2015-07-09, 06:27
I have been running a really old version of XBMC on an Apple Mac Mini - XBMC 11 I think on a 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo with 2 GB of RAM with NVidia GeForce 320M.
This has dealt with our primarily DVD ISO images and growing amounts of MKV of Bluray rips and youtube .mp4 downloads - I wouldn't say spectacularly, but the WAF factor was high, except for times when some random ISO or MKV would cause XBMC to just lock the macmini up like a brick, and odd image tearing issues on occasion that I have passed off to the video card. That's happening more and more frequently as I get newer media.
The whole reason we are using a macmini is that part of the high WAF is that you could take the mini out of the box, power it up, click on the .dmg and copy the application in place, run it and she didn't have to deal with me putting hardware together and tweaking things endlessly.
The further XBMC got from a simple file name listing for the available content the lower the WAF became, thus the older version without upgrades. We aren't the youngest any more, once we get accustomed to an interface changes aren't nearly as welcome. (It was suggested to me at one point on the XBMC forums that if I didn't like the fact that higher dev effort was put into interface eye-candy than getting basic ISO image playback working I should pound sand and move to Vlan, which is still a distinct possibility if I can figure out the remote situation.)
I have a nice, big fat NFS NAS that holds many TBs of existing media, and that is one of the minimum requirements -- everything has to read and write NFS with connectivity provided by a 1GB ethernet network.
We had been using the cableco DVR for cable/broadcast recordings for content of which we didn't own local media.
After experimenting with Netflix and Hulu we have decided to drop the cable connection for rental-only content.
That brings up the discussion with the wife of possibly upgrading the macmini and adding capabilities - finally.
I am not opposed to separate devices for netflix/hulu and xbmc, er... kodi I mean, however if something like the FireTV can run everything, I'm all for it.
I know there has been some sort of TV functionality in xbmc/kodi for a while, but I have never used it, as I have never had a tuner available.
I have spent the better part of two days wading through the hardware wiki, the sticky threads in this forum and I still don't have a clear picture of what hardware that I can buy and kodi on straight out of the product box. I'll spend a little extra if I have to just so that the wife doesn't see anything more than the box and install the application or an ISO image.
The most critical bit is that she can find the file she wants to play, press the play button on the Harmony 1100 remote and watch the content without stuttering, tearing, lock ups, etc. Don't need or want fancy skins or all the eyecandy.
So, all the back ground out of the way -- thanks for listening to the old codger ramble ...
What hardware can I purchase that will work out of the box with as little effort as possible to play existing ISO, MKV and MP4 media sitting on a NAS with NFS exports?
Outputs to media center is HDMI only, with hardwired ethernet as the source and work with a Harmony 1100 remote for navigation. Surround audio is critical - I have 5.2 and 7.1 audio.
In addition to this, (maybe this should go in a separate thread) what options are available to provide DVR capabilities for OTA content from an HD antennae?
It wouldn't bother me to record this into or convert into after recording MP4 with 5.1 or better DTS audio.
This I have a little more tweak/build lee way, as I hope to keep the moving parts of this out of sight.
This has dealt with our primarily DVD ISO images and growing amounts of MKV of Bluray rips and youtube .mp4 downloads - I wouldn't say spectacularly, but the WAF factor was high, except for times when some random ISO or MKV would cause XBMC to just lock the macmini up like a brick, and odd image tearing issues on occasion that I have passed off to the video card. That's happening more and more frequently as I get newer media.
The whole reason we are using a macmini is that part of the high WAF is that you could take the mini out of the box, power it up, click on the .dmg and copy the application in place, run it and she didn't have to deal with me putting hardware together and tweaking things endlessly.
The further XBMC got from a simple file name listing for the available content the lower the WAF became, thus the older version without upgrades. We aren't the youngest any more, once we get accustomed to an interface changes aren't nearly as welcome. (It was suggested to me at one point on the XBMC forums that if I didn't like the fact that higher dev effort was put into interface eye-candy than getting basic ISO image playback working I should pound sand and move to Vlan, which is still a distinct possibility if I can figure out the remote situation.)
I have a nice, big fat NFS NAS that holds many TBs of existing media, and that is one of the minimum requirements -- everything has to read and write NFS with connectivity provided by a 1GB ethernet network.
We had been using the cableco DVR for cable/broadcast recordings for content of which we didn't own local media.
After experimenting with Netflix and Hulu we have decided to drop the cable connection for rental-only content.
That brings up the discussion with the wife of possibly upgrading the macmini and adding capabilities - finally.
I am not opposed to separate devices for netflix/hulu and xbmc, er... kodi I mean, however if something like the FireTV can run everything, I'm all for it.
I know there has been some sort of TV functionality in xbmc/kodi for a while, but I have never used it, as I have never had a tuner available.
I have spent the better part of two days wading through the hardware wiki, the sticky threads in this forum and I still don't have a clear picture of what hardware that I can buy and kodi on straight out of the product box. I'll spend a little extra if I have to just so that the wife doesn't see anything more than the box and install the application or an ISO image.
The most critical bit is that she can find the file she wants to play, press the play button on the Harmony 1100 remote and watch the content without stuttering, tearing, lock ups, etc. Don't need or want fancy skins or all the eyecandy.
So, all the back ground out of the way -- thanks for listening to the old codger ramble ...
What hardware can I purchase that will work out of the box with as little effort as possible to play existing ISO, MKV and MP4 media sitting on a NAS with NFS exports?
Outputs to media center is HDMI only, with hardwired ethernet as the source and work with a Harmony 1100 remote for navigation. Surround audio is critical - I have 5.2 and 7.1 audio.
In addition to this, (maybe this should go in a separate thread) what options are available to provide DVR capabilities for OTA content from an HD antennae?
It wouldn't bother me to record this into or convert into after recording MP4 with 5.1 or better DTS audio.
This I have a little more tweak/build lee way, as I hope to keep the moving parts of this out of sight.
