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dalben · 2013-03-09, 03:35

I'm finally jumping into the htpc xbmc world after threatening to do it for years. My needs aren't that exotic. Play 1080p mkv videos, music is ripped to flac, all sitting on an unraid server connected with wired gigabit.

I want to be able to drop out into a browser to play some proprietary video streaming (afltv if anyone know it). Connected via hdmi through a denon amp to a 50" Samsung. While the TV can handle 3d I don't need it now but I might as well future proof if its not that big a deal.

It has to be ale to play DVDs, Bluerays and CDs on the odd occasion we want to view/listen to something that I haven't ripped yet.

Ideally it will be driven by my Harmony One remote but also connect to a wireless keyboard/mouse when needed. Skype would be a bonus.

I'm hoping one of the prebuilt Linux/xbmc can handle everything I want. At this stage I think it's best to find the distro that does what I want seamlessly and then find the best hw to match, unless its best doing it the other way. I'm hoping for a small form factor asrock/zotac or self built mITX build with an SSD.

Any advice on which distro would work best for my needs ? If its windows I can go to windows but I prefer the faster load times with Linux if possible.

nickr · 2013-03-09, 04:19

Hardware - make sure you get an nvidia GPU. No other realistic choice on linux.

XBMCbuntu should meet your needs.

**BLKMGK** · 2013-03-09, 05:22

He wants to be able to play BlueRay that haven't been ripped. Pretty sure the DRM will kill this idea on Linux. I don't think anything pre-built will have Skype and other toys in it either although if there's a full desktop it can be easily added.

gfisher · 2013-03-09, 08:09

For what you want xbmc on win 8 on eufi bios trinity amd apu is best for the cost. The nvidea/Intel will cost you much more than an apu/fm2 mb and an OEM win 8 license in most cases. I really like Linux xbmc but windows 8 boots fast like ubuntu . new eufi BIOSes boot very fast too. Amd trinity on windows is a completely different beast and overkill for bluray on windows. Wmc7 for recording with the free EPG and 5+ tuners is easy and reliable. My primary recording is in wmc7 and fed to Linux ati xvba boxes. It works great. Xbmc on windows is really good. There are a few DRM bluray players for windows. Intel is REALLY good for encoding but their apus are expensive for what you get imho. Good luck G

nickr · 2013-03-09, 08:26

No way, most blurays play fine here.

dalben · (This post was last modified: 2013-03-09, 08:30 by dalben.)

Playing DVDs, Music CDs and Blueray disks are more important than Skype at this stage. Being able to run a browser for streamed AFL content is the catalyst for a move from a HDI Dune box to XBMC.

If Windows is the best way to go for my needs I'll head over there for now but mwill probably come back when it's time for a small bedroom xbmc client.

Edit: Just saw your reply nickr. Is there any secret or trick ? Nvidia for GPU ? I was thinking of an i3 cpu with built in graphics. Am i better finding a mobo with on-board nvidia ?

gfisher · (This post was last modified: 2013-03-09, 08:48 by gfisher.)

How do you get BD+ on Linux. I would love to get my Linux boxes playing newer blurays.

edit. Nickr my question is for you.

gfisher · 2013-03-09, 09:45

Dalben warning. the Intel integrated GPU at least my SB i5 hd3000 deinterlaces over the air recordings horribly on Linux and so so on windows 7. You might look around these forums and form your opinion. maybe hd4000 is better. Don't know. Nvidea or ATI xvba graphics perform better in my experience with xbmc. I think you should look more into that if picture quality is important to you. Also integrated apus use a lot less power from the wall when measured. Discrete graphics cards eat power. I manage a lot of newish mid range PCs. Power consumption for 24/7 pcs costs a lot over the year per year. If power price and money are no object then get i7 nvidea and consider windows for ease of use and compatibility with sucky DRM.. Most have not even touched win 8 and hate on it but I was forced to load and get a few work stations with it and boot time is really fast and its not too bad. I do not like the touch screen GUI but a few registry tweaks all is good.. Ug.. Linux is priced right and fun to play with. You can try it. Nvidea on Linux does offer advanced deinterlacing and HD audio pass through. ATI lacks them on Linux but not on win7 or 8. Ati trinity is quite good on linux but has some minor limitations. Hopefully some day amd will add the windows features to linux...

nickr · 2013-03-09, 09:55

OK BD+ presents a problem for linux, although there are signs it will be supported soon.

Silver disks are a pain, I now I think of them in the same part of my brain as I think of VHS tapes. Rip them, put them in a cupboard in case the hard drive goes feral.

Actually come to think of it I think the makemkv script works on BD+ disks - the script basically uses makemkv's streaming facility to stream the decrypted video to xbmc. so Tongue

gfisher · 2013-03-09, 10:06

Thanks nick. Ripping/backing up I prefer too. Else why use the beautiful xbmc library. I will have to look at makemkv. It is a good ripper on windows. I tried vlc on xubuntu. It choked on bd+ wife was not happy when attempting to watch the new movies. I refuse to buy a strand alone be player since most of my PCs can play disks.

nickr · (This post was last modified: 2013-03-09, 15:06 by nickr.)

Just to clarify, makemkv works in Linux. many physical blurays also work natively in xbmc.There is also an xbmc addon which uses makemkv to decrypt bluray disks on the fly and play the decypted stream via xbmc. So bd+ should work via the addon.