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Thanks selfcontained
The reason i am going this way building my own HTPC is i finely upgraded my pc after 8 years. So i have everything need but the cases, and i found one (with IR blaster) that fits in with my existing stereo equipment and looks great.
thank rider
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2023-08-10, 17:20
(This post was last modified: 2023-08-10, 19:15 by zebraitis. Edited 7 times in total.)
The thing about a global forum, you don't know where people are...
So, here is a wild shot: If you are anywhere near Denver, I could give you a home theater case. Good for a beginner, looks good on a shelf, but I have downsized so it is available.
v.
Oh, and by the way, some answers to your questions:
* The motherboard you buy will affect the case you need to put it in. Don't look at size, but look at features to make your decision. But as with all computers, more air flow is better.
* KODI does "passthrough", so if you are really getting into this, in addition to your HTPC you really want a good amp that is geared toward Audio/Video. I have a few Onkyo Amps where the biggest screens are. You need that to handle all the various audio codecs that you will run across. (and no, Onkyo is not the "best" for Kodi... it is just what I personally liked. The whole "best amp" thing is continuously fought in other forums.)
* Keep it simple: Your connections will be HDMI. you don't need optical or coax unless you want to hook up some really old gear (like my first Gen Xbox, which used to run XBMP / XBMC, back in the day)
* "What remote?": As with all things, it depends on your needs. For sure you will need a wireless keyboard so that you can make some changes from time to time. Then you can unplug it when it's not being used. Plenty available in all costs and sizes. However, I'm still a fan of the discontinued Harmony One (direct line of sight control) and Harmony 900 (for hidden equipment). If you want to go old school and you are a gamer, you can use a game controller as well as Kodi supports that due to its developmental history. The last one may work for you, but chances are it will confuse others, so maybe not the best choice.
* Reading your old files... yeah, delete all those old .xml's ... Kodi will rescan your data on first pass and redo artwork and metadata for your ripped movies, TV shows and Music. You may have to make a few adjustments (ex: I prefer original movie artwork posters for films, some folks don't care.), but again KODI allows for that.
* If you want to go big, go server/client. A home server can store all your media and centralize your Kodi DB's... then all your remote devices connect to that. That way you can have an always on box (that sleeps until required).
* Not every screen needs a powerful PC/Amp combo. A really small mini pc (in the $150 range or less) can be a great end client. And if you are into the Amazon Alexa thing, many of those devices can connect to your TV and put out better sound than an internal 6watt speaker. Great for a kid's room or workout room.
Just saying, this can really become a hobby. My home server is 50TB (and with that you gotta have a 50TB backup solution, right?). And then really good Wi-Fi. And you will likely become more familiar with IP addressing as well. It happens.
My screens cover anything from a 4K 65" OLED (with Magnepan speakers helping to create a soundstage) down to an old Microsoft Surface 3 for bedside (which ran about $60 used and really does a great job for being a KODI end point, but not much else.)
And, as with all hobbies, there will ALWAYS be the next better thing, and the person who has the more awesome system. It's not a race... so find out what works for you and go with it.
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2023-08-10, 20:26
(This post was last modified: 2023-08-10, 20:54 by selfcontained. Edited 1 time in total.)
You bet - I'm in that camp too (Waterloo BASIC on a VAX 11/780 w/VMS in undergrad, then DOS, etc. with a stopover on a IBM mainframe in grad school.)
The nice thing about Android/Kodi is it is largely set-and-forget. I have the Shield and besides the initial setup and Kodi config I haven't had to do anything other than just use it.
While I really liked my x86/NVIDIA/Win HTPCs in the past (WMC, Meedio, MediaPortal, XBMC), they required a lot more twiddling.
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I've never used Libre/CoreELEC or OSMC but I've read that people's experience with them has been excellent (at least on ARM-based machines; I've read less about x86/nvidia/*nix Kodi HTPC so - dunno.) Early on when I just began using XBMC on a PC (a "nettop" - the Acer Revo) I had some problems getting auto framerate switching to work along with some other little problems that later prompted me to get the MINIX NEO X6 with its own Android and MINIX XBMC with auto frame rate switching. It worked so well I've used Android ever since.
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I've been following the ARM/linux/Kodi info for a few years actually and have noted that, especially in the case of LibreELEC, those distros seem to achieve milestones before other platforms (with the exception of HDR.) I have to confess the only reason I've not tried it myself is an unfamiliarity with linux. It's been a long time since I left the relative comfort zone of Windows and Android.
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Well no problem yet with windows tiny10. I'll keep you posted here if i run across anything.
Most of my time was spent finding a skin that would allow me to config it the way i setup my music and movie content.
I'd highly recommend the Amber skin for anyone that wants to disable almost everything if you want a clean simple interface.
I tried 8 different skin, 1 would not even install 3 others would not work correctly and 1 crashed kodi. The others just would not let you customize enough.
Now just waiting for the IR blaster to show up
rider
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As to skins - I've found that initially configuring Kodi is easier with more skin settings available if I use Estuary first and *then* switch to Amber (which I also use.) This was the only way I could create a looping playlist that I saved as a favorite that I have on my main menu. There were a couple other things I couldn't do in other skins first until I first set them up using Estuary. I'm willing to admit it may just be ignorance on my part so take what I've said with a grain of salt....
