2014-05-25, 23:18
2014-05-26, 00:32
"However x86 is getting cheaper as well it seem"
x86 always has a catch. Like you need to buy expensive laptop memory or
you need to have a whacky power supply since it does drink so much more current.
Cant argue on performance though it runs pretty than ARM.
ARM on the other hand can run on a cheap phone charger or even a battery
and has no fan and seems to do basic things just as good running from a 9 dollar SD card.
I have read why this is messed up and posted to the lemaker site about this.
Its not good business to limit the market they are after and since the A20 can
playback 4K this thing would be an incredible cheap media box.
Sigh I guess this will have to wait until the politics has been settled.
Can anyone tell me why they would want to NDA the codec code?
Isn't the beefy part in silicone microcode anyway?
Makes no sense to me. Do they just want to collect a fee?
x86 always has a catch. Like you need to buy expensive laptop memory or
you need to have a whacky power supply since it does drink so much more current.
Cant argue on performance though it runs pretty than ARM.
ARM on the other hand can run on a cheap phone charger or even a battery
and has no fan and seems to do basic things just as good running from a 9 dollar SD card.
I have read why this is messed up and posted to the lemaker site about this.
Its not good business to limit the market they are after and since the A20 can
playback 4K this thing would be an incredible cheap media box.
Sigh I guess this will have to wait until the politics has been settled.
Can anyone tell me why they would want to NDA the codec code?
Isn't the beefy part in silicone microcode anyway?
Makes no sense to me. Do they just want to collect a fee?
2014-05-26, 03:57
In general the codecs are patented. The manufacturer has to pay license fees if the codecs are made available to end users. You see this perfectly in the RPi system, where the codecs for mpeg2 and vc1 cost extra. This enables the RPi to be sold for less to those who don't want those media codecs.
2014-05-26, 17:37
I feel i am kind of thick, but you are saying the codec is in actual code not built into a chip as microcode. Is that correct? So you are not making a simple call to decompress a frame to Yuv for output. So user of the function is held up by a patent. 90% of which expire next year. The fee according to the wiki is $2 to decode but didn't they have to pay that to include it in the unit?
Confused
Confused
2014-05-26, 19:18
For technical details about the "CedarX" VPU in Allwinner A10/A20 SoCs checkout linux-sunxi.org
http://linux-sunxi.org/CedarX
http://linux-sunxi.org/Category:CedarX
http://linux-sunxi.org/A20
http://linux-sunxi.org/A10
http://linux-sunxi.org/XBMC
http://linux-sunxi.org/CedarX
http://linux-sunxi.org/Category:CedarX
http://linux-sunxi.org/A20
http://linux-sunxi.org/A10
http://linux-sunxi.org/XBMC
2014-05-26, 21:46
(2014-05-26, 00:32)ChicagoBob123 Wrote: "However x86 is getting cheaper as well it seem"
x86 always has a catch. Like you need to buy expensive laptop memory or
you need to have a whacky power supply since it does drink so much more current.
Cant argue on performance though it runs pretty than ARM.
ARM on the other hand can run on a cheap phone charger or even a battery
and has no fan and seems to do basic things just as good running from a 9 dollar SD card.
I just bought a Samsung branded 204 pin (laptop memory) 2GB DDR3 RAM chip for $15. I've never heard of anyone having wacky PSU issues with x86 machines, and some x86 systems use just as little power as ARM (which is why they're starting to use intel chips for Android tablets). Personally, I feel ARM systems are the ones that always have a catch. My new barebones Foxconn nanoPC was $125 shipped (price includes that RAM I mentioned), and the Celeron chip inside isn't even the entry level one.
Intel is hell bent on competing with ARM, so prices and power usage for x86 is only going to keep improving.
Quote:I have read why this is messed up and posted to the lemaker site about this.
Its not good business to limit the market they are after and since the A20 can
playback 4K this thing would be an incredible cheap media box.
Which is probably why VidOn.me gave it a shot for their own modified XBMC version, as they are a business. The XBMC foundation isn't a business and our decisions are based more on what we feel like doing or not.
Quote:Sigh I guess this will have to wait until the politics has been settled.
No politics about it. Heck, I would like to see the A10/A20 code get added/cleaned up too, but I don't blame anyone for not wanting to work on it. If someone wants to take the VidOn.me code and clean it up, great. It might not even but a lot of work for all I know, but someone has to actually do it. The VidOn.me code as-is is way too buggy to shoe in there now and would likely mess up other devices as well.
Quote:Can anyone tell me why they would want to NDA the codec code?
Isn't the beefy part in silicone microcode anyway?
Makes no sense to me. Do they just want to collect a fee?
I think it's just their private APIs that are NDA'ed. I don't know the details, but my impression is that most of these companies are just trying to get their product out here and they don't know how to handle developer relations. Even well established companies seem to have an inherent fear for things that are open and not protected by a contract. Management tells their people, we need to make a profit and we need to protect our asses long enough to make that profit.
2014-05-27, 00:38
Ned I completly agree with you. X86 OS's have been mature for a long time. Intel have almost passed the line where prices are comparable to an arm based solution.
Seems like they are getting cheaper and soon it will hit the $99 comparable to say a firetv. Then you might as well buy an x86 machine. So I complety agree with XBMC foundation to focus their attention on the future not the past. Allwinner had there chance (I dont think they are that much fussed) To really be honest I think Allwinner knew XBMC won't bother and so they made the code that they posted in github to be messy hhahaha and the only reason they posted the stuff was because of increase pressure from threads like these...
Seems like they are getting cheaper and soon it will hit the $99 comparable to say a firetv. Then you might as well buy an x86 machine. So I complety agree with XBMC foundation to focus their attention on the future not the past. Allwinner had there chance (I dont think they are that much fussed) To really be honest I think Allwinner knew XBMC won't bother and so they made the code that they posted in github to be messy hhahaha and the only reason they posted the stuff was because of increase pressure from threads like these...
2014-05-27, 01:05
Hate to say it, i am kind of down on Intel lately since they are selling chips for a loss to break the back of ARM. As soon as arm is gone they will raise prices again.
That said you mentioned that all winner has a open source version on the gut hub but messy? Or is that the vidon.me code
That said you mentioned that all winner has a open source version on the gut hub but messy? Or is that the vidon.me code
2014-05-27, 03:34
I think the code that is being referred to is this https://github.com/linux-sunxi - in particular the vdpau code, which as I understand it only kinda works.
There is a report of partial success with the vdpau code on the mythtv-users mailing list.
There is a report of partial success with the vdpau code on the mythtv-users mailing list.
2014-05-27, 09:34
This one: http://github.com/vidonme/xbmc
If someone can clean it up a little bit, then there's a good chance of it being accepted into the main XBMC code. It's just that we don't seem to have anyone who currently wants to do it in the XBMC community. VidOn.me is likely only interested in doing the bare minimal amount of work on it so that it will run on their products, and their products are moving away from A10/A20.
If someone can clean it up a little bit, then there's a good chance of it being accepted into the main XBMC code. It's just that we don't seem to have anyone who currently wants to do it in the XBMC community. VidOn.me is likely only interested in doing the bare minimal amount of work on it so that it will run on their products, and their products are moving away from A10/A20.
2014-05-27, 19:50
(2014-05-27, 09:34)Ned Scott Wrote: This one: http://github.com/vidonme/xbmcFor anyone interested in a bit of back-story about the code from VidOn.Meread this thread http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=165232
If someone can clean it up a little bit, then there's a good chance of it being accepted into the main XBMC code. It's just that we don't seem to have anyone who currently wants to do it in the XBMC community. VidOn.me is likely only interested in doing the bare minimal amount of work on it so that it will run on their products, and their products are moving away from A10/A20.
That contains some more info on VidOn.Me's dismissal of open source spirits and lack of collaboration to get their code into upstream XBMC.
2014-07-05, 22:30
I've tried the Vidon.me version on Android (doesn't start) and to compile it on Lubuntu, cannot compile.
Then I've tried to follow the linux-sunxi guide for compiling XBMC as well:
http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=199354
Nothing new...
Simon
Then I've tried to follow the linux-sunxi guide for compiling XBMC as well:
http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=199354
Nothing new...
Simon
2014-07-27, 21:05
Rest assured, we are working with http://www.bananapi.com to release a native version of XBMC, along with our rPlay software for Airplay Mirroring/Chromecast/Miracast (so you will be able to mirror iOS/Android/PC/Mac etc.) onto this new Banana Pi board. I personally like Banana Pi because it supports Android and can run Chrome browser, whereas Raspberry Pi does NOT. We have many users of rPlay on Raspberry Pi, and they really want to get Chromecast support, but due to the fact that Raspberry Pi does not run Chrome browser, it's extremely difficult to support the full features of Chromecast. On Banana Pi, there are no such issues.
The Android version of XBMC is already working well on Banana Pi, and Linux versions need to add the native h264 decoder from A20, not very difficult to do.
We will first release the Android version of XBMC with the upcoming Android 4.4 (note it's not 4.2) version on http://www.bananapi.com, then Linux versions of xbmc.
Stay tuned.
The Android version of XBMC is already working well on Banana Pi, and Linux versions need to add the native h264 decoder from A20, not very difficult to do.
We will first release the Android version of XBMC with the upcoming Android 4.4 (note it's not 4.2) version on http://www.bananapi.com, then Linux versions of xbmc.
Stay tuned.
2014-07-28, 03:35
I am confused http://www.lemaker.org/ is the official site for the Banana pi. Kind of confused on the bananapi.com site. There is a lot of progress on hardware acceleration.
