[hdmkv]

looks like Kerber has HD audio passthru working on OE for the mini mx, hes using Koyings KODI fork now, MVC playback is coming soon i hope, maybe even already working not sure if it was included in koyings kodi fork or not.

for 40$ im going to order one up myself in hopes it all comes together. ;-)

Got a link? Never heard of Kerber. Sounds like baby food .

[dukester]

looks like Kerber has HD audio passthru working on OE for the mini mx, hes using Koyings KODI fork now, MVC playback is coming soon i hope, maybe even already working not sure if it was included in koyings kodi fork or not.

for 40$ im going to order one up myself in hopes it all comes together. ;-)

Got a link? Never heard of Kerber. Sounds like baby food .

I think his name is Alex actually but he goes by kerber on xbmc.ru

http://amlinuxmedia.com/forum/index.php?topic=13.0

[hdmkv]

Thanks, I'll try it out on my sample Beelink Mini MX, along with a new OE MVC build from wrxtasy on WeTek Core. Hopefully tonight!

[brazen1]

By kludgy, I meant felt like using a desktop PC vs. a set-top box. But, was few years ago & under Win7 like I mentioned. I skimmed over your guide in your signature again; what HTPC do you use? And, yes, if you can provide info., I'd like to compile a short-list of recommended HTPC's capable of full 3D + reliable HD audio (under Win10). Thanks.

A list? Any windows unit sold on the shelf today will work and so will the ones purchased years ago. Install Kodi. (Install PDVD only if you want perfect 3DMVC using full disc copy). Plug in your peripherals. Done. Personally, my rig is built from scavenged parts about 10 years old and going strong and completely reliable. I'm just suggesting an inexpensive diy alternative vs little preloaded boxes for those that already have a windows machine. I can't exactly supply you with preloaded ready to go suggestions as that defeats the whole point. As for adding to your chart list of Media Player Choices with Kodi + Full 3D + HD Audio: How about:

Windows Platforms:
Cons:
You have to install Kodi yourself. It's free open source and well maintained.
You have to check if your rig has an HDMI port. If it does, you can play 3D and HD audio with passthrough.
If you desire full on Frame packed 3DMVC using a complete disc rip, you have to spend $50 and buy an external player, otherwise it will render SBS, TAB, mkv rips, etc just fine without it.
If your PC is not booted, there will be extra wait time.
Some users report a "Kludgy feel" compared to a true set top box feel.
Depending on what your windows unit is and how you have it adjusted, it may be too noisy while listening to your media.
Additional features like a remote control and a hub for it are an additional expense if you don't happen to have one laying around but a mouse and/or keyboard work just fine.
Additional features, not required, but desired, will have to be installed manually and are only limited by your imagination and not those of a hardware manufacturers limited vision or capability. Easy instructions are prevalent.
Nothing about a windows diy project is going to be plug and play and requires some time and dedication beyond the basics, unless you're perfectly ok with just installing Kodi, some add-ons maybe, perhaps a skin, you could be up and running in an hour.
Depending on your windows box, tablet or laptop, it may appear bulky and non aesthetic next to your already bulky AVR and other devices.
Pros:
Cost is zero if you already own a computer.
All of the feature items in your list.... check all of them.
Your PC can still be the PC it's always been and with a little effort it can be your Kodi box too.
That should just about sum it up for the most part.......

Using Kodi on a Windows HTPC machine works flawlessly (unless it crashes, but Xbone's and Blu-ray players can crash as well) and I have no issues with 6 different set-ups. The only problem is the lack of true 3D support within the Windows HYPC environment. Again it's one of the stupidest issues because a small group building tiny inexpensive machines are able to do something, though not perfectly, that a massive machine with far more computing power can not. Very frustrating.

I wouldn't consider that a problem? Install external player. Done. Can you install an external player so it mimics a native player on your device, aside from an RPI? I ask because you wrote "machines". If not, that is an "issue". Windows doesn't have an "issue". I have no crashes in the O/S or the player. Maybe in XP days when windows was more of an infant and competitors were eager to make an issue every time windows hiccupped due to user error. I'd be much more concerned knowing that as add-ons, media, and Kodi update, the manufactures of these little boxes might not be in unison pushing firmware and updates (if at all forcing you to buy the ahem, "new upgraded box") and one day you turn it on and it doesn't work anymore and you can't fix it yourself.

[Dave the Minion]

I wouldn't consider that a problem? Install external player. Done.

Just that simple? Oh wait, no it's not.

You have to buy a third party piece of software. Then you must configure said software and configure Kodi to launch that software. You need to re-program your remote to operate another program which uses different keys than the Kodi default. You still don't get any communication between the HTPC and display to auto-switch to the appropriate 3D display but rather have to rely on the display's internal 3D detection to kick over OR do so manually because a $3500 projector doesn't have this feature. You can't easily integrate the extra software with add-ons like CinemaVision and last you want to do full disc rips which require more storage space and makes watching these films in 2D on non-3D set-ups far more difficult and cumbersome than needed. And of course if the disc you rip contains Cinevia, well, have fun dealing with that.

External players are not the solution Kodi HTPC users should be looking for to get true MVC MKV playback with HD audio passthrough. We need a video card that has unlocked firmware to operate HDMI the way the Pi2 can. Software decoding isn't easy, flawless or even close to being implemented within Kodi itself. We need access to the full capabilities within the hardware. That's the frustration. It's like buying a Ferarri with a limiter on it so you can't go over 20!

[hdmkv]

Agree, "Any windows unit sold on the shelf today will work and so will the ones purchased years ago" won't do... which HTPC's or builds in particular support full 3D (via PDVD or TMT) and issue-free HD audio passthrough via Windows 10?

[brazen1]

I wouldn't consider that a problem? Install external player. Done.

Just that simple? Oh wait, no it's not.

You have to buy a third party piece of software.
You don't have to? Only if you need/want it and the $50 is less than the little box that you would have laid out for.

Then you must configure said software and configure Kodi to launch that software.
Oh my! Checking or unchecking configs in a well laid out gui might bring folks to their knees.
Unnecessary anyway unless you need/want to use an external player
The nightmare config, should you desire to use the extra player, is handed to you in my 3D thread. Many have reported flawless installs.

You need to re-program your remote to operate another program which uses different keys than the Kodi default.
Wrong. I use one remote for every aspect of my entertainment center in unison. All covered in my thread briefly.
Those that don't use the external player will find their existing remote from windows media center and it's mappings work fine in Kodi and there are plenty of threads for other remote mappings.

You still don't get any communication between the HTPC and display to auto-switch to the appropriate 3D display but rather have to rely on the display's internal 3D detection to kick over OR do so manually because a $3500 projector doesn't have this feature.
Wrong. I go into great detail about this in my thread. Press enter on a title, everything is automated and title begins.

You can't easily integrate the extra software with add-ons like CinemaVision
I don't use CinemaVision and you're probably correct. You got me there.

and last you want to do full disc rips which require more storage space
Have you ever noted how much space you save by stripping your rip? A 45GB title, stripped down to 1 audio and no previews saves you about 5% or less. Whoopty doo.

and makes watching these films in 2D on non-3D set-ups far more difficult and cumbersome than needed.
Wrong. 3D title playback in Kodi or external player when using a 2D display only, display in 2D just fine.

And of course if the disc you rip contains Cinevia, well, have fun dealing with that.
Anydvd, dvdfab, etc. What do you use as your ripping software that won't bypass cinavia when creating your digital backup copy?

External players are not the solution Kodi HTPC users should be looking for to get true MVC MKV playback with HD audio passthrough.
Doesn't Kodi do this without the need for an external player? If not, why isn't an external player a solution? PDVD plays anything you throw at it in passthrough. And why would you HAVE to rip to MKV anyway? Why not simply copy disc and be done with it without all the fuss?

We need a video card that has unlocked firmware to operate HDMI the way the Pi2 can.
I don't. Windows GPU's perform just fine for all my needs. Even the cheepo ones. Granted the newest Pi has some 3D capabilities I've read about and that's great for a cheap client device. Would I use it as my main player? I don't think so. I'd just use my windows device and save myself the money.

Software decoding isn't easy, flawless or even close to being implemented within Kodi itself.
Sure it is. Select software rendering and fire up your h265 rip. You'll need a little horsepower in your cpu.

We need access to the full capabilities within the hardware. That's the frustration. It's like buying a Ferarri with a limiter on it so you can't go over 20!
As with all new hardware, in time it will come. If there isn't a demand, it will never come, and why I demand kodi devs rework the entire dvdplayer to include framepacked 3Disomvc decoding or put a bounty out for ffmpeg to get on the ball. Just kidding : )

[Dave the Minion]

Well trying to read a reply that was just tacking on to my quote wasn't all that easy, but the points being made about how great and awesome external players are seem to have fallen on deaf ears.

You only save 5% of disc space when ripping a 3D Blu-ray to MKV? Really? I just ripped Avengers AOU. Disc is over 45GB. MKV file with uncompressed HD audio and full resolution video is 37GB. That's 8GB or over 15% less. With over 170 3D movies that's more than a TERABYTE of wasted disc space. Whoopty-do indeed.

You are trying to argue how great Kodi, PDVD and Windows are together. Thing is even your set-up is not the simple 1 device solution people want. You claim computer GPU's do everything we want, but they don't. You miss all the points made to further run with your own opinion. Why can't you understand this?

You have a solution you like, great. Personally I'm not going to pay for a program (6 times) that doesn't do what I want, then pay for more storage to keep menus and promos and docs etc. that I don't need in my Kodi library and then still have to use my remote to tell the projector to change to the proper 3D setting. At this point the Pi for less expense does what computer GPU's SHOULD be able to do. Software decoding won't ever do what the Pi currently does. And then running an entire other program behind the scenes to deal with Cinevia issues makes external players for MVC MKV playback a non-starter for many people.

[brazen1]

Agree, "Any windows unit sold on the shelf today will work and so will the ones purchased years ago" won't do... which HTPC's or builds in particular support full 3D (via PDVD or TMT) and issue-free HD audio passthrough via Windows 10?

The list is too vast. When it comes right down to it, the GPU is the single component that is going to make or break issue free HD audio with passthrough and support full on 3D and passing that as well. All of this is achieved through HDMI connections which have been the norm for years now. As a rule of thumb, anything with an HDMI port is going to work. (Not DVI, HDMI or there are limitations, some with workarounds, some not) I have NEVER come across anything with an HDMI port that didn't work. But I haven't tested 1000's of machines. I suppose there could be a handful that might be problematic but I'm just guessing. Popular GPU's on windows machines are AMD, Intel, and Nvidia. All late model of these GPU's are capable of everything afaik. I rely on what little testing on various rigs I've done and reports to my thread to come to my conclusion. This includes on die stacked gpu's and motherboard integrated GPU's and PCIE lane GPU's. Personally I use an Nvidia 650. I have no reason to upgrade to the 900 series unless I decide to rip more h265 quicker. Not anytime soon. Windows 10 bugs, if you want to call them that, have all been dealt with. Been using 10 since the official release. No problems. Forget TMT. It isn't supported anymore. No probs with it on Vista through 8.1. 10 I had problems but I think it was a GPU driver issue in reality. Not sure. I migrated to PDVD15 and 10 to stay state of the art before I gave it another go. This whole windows is unreliable and incompatible myth is just that. You will seldom read success stories on the internet about anything. Folks tend to only post problems and the shear amount of them then gets summed up as the norm. In reality, 99% of the time, these problems are user error and not the software/hardware at fault. And if it isn't user error, it can be dealt with. Read my thread sometime when you're very, very bored. Where there's a will, there's a way.

[brazen1]

Well trying to read a reply that was just tacking on to my quote wasn't all that easy, but the points being made about how great and awesome external players are seem to have fallen on deaf ears.

You only save 5% of disc space when ripping a 3D Blu-ray to MKV? Really? I just ripped Avengers AOU. Disc is over 45GB. MKV file with uncompressed HD audio and full resolution video is 37GB. That's 8GB or over 15% less. With over 170 3D movies that's more than a TERABYTE of wasted disc space. Whoopty-do indeed.

You are trying to argue how great Kodi, PDVD and Windows are together. Thing is even your set-up is not the simple 1 device solution people want. You claim computer GPU's do everything we want, but they don't. You miss all the points made to further run with your own opinion. Why can't you understand this?

You have a solution you like, great. Personally I'm not going to pay for a program (6 times) that doesn't do what I want, then pay for more storage to keep menus and promos and docs etc. that I don't need in my Kodi library and then still have to use my remote to tell the projector to change to the proper 3D setting. At this point the Pi for less expense does what computer GPU's SHOULD be able to do. Software decoding won't ever do what the Pi currently does. And then running an entire other program behind the scenes to deal with Cinevia issues makes external players for MVC MKV playback a non-starter for many people.

I'm not arguing. I'm enlightening. I'm in no way trying to sway anyone from what works for them presently. What I am trying to accomplish is for new users, that don't know which way to turn and come here looking for answers, be shown yet another alternative. When you established in your ways for your reasons folks start to pry apart my enlightenment, based on assumptions, falsehoods and egos, we end up here. This is supposed to be comradery imo. I thought the windows inclusion would be beneficial for the thread and the users that read it. Now it's not fun anymore and no one is going to gain any insight from any of this. Oh well. I've nothing more to offer. Nuff said.

[Dave the Minion]

Windows inclusion is valuable information to know. But it must be presented in truths.

Windows machines are generally the most powerful machines to run Kodi.

Windows machines with HDMI out run Kodi with full support for every current Kodi supported format including full HD audio passthrough.

Windows machines however do not have the ability to currently use hardware to output proper MVC 3D. Any Windows based 3D option is through an external software program that uses software decoding. This limits you in many ways including requirements to rip complete discs rather than stripping out unneeded data, circumventing Cinevia copy protection in creative ways and not having proper communication between the HTPC and the display. On top of this you must purchase (or hack) a commercial software program from a 3rd party.

Further, if you have more than 1 Kodi set-up and chose the full disc rip solution you must either use a device that will play back those rips properly, or which many seem to have various issues, or pay for a second, third or more license fee for the third party software.

Believe me, I've been working with XBMC/KODI Windows machines for over 3 years looking for a complete, powerful solution. All my experimenting with PDVD and TMT were horribly complicated and provided very poor user experiences. Further, the lack of being able to integrate CinemaVision (and previously Cinema experience) are huge detractors as well. Add in the additional costs for storage of unwanted/unneeded data, compatibility issues within software set-ups and the non-communication between HTPC and display and Windows based external player solutions aren't worth the hassle for all but the most die hard supporters.

There is no list of Windows machines that can be made because there are so many components and variables involved. The real problem is that there isn't 1 or a line of specific components that will do what should be possible and that's using the GPU hardware to it's full capability. If PDVD and TMT were worth anything they'd have these abilities just like the Pi does, but they do not.

[movie78]

3D playback on Windows with External player is not a sgood solution.Don't know why this is an argument..we've all been there and realize how painful it is to use.

[movie78]

Is there any TestBuild for MXQ S85 Amlogic S805 Quad-Core ?

[opeters]

.....Windows machines however do not have the ability to currently use hardware to output proper MVC 3D.....

Actually you can play MVC 3D on Windows using stereoscopic player, just fine! I tried it but dropped it due to lack of 3D sub support.

[noggin]

[quote='noggin' pid='2205985' dateline='1452073263']
@brazen1 Many of us initially went down the HTPC route you suggest. The reality is that a PC with 20TB of storage is never silent. I much prefer to site my server in a location where noise is not an issue, and play content from it to various devices around my house. A Raspberry Pi 2 works for me as a client, as does a Chromebox. I have an HTPC in one location (Pentium Sandy Bridge based) acting purely as a Windows Media Center TV solution. This solves a different problem for me. We all have different requirements, different tolerance levels (I would never get away with a 20TB server in my living room...) It's horses for courses.

With all due respect, and complete understanding of different strokes for different folks, statements like this immediately shy away those considering building an all in one htpc. This is misleading imo. I feel a little defense for windows is appropriate. Reality is, I cannot tell if my box is on without looking at the power light because it is so quiet. It is within arms reach as I'm typing. Nothing special to achieve this other than elbow grease. I assume your comment about 20TB's refers to multiple hard drives. Windows has always had a spin down setting. It works perfectly and when a drive does spin up for playback, at 15 feet I can't hear it and when I put my ear to it, the decibels is minimal. Perhaps this might be a problem for the sensitive but 99% of titles have few silent moments and the audio covers up the loudest of machines. The ssd, the only drive running constantly, is silent. As you've stated about your noisy server in another room, this box serves clients too and is the main playback machine as well. The point is, noise is not an issue for me and if I overcame it, the resourceful user I am, anyone could.
[/quote]

Yep - different strokes for different folks. I spent a lot of time and effort sound proofing my HTPC case with noise deadening material, putting in quieter system fans, quieter CPU coolers, quieter hard drive mounts etc. and it was still too noisy to put up with in my modest London living room. I had to switch it off when it wasn't in use, which wasn't ideal as it was also supposed to be my PVR solution at the time. It was also serving other clients for music and movie replay, so multiple discs were usually spinning (as they were for TV recording)

The issue was most obviously when I was reading, working etc. without any music or TV on, but the fans were running and the drives spinning.

I am much happier with a silent client and a noisier server (which also acts as back-end PVR storage for at least on PVR solution I run). The noisy server is located in a cupboard where I can't hear it...

[quote='noggin' pid='2205985' dateline='1452073263']
@brazen1 Many of us initially went down the HTPC route you suggest. The reality is that a PC with 20TB of storage is never silent. I much prefer to site my server in a location where noise is not an issue, and play content from it to various devices around my house. A Raspberry Pi 2 works for me as a client, as does a Chromebox. I have an HTPC in one location (Pentium Sandy Bridge based) acting purely as a Windows Media Center TV solution. This solves a different problem for me. We all have different requirements, different tolerance levels (I would never get away with a 20TB server in my living room...) It's horses for courses.

[quote='bobneal81' pid='2206103' dateline='1452083696']
I've only had my Raspberry Pi2 / OpenELEC box for a few days and it's been awesome for 3D iso. I'd like to try Kodi on a Windows machine as well. I'm using a Windows 7 machine with a pretty fast i7 processor and I just ordered an ATI Radeon HD6450 that supposedly supports 3D movie playback. Can anyone offer tips? I had to use the Milhouse 01/04 build for 3D iso's to work on the Pi2...is there a special build to use for windows? Maybe one of these?:

http://mirrors.kodi.tv/nightlies/win32/

Anything else to know about Kodi / Windows / 3D iso? Thanks!

I should get a Pi2 using newer builds to see how it works in the real world for me. Have an older 512Mb model clocked at 1100. Folks exclaimed how cool it was to stream content. Tried many builds and O/S. At 1st I WiFi'd and it just buffered constantly using N tech at the time. No problem with compressed rips but they looked terrible. Tried high bitrate full copy rips in the 40-50 range and they started to play, buffered and eventually dropped the connection.

Pi really needed NFS rather than SMB for high bitrate stuff - but was surprisingly capable. I'd never use WiFi for any bluray unrecompressed stuff though. The Pi 2 is an order of magnitude faster in CPU terms and is a very good solution IMO.

Went Ethernet. Same thing. Discovered Pi port was 10/100 only and not 10/100/1000 like all my other client ports that didn't have a problem and chalked it up to that.

That's very odd. 100Mbs is fine for Blu-ray quality stuff. I've had a number of solutions that are running at 100Mbs (Popcorn Hour C200 was one - as you had to run it 100Mbs because of a faulty GigE implementation...) with no problem at all. You wouldn't want your server and infrastructure to be 100Mbs, but a single client should be fine.

Strange thing is WiFi on the other clients was fine, but using same adapter on the Pi didn't work? Was told 10\100 was overkill for 50 bitrate playback and not the problem. No idea what else it could have been? Noticed output never lit up DTSHDMA or TrueHD so I gave it away. Your success streaming native supported 3D iso perks up my interest again.

The Pi 2 still won't light up your DTS-HD MA or True HD lights because it can't bitstream those codecs due to an HDMI bandwidth hardware limitation. However it can decode losslessly to 5.1/7.1 PCM (just as early Blu-ray players did, and the early PS3s) so you get lossless playback of 5.1/7.1 DTS-HD MA and Dolby True HD stuff at 96/48kHz, and 4.0 192kHz stuff.