I just bought a Revo 3610 with Linux. I don't know linux at all and so I want to use Windows XP with XBMC instead. Are there any reasons to not do this that I should think about before commiting to XP on a Revo 3610?
My Revo will be connected to a 50" plasma tv via HDMI and I will play video files over a wired home network. The video will be mostly be TS files created from QAM recordings using a Hauppauge 950Q. I also plan to watch videos from Hulu and other Flash based video sites using separate programs (ie, not from within XBMC). I believe that there used to be a problem with jerky HULU DESKTOP and other flash based videos on the Revo 3610 (and other similarly powered computers) but that this is no longer an issue with the new Flash drivers and the Nvideo GPU on the Revo 3610.
Anyways, I thought I would ask about this before I go ahead and reformat my drive and install XP. I have read many troubleshooting posts on problems with XP on this forum, but I am not sure which ones are still relevant today. Things change and improve so fast.
Thanks in advance for any thoughts...
AFAIK the windowd drivers do not support offloading to the GPU.
And also, AFAIK, if you want XBMC to use the hardware acceleration playback for 1080p offered by the GPU - you'll have to use Linux for VDPAU.
Maybe dual-boot XP and Live?
The next version of XBMC, due in May, will support hardware acceleration in Windows, but only in Windows 7 (or Vista if you're a masochist). Using Windows makes sense if that's what you're familiar with, and indeed I currently use Windows XP on my Revo. However I'll reinstalling it with Windows 7 any day now. Win7 is slightly slower than XP, but with 2GB of memory the difference is negligable.
The 3610 should be capable of playing most 720p videos without hardware acceleration, though 1080p is beyond its powers.
JR
I suggest following the XBMCbuntu instructions in the wiki. A few steps after that and you can have a very nice system that is streamlined to do its job well. You will get better performance out of Linux than Windows due to the drivers. More importantly, you will not end up with dozens of other processes consuming the CPU, memory and disk resources.
If you are a true novice, use XBMC Live and install it to the disk. You will get better performance than Windows. You won't be tempted to install a ton of junk on there. You won't have a virus scanner tying up your CPU. You won't have Windows Update installing patches every few days. It will be what you want it to be: an appliance for watching video.
NOTE: I got my 3610 a week ago. I wish I could justify upgrading the display itself now because the 3610 has more capabilities than my 1080i screen RPTV does.
HKeiner, I agree and would vote that you go with Linux until the next release in May.
If you decide to do so, there is another slightly updated guide in my signature that links to several previously well-written instructions and adds in commentary on where I ran into issues that should save you some time. Hopefully it helps you delve into Linux.
Good luck!
christoofar Wrote:Actually you can have gpu acceleration using Tiben20's dsplayer builds on an XP machine.
http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=61355
Quite a few people are using it on the same platform with great success
It only accelerates specific content and you are still left with a considerable amount of overhead present in Windows that is not present when running on Linux.
Keep in mind that there are a lot of other items to display on screen in Windows that are getting the benefit of no acceleration whatsoever.
GJones Wrote:It only accelerates specific content and you are still left with a considerable amount of overhead present in Windows that is not present when running on Linux.
Keep in mind that there are a lot of other items to display on screen in Windows that are getting the benefit of no acceleration whatsoever.
I'm also keeping in mind that the OP has no experience w/ Linux. It sounds like he plans on using it as a dedicated HTPC, not a full desktop. And that you will gain GPU offloading with the HD filetypes, which is the whole point. The newer builds are also allowing the user to config various output filters (ffdshow, COREVC, etc) for even more flexability
Is this discussion still relevant? I have a Revo with XP Home installed. Performance is so-so. Am I better off switching to Linux?
When I bought it (late 2009), I seem to remember reading that Linux did support hardware video acceleration and there was some sounds issue...
Thanks!
Not really, we've seen DSPlayer for DXVA (Windows XP) support added and native DXVA2 (Vista/Win7) support introduced into XBMC since the OP posted this topic.
So you have options regardless of which Windows OS you are using.
Win7 works very well on my R3610 and XBMC plays 1080p videos just fine.
JR