XBMC Media Center

[zsdersw]

I'm very pleased to report that the following combination works *wonderfully* as an affordable and fast HTPC setup:

Celeron E3300
4GB DDR2-800
1TB WD caviar green hdd
Zotac GF9300-A-E mobo

Ubuntu 9.04 32-bit
XBMC Media Center

 

[sivart]

OK?

 

[zsdersw]

It's FYI

 

[PuppettMaster001]

What kind of case are you using? Pics?

I love XBMC, some of the skins look so slick.

 

[zsdersw]

Sorry, no pics, but I am using this case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16811121027

 

[Rio Rebel]

Why do you need 4 gb of memory in a HTPC? That seems like overkill from what I've heard

 

[dwell]

super-cool-story-bro.png

 

[QueBert]

XBMC + Hutch Aeon skin + 3rd party add-ons for Aeon = pure win. I've tried every media center program, while XBMC has some quirks and gives me hassle from time to time. Nothing even comes close to it. Beautiful, easy to navigate and so many cool features.

 

[zsdersw]

The only real problem I've found with it is playing some DVDs... it'll crash or just not play them. They're mostly older ones.

 

[Modelworks]

I use XBMC too, but just for the interface. It is setup to use an external player for video files. I use media player classic -home cinema with madvr as the renderer.
If you haven't checked out the madvr renderer give it a try. It uses the cards GPU to process the video , offloading it a bunch. This is not the same as DXVA or cuda. This works on any GPU that has D3D9 support. I have a G80 core video card that I use with XBMC that cannot use DXVA . This renderer lets me run the video through ffdshow to do postprocessing, sharpen, color, levels, etc without dropping any frames.


http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=146228

 

[txlonghorn]

I love the slick XBMC interface, but the player outputs scrolling horizontal lines once in a while. Very annoying. I have an AMD 780 based mobo. XBMC has excellent support for nVidia GPU but it shows less love for ATI GPU. I want to try the MPC-HC/madvr combination to see if that will solve the problem. However, the discussion thread for madvr is way over my head. I barely understand 1/2 of what they are talking about.

So, is the MPC-HD/madvr combination pretty easy to setup with XBMC?

 

[Modelworks]

You might want to try one of the beta builds instead of using an external render. Setting up an external render requires a bit of work because it basically just passes the file to another player, you lose all remote control options unless you customize like with the program eventghost.

The beta builds use DX for rendering not SDL. The last stable release does not include DX renderer it is only in the betas so far.

You can download the beta at the link below:
http://danielpatton.com/user-a...ates/XBMC-Rev23069.zip

You can just unzip the file anywhere, not advised to overwrite the old install.
Then run XBMC.exe like usual . You should see it read DX on the main page where it normally has your ip, cpu, etc. Look under appearance and there are some settings to set up for displaying on a second monitor and other settings also.

That may solve your problem.

 

[skriefal]

Your "scrolling horizontal lines" may be what is commonly referred to as "tearing". Have you verified that vertical sync is enabled in the XBMC settings? If it is enabled there but you're still seeing the issue then try forcing vsync on in Catalyst Control Control. IIRC you should be able to do that globally for the O/S, or for specific applications.

 

[txlonghorn]

Thanks for the tips. I'll give them a try when I have time. Hopefully, this weekend.

 

[slag]

why use xbmc over.. say.. windows media center in windows 7?

Also, isnt xbmc xbox media center? and now its on the PC?

I'm setting up my media center pc at home and am not sure what path to take. I have an intel BX2 motherboard with E4300 c2d chip, 2 gb of ram, a 1tb hdd, hauppauge 2250 dual tuner card, ATI 4350 gpu with hdmi out, but also have digital out from my motherboard.

Not sure if i want to get a pc mounted internal blueray player or purchase an external one yet.

This is all being fed into a Yamaha RX-V465 receiver which is sending the video to my Mitsubishi WS-65413 tv via hdmi to dvi.

 

[Dirigible]

I dunno how to make windows media center play ISO files. Dunno if it's even possible. xbmc does it without messing about and without a hiccup.

And yes, xbmc is on the PC. Simple to set up and simple to use (my wife uses it without help, which is key). Cheap remote with event ghost controls it on my htpc.

 

[Modelworks]

The biggest difference for me is that XBMC can be customized easily. With a lot of the other software like media center it is a pain to change anything from the default method of doing things. With xbmc I can change the renderer, which codecs play what, where stuff is stored, edit the layout, add sites that do not have official support in media center like youtube or fox or abc. It also works on any version of the OS not just media center equipped versions. Add in event ghost and you can control it with any remote you like.

 

[txlonghorn]

why use xbmc over.. say.. windows media center in windows 7?

Visually, it is stunningly beautiful on a big HD screen.

 

[QueBert]

Originally posted by: slag
why use xbmc over.. say.. windows media center in windows 7?

Also, isnt xbmc xbox media center? and now its on the PC?

I'm setting up my media center pc at home and am not sure what path to take. I have an intel BX2 motherboard with E4300 c2d chip, 2 gb of ram, a 1tb hdd, hauppauge 2250 dual tuner card, ATI 4350 gpu with hdmi out, but also have digital out from my motherboard.

Not sure if i want to get a pc mounted internal blueray player or purchase an external one yet.

This is all being fed into a Yamaha RX-V465 receiver which is sending the video to my Mitsubishi WS-65413 tv via hdmi to dvi.

Initally setting up WMC is easier, XBMC gave me some hassle, and not everything about it is as user friendly as it can be. But with a little invested time XBMC becomes easy, and the amount of features is just mind blowing. I rip a DVD, it automatically scraped it for a movie poster/cast/rating etc from multiple online databases, same for music and TV shows. I bought The Wire seasons 1-5, I ripped them all one day. XBMC imported the files, scanned them. Now I have plot summaries for each episode and season box covers. I know with plugins you can do similar stuff with WMC, but it's nowhere near as nice looking, and will still be much more limiting.

And XBMC has a huge community of people who make skins and add-ons for skins. I set up XBMC for a friend who hates computers, on a 52" Bravia with the Aeon skin. His jaw hit the floor when he saw it. Very functional too for a noob, he uses his Harmony remote and forgets it's actually a PC running.

 

[txlonghorn]

Originally posted by: skriefal
Have you verified that vertical sync is enabled in the XBMC settings?

That tip solved my "tearing" problem. After I changed the vertical sync from "let driver decide" to "always on", I sampled 2 movies and all is well. No tearing. Thanks skriefal.