2</add>
 <remove>.ex3|.ex4</remove>

</musicextensions> </xml>

<videoextensions>

A list of additional file-extensions to allow (add) or exclude (remove) in the My Video windows.

These are the current default extensions for VIDEOS:

.m4v .3gp .nsv .ts .ty .strm .rm .rmvb .m3u .ifo .mov .qt .divx .xvid .bivx .vob .nrg .img .iso .pva .wmv .asf .asx .ogm .m2v .avi .bin .dat .dvr-ms .mpg .mpeg .mp4 .mkv .avc .vp3 .svq3 .nuv .viv .dv .fli .flv .rar .001 .wpl .zip

<xml> <videoextensions>

 <add>.ex1|.ex2</add>
 <remove>.ex3|.ex4</remove>

</videoextensions> </xml>

<languagecodes>

Translation table for subtitle and audio names. Contains entries of the form

<xml>

   <short>alt</short><long>Alternate</long>

</xml>

<sorttokens>

Allows you to specify additional tokens that will be ignored at the start of lines during sorting. <xml>

 <sorttokens>
   <token>the</token>
 </sorttokens>

</xml>

<samba>

<xml> <samba>

  <doscodepage></doscodepage> # code page to use for filenames
  <clienttimeout>10</clienttimeout> # timeout (in seconds)

</samba> </xml>

<videostacking>

Contains regular expressions for use in matching filenames in a "stack" of video files. The regular expression must have a (...) surrounding the volume label portion. Text matching is compared case-insensitive. Anything matched by the regular expression will be removed from the titlename. If more than one (...) section is used, the first one will be the prefix, the second one the volume label, and the third one (if it exists) will be the suffix. Use this to keep extensions after matching. If more than one expression matches a particular filename, the first one will be used.

Default stacking:

<xml>

 <videostacking>
   <regexp>[ _\.-]+cd[ _\.-]*([0-9a-d]+)</regexp>
   <regexp>[ _\.-]+dvd[ _\.-]*([0-9a-d]+)</regexp>
   <regexp>[ _\.-]+part[ _\.-]*([0-9a-d]+)</regexp>
   <regexp>()[ _\.-]+([0-9]*[abcd]+)(\....)$</regexp>
   <regexp>()[\^ _\.-]+([0-9]+)(\....)$</regexp>
   <regexp>([a-z])([0-9]+)(\....)$</regexp>
   <regexp>()([ab])(\....)$</regexp>
 </videostacking>

</xml>

If the argument append="yes" is supplied all default videostackings will stay intact and the ones specified will be added to the end. <xml>

 <videostacking append="yes">
   <regexp>custom[ _\.-]*([0-9a-d]+)</regexp>
 </videostacking>

</xml>

<tvshowmatching>

Contains regular expression to match the season and episode numbers in filenames.

Default stacking:

<xml>

 <tvshowmatching>
   <regexp>\[[Ss]([0-9]*)\]_\[[Ee]([0-9]*)[^\\/]*</regexp>
   <regexp>[\._ \-]([0-9]*)x([0-9]*)[^\\/]*</regexp>
   <regexp>[\._ \-][Ss]([0-9]*)[\.\-]?[Ee]([0-9]*)[^\\/]*</regexp>
   <regexp>[\._ \-]([0-9]*)([0-9][0-9])[\._ \-][^\\/]*</regexp>
   <twopart>
       <regexp>\[[Ss]([0-9]*)\]_\[[Ee][0-9][0-9]\-([0-9]*)\][^\\/]*</regexp>
       <regexp>[\._ \-][Ss]([0-9]*)[^0-9]*[Ee][0-9][0-9]\-([0-9]*)[^\\/]*</regexp>
       <regexp>[\._ \-][0-9]*x[0-9]*[\._ \-]*([0-9]*)x([0-9]*)[^\\/]*</regexp>
   </twopart>
 </tvshowmatching>

</xml>

The append="yes" argument works as in videostacking and is possible for the twopart and tvshowmatching tags.

<pathsubstitution>

Path substitutions for use with playlist loading. These are processed in order, and are useful for substituting an absolute path on a PC with a path suitable for XBMC to handle. Default is no path substitutions defined. An example is:

<xml>

 <pathsubstitution>
   <substitute>
     <from>G:\dvds\</from>
     <to>smb://somecomputer/g-share/dvds/</to>
   </substitute>
 </pathsubstitution>

</xml>

<playlistasfolders>

In the recent releases, playlists are treated as folders. Selecting a playlist no longer plays it, but opens it, as if it were a folder.

Set to false to revert to the previous behavior:
When you select a playlist, its content is added to the list of elements to be played.

<songinfoduration>

This controls how long the song information will remain onscreen when the song changes during visualisations. The valid range is 1 to 15, in seconds. This does not include the duration of any transition effects. (The default is 2 seconds.)

<xml>

 <songinfoduration>10</songinfoduration>

</xml>

<remoterepeat>

The repeat delay for the Infrared remote control, in milliseconds. Length of time a remote button needs to be held before it will start repeating (ie continuously sending button pushes while it's held down). Defaults to 480.

<controllerdeadzone>

Deadzone for controller thumb sticks. 0 indicates no deadzone at all. 1 indicates all deadzone (ie no movement will be detected). Defaults to 0.2

<displayremotecodes>

Set to true to have XBMC display the Infrared Remote's button codes (OBC's) on screen when you press buttons. Useful for assigning functions to the buttons on a universal remote control. Defaults to false.

<thumbsize>

Size of the square in pixels that XBMC will use to cache thumbnail images. If the thumb is smaller than this size it will be cached as-is. If it is larger it will be scaled to within this square. Default is 192.

<musicthumbs>

A list of additional files to try when searching for music thumbnail images. (The default is folder.jpg which can be removed.)

<xml> <musicthumbs>

 <remove>folder.jpg</remove>
 <add>thumb.jpg|cover.jpg</add>

</musicthumbs> </xml>

<dvdthumbs>

A list of additional files to try when searching for dvdrom thumbnail images. (The default is folder.jpg which can be removed.)

<xml> <dvdthumbs>

 <remove>folder.jpg</remove>
 <add>thumb.jpg|cover.jpg</add>

</dvdthumbs> </xml>

<masterlock>

If you enable any masterlock settings below, they will be removed from UI. Code needs to be MD5'd, and you can use this site to hash it.

<xml>

<masterlock>

  <startuplock>false</startuplock> # true prompts user for code upon startup
  <enableshutdown>false</enableshutdown> # true shuts down xbox after 3 failed attempts to enter  correct code
  <automastermode>false</automastermode> # automatically enters master mode if the master code is given.
  <loginlock>true</loginlock> # whether to use locks on login screen or not
  AdvancedSettings.xml ONLY:    
  <maxretries>#<maxretries> enter the max number of retries to input code, 3 is default.

</masterlock> </xml>

<postprocessing>

MPlayer postprocessing settings. This is unreliable, and so they're in here only.

<xml>

 <postprocessing>
   <enable>false</enable>   # enable/disable postprocessing
   <auto>true</auto>        # auto filter settings (overrides the below)
   <verticaldeblocking>false</verticaldeblocking>     # use vertical deblocking
   <verticaldeblocklevel>0</verticaldeblocklevel>     # level of vertical deblocking (0-100)
   <horizontaldeblocking>false</horizontaldeblocking> # use horizontal deblocking
   <horizontaldeblocklevel>0</horizontaldeblocklevel>  # level of horizontal deblocking (0-100)
   <autobrightnesscontrastlevels>false</autobrightnesscontrastlevels> # whether to use mplayers colour balancing
   <dering>false</dering>   # whether to apply the dering filter
 </postprocessing>

</xml>

<audio>

<xml> <audio>

 <headroom>0</headroom> # Amount of headroom XBMC should use above the maximum volume level, in decibels.  Defaults to 0, valid values 0, 6, 12.
 <karaokesyncdelay>0</karaokesyncdelay> # Delay in sync to karaoke in seconds. Valid values are -3.0...3.0.

</audio> </xml>

<video>

<xml> <video> # use "VideoSettings" instead of "video" for builds prior to May 22, 2006

 <subsdelayrange>10</subsdelayrange>  # Delay range for subtitles, in seconds.
 <audiodelayrange>10</audiodelayrange>  # Delay range for audio/video sync, in seconds.
 <smallstepbackseconds>7</smallstepbackseconds>  # Length of the small skip back (normally the BACK button) when playing a video
 <smallstepbacktries>3</smallstepbacktries>
 <smallstepbackdelay>300</smallstepbackdelay>
 <usetimeseeking>true</usetimeseeking>  # Whether to use time based or percentage based seeking.
 <timeseekforward>30</timeseekforward>  # Time to seek forward in seconds when doing a short seek.  Defaults to 30.
 <timeseekbackward>-30</timeseekbackward>  # Time to seek backward in seconds when doing a short seek.  Defaults to -30.
 <timeseekforwardbig>600</timeseekforwardbig>  # Time to seek forward in seconds when doing a long seek.  Defaults to 600 (10 minutes).
 <timeseekbackwardbig>-600</timeseekbackwardbig>  # Time to seek forward in seconds when doing a long seek.  Defaults to -600 (10 minutes).
 <percentseekforward>2</percentseekforward>  # Amount to seek forward as a percentage, when doing a short seek.  Defaults to 2.
 <percentseekbackward>-2</percentseekbackward>  # Amount to seek backward as a percentage, when doing a short seek.  Defaults to -2.
 <percentseekforwardbig>10</percentseekforwardbig>  # Amount to seek forward as a percentage, when doing a long seek.  Defaults to 10.
 <percentseekbackwardbig>-10</percentseekbackwardbig>  # Amount to seek forward as a percentage, when doing a long seek.  Defaults to -10.
 <blackbarcolour>1</blackbarcolour>  # colour of the black bars (0->255), (black->white) on videos.

</video> # use "VideoSettings" instead of "video" for builds prior to May 22, 2006 </xml>

<musiclibrary>

Options specific to the Music Library

<xml>

 <musiclibrary>
   <hideallitems>true</hideallitems> # removes the "*All" items from the music library
   <allitemsonbottom>true</allitemsonbottom> # sorts the "*All" items at the bottom of the list when in Ascending order
   <hidecompilationartists>true</hidecompilationartists> # only shows primary album artists when at the unfiltered artist listing
   <albumssortbyartistthenyear>true</albumssortbyartistthenyear> # at an albums listing, when you sort by artist, secondary sort will be year.
   <albumformat>%B - %Y</albumformat> # album label template, default is "%B"
   <albumformatright>%A</albumformatright> # album label template for right column, default is "%A"
 </musiclibrary>

</xml>

<videolibrary>

Options specific to the Video Library

<xml>

 <videolibrary>
   <hideallitems>true</hideallitems> # removes the "*All" items from the video library
   <allitemsonbottom>true</allitemsonbottom> # sorts the "*All" items at the bottom of the list when  in Ascending order
 </videolibrary>

</xml>

<slideshow>

<xml> <slideshow>

 <panamount>2.5</panamount>  # Amount to pan images as a percentage of the screen
 <zoomamount>5.0</zoomamount>  # Amount to zoom images as a percentage of the screen
 <blackbarcompensation>20</blackbarcompensation>  # Amount to compensate (zoom) images to attempt to reduce black bars.  Results in cropping of the longer length of the image in order to reduce the black bars on the shorter length of the image.  Defaults to 20.

</slideshow> </xml>

<lcd>

<xml> <lcd>

 <rows>4</rows>  # Number of rows to use for the LCD.
 <columns>20</columns>  # Number of columns to use for the LCD.
 <address1>0</address1>  # Memory address for row 1.
 <address2>20</address2>  # Memory address for row 2.
 <address3>64</address3>  # Memory address for row 3.
 <address4>84</address4>  # Memory address for row 4.

</lcd> </xml>

<network>

<xml> <network>

 <autodetectpingtime>30</autodetectpingtime>  #Length in seconds between pinging the network to detect new xbox's.

</network> </xml>

<tuxbox>

<xml>

<tuxbox>
   <audiochannelselection>false</audiochannelselection>
   <submenuselection>false</submenuselection>
   <defaultrootmenu>0</defaultrootmenu>
   <defaultsubmenu>4</defaultsubmenu>
   <pictureicon>true</pictureicon>
   <epgrequesttime>10</epgrequesttime>
   <zapwaittime>0</zapwaittime>  
 </tuxbox>

</xml>

<playcountminimumpercent>

Video: Minimum percentage that has to be played before it is marked as watched.

Music: Minimum percentage that has to be played before it is considered for incrementing in the Top 100 database view, or for last.fm submittal.

How to include GUI settings

You can also define the settings normally defined in the GUI in AdvancedSettings.xml. Any GUI based settings defined in AdvancedSettings.xml will override the GUI values, and the settings will be removed completely from the GUI (ie only alterable by editting AdvancedSettings.xml).

The easiest way to include a GUI setting is to first make sure it is set in the GUI to the value that you want, and then to open the UserData\guisettings.xml file and find the XML entry that corresponds to that setting.

Then just add that entry to the AdvancedSettings.xml file.

For instance, to set the Font Character Set for the GUI (found in the appearance setting, in the Look and Feel section), you'd open up guisettings.xml and find:

<xml>

 <lookandfeel>
   <charset>Hebrew (Windows)</charset>
 </lookandfeel>

</xml>

Simply take that entry and place it in AdvancedSettings.xml. The GUI entry for the character set will then no longer appear, and XBMC will always use the Hebrew (Windows) character set.

Here are some special cases, if they aren't defined the user will be prompted first time he/she tries to access any of these paths:
Note: There are no default pre-set values

<trainerpath>

<xml> <myprograms>

   <trainerpath>Q:\system\trainers</trainerpath> 

</myprograms> </xml>

<recordingpath>

<xml> <mymusic>

   <recordingpath>E:\Recordings</recordingpath>

</mymusic> </xml>

<cddaripperpath>

<xml> <cddaripper>

   <path>E:\Recordings</path>

</cddaripper> </xml>

<playlistspath>

<xml> <system>

   <playlistspath>E:\Playlists</playlistspath>

</system> </xml>

<screenshotpath>

<xml> <pictures>

 <screenshotpath>E:\Screenshots</screenshotpath>

</pictures> </xml>

<audio>

<xml> <audio>

 <headroom>0</headroom>                 # Headroom in dB to use on the master volume.  0, 6, or 12.
 <karaokesyncdelay>0</karaokesyncdelay> # Delay in ms of displaying karoke.

</audio> </xml>

<slideshow>

<xml> <slideshow>

 <panamount>2.5</panamount>             # percentage to pan images during slideshow
 <zoomamount>5</zoomamount>             # percentage to zoom images during slideshow
 <blackbarcompensation>20</blackbarcompensation> # percentage difference from the screen aspect ratio that will cause images to zoom to eliminate black bars.

</slideshow> </xml>