Need Guidance!
#1
Ok, so I'm in the process of organizing my media collection. I've been running xbmc for quite some time, but with a sloppily organized collection. So, I have no qualms with trying something completely new if it piques my interests.

My questions is this: What is your opinion of the best way to run XBMC on a PC??

Linux?
Windows?
XBMC Live (whatever that may be)?

I have a built htpc box that handles 1080p with an onboard radeon 4200. Triple core AMD does just fine and my new Ripjaw 4gb set of RAM is on the way ($25 on Newegg today - holy shit).

I'm more than willing to try Ubuntu or whatever the cool kids can convince me does the best job.
I'm not overly concerned with setting up a mySQL server for multiple users as my focus now is on the living room.

So, what say you?
Reply
#2
I would say whatever you are more comfortable with. If you're a Windows guy, use Windows. If you like Linux use Linux. Overall, I would say most people use Windows.
Image
Reply
#3
2nd Thunderbunny. Sounds like you just want it to work and if you are not familiar with Linux then "just working" is difficult.
Reply
#4
Hmmm that's a difficult one. If you are more familiar with windows and don't have the time or are not willing to put a lot of energy in trying to figure out how Linux works, then i'd suggest you stick with Windows.

That said, until recently i knew absolutely nothing about Linux/Ubuntu but decided to try XBMC Live anyway. Because i didn't want to lose my working Windows XBMC setup, i used another HDD for testing. That way, if anything fails or whatever, i just had to switch HDD's to get my working Windows setup back.

Now, i switched over to XBMC Live completely and i must say i like it a lot more than the Windows version. It uses much less resources because there's no Windows running in the background.

Also, i like the "dedicated machine"-feel: There is no windows desktop or loading-logo. After the BIOS messages i see a "XBMC loading" splash screen and after that XBMC starts immediately. Also, my boot time has increased a LOT!

Sorry for my English :-)

I hope this helps you.
Reply
#5
Devaron Wrote:Hmmm that's a difficult one. If you are more familiar with windows and don't have the time or are not willing to put a lot of energy in trying to figure out how Linux works, then i'd suggest you stick with Windows.

That said, until recently i knew absolutely nothing about Linux/Ubuntu but decided to try XBMC Live anyway. Because i didn't want to lose my working Windows XBMC setup, i used another HDD for testing. That way, if anything fails or whatever, i just had to switch HDD's to get my working Windows setup back.

Now, i switched over to XBMC Live completely and i must say i like it a lot more than the Windows version. It uses much less resources because there's no Windows running in the background.

Also, i like the "dedicated machine"-feel: There is no windows desktop or loading-logo. After the BIOS messages i see a "XBMC loading" splash screen and after that XBMC starts immediately. Also, my boot time has increased a LOT!

Sorry for my English :-)

I hope this helps you.

Dude, your English was excellent Big Grin

So, you installed Ubuntu on your other HDD and ran Live off of it? I

would very much consider dual booting Ubuntu/Windows, but I wonder how I decide which OS will boot when I power on?
Reply
#6
Jay_M Wrote:2nd Thunderbunny. Sounds like you just want it to work and if you are not familiar with Linux then "just working" is difficult.

3rd thunderbunny and 2nd jay-m; however in my opinion, xbmc-live has that 'just works' appeal more so than the windows version.
Reply
#7
maw230 Wrote:Dude, your English was excellent Big Grin

So, you installed Ubuntu on your other HDD and ran Live off of it? I

would very much consider dual booting Ubuntu/Windows, but I wonder how I decide which OS will boot when I power on?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Live_usb

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dual_boot

what i do is leave the 4 gb usb drive plugged into my pc and edited the bios to boot from usb so when it powers on it boots directly into xbmc. occasionally, if i want to boot into windows i hit f12 while it boots up (for acer pc's) and tell it to boot from the internal hd.
Reply
#8
Do you want to use if for anything else. If I didnt have a netflix account I would probably go with the live version. I ran the live version off a USB stick to play with it and it ran faster then when it was running in windows. I was very impressed with it and it just worked. I found my remote and I didnt have to do much of anything on it.

Of course I am a linux user at heart so it is killing me to have windows running under it so I can get to netflix :\. oh well.

Thanks,
SoBBie
Reply
#9
super_sobbie Wrote:Do you want to use if for anything else. If I didnt have a netflix account I would probably go with the live version. I ran the live version off a USB stick to play with it and it ran faster then when it was running in windows. I was very impressed with it and it just worked. I found my remote and I didnt have to do much of anything on it.

Of course I am a linux user at heart so it is killing me to have windows running under it so I can get to netflix :\. oh well.

Thanks,
SoBBie

i see. i use my blu-ray player for netflix... ironically, the manual for my lg blu-ray player says it uses busybox linux.
Reply
#10
schneidz Wrote:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Live_usb

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dual_boot

what i do is leave the 4 gb usb drive plugged into my pc and edited the bios to boot from usb so when it powers on it boots directly into xbmc. occasionally, if i want to boot into windows i hit f12 while it boots up (for acer pc's) and tell it to boot from the internal hd.

This sounds like an ideal solution. However, I don't have nor do I want to use NAS for my media..

I think Ubuntu will have all of the compatibility with the applications I use most in the living room... and if it offers a fast boot then there is another plus.
Windows is too bulky and slow and is boring the life out of me.
Reply
#11
super_sobbie Wrote:Do you want to use if for anything else. If I didnt have a netflix account I would probably go with the live version. I ran the live version off a USB stick to play with it and it ran faster then when it was running in windows. I was very impressed with it and it just worked. I found my remote and I didnt have to do much of anything on it.

Of course I am a linux user at heart so it is killing me to have windows running under it so I can get to netflix :\. oh well.

Thanks,
SoBBie

I need to be able to use a browser so I can stream from sites like Icefilmz, unless this functionality is built into XBMC. And yes I do need blu-ray disc functionality, but since that is rarely used it could be on the windows partition

I only use netflix from the xbox, and since the browser version doesn't yet offer HD picture or sound I'll be sticking with the xbox for that.

If you use Chrome for Ubuntu can you not install silverlight?
Reply
#12
maw230 Wrote:I need to be able to use a browser so I can stream from sites like Icefilmz, unless this functionality is built into XBMC. And yes I do need blu-ray disc functionality, but since that is rarely used it could be on the windows partition


I only use netflix from the xbox, and since the browser version doesn't yet offer HD picture or sound I'll be sticking with the xbox for that.

If you use Chrome for Ubuntu can you not install silverlight?

Tada: http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=87703

Help with item #1
Reply
#13
Thurbs Wrote:Tada: http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=87703

Help with item #1

SWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET!!!

Made my day! Rofl
Reply
#14
maw230 Wrote:This sounds like an ideal solution. However, I don't have nor do I want to use NAS for my media..

I think Ubuntu will have all of the compatibility with the applications I use most in the living room... and if it offers a fast boot then there is another plus.
Windows is too bulky and slow and is boring the life out of me.

sounds good... in case you were confused, nas = network-attached-storage and is not necessary for live-usb or dual-boot.
Reply
#15
I guess I am confused. If you boot from USB,can you still access the machine's internal storage?
Reply

Logout Mark Read Team Forum Stats Members Help
Need Guidance!0