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I got slight problem after using Coreboot succesfully for few months as my new TV seems to ignore signal from Asus Chromebox.

Device: Asus Chromebox with Celeron, newest CoreBoot (updated last night) & OpenElec as standalone installation.

Everything worked just fine with old tv & other TVs in the house, but new ProCaster tv seems to have decided that Chromebox ain't sending any signal and I'm not sure what to try anymore.

I have updated Coreboot, changed HDMI-cables, ports, tried other HDMI-devices (all worked), tried booting with HDMI unplugged, hot plugging etc. Even with DisplayPort-cable connected to my computer screen and fiddling with OpenElec screen options, still no change. Not even bios loading screen, so seems like device problem, not OpenElec problem.

I got DisplayPort -> HDMI adapter coming next week to try that out but if that doesn't help, then I'm lost at what more to try.

(2014-07-24, 14:53)Firehand Wrote: [ -> ]I got slight problem after using Coreboot succesfully for few months as my new TV seems to ignore signal from Asus Chromebox.

Device: Asus Chromebox with Celeron, newest CoreBoot (updated last night) & OpenElec as standalone installation.

Everything worked just fine with old tv & other TVs in the house, but new ProCaster tv seems to have decided that Chromebox ain't sending any signal and I'm not sure what to try anymore.

I have updated Coreboot, changed HDMI-cables, ports, tried other HDMI-devices (all worked), tried booting with HDMI unplugged, hot plugging etc. Even with DisplayPort-cable connected to my computer screen and fiddling with OpenElec screen options, still no change. Not even bios loading screen, so seems like device problem, not OpenElec problem.

I got DisplayPort -> HDMI adapter coming next week to try that out but if that doesn't help, then I'm lost at what more to try.

so to be clear, the ChromeBox still works on your old TV, just not the new one? What is the native resolution of each? How to attack this depends on whether the ChromeBox is actually outputting a signal (just one your new TV can't use) or not

(2014-07-24, 17:08)Matt Devo Wrote: [ -> ]so to be clear, the ChromeBox still works on your old TV, just not the new one? What is the native resolution of each? How to attack this depends on whether the ChromeBox is actually outputting a signal (just one your new TV can't use) or not

Yup, Chromebox works fine with old TV & 2 other TVs in household.

Old one was 720p (HD Ready), while new one is 1080p (Full HD). But I tried other Full HD TV we have (few years old Sony) and it works fine with that one.

I tried putting HDMI switch between ChromeBox & TV, the switch changes to correct channel when ChromeBox boots, so it seems that ChromeBox is atleast pushing the signal out.

(2014-07-24, 03:19)pony89 Wrote: [ -> ]I am really thinking about going with the Asus Chromebox as my next XBMC box: http://www.amazon.com/Asus-CHROMEBOX-M00...B00IT1WJZQ

My main use will be to stream movies and TV shows over WiFI. My wireless router is not very far away (20 feet) but a wired connection is not really an option with how my basement suite is set up. I have been using an OUYA for almost a year now and while it works fine for the most part, there is a whole lot of room for improvement.

My biggest question would be how many Chromebox users recommend this box? Also, what type of remote would be best to pair with this box? I have a wireless keyboard but I feel like that is too bulky to leave laying around on the coffee table...

Thanks!

I'm new to XBMC and the Chrombox, but have a lot of Linux experience, although OpenELEC is far more minimal that I've grown accustomed to. My out of the box experience was very good following Matt's clear instructions and running his script to set up OpenELEC with his custom Coreboot firmware. I had to buy a USB keyboard to set developer mode as the Logitech kr400 wireless USB keyboard wouldn't work on the recovery screen but after that it was clear sailing. I had a few minor confusions, but Matt's quick answers set me straight.

As to the "issues" the hardware acceleration seems to apply to anything with Intel graphics. I couldn't find the SW-filter setting for the workaround initially, and ran with software decoding. Playing BD rips both cpu usage ran 70-80%, DVD rips and Hauppauge HD-PVR 1920x1080 *.M2TS files were a bit less, but the user interface (default skin) was still responsive. After enabling the SW-filter workaround BD cpu usage dropped to 10-20% each.

For low definition files I recommend setting the scaling to Optimised Spline 36 Point, De-interlace to auto, and enabling Crop black bars. I find all my old crap clips still watch able on our 83" Mitsubishi DLP HDTV.

I haven't tried using the Chrombox as a streaming source (server). Never really looked into streaming as even NetFlix seems pretty marginal over WiFi in my experience. If you can give me some quick clues as to how I setup XBMC to source streams and how to use a Nook HD+ (Android 4.2) as the client I can give it a try (Asus RT-AC56U dual band 802.11AC router), but I'm not motivated to do the google legwork needed to set it up. I believe the Chrombox has a lessor WiFi chip than my Router so it should be the rate limiter (or the Nook HD+ I try as the client)

My last remaining Chrombox specific problem is I can't boot Chromium. I only would need to do this if I should need to update Matt's firmware, but the first Chromium I dowloaded locked up at the logo screen, the second, downloaded yesterday, seg faulted in the kernel during boot. I've used two different USB sticks. I'd like to have this ready in case I need it somewhere down the road.

Our HDTV appears to have no way to turn off overscan. ChromeOS had adjustments to compensate (was really hard to use ChromOS until I did as too many "essentials" were off screen and thus not clickable. XBMC/OpenELEC seems to have laid things out so I can still get at everything even if I can't see it all. The right side "slider" menus are by far the most problematic -- can click the options but the labels are really hard to figure out.

Except for the fact I've not tried your required streaming, I'd highly recommend the ASUS Chromebox. Solve the YouTube plugin login and VEVO playback issues and its doing everything we need and more. Boots faster and is far more responsive than the old Viewsonic VMP-60 media player box it replaces.

No comment on wireless remotes. Need another remote like another hole in the head. My wife can use a keyboard just fine, but with the remotes she constantly has trouble with what remote controls which box and which buttons do what functions and ends up calling on me to tell her

(2014-07-24, 18:51)wally_666 Wrote: [ -> ]Our HDTV appears to have no way to turn off overscan. ChromeOS had adjustments to compensate (was really hard to use ChromOS until I did as too many "essentials" were off screen and thus not clickable. XBMC/OpenELEC seems to have laid things out so I can still get at everything even if I can't see it all. The right side "slider" menus are by far the most problematic -- can click the options but the labels are really hard to figure out.

XBMC has calibration / overscan compensation built-in, under Video Output IIRC

Quote:XBMC has calibration / overscan compensation built-in, under Video Output IIRC

Thanks, looks like another place the standard,advanced,expert options in the settings has tripped me up In my defense that "button" is near the overscan boundry and pretty hard to read for me.

I'll have to figure out the consequences of doing it like this, as we don't really seem to want/need to do much with what the right side menus offer and my wife is really happy with the quality of the video playback. She's laid up recovering from foot surgery and giving the XBMC/OpenELEC Chromebox quite a workout at the moment. I really wanted to get this working before she had the surgery yesterday which wouldn't have happened without your help to my ultimately RTFM questions, again, many thanks!


Any insight as to why I'm 0 for 2 with my Chromium attempts?
I won't be really messing with Chromium, but I do want to solve the problem so I can boot to rerun your script again if it ever becomes necessary. Having a working USB stick now will be far less stressful than trying to get one working if an upgrade goes bad or something else breaks my install.

(2014-07-24, 03:19)pony89 Wrote: [ -> ]Also, what type of remote would be best to pair with this box? I have a wireless keyboard but I feel like that is too bulky to leave laying around on the coffee table...

This may have been mentioned before but a PS3 remote can be paired easily in OpenELEC and works right out of the box no need to buy a USB ir dongle. They can be found cheaply used (I got mine for $5 CDN). Just make sure when you pair it that you "enable standby" in the bluetooth settings for the remote or your batteries will die in a few days.

Just a quick follow up, Had a few minutes to try the video calibration to eliminate the overscan. Works great, of course couldn't see the corner "arrows since they were in the overscan area, but taking it on faith and using the arrow keys I got it set so now I can see the full screen. Had no visible impact playing videos or slideshows and any impact on cpu usage was minimal

Glad to hear you got it sorted. I agree that the 4 levels of settings in XBMC just adds unnecessary confusion for the users

There is so much talk on here about IR remote control devices that I just want to confirm it's possible to use the XBMC remote app here over wifi:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/detai...mote&hl=en

I can't see why it won't work, but I'm not getting my devices until this weekend so I can't test yet.

Thanks

(2014-07-25, 00:33)thePCisDead Wrote: [ -> ]There is so much talk on here about IR remote control devices that I just want to confirm it's possible to use the XBMC remote app here over wifi:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/detai...mote&hl=en

I can't see why it won't work, but I'm not getting my devices until this weekend so I can't test yet.

Thanks

Works fine, but Yatse is better IMO

Quote:Works fine, but Yatse is better IMO

I've not used any of them yet, but Yatse requires Android 2.3 or above where the Official XBMC remote only requires 1.5 or above.

If you've got an old phone to tun into a remote it could matter.

Will soon be trying XBMC Remote on my wife's old 2.2 phone, if this doesn't workout, I'll try Yatse on my wife's Nook HD+, but the old phone, I think, would make a better remote.

Hmm, ok, I may have bricked my i3 Chromebox.

Ok, so what happened was that I was wanting to switch to a standalone setup, so I loaded the script, did what I had to do, then booted my OS from DVD, and during installation the power went out. Yes, that is during installation of the OS, not during the firmware flash! The latter completed successfully, and I then was able to get into the boot menu.

Now, whenever I attempt to boot, it just says "Booting from Hard Disk...", and then hangs. I simply cannot get back to the boot menu.

Any ideas here?

Try plugging your booting from your bootable DVD or USB, and rebooting. This should give you ESC prompt to choose a bootable device...

(2014-07-25, 04:41)DocG Wrote: [ -> ]Hmm, ok, I may have bricked my i3 Chromebox.

Ok, so what happened was that I was wanting to switch to a standalone setup, so I loaded the script, did what I had to do, then booted my OS from DVD, and during installation the power went out. Yes, that is during installation of the OS, not during the firmware flash! The latter completed successfully, and I then was able to get into the boot menu.

Now, whenever I attempt to boot, it just says "Booting from Hard Disk...", and then hangs. I simply cannot get back to the boot menu.

Any ideas here?

(2014-07-25, 05:02)igjunk Wrote: [ -> ]Try plugging your booting from your bootable DVD or USB, and rebooting. This should give you ESC prompt to choose a bootable device...

Tried that already. I simply do not get the ESC prompt, and pressing ESC does nothing.

Edit: Phew! Putting Chromium OS on a USB3 stick seemed to have done the trick. I did get the boot menu back with the option of HDD or USB3 stick. It did not show my DVD drive as an option anymore? Doing a full restore now and then off to attempt 2.

Edit 2: Restore all good. Re-flash Coreboot firmware all good! Boot menu is back and DVD drive again shows up as a boot option.