Windows or Linux
#16
I have used both and imho, it works far better on Linux. With Windows I had constant problems, like for example, Automatic Updates notifications popping up no matter what I tried until I disable Automatic Updates altogether. Sometimes, XBMC would just minimize and I would have to reboot or get out the keyboard and mouse. I also had lot's of judderry playback but I think that was related to the ATI video card or a combination of that and Windows.

I am on Ubuntu with Nvidia now and everything is great! Fantastic! If you are not familiar with Linux you may have some challenges, but there is only one way to learn. That is to dive in!
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#17
It's simple: It works great on both.

-If you want an appliance feel, go with openelec or something (linux)
-If you can't bare the thought of wasting an entire computer on JUST xbmc and want to run games etc, go with windows.

Personally, I use windows, because I'm cheap as hell and the idea of using my machine to run a single application offends me financially Laugh

So, it can do a lot more. But, as a result... sometimes xbmc gets closed and misses calls to update from programs like sickbeard, sometimes it crashes because windows is cool like that, sometimes some other program running on the computer will demand attention and xbmc will lose focus.. etc...

If you want to forget that you are using a computer, use linux... if you are cheap and want to get everything you can from your computer, go windows...


Of course, I am assuming that you are only entertaining linux as a xbmc-only solution... if you are going to use a full install of linux with GUI and all, and other apps running... there is really not much difference.
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#18
HenryFord Wrote:Actually: I would not recommend to do that, depending on the hardware you are running. Every Live-Installation just shows a blank screen for me whenever I want to run any videos (ATI/AMD-Support is definetly not "good"). I do not have any problems under Ubuntu though.

On a side node: The Live-Solution is really hacked together, for testing-purposes it is fine, but I find it is higly unreliable (and unusable) as a day-to-day system.
Check OPENElec - this is what XBMC-Live should have been (careful: Not stable yet - still in RC-testing-phase; I have the exact same error as under XBMC-Live - just a black screen (due to missing drivers, as confirmed by the Elec-Team)).

I actually have one HTPC running on ubuntu (live cd install) and another HTPC running Windows 7 (because of netflix). Both Run really good, I would say the linux one probably has less hiccups but the Windows one doesn't really have any issues either. I also leave both machines on 24x7 because I like to burn lots of coal. :-)
The live CD is just a stripped down version of ubuntu with xbmc on it. As long as you install it on supported hardware it runs fine. I'm not sure if you know or not but the ATI video cards are not supported for GPU acceleration on linux. Just get a Geforce 210 and I am sure it would be fine. Mine runs on an AMD Athlon II 250 with a super cheapo nvidia geforce 210, 2GB of ram and an old 80GB hard drive I had laying around. The machine runs flawlessly. I play everything over the network from my ubuntu file server.

(Your ATI card will do fine under windows though)
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#19
His ATI card blows away that GT210 in terms of PQ : http://www.anandtech.com/show/3973/nvidi...e-gt-430/4

So yes, getting VAAPI hardware acceleration in XBMC for Linux should be a big priority for Live. Fortunately, the OpenELEC developer is getting a Zacate board this month and he said he will be adding full support for Ati/AMD
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#20
Damn true. In fact I own a Nvidia. I would've liked to take an ATI rather, but the NVIDIA libvdpau won against ATI picture quality.
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#21
SpectreX Wrote:His ATI card blows away that GT210 in terms of PQ : http://www.anandtech.com/show/3973/nvidi...e-gt-430/4

So yes, getting VAAPI hardware acceleration in XBMC for Linux should be a big priority for Live. Fortunately, the OpenELEC developer is getting a Zacate board this month and he said he will be adding full support for Ati/AMD

nice.... i figured eventually ATI cards will work fine in linux.
I actually have an ATI 5450 in my windows machine.... (fanless model)
I actually just ordered a new amd cpu for it.... (athlon II 240e). Its one of those energy efficient ones... 45 watts...... my current CPU is an Athlon X2 6400 running at 125 watts.... i figure the new cpu should save me about 30 bucks a year in electricity and make the machine running cooler.
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#22
Even now they work fine, but not out of the box. You have to install the latest Catalyst drivers, install the xbva and libav libraries and compile your own version of XBMC with VAAPI eanbled since it`s disabled by default. And you need to compile from the latest nightlies, since the 10.1 version doesn`t have the "incorrect VAAPI surfaces bug" patch applied.

Once you set it up, it works fine. Tested a couple of 1080p vids on my Zacate and works fine

Basically it would be a lot easier if the XBMC devs would enabled VAAPI in the nighly builds so you don`t have to compile your own or use some unoffical 3rd party PPA and update the AMD drivers + libav and xbva to the latest version in Live. The pieces of the puzzle are there, what i don`t understand if why the XBMC devs haven`t done this already.
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#23
@SpectreX, thank you for reporting your experience, glad to know that we are in the right direction with ATI and VAAPI. Still remains to know if there is a valid VAAPI deinterlacing algorithm equivalent to the Spatial/Temporal Nvidia (motion detection/compensation method for TV content) before a graphic card change.
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#24
Ups, i forgot to test interlanced content and see how it fares up to Nvidia (GTX460 in my desktop) on Windows + Linux and Zacate on Windows (VA deinterlancing). I`ll do it this weekend and report back. Tehnically, i have no clue what VAAPI uses for deinterlancing.

I`d suggest you wait until the OpenELEC devs gets his hands on the Zacate board and we have an out-of-the box solution for AMD/ATI before any graphic card changes.
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#25
panaman Wrote:The live CD is just a stripped down version of ubuntu with xbmc on it. As long as you install it on supported hardware it runs fine. I'm not sure if you know or not but the ATI video cards are not supported for GPU acceleration on linux. Just get a Geforce 210 and I am sure it would be fine. Mine runs on an AMD Athlon II 250 with a super cheapo nvidia geforce 210, 2GB of ram and an old 80GB hard drive I had laying around. The machine runs flawlessly. I play everything over the network from my ubuntu file server.
Yeah, I know that (as stated in my previous post). But just to make it clear: Ubuntu is using Hardware-Accelaration, but I have to download additional driver-packages. With XBMC I have to compile a very own version - which is beyond "usable" Wink

I know that ATI-Support will come eventually, but until then I am stuck with Windows and cannot test the Live-CD properly. As I mentioned before: This is totally hardware-dependent. I recommend the Live-CD for NVidia-Users, but not for ATI-Users.
Need help? Check out my XBMC Frodo Guide. It contains full featured guides to Sickbeard and CouchPotato as well.

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#26
As others have said, it depends on what you want to use the machine for. I have one on Linux, and one on W7, and I use them for way more than just media playback. But if I were to have a dedicated XBMC machine, I'd definitely go for XBMC Live.
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