Assumptions

This article assumes you already know how to install and configure both MYTHTV and XBMC.

MYTHTV Configuration

1. Download xbmc_mythlink.tgz.
2. Put the files in /usr/local/bin. ie
• cd /usr/local/bin
• tar xzf xbmc_mythlink.tgz
3. Create a cronjob that runs the script "xbmc_mythlink.py" every 30 minutes. In my system I did this by creating a file named “/etc/cron.d/xbmc_mythlink” with the following line:
   

   03,33 * * * * root nice /usr/local/bin/xbmc_mythlink.py > /var/log/xbmc_mythlink.log 2>&1

xbmc_mythlink.py has many configuration options that you can see by running "xbmc_mythlink.py --help". If run without any options it uses a set of defaults that will work for most systems.

XBMC Configuration

These configuration changes resulted in a better experience with XBMC for me. While it looks like a lot of steps, it only takes a few minutes to make these changes:

1. Download advancedsettings.xml and place it in the appropriate XBMC directory.
• The correct location for this file depends on the platform you are running XMBC on -- see this FAQ for details.
• On Windows XP this file is placed in "Documents and Settings\[user]\Application Data\XBMC\userdata"
• If you already have an advancedsettings.xml file, you will need to merge this version with your version.
  
2. Start XBMC
   
3. Goto “System->Video->Library
• Select “Show plot for unwatched items”
• Select “Update library on Startup”.
4. Goto “system->Network->Services”
• Enable “Allow control of XBMC via HTTP”
• Port 80, username=xbmc, password=blank
• Enable “Allow program on other systems to control XBMC”
5. Goto “Videos”
• Select “Add source” and add one source for each mythtv storage directory configured in mythtv.
  
• Note that the script xbmc_mythlink.py will create a subdirectory named "XBMC" in each of your mythtv storage directories. Each source your create in XBMC must point at the XBMC subdirectory of a mythtv storage directory.
• If you are using the LINHES or KNOPPMYTH distribution, create a single source pointing at "/myth/tv/XBMC".
  
•  Right-click on each source, select “Set Content”
• Set “THIS DIRECTORY CONTAINS” to “(TV shows)”.
• I use the scraper “TheTVDB.com”. This is used to obtain a synopsis of each series and fanart.
• Select the option “Run automated scan”.
• Hit “OK”.
6. Goto “System->Skin->General Settings->Home Window Options"
• Deselect “Hide – TV shows (Videos – Library)”
7. In this step we set the way the the TV series are listed
   
• Goto "TV SHOWS"
  
• Hit the “left arrow” on your keyboard and a set of menu choices will show up on the left hand side of the screen.
• Set “VIEW” to “MEDIA INFO”
• Set “SORT BY” to “NAME”
• Select “LIBRARY MODE”
• Hit the “right arrow” on your keyboard. You should now be back to the list of recorded TV series.
  
8. In this step we set the way that episodes within a series are listed
   
• Goto "TV SHOWS"
  
• Click on a series that has a non-zero episode count.  You show now see the episode list for the series you select.
• Hit the “left arrow” button on your keyboard and a set of menu choices will show up on the left hand side of the screen.
• Set “VIEW” to “MEDIA INFO”
• Set “SORT BY” to “DATE”
• Select “LIBRARY MODE”
• Hit the “right arrow” on your keyboard.

I found that some of the fonts were a bit small for me to read so I replaced "c:\Program Files\XBMC\skin\Confluence\720p\Font.xml with this updated version of font.xml.

• Under Windows 7, XBMC Dharma beta 3 the font file is placed in C:\Program Files\XBMC\addons\skin.confluence\720p
• Goto System->Appearance->Skin and set the "Font" to "Marc".