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MB Classic - Setup and Configuration


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Media Browser Classic Setup and Configuration

 

Installation

EHS

Viewing your Collection

The Configuration Screens in MBC

The Configurator


 

This guide assumes you have already setup Media Browser 3 Server as detailed in the Server Setup and Configuration Guide.

 

Note: While MBC has a lot of similarities to MB 2.x it is different enough in its configuration that it is not practical to attempt to migrate any of your old MB2 configuration.

 

If you haven't already downloaded the MB Classic Installer, you can download it here. Once you've downloaded it, double-click to begin the installation process.

 

When the installer starts, it will check for and download the latest version.

 

524c84db5fd16_MBC01.jpg

 

The first time you install MBC, you will see the "Migrating Library" message. It can take a few minutes for this process to complete.

 

524c84ef12228_MBC02.jpg

 

 

Once installation is complete, it will launch Windows Media Center right into Media Browser Classic.

The first thing you will see is the log-in screen. Click on your user tile. You can configure MBC to automatically

log in your preferred profile, which we will cover later.

 

524c8595b57a1_ehshell2013100116403354cop

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Below is the EHS (Enhanced Home Screen) of the Default theme that comes with MBC.

 

524f2bda2b37b_NewEHS_800.jpg

 

Your Collections, as set up in the Server, are displayed across the bottom. Above that are your recently added items for the selected Collection. You can change this display using the icons at the top.

 

524c8c4180a56_MBCIconClock.jpg   Display last added items

 

524c8c6a4799c_MBCIconCheck.jpg   Display last items watched

 

524c8c840c05f_MBCIconStar.jpg   Display latest unwatched items

 

At the bottom of the screen, you'll see 524c8cab80ee3_MBCIconWrench.jpg which opens the configuration, which we will cover later. First, let's look at the various screens in MB Classic.

Edited by CWNashvegas
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Viewing your Media Collection

 

From the EHS, selecting a Collection containing TV Series will take you a a screen like this one.

 

524c8d6872786_ehshell2013100117234530.jp

 

At the top of many views, you will see the following items.

 

View - select this to change how the items on this screen are displayed.

(Sort) Name - Indicates that the items are currently sorted by Name. Select this to change sorting.

(Grouping) None - Indicates that no groupings are currently applied. Select to group items by Genre, Year and more.

Search - Opens the Search Panel.

 

An icon on the poster indicates the number of unwatched items in the series.

 

Select a TV Series to view its Seasons.

 

524c8d8433a12_ehshell2013100117241902.jp

 

On the Season screen, You can see which seasons you've completely watched, or how many unwatched episodes are in each.

 

By selecting (with remote or keyboard) or hovering (mouse) an item, you can press "*" (asterisk / shift+8) on your keyboard or remote to open the Item Menu:

 

524c93b60193d_contextmenu.jpg

 

With this menu, you can play all items (if  you've selected a season or other multi-item folder) with or without shuffling, mark the item as played, or add to your favorites. The Item Menu is available in many MB Classic views, with varying options depending on the selected item.

 

Let's close the Item Menu and return to the Seasons screen. Select a season to view its episodes list.

 

524c8d95b2303_ehshell2013100117243345.jp

 

The Episode screen, shown here in "Detail" view (accessed with the "View" button) displays a scrolling list of episodes, and a description and thumbnail for each. Also shown are runtime and year of broadcast.

 

Select an episode to view more details.

 

524c8daaea8cf_ehshell2013100117244963.jp

 

On this screen, you can play the item, or navigate to the next (>) or previous () item. The General tab displays the episode description, rating, and many other details. The section on the bottom right contains information about the video file itself - file type, codecs used, and so on. Select the Actors tab to view cast members:

 

524c8dc282770_ehshell2013100117251863.jp

 

Selecting an actor shown here will take you to a screen showing any other library items that they are in, as seen below.

 

524c8de0d6694_ehshell2013100117252457.jp

 
If you go back to the EHS and select a Collection containing movies, you will see a screen like this one:
 

524c8d43e5998_ehshell2013100117222691.jp

 

The Movie detail screen is very similar to the Episode detail screen we looked at above.

 

524c8d5308383_ehshell2013100117223733.jp

Edited by CWNashvegas
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The Configuration Screens

 

Let's go back to the EHS and click on the 524c97bce86d3_MBCIconWrench.jpg to open the Configuration menu. 

The screens we are exploring are the first three listed. Nearly all of the items on them have information explaining their purpose that will show when you select (remote / keyboard) or hover over (mouse) the item, so we will only cover those that need a bit more detail.

 

The first is the System screen.

 

524c983d0e5fc_ehshell2013100117204120.jp

 

General

Logging - enables MBC to generate logs, which are useful for troubleshooting

Screen Saver - enables the default Media Browser screensaver

 

Updates

Enables MB Classic to automatically check for updates, and allows you to set the update level for both MB Classic and Plugins.

Release - downloads updates only at the release level

Beta - downloads updates that are being Beta tested

Dev - not recommended for most users. Dev releases are generally only for testing purposes, and may break MB Classic.

 

Next is the View Options screen.

 

52767f8a5a737_replacemissing1.jpg

 

Here you will find a variety of items that you can enable or disable to customize your browsing experience, including the option to show (or not) missing and unaired TV episodes / seasons provided by the MB Server.

 

Last is the Theme Options screen.

 

524c9b02817d0_ehshell2013100117204578.jp

 

On this screen, you can change to another theme that you've installed, and fine-tune several display options.

 

Next, we're going to explain the Media Browser Classic Configurator.

Edited by CWNashvegas
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Admin

While most options and settings can be controlled from within MBC, some can only be accessed with the Media Browser Classic Configurator. You can start the Configurator from the Windows Start menu.

 

524f0cb131c78_MBCConf01.jpg

 

The first thing you will see is the splash screen:

 

524f0cca73787_MBCConf02.jpg

 

The Configurator's first tab is the System tab:

 

524f0cdacfaca_MBCConf03.jpg

 

Here you can manually set your server information, and choose to automatically login with a specific user profile. You an control updates and logging from here, as described in the previous post. 

 

Next is the Plugins tab:

 

524f0cf03a3f0_MBCConf04.jpg

 

This is where you will see all of the MBC plugins and themes you have installed. Since we don't have any yet, click on "More Plug-ins" to open the Plug-ins browser.

 

524f0d04a6d21_MBCConf05.jpg

 

Here you can see which plug-ins and themes are available. You can filter it to only show those that are free.To install a plug-in or theme, select it from the list and click the "Install" button. Here, I am installing the Subdued theme. When you are finished, click "Done" to return to the Configurator.

 

524f0d2108877_MBCConf06.jpg

 

The plug-ins or themes you installed now show in the list. If there are any configuration options to be accessed from here, the button on the bottom right will be clickable. In this case, Subdued doesn't have any options here - it is configured from within MB Classic.

 

Now let's go to the "extenders + iso" tab:

 

524f0d338328b_MBCConf07.jpg

 

Here, you can select settings for using a Media Center Extender, such as an Xbox 360, and add the path of your ISO mounter, such as Virtual Clone Drive, for playback of ISO files. This is a per-machine setting.

 

Next is the "external players" tab.

 

524f0d43aabb6_MBCConf08.jpg

 

On this tab you can add and configure external players to be used instead of the WMC internal video player. When you add an external player such as MPC-HC, a link will appear on the screen that you can click to have MBC automatically configure it with the proper settings.

 

Finally, let's look at the "help" tab.

 

524f0d5394227_MBCConf09.jpg

 

On this tab, you will find links to helpful information. 

Edited by CWNashvegas
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