[MediaPi]

already posted by Ned Scott on this post http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=188545

"We know XBMC runs great on that hardware and at $90 ($60 ODROID-U3 CE + $4 case + $25 shipping = $89) it's probably the best price-per-power ratio you can get for an Android device. It has a 1.7GHz quad-core Samsung Exynos 4412 processor with 2GB of ram. You do need a microHDMI to full-sized HDMI cable, but those are also pretty cheap (they'll sell you one at checkout for about $6), so not really a major issue.

Hardkernel, who makes the ODROID-U3, is also a very open source friendly company." quote-Ned Scott

KEY FEATURES

* The Powerful Linux Computer
* 1.7GHz Quad-Core processor and 2GByte RAM
* 10/100Mbps Ethernet with RJ-45 LAN Jack
* 3 x High speed USB2.0 Host ports
* Audio codec with headphone jack on board
* XUbuntu 13.10 or Android 4.x Operating System
* Size : 83 x 48 mm, Weight : 48g including heat sink
* Package includes the main board and the heat sink



What are peoples thoughts on this?

So am I correct that this board is exactly same as the odroid u3 except its only one per customer and $10 cheaper? More information here
http://www.cnx-software.com/2013/12/23/h...-core-soc/

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These boards should be recommended for this price range.

[Jetpac]

Im interested on others thoughts on this!

[FishOil]

I have had one for a week now. Its a fun device but unless you build the images yourself you are at the mercy of others building the images for you. The XBMC 12.3 image is a good one.

1080p High Profile 20 Mb/s plays well. Looking forward to Gotham

It has its quirks but boots in about 5 seconds.
A dedicated boot straight into XBMC would be nice (no desktop env)
emmc is the best bet vs microsd

LIRC requires some effort to get it going. I will make a how to for that.

Any issues I have had have been wireless related and not to be held against this device.
Hooked up to ethernet this device really shines with XBMC.

The verdict is still undecided for me if it will be a goto box but this unit is likely be a good choice for an inexpensive XBMC box.
Pretty sure I would rather have this over the Fire TV.

BTW the price is $65 but really it will cost $130 with the needed accessories.
CPU Fan
Micro HDMI Cable
Wireless Adapter
8GB Emmc Card
Case
Power Supply
Shipping ($25 no matter what you buy so get it all at once)

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So am I correct that this board is exactly same as the odroid u3 except its only one per customer and $10 cheaper? More information here
http://www.cnx-software.com/2013/12/23/h...-core-soc/

---

These boards should be recommended for this price range.

Yes but the deal is about to end.

[nickr]

I read that the mali400 now supports vdpau. That would make this board very sweet.

[MediaPi]

A dedicated boot straight into XBMC would be nice (no desktop env)

Have a look at this for autostart to XBMC
http://cv.atasoglou.info/662-662/

(To keep information handy I'll post the info here)
Full credit to Athanasios Tasoglou
Android + XBMC it is!

Now, I am more than happy with my upgrade, but for the ultimate experience I am suggesting you to use the following two apps:

Autostart and StaY! (no root needed)
full!screen (needs root)

Autostart and StaY! App

Besides being awesome (cause this is an App that I developed! ), this App is a “must” when you want to use Odroid + Android + XBMC solely as a home media center solution. It allows you to start XBMC and any other app that does not have this functionality, at system start, and gives you the option to make XBMC persistent, i.e. make XBMC run always on the foreground no matter what! This means that you do not have to worry about other apps popping in the foreground or about XBMC crashing. See a screenshot of the app below. More information on this
http://cv.atasoglou.info/autostart-and-s...d-app-682/

Figure 1. Autostart and StaY! makes sure that XBMC is always running on the foreground and that it starts at system start!

full!screen App

The reason that I am suggesting this app is simple: It is a way to get rid of the annoying (when using XBMC) system bar! See Figure 1!



Figure 2. Annoying system bar that needs to go away!

After using the full!screen app, things look much better right? Oh, and bare in mind that you can enable this app to start at boot.



Figure 3. Annoying system bar is (almost) gone thanks to the full!screen app!

FishOil did you have to pay any extra fees like custom or vat or anything. I know you live in US so it might be different there but I would like to know and how much did you pay if any. Thankyou. All the peripherals for the Odroid can be brought at half the price from Ebay or free if you have them handy.

I'll be interested in your writeup to thankyou

[MediaPi]

Got some more information I added to a sepearate but related thread so I thought i'll post it here to keep information on the Odroid U3 centralised

Hey Jetpac have a look at this thread I created about the Odroid

http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=193137

Also look at couple of these youtube videos on performance
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=odroid+u3

Theres even a video on Odroid running tekken 6 and running ubunutu but you will be running android

Also have a lok at these threads
http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=188840
http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=188825
http://forum.odroid.com/viewtopic.php?f=77&t=3133

Odroid U3 vs Raspberry Pi
https://blacksn0w.de/wp-content/uploads/...201301.pdf

some information might be slightly outdated because theres good active development around this board from what i've heard. Also CEC is being worked on and should (hopefully) be suppoerted shortly. Only thing I would be concerned is that xbmc on android isn't good with refresh rate for european viewers. not sure what that really means but I've heard you wont get the best quality because it can't do proper 24p refresh rate. But on gotham it should be better. Post on the other thread to keep the information centralised. Good reading.

---

I read that the mali400 now supports vdpau. That would make this board very sweet.

Link?

[FishOil]

A dedicated boot straight into XBMC would be nice (no desktop env)

Have a look at this for autostart to XBMC
http://cv.atasoglou.info/662-662/

(To keep information handy I'll post the info here)
Full credit to Athanasios Tasoglou
Android + XBMC it is!

Now, I am more than happy with my upgrade, but for the ultimate experience I am suggesting you to use the following two apps:

Autostart and StaY! (no root needed)
full!screen (needs root)

Autostart and StaY! App

Besides being awesome (cause this is an App that I developed! ), this App is a “must” when you want to use Odroid + Android + XBMC solely as a home media center solution. It allows you to start XBMC and any other app that does not have this functionality, at system start, and gives you the option to make XBMC persistent, i.e. make XBMC run always on the foreground no matter what! This means that you do not have to worry about other apps popping in the foreground or about XBMC crashing. See a screenshot of the app below. More information on this
http://cv.atasoglou.info/autostart-and-s...d-app-682/

Figure 1. Autostart and StaY! makes sure that XBMC is always running on the foreground and that it starts at system start!

full!screen App

The reason that I am suggesting this app is simple: It is a way to get rid of the annoying (when using XBMC) system bar! See Figure 1!



Figure 2. Annoying system bar that needs to go away!

After using the full!screen app, things look much better right? Oh, and bare in mind that you can enable this app to start at boot.



Figure 3. Annoying system bar is (almost) gone thanks to the full!screen app!

FishOil did you have to pay any extra fees like custom or vat or anything. I know you live in US so it might be different there but I would like to know and how much did you pay if any. Thankyou. All the peripherals for the Odroid can be brought at half the price from Ebay or free if you have them handy.

I'll be interested in your writeup to thankyou

Nice!

However, I prefer a Linux based OS as Lirc is a must for me.

I also have it autostarting but the desktop is still in the background.

No import or additional taxes / charges of any kind were charged to me.

[nickr]

I read that the mali400 now supports vdpau. That would make this board very sweet.

Link?

http://www.gossamer-threads.com/lists/my...319#567319

[MediaPi]

thanks nickr.
Fishoil do you live in US? is that why no extra charge? if theres no extrea charge to UK that price is really tempting

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someone should email openelec to see if they will be interested in porting openelec for this device

"Are there any other up and coming devices you think we should be looking at, if so then please drop me an email on [email protected]"

Seems like a great device for the price. comparable to the cubox i boards. but cheaper

[FishOil]

thanks nickr.
Fishoil do you live in US? is that why no extra charge? if theres no extrea charge to UK that price is really tempting

---

someone should email openelec to see if they will be interested in porting openelec for this device

"Are there any other up and coming devices you think we should be looking at, if so then please drop me an email on [email protected]"

Seems like a great device for the price. comparable to the cubox i boards. but cheaper

I read a post over there and they were quite opposed to the idea of a port for the U3

A moderator over there by the name of Chewitt was less then enthusiastic about it.

http://openelec.tv/forum/41-supported-ha...mitstart=0

Yes I live in the US.

[FishOil]

BTW I just did some trickery and managed to get Gotham on the Frodo image.

Works pretty good.

[noggin]

I read that the mali400 now supports vdpau. That would make this board very sweet.

Link?

http://www.gossamer-threads.com/lists/my...319#567319

I may be wrong, but isn't that thread about sunxi/Mali400 devices - which are the Allwinner A10/A20 etc. with the CedarX VPU? Looking at that thread, all the devices mentioned are Allwinner based aren't they and the VDPAU is done with a binary blob?

Does this mean that the VDPAU implementation could be as dependent on the CedarX VPU as the Mali400 GPU in the Allwinners or the binary blob tied to them - and this not translate to other CPUs with the same GPU but different VPUs ? Or am I mission the point about VDPAU?

(Surprised I hadn't seen reference to this elsewhere)

[nickr]

I just saw mali400 and assumed that was the important bit.

[noggin]

I just saw mali400 and assumed that was the important bit.

On ARM SoCs the video decoding is usually handled separately by a VPU/MFC rather than the Mali or PowerVR GPU. However it may be possible to write GPU compute code that does H264, VC-1 or MPEG2 decoding using the GPU rather than VPU - but in this case I think it is possible that someone has packaged a VDPAU API (is this the right description) for the CedarX VPU in the Allwinners - so you can tie into it using VDPAU rather than having to code specifically for it (or use alternative APIs?) It's an approach that AMD recently switched to for their Linux drivers as well I believe?

Potentially good news - though the original CedarX stuff for Allwinner Linux was borked quite badly ISTR with some compliant files not playing properly or at all, and whilst Allwinner initially appeared to commit to solving this, they didn't engage and the platform was effectively abandoned by the main XBMC devs in favour of others like the AMLogic M3 (which incidentally also has a Mali 400 GPU I think - though a different VPU).

[davilla]

The expertise to write GPU compute code to handle any type of video decode distills down to less than a few people on the planet. You need to be both and expert in GPU coding AND video decode and finding someone with both is like finding a needle in a haystack. So, I would not wait for such a solution, you are better off trying to win the mega-powerball lottery.