MySQL or advancedsettings.xml not keeping movies in library mode

I'm annoyed as hell and spent all day trying to sync my XBMC interfaces across all my home devices but not having any luck:

Ubuntu 12.02:
XBMC 12.2
followed these instructions - http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=HOW...g_up_MySQL
mySql + SMB file sharing installed

Windows 7:
XBMC 12.2

The biggest annoyance is this:
When I don't use advancedsettings.xml on my Win7 pc, I can view my movies in library mode w/ scraping. But when I remove advancedsettings.xml, the view turns into file mode w/ no scraping. Is this normal or what the hell am I doing wrong?

I tried using the source as:
smb:\\pcname\media\folder
\\192.168.85.100\media\folder
Even when I choose C:\downloads - I get the same problem if advancedsettings.xml is there.

Any other better more detailed tutorials out there? I'm also new to ubuntu, so this is doubly frustrating.

How can I verify if my database is even working. What command do I use to browse mysql database to see what's in there?