[kingtosh82]

Hey,

I am a complete newbie to Kodi and streaming. For the past year, I've been using a WD Media player with an external hard drive to play all my content.

I've been reading and reading, but am so overwhelmed as to which hardware I should get.

My needs are:
1) WiFi is a must (can't do ethernet cable)
2) Must be able to play videos off my USB-powered 2TB Seagate slim hard drive without the need for a powered USB hub (I can't afford a NAS right now and have a lot of downloaded content that my wife needs easy access to).

I have no desire to play games, or for 3D content. All I need is a reliable box to play Kodi with a few add-ons, and to play my content on my USB hard drive reliably.

The most popular ones I have found are the Minix, M8S or the Raspberry Pi 2. I think the Chromebox and Nvidia Shield are out of my price range.

Do you think you would be able to suggest an Android box for me to get based on my two needs listed above? Any user experience and advice you could offer would be greatly appreciated!!!


Thanks!

[Soulbind]

Wetek CORE . Dual boots Android + OpenELEC https://www.wetek.com/product/wetek-core , the devs work with the OpenELEC team and support them. Cheaper than the SHIELD which you said is out of your price range. Does 4K H265 , 1080p, HD audio bitstreaming is being worked on, Netflix 1080p. And yeah, it can playback videos off an external HDD (is there any box with a USB port that can`t? )

[kingtosh82]

Wetek CORE . Dual boots Android + OpenELEC https://www.wetek.com/product/wetek-core , the devs work with the OpenELEC team and support them. Cheaper than the SHIELD which you said is out of your price range. Does 4K H265 , 1080p, HD audio bitstreaming is being worked on, Netflix 1080p. And yeah, it can playback videos off an external HDD (is there any box with a USB port that can`t? )

Thanks for the suggestion! Only reason I'm emphasizing that the box be able to play videos off of a USB-powered external hard drive is because I've read that a lot of people say that the Minix or M8S boxes don't supply enough power to the USB to be able to read such large, port-powered drives. They say it can cause overheating and may increase the chances of the drive failing.

[Soulbind]

Wetek CORE . Dual boots Android + OpenELEC https://www.wetek.com/product/wetek-core , the devs work with the OpenELEC team and support them. Cheaper than the SHIELD which you said is out of your price range. Does 4K H265 , 1080p, HD audio bitstreaming is being worked on, Netflix 1080p. And yeah, it can playback videos off an external HDD (is there any box with a USB port that can`t? )

Thanks for the suggestion! Only reason I'm emphasizing that the box be able to play videos off of a USB-powered external hard drive is because I've read that a lot of people say that the Minix or M8S boxes don't supply enough power to the USB to be able to read such large, port-powered drives. They say it can cause overheating and may increase the chances of the drive failing.

Weird. That means those machines do not respect the USB 2.0 or 3.0 power specifications. I haven`t heard of anyone complaining about this on the Wetek box, but to be sure, ask around the Kodi thread : http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=238923 , or the Wetek forums, you should get an answer on either ones.

[wrxtasy]

The only 2.5" drives I would connect to any ARM / RPi / Android devices would be very low powered Green, modern, usb3 Hard Drives and even then thats BIG gamble.

Otherwise you WILL run into lots of trouble. You really need an external powered Hard Drive or Powered usb Hub for 100% trouble free operation.

There has already been one user with usb Hard drive problems due to these power issues with the Core.
Problems also occur on the RPi as well.

It will be the same issue on any of these types of ARM derived devices.

The other consideration is WiFi.
How strong is the signal is your home ?

[kingtosh82]

The only 2.5" drives I would connect to any ARM / RPi / Android devices would be very low powered Green, modern, usb3 Hard Drives and even then thats BIG gamble.

Otherwise you WILL run into lots of trouble. You really need an external powered Hard Drive or Powered usb Hub for 100% trouble free operation.

There has already been one user with usb Hard drive problems due to these power issues with the Core.
Problems also occur on the RPi as well.

It will be the same issue on any of these types of ARM derived devices.

The other consideration is WiFi.
How strong is the signal is your home ?

Kind of disappointed when you say that there has been users with power issues with hard drives and the Core. I just purchased a Core because I thought it could handle a USB3 HD better than the cheaper Android boxes out there.

I keep my router in my basement. My Core will be located directly (literally) above the router in the room above. I have a 60/10 internet connection with an Asus R66 router. Would I be better off connecting my USB3 drive to my router and then stream the content from the Core? Is that possible?

[wrxtasy]

Just try your usb3 drive out first, some are better than other in regards to power consumption and running directly off the Core or RPi's etc.

Not all usb3 HDD's are created equal, some are more power efficient than others.

If you do not hear a continual "clicking" from the HDD during operation, as it power cycles due to lack of supply power when directly connected. Then your usb3 HDD is one of the better ones and you will be good to go.

[ZwartePiet]

AFAIK, the limiting factor is the power draw when the drive spins up. Drives with the fewest platters and lowest rotational speed will probably have the lowest current requirements.

With a good enough power supply, the Pi 2 can supply 1.2A over USB. The USB 3.0 specification only requires ports to supply a max current of 900mA.

[kingtosh82]

Just try your usb3 drive out first, some are better than other in regards to power consumption and running directly off the Core or RPi's etc.

Not all usb3 HDD's are created equal, some are more power efficient than others.

If you do not hear a continual "clicking" from the HDD during operation, as it power cycles due to lack of supply power when directly connected. Then your usb3 HDD is one of the better ones and you will be good to go.

Thanks for the reply.

I really hope this works out so that I can have my HDD connected to my Core.

I tried connecting my HDD to my Asus R66U router. Worked well as a makeshift NAS, but the HDD never spun down and went into standby - it just kept spinning. I'm sure if I loaded dd-wrt onto my router I could set a default to get it to spin down, but I don't want to go down that route. And I don't want to get a NAS either.

If the HDD does work on the Core, if I want to disconnect the drive from the Core do I need unmount it first before unplugging it? Or, if the Core is in standby, can I just unplug it, load up some new files, then plug it back in?

[wrxtasy]

Those detailed specific questions are best asked over in the WeTek Android forums....
http://wetekforums.com/vb5/forum/wetek-core/android-aa

[ninjastyle]

I tried Quantum Byte (Win8), Minix X8H+, and Minix Neo U1. My needs are the same as yours, run Kodi and play local media off of an external HDD. Quantum was slow and not a great experience. X8H+ was pretty good. U1 is faster than X8H+. After updating the firmware I've got everything working smoothly. And the U1 runs Amazon Prime Video to boot, which is a nice bonus.

[wrxtasy]

In 2016 any device running the Android Lollipop OS runs noticeably quicker and smoother than all the previous Android KitKat devices that have come before.
ART Runtime Optimisations to the Operating System code in Android Lollipop have achieved this.