Kodi Community Forum

Hi folks

I am planning to start up a company selling HTPC solutions, and to keep the price at the good side of 400 bucks. I want to deliver the systems with Ubuntu and preinstalled with a perfect setup of XBMC with all kind of nice functions (YouTube, AirPlay, Smartphone remote etc.).

Another reason for choosing Ubuntu, is because I want to make a perfect setup on a test machine and then just clone the HDD with a HDD Cloner, which should be possible, because it is open source?

Also to keep the price at a level so it is affordable for almost ever I was thinking of using the new E-350 APU from AMD, althought I am (through a lot of research on this forum) aware of some problems with running Linux on an AMD platform. But AMD has made an official release for Linux, so there shouldn't be any problems?

I tried to make a quick setup on my laptop with Ubuntu, which is running an i3 processor and a ATI HD 5650 GPU. I installed XBMC, and everything worked like a charm, but it was lagging in 720p movies, so I decided to try installing some GPU drivers, because on Windows it runs 1080p smooth with WMP Classic and CCCP. But it wouldn't install the official release from amd.com, and the error was telling that it couldn't open the .run file. Then I tried this guide, and it ran smoothly. But I can't open the Catalyst software and I get the an error telling that "there is no installed ATI-graphics driver or the ATI driver is not working properly". And now i can't even XBMC because it says that it "needs hardware accelerated OpenGL rendering".

So very confusing, and now I doubt that I can make the E-350 platform that i ordered, working flawlessly with Ubuntu and XBMC.

I really hope that you are able to help and maybe at least confirm that I can make this setup on E-350!
Thank you!

//Jonas

Short answer = AMD + Linux is still oil & water as far as advanced acceleration options.

I haven't heard of any easy way yet to get this working as smoothly as the Nvidia counterparts.

Others may post a solution, but AFAIK its still best to avoid AMD GPU's for Linux.

First AMD is releasing drivers for Linux a few years now, but hardware playback for videos isnt really working. (wasnt and isnt now)
There are ways to get it working, but nothing stable. Also getting it working is very time consuming. Even if it works, it probably wont for every file you throw at it.

If you dont have the *.run file anymore, redownload it and then open a terminal in the directory the file is located and type:

sudo chmod +x *.run
sudo ./*.run
(replace * with the file name)
If you are lucky that should be enough to fix your problem.

If you want to use Linux buy something with an nvidia card. If you dont want an Atom processor you can try the Zotac IONITX-P-E. The onboard cpu is even faster than the E-350 cpu.

HDD cloning is no problem at all.

The nvidia Ion options are in the same ballpark price wise as the AMD boards, and are a solid known quantity.

Wow thanks for the informative and quick answers! Gotta love XBMC and the community!

Okay, I will try an Atom/ION system then! Thank you very much again!

jonas1994 Wrote:Wow thanks for the informative and quick answers! Gotta love XBMC and the community!

Okay, I will try an Atom/ION system then! Thank you very much again!

Also offer non-Atom solutions, such as the Zotac ND22. Many people would gladly pay a little extra for something like the ND22 which has a superior CPU when compared to an Atom. See link in my signature.

I own a AMD E-350 based board. The only way I have found any joy is to go with openElec.

AMD Fusion supported XBMC

They are still in beta and its looking good, right down to wifi config in the gui. Actually they allow two nics. I use one (wired) to stream from NAS and the other (wifi) for control and downloading movie info.

The one thing the ION will not do is DTS-MA or TrueHD. Currently the solution is to downmix to LPCM or straight DTS. Downmix may not be the right term as sound will still play but not in its native formatting.

The E-350 has the capability and when Eden comes out, with Gnif's Audio Engine branched merged, it should be a nice experience for those looking for the ability to play these bluray audio formats.

That being said I will affirm the posts of the others. ATI sucks on linux and is a headache in the making. Upgrade the kernel and everything breaks. Again openElec may be a consideration for you as they have very active developers and then again when you run your own business you dont want to worry about making mods on the fly. Off the shelf products, like openElec, have value. I ran my own Home Automation business for 4 years and as much as I wanted to make my own products it just didn't make sense or bring any more money in the door.

quotaholic