Okay, I've been upgrading my little HTPC lately... swapped out the E5200 for an E6500, which made everything a bit snappier...
Then ordered a SSD to replace the small OS partition I had on a 5400 "green" drive... decided that was a good time to move to Linux instead of Windows XP.
Install Ubuntu 10.04, then the latest Dharma nightly, the nvidia 850 drivers.
It's not performing very well though... The menus often lag a bit... it feels like it's pulling the images very fast off of the SSD, but stuttering when displaying them.
The video often shows a horizontal line; it looks like the top half is moving to the next frame before the bottom half. This is on SD xvids even, not just HD content.
What can I do to speed things up? I thought I'd get a performance boost by moving away from Windows bloatware.
Machine:
E6500
4GB DDR2 memory
nvidia 8500GT
clock2113 Wrote:What can I do to speed things up? I thought I'd get a performance boost by moving away from Windows bloatware.
another suggestion: instead of doing a full ubuntu installation (do you really need the whole gnome desktop on your HTPC?), instead use the XBMCbuntu guide from the wiki but install the graphics stuff from the x-swat PPA
should give an awesome and fast Full HD media center experience
Yeah, full Ubuntu will mess things up. Either use a XBMC Live build (or do what I did) and put together a custom XBMCbuntu install.
poofyhairguy Wrote:Yeah, full Ubuntu will mess things up. Either use a XBMC Live build (or do what I did) and put together a custom XBMCbuntu install.
Na, once you have it setup properly, it is fine. I use the full desktop. Just need to disable desktop effects. Maybe a few more tweaks here and there but it works fine.
tslayer Wrote:Disable desktop effects.
Okay, I'll try that... Although since I'm running full screen, with no other windows open, will it make a difference?
Hannes The Hun Wrote:another suggestion: instead of doing a full ubuntu installation (do you really need the whole gnome desktop on your HTPC?), instead use the XBMCbuntu guide from the wiki but install the graphics stuff from the x-swat PPA
poofyhairguy Wrote:Yeah, full Ubuntu will mess things up. Either use a XBMC Live build (or do what I did) and put together a custom XBMCbuntu install.
I thought about doing a minimal install... but I'm a bit new to Linux, so I wanted to have a graphical desktop to fall back on... if I can't get it running smooth though, then I'll go that direction. I'm familiar with the console from using a Hackintosh, but unfamiliar with the Linux package thing, with keys and aptgets and such. The XBMCuntu wiki page just said how to get the stable XBMC, and I wanted to use nightlies... I think I've figured out enough that I could probably manage to do it all now from the console though... IF I can't get the the desktop environment to work that is.
clock2113 Wrote:Okay, I'll try that... Although since I'm running full screen, with no other windows open, will it make a difference?
Yes, it makes a huge difference. Desktop effects don't play well with XBMC. It must be disabled.
clock2113 Wrote:I thought about doing a minimal install... but I'm a bit new to Linux, so I wanted to have a graphical desktop to fall back on... if I can't get it running smooth though, then I'll go that direction. I'm familiar with the console from using a Hackintosh, but unfamiliar with the Linux package thing, with keys and aptgets and such. The XBMCuntu wiki page just said how to get the stable XBMC, and I wanted to use nightlies... I think I've figured out enough that I could probably manage to do it all now from the console though... IF I can't get the the desktop environment to work that is.
to simplify your life, you could look at XCI (XBMC Complete Installer ..
http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=69753) .. it was technically desinged for atom/ion setups .. but it might work for you too .. and it would help you avoid doing too much in a console
Just tried turning off the desktop effects... it does seem snappier now! The video still is moving the top half to the next frame before the bottom, but not as often.
May have to try that XCI script Tuesday...
clock2113 Wrote:The video still is moving the top half to the next frame before the bottom, but not as often.
It's called tearing.
Wiki - Minimal_NVidia_xorg.conf
Disable Composite from xorg.conf.
tslayer Wrote:Na, once you have it setup properly, it is fine. I use the full desktop. Just need to disable desktop effects. Maybe a few more tweaks here and there but it works fine.
Totally agree there, using full ubuntu desktop (effects of course disabled) lucid 64bit, and xbmc is as smooth as it can be. CPU usage is NEVER at 100%, mostly my cpu runs at 2000mhz since Intel Speed Step is enabled. No problems what so ever.
Looking at his hardware, he shouldn't have any problems. Must be some other stuff that isn't configured the right way.
boba