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

FerretBoy said:
Plex was originally a fork of xbmc. They do not look that similar though. Plex is lighter and has a server client model. XBMC is heavy, better looking and is a single application.

I run 2 NUCs both with XBMC and a server. All on ubuntu, but no reason not to use windows other than cost for no gain. If you only want XBMC on the NUC then checkout openelec.
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Would there be any benefit, other than cost, using ubuntu on the NUC and the NAS? Would it matter that my desktop is Win7 (for steam, MS office)

Does openelec have a web browser? I would want the NUC to have browsing capabilities.
 
EddScott said:
Would there be any benefit, other than cost, using ubuntu on the NUC and the NAS? Would it matter that my desktop is Win7 (for steam, MS office)

Does openelec have a web browser? I would want the NUC to have browsing capabilities.
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Linux (Ubuntu) is generally more lightweight so consumes less resources. But windows brings benefits if you want games, netflix etc.. If windows is what you are used to then keep it.

I believe XBMC has a web browser plugin, no idea if it is any good though. Openelec is XBMC and the minimal parts of Linux required to make XBMC work.
 
Xire said:
I have decided to take the plunge and build a HTPC with XBMC. I recently had a Raspberry PI with RaspBMC installed but I wanted more power and features.

Now I am a bit of a noob when it comes to XBMC. Am I right to think that I should just download the official XBMC release and away I go? Or should I be looking at pre builds etc? Also getting it to boot straight in to XBMC, is the process relatively simple?
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If you only want XBMC then look at OpenElec. As for your HTPC, if you are buying parts, looks at Intel NUCs. But really depends on your requirements.
 
Just moved from a Pi to a nuc, very impressed so far. Its the only celeron nuc, 4gb of ram and a 30gb msata drive. I have installed openelec and even running Aeon Nox it's very quick. I'm using a pulse 8 usb cec adapter which is just plug and play, no drivers needed. My only criticism is that it's not totally silent, when on the menu's it's at it's loudest and it quietens down as soon as you start playing a film. Presumably that's due to running the menus and graphics at 1080p/60fps? When playing a film it is just audible during the quiet bit but only if you are listening for it. Might invest in a passive case at some point? But it's not really a big issue. I also shut it down after using it unlike the pi due to noise, however unlike the pi this boots in seconds.

Dave
 
Personaly id use cec to make it sleep when switching off tv etc. That way its silent but auto on when you change to its hdmi source. Also I use a pasive case. The akasa is cheapest.
 
FerretBoy said:
Linux (Ubuntu) is generally more lightweight so consumes less resources. But windows brings benefits if you want games, netflix etc.. If windows is what you are used to then keep it.

I believe XBMC has a web browser plugin, no idea if it is any good though. Openelec is XBMC and the minimal parts of Linux required to make XBMC work.
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To save space and just so I can have a fiddle with it, if I install ubuntu on the server, will there be any issues accessing files from my Win7 machines? I assume not.
 
Question for anyone who has any experience with using XBMC with an external player.

I recently setup MPC-HC with MadVR and got it looking very nice, nice enough that it is noticeably better than XBMC's built in player so decided to give it a go using it as an external player for XBMC.

However, for some reason although it opens fine, plays the picture fine 90% of the time there is no sound, nothing is sent to the receiver. It happens with any DTS-HD track and even an avi I tried. When using MPC-HC by itself everything plays fine but through XBMC no sound. I got it to work once by switching to a fullscreen window but then on next test no sound again. I have also turned off the GUI sounds as this has caused certain sound problems but not the one I get it seems.

I have a feeling its something quite simple as its XBMC related and I thought it was the fullscreen window thing as XBMC has exclusivity so even though it plays the video with XBMC still open it doesn't send the sound. However, a load of people use MPC-HC as an external player so I have no idea. Am using Frodo 12.3.

Any help appreciated.
 
Bit of a odd question.

When playing music and its on the home screen if i press return on my remote it goes to the karaoke screen which is fine but then I cannot figure out how to exit out of that back to the main home screen?

Im using a pulse8 adaptor and Aeon MQ5
 
.:SAmSuNG:. said:
Bit of a odd question.

When playing music and its on the home screen if i press return on my remote it goes to the karaoke screen which is fine but then I cannot figure out how to exit out of that back to the main home screen?

Im using a pulse8 adaptor and Aeon MQ5
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I made a custom remote.xml file and placed it in:
Linux: /home/<user>/.xbmc/userdata/keymaps/

Code: 
<keymap>
	<global>
		<remote>
			<red>XBMC.ActivateWindow(Home)</red>
			<green>Info</green>
			<yellow>OSD</yellow>
			<blue>ToggleWatched</blue>
			<title>PreviousMenu</title><!-- Return Key on Samsung Remote -->
			<guide>ContextMenu</guide>
		</remote>
	</global>
	<FullscreenVideo>
		<remote>
			<blue>ShowSubtitles</blue>
		</remote>
	</FullscreenVideo>
</keymap>

That way I can use the red button to go to home screen. You could also set up a key to toggle fullscreen http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=Keymap
 
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Noob alert whats the difference between installing XBMC to laptop and using a hdmi cable to a TV as apposed to buying/making one of these devices you all keep talking about .. started looking into XMBC today, sounds and looks great a little tricky to work out at the moment but im getting there and i can totally see the greatness.
 
nothing really, check out xbmchub. They have a wizard to customise a fresh xbmc install to incorporate lots of add-ons that may be of interest to you.
 
Quinnaay said:
Thanks mate, so why are people buying these specific devices? For a box under the TV which requires no messing around I'm guessing?
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I have a NUC which sits behind the TV, its always on so is really simple to get started. I have a UnRaid server which holds all my media and can update my video library whenever anything new gets added. Makes life a lot easier to have a dedicated device that can stay connected to the TV all the time.
 
Ekim said:
I have a NUC which sits behind the TV, its always on so is really simple to get started. I have a UnRaid server which holds all my media and can update my video library whenever anything new gets added. Makes life a lot easier to have a dedicated device that can stay connected to the TV all the time.
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I see that's what I expected what's the cheapest and most efficient way to have something like a dedicated device hooked up to the TV and Internet at all times?
 
I much prefer the flexibility of a full blown htpc. Plus it's only the one TV in the house that I use it on currently, so no need for a separate server.
 
robfosters said:
Is it possible to build an XBMC PC for about £150?
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Easily, you only need a C2D or equivalent as a processor (seen them go for £5-£10 on MM) and a 5450 passive gfx card which are £20 new. Add the case, mobo and ram and hey presto. Run Linux as it's free and you have a pc for under £100
 
Or just buy a raspberry pi for £30, a small SDcard and a USB power supply. As long as your TV supports CEC (almost anything not too old new will) then you can use your TV remote. Than can run XBMC, just not awesomely. Like I said it depends on your requirements.

For instance do you need HD-DTS? Do you already have a NAS? How will you connect the sound? Do you need Netflix? etc.. You need to consider your requirements.
 
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