*** Official Kodi (née XBMC) Thread ***

Hey folks,

I've been using my N40L as a server/hptc for a few years now and generally it did a good job. However its now having memory issues and so looking to upgrade it.

I've tried using a rpi2 to run kodi however it still seems to struggle a little both with GUI speed and handling high quality videos (18gb+).

Do any of you use a HP Gen8 with a gfx to run kodi? Or would it more sensible to leave the Gen8 as a Media server and have another box run kodi? If so any cheap ish recommendations on what is the best option to run kodi?

Any help welcome!
 
Blinkz said:
Hey folks,

I've been using my N40L as a server/hptc for a few years now and generally it did a good job. However its now having memory issues and so looking to upgrade it.

I've tried using a rpi2 to run kodi however it still seems to struggle a little both with GUI speed and handling high quality videos (18gb+).

Do any of you use a HP Gen8 with a gfx to run kodi? Or would it more sensible to leave the Gen8 as a Media server and have another box run kodi? If so any cheap ish recommendations on what is the best option to run kodi?

Any help welcome!
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I use my N40L as a media server and it fits that role really well. When I used a N54L as a Kodi box that too was fine but only when I used a low profile GT 610 GPU and a USB sound stick with a SPDIF out. There was never an issue with that.

Now I use a Pi 3 (used to have an original Pi but that was too slow with the UI etc) and that works a treat with the latest nightlies. The speed when running Kodi 17 and the Estuary skin is very good and plays all my 1080p inc 3D files fine.

I suppose it depends on what you need Kodi to do as to what box you would need.. As yet I do not need 4k and x265 isn't that common, I also do not bother about Live TV and so a Pi 3 suits my needs.
 
I got android box which i run SPMC i got mine from droidsticks i run SPMC and just use it for tv series exc and use fair few apps and i currently got a Pi 3 for rasplex for my own collection of BluRays as the quality of the HD streams on kodi are not going to beat 20gig plus of my collection. Been told the Pi 3 will play large 1080p files no problem
 
Thanks for the replies. Is there a decent speed increase on the rpi3 over the 2?

I've only tried osmc on the rpi2 for kodi, is there a better option?

I only play 1080p movies, but usually at a decent bitrate. File sizes up to 20gig or so with DD5.1, but thats passed through to the amp.
 
The Pi 3 should play large 1080p files no problem my android box plays 1080p files no problem to the only reason why i got a pi 3 was for my large bitrate 1080p files plus plex is better on the Pi 3 then on the android box. Plex is pants on Android i was using my own collection on kodi on my Android box but never liked the interface. With Rasplex i can use home theatre which the Rasplex team took over which is no longer supported by plex itself due to the new plex media player took over. Got to say Rasplex looks awsome via the Black Edition Skin
 
Blinkz said:
Thanks for the replies. Is there a decent speed increase on the rpi3 over the 2?

I've only tried osmc on the rpi2 for kodi, is there a better option?

I only play 1080p movies, but usually at a decent bitrate. File sizes up to 20gig or so with DD5.1, but thats passed through to the amp.
Click to expand...

I prefer to use LibreElec for either Kodi 16.1 or, as I am using daily, the nightly 17 builds with the Estuary mod skin.

I have used either a HDMI audio extractor with that or the USB sound stick noted, to give me Optical out for my DD and DTS pass-through.

Whatever you get you should ensure that it gets Kodi support from the Devs as they can make or break a device when it comes to resolving niggles etc.

For a 1080p player the RP3 is pretty damned hard to beat for the cost.

I never had a Pi2, I was reluctant to try one after the slow speeds of the original Pi I had. I do know though that the Pi3 is very responsive in use.

There is a good hardware section within the Kodi forums and you can find threads on hardware like the Pi 3, Odroid C2 and the imminent to be released Wetek Hub - each of those getting good dev support, the other two getting 4k and x265 etc support.

Also there are other options you can find in that section.
 
Minix neo U1 another good box with a good forum and 2.2 HDMI for 4K droidsticks another good one with good support ive got the T8-V3 quite powerful unit with very good support and online updates but the Minix NEO U1 and the T8-V3 come at a price over £85. Id go with the Neo u1 tho as it has the new S905 processor my T8 only has the s812 but still does the job. You want a good box with good support and online updates though. Can get them cheap but then you run the risk you don't get updates and you can get cheap clone boxes
 
nicknack35 said:
Minix neo U1 another good box with a good forum and 2.2 HDMI for 4K droidsticks another good one with good support ive got the T8-V3 quite powerful unit with very good support and online updates but the Minix NEO U1 and the T8-V3 come at a price over £85. Id go with the Neo u1 tho as it has the new S905 processor my T8 only has the s812 but still does the job. You want a good box with good support and online updates though. Can get them cheap but then you run the risk you don't get updates and you can get cheap clone boxes
Click to expand...

I went with the Droidbox T8-S Plus OpenELEC, same box with a slightly better spec than the Droidsticks T8-v3... It's got 32GB over 16GB and it's dual boot Android/OpenELEC for the same price.
 
Play pretty much everything you throw at them. Played all my high bitrate 1080 collection no problem. Only problem wasn't to keen on the interface for my own media. Prefer plex home theatre reason why i got the Pi 3
 
For the price I may well checkout the rpi3 and see how it runs, are there any limitations with it? I seem to remember that it wouldn't be able to play all file types?

I think I will still look to replace my N40L, as it would be nice to have a little more power for plex to do any transcoding it needs.
 
Rasplex on the pi 3 will play any file types. Apart from HEVC i do believe. I was going to ditch my Android box and get a NUC but for what i wanted it for would have been overkill and the Pi 3 looked to be a good cheap alternative i was at the same point as yourself wanted something to play my 1080 files. And to have a good plex client and looking around at reviews on the plex forum exc the Pi 3 fitted the bill nicely
 
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For me and my use the only limitation is x265 support as the Pi doesn't support it in hardware. Then again 720p x265 stuff seems ok.

As I have nothing that needs transcoding the N40 more than fits my needs.

I would wait to see how the Pi 3 goes on with what you have before thinking about the N40 being replaced.
 
I'm currently running Isengard 15.2 on Win 8.1 with the Bello skin and looking to upgrade to Win 10 and then put on the latest Jarvis. I don't believe Bello works with Jarvis either. Is anyone running Jarvis on Win 10 and is it working ok? If so, what skins are you using?

Thanks.
 
zom247 said:
I'm currently running Isengard 15.2 on Win 8.1 with the Bello skin and looking to upgrade to Win 10 and then put on the latest Jarvis. I don't believe Bello works with Jarvis either. Is anyone running Jarvis on Win 10 and is it working ok? If so, what skins are you using?

Thanks.
Click to expand...

Im using Aeon Nox with Jarvis on W10.Very smooth and plenty options to configure the skin.Only skins that are compatible with Jarvis will be in the Kodi repo so go there first for skin options.
 
zom247 said:
I'm currently running Isengard 15.2 on Win 8.1 with the Bello skin and looking to upgrade to Win 10 and then put on the latest Jarvis. I don't believe Bello works with Jarvis either. Is anyone running Jarvis on Win 10 and is it working ok? If so, what skins are you using?

Thanks.
Click to expand...

Have you tried it on SPMC. I know when i changed to jarvis on my T8 for kodi the skins wouldn't load. But when i changed to SPMC i had no issues installing skins. There's a few decent skin's on Jarvis i tried a few with a external drive attached for my movies. Just don't like kodi or SPMC for my movies you keep changing to find one that suits you. Plus you don't get the features like you do with PLEX. The main reason for me getting a Pi 3

P.S im on Windows 7 on my Main HTPC and jarvis works fine
 
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silverblack said:
Only skins that are compatible with Jarvis will be in the Kodi repo so go there first for skin options.
Click to expand...

A lot of the big ones have a modded version on the official forums that works with Jarvis, i'm using the modded Aeon MQ6 for example which works fine :)

MQ7 looks amazing but at the rate it's taking them to make it there will be a new version of Kodi that it won't work on.
 
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