Log file/Advanced


 * Not sure what to do, but someone just asked you for a "log file", "debug log", or "xbmc.log"? Click here.

At some point during your foray into XBMC, you will likely come up against a problem that isn't made 100% clear from errors in the GUI. This is where the log file comes into play. XBMC writes all sorts of useful stuff to its log, which is why it should be included with every bug/problem report. Don't be afraid of its contents! Often a quick glance through the log will turn up a simple typo or missing file which you can easily fix on your own.

Enable debugging
If someone asks for a debug log then debugging needs to be enabled. There are three ways to control log output:

GUI Settings
most common method

In Settings -> System -> Debugging toggle the Enable debug logging setting.

advancedsettings.xml
You can set any of the five log levels using the   tag in advancedsettings.xml. This is especially useful if XBMC is crashing during start-up and you are unable to turn debugging on via the GUI. Setting debug level in advancedsettings.xml will hide the GUI setting. Example: 1

Keyboard or remote shortcut
Since XBMC v12 a keymap.xml file can map a keyboard shortcut or remote control button to toggle debugging using the value. For example,. See here and keymap.xml for more info.

After you have enabled debug logging, please restart xbmc so that the log contains full start-up information.

So what do I do with this thing?
Whatever you do, please DO NOT paste it directly into IRC, a forum post or ticket on the bug tracker. This not only clutters said text, but the log is nearly impossible to read like this. If your log file is too big for the following methods, please restart XBMC to truncate the file, recreate the problem in as few steps as possible, then stop XBMC and try again. If it is still too large, try disabling features such as "scan library on startup", which spam's a lot of info to the log (unless of course this is where the problem is ;)).

*Always include the whole debug log.



In the forums and IRC
Use a pastesite such as http://xbmclogs.com, http://pastebin.com , or http://pastebin.ca on when posting on the forums. Simply visit one of these sites, paste or upload your log and hit submit. After a few seconds you'll have a nice short URL to paste in your post. Be sure to select an appropriate time to keep your paste around when submitting!

On the bug tracker
Just upload the log to your ticket as an attachment. DO NOT archive (zip,rar,tar,etc) it in anyway! Trac will let us view it right on the site without downloading. It's great.

Log files

 * xbmc.log - This is the log file of most recent (or currently running) XBMC session.
 * xbmc.old.log - This is the log file from the last XBMC session. If XBMC crashes AND you have restarted it before viewing the log, this is the one you want.

Location
xbmc.log and xbmc.old.log are located here, depending on your platform:

See Log file/File manager access for how to copy the debug log file using the File manager.

Debug log add-on
You can use the XBMC Log Uploader to make the process of getting your debug log easier.

Automatic pastebin log in Linux via command line
You can generate a debug.log Pastebin link automatically quickly to post anywhere that requires a debug.log.


 * See also: Accessing XBMC via SSH e.g. Putty



sudo apt-get install pastebinit -y

cat $HOME/.xbmc/temp/xbmc.log | pastebinit

Submit the link you get in any forums discussion where you post about any problem.

Layout
Each event is logged to one line of the XBMC log file which is formatted as follows... [TIMESTAMP] T:[THREADID] M:[FREEMEM] [LEVEL]: [MESSAGE]
 * TIMESTAMP - The wall time at which the event occurred.
 * THREADID - The thread identification number of the thread in which the event occurred.
 * FREEMEM - The amount of memory (in bytes) free at the time of the event.
 * LEVEL - The severity of the event.
 * MESSAGE - A brief description and/or important information about the event.

Log levels
There are two different types levels when talking about the XBMC log. The first is the severity of event that has occurred. The second controls which severity levels are actually printed out to the log.

In order from least to most severe...
 * Severity levels
 * DEBUG - In depth information about the status of XBMC. This information can pretty much only be deciphered by a developer or long time XBMC power user.
 * INFO - Something has happened. It's not a problem, we just thought you might want to know.  Fairly excessive output that most people won't care about.
 * NOTICE - Similar to INFO but the average Joe might want to know about these events. This level and above are logged by default.
 * WARNING - Something potentially bad has happened. If XBMC did something you didn't expect, this is probably why.  Watch for errors to follow.
 * ERROR - This event is bad. Something has failed.  You likely noticed problems with the application be it skin artifacts, failure of playback a crash, etc.
 * FATAL - We're screwed. XBMC is about to crash.

In order from least to most information provided...
 * Log file control levels
 * None - No logging will occur. xbmc.log will likely be created but should remain empty.
 * Normal - The default loglevel. Events with a severity of NOTICE or greater will be logged.
 * Debug - All events are logged. This level (or higher) is all that you should bother someone else with.
 * Debug w/ Visuals - Same printed log as Debug, but free memory and CPU usage are rendered on the screen as well.
 * SMB Debug - Same as Debug w/ Visuals with the addition of ridiculous amounts of Samba debugging info. Use this only if asked.