[HenryFord]

You probably know me from my previous guides on XBMC called "The Eden Guide" and "The Dharma Guide".
I updated the guide to Frodo and hope you enjoy it (and also get some help from it).

What is present in this guide?
1. XBMC - Complete guide to the setup (sources, libraries, customizations, etc.)
-> Including a full guide to the "Advanced Launcher"-Add-On
2. Sabnzbd - Complete guide to sabnzbd
3. Couch Potato - Complete guide to the Couch Potato program (the new and updated version )
4. Sickbeard - Complete guide to the Sickbeard program

In a nutshell:
I'll explain how to setup a PVR without actually owning one or using live-tv. Sickbeard and Couch Potato will give you the possibility to fully automatize your Home Entertainment Solution.

Give it a go - critic is always welcome, just post what is bugging you.

Update:
The Guide has been updated. A music section has been added, a few sections have been rewritten, the layout has been looked at, new screenshots - in short: A whole lot of changes have been done comparing to the previous version.
I also built a guide which only includes XBMC, completely stripped of Sickbeard, Couch Potato and sabnzbd, for those who don't want to use it. It's a little less in weight
Check it out!

Website: 
http://tbueter.com/?page_id=324

Get the direct download here:
http://tbueter.com/?page_id=371

Mirror (Updated Version):
Normal:
http://www.putlocker.com/file/219E77D6AFCD1F41

Light (XBMC only):
http://www.putlocker.com/file/36A5072D341FE3CA


P.S.:
If you're interested, you can also get the .docx-version of the document - it's about 40MB in size. Just PM me.

[EngineerPeter]

great starter guide; a few references to eden; but hey..

Would it be worth adding in how to set up music files?? I know not everyone uses it, but some of us do....

[HenryFord]

Huh - they must have slipped through my fingers, will check again and remove the references to Eden
(Mhm, looking through I found only one reference in the "Movie Sets" section - did you find more? If so, please let me know )

I myself don't use the music part of XBMC, that's probably why I omitted it (I simply did not ever once think about it, to be honest). I'd be able to add it though, shouldn't take to much of an effort.

[zag]

Nice guide, and +1 for a music setup heading.

[HenryFord]

I'll put music into it as soon as I've got the time - probably tomorrow.

[HenryFord]

Scratch that - it's up :-) Enjoy!

Update:
The Guide has been updated. A music section has been added, a few sections have been rewritten, the layout has been looked at, new screenshots - in short: A whole lot of changes have been done comparing to the previous version.
I also built a guide which only includes XBMC, completely stripped of Sickbeard, Couch Potato and sabnzbd, for those who don't want to use it. It's a little less in weight
Check it out!

[HenryFord]

I updated the first post:
It now links to a download-page on my homepage rather than to the file itself. This is because I added advertisment (don't worry - nothing intrusive) and a donation-button to try to cover a bit of my server's costs (the access numbers hit close to 1 mio in the last 48h).

This of course stays completely optional - the guide is being published under a CreativeCommons-License which allows completely free access to the content of it.

[yakub26]

Read through the guide and KUDOS. there are a few guides out there (lifehacker,escro etc) but I think yours really explains everything in depth. Why does every guide use NZB's and not torrents? Is it easier then using yee old faithful Utorrent? Guess Im confused why the free venue is the path less fallowed?

[PsychO]

thank you very much...

[HenryFord]

Read through the guide and KUDOS. there are a few guides out there (lifehacker,escro etc) but I think yours really explains everything in depth. Why does every guide use NZB's and not torrents? Is it easier then using yee old faithful Utorrent? Guess Im confused why the free venue is the path less fallowed?

For me it's about
a) security
and
b) speed

I'm sporting a 100mbit connection over here and I really like to load at full speed and Usenet is giving me this for a fairly low price. Another thing is the sharing ratio for private trackers, I usually can't match them up, because my upload speed is crippled beyond reason (1mbit currently - that 1/100 of my down speed...that'll change soon, but well - Usenet it is for me )

[Stigmata1823]

Can you add a section for SMS share and SQL as I've done it that way and its showing all my files on the raspberry pi but won't play them! Cheers

[HenryFord]

@Mods: Any chance of getting this into the How-To-Section?

@Stigmata: You mean SMB-Shares? That I can do. mySQL however I won't for now, never did it myself (I know it's not that difficult, but I want to keep the guide as simple as possible)...

[jjd-uk]

Moved

[Stampertje]

Just finished reading your guide and big thumbs up. Really nice job but (jep there's always a but)

In the threadstart you say "XBMC - Complete guide to the setup (sources, libraries, customizations, etc.)" but you don't cover some important things, like the options menu. The guide is a 50 pages long but half of it is about other programs sickbeard, couchpotato,....)
After installation you go directly to adding videofiles with a bit of explanation on how your files should be named and so. And thats a big step in my opinion.

Don't get me wrong, this is still one of the best guides out there. But it would be so much better if after installation. You first cover all the settings (Isn't that the first thing everybody does after an installation? setting up language, scrapper options and so?)
After that just a quick intel about 2 or 3 of the movie scrappers (imdb or tmdb) before adding files to the library

tbh I would also go a bit deeper into how you folders should be organized and named before adding files. (You want it to be perfectly scrapped from the first time :p )


This is a lot of extra's but it would make your guide from very good to the "official" guide. it's easy from my point to just say add this and add this...so if you up for this you can pm me. I'm willing to help you with it

[HenryFord]

I indeed already thought about some kind of "advanced" guide which would include way more explanation that the current version. Initially I went the simple way and intentionally didn't cover many aspects of XBMC. But, yes - I am willing to put some more time into it to make it extensive and really get into XBMC from the getgo. However - currently I don't have much time - but I'll be coming back to your offer eventually.