The Kodi/XBMC Thread - Watch things and stuff

G-Prime · # ? Aug 26, 2013 21:51

outlier posted:

A much belated answer (of sorts) to a question I posted way, way back in the thread:

Some months ago, I posted about how I moved my media server from Boxee to XBMC. Everything worked fine except the TV and Movie sections indexed a few shows only, in a random pattern, and never updated. For example, out of a single season of "Romanzo Criminale", only 3 episodes were indexed, despite all the episodes being in the one folder and named in an identical way. Movies were generally better, but again, some were indexed / recognised and some weren't.

I tried an endless variety of things to fix this: renaming shows, different naming formats, different organisational structures, forcing reindexing and rechecking, used different scrapers, crawling through the log file (which seemed to indicate that the shows were being recognised). Nothing worked. Eventually, I gave up and just watched everything through the Videos/Files tab.

So, an old computer came free that was newer than the media server and I figured it was time for a swap. I installed the same version of XBMC (under the same version of the OSX) as I had previously and added my shows and movies. Voila - everything is recognised as expected, updates as expected.

My working theory is that Boxee (which I believe is based on XBMC) may have left some data around that was interfering with the indexing. But in any event, it works.

I've seen some weird things like that happen when nfo files are involved (you don't mention this, but I'm just pointing it out because the behavior is similar). Cases where I've gone through my media server and pulled out nfos after indexing, and XBMC will never attempt to reindex folders that had them. I wouldn't be surprised if there's something similar going on.

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DR FRASIER KRANG · # ? Aug 27, 2013 04:07

Long Shot: Has anyone here gotten a USB-UIRT working inside of OpenELEC? The ad-hoc official installation instructions don't really jive with what I see when I poke around the file system of an OpenELEDC installation.

IUG · IUG Jul 14, 2007

So I just moved to a new house, and for some reason I'm having problems with my setup. On the local file server I can fire up the library without a problem. But on my laptop and my HTPC it freezes at the XBMC logo. I think the problem is with the SQL server and a new Linksys router, as the computers can access the movie files and play them without a problem via VLC.

So I have one question before I try to fix that tonight. Is SQL and SMB sharing still the way to go? I know there's some new Zeroconf thing, but I don't know a thing about that. I figure I might as well start fresh if the current install is having a problem, or see if I should figure out if my router isn't letting the SQL information pass through the network.

Don Lapre · # ? Aug 30, 2013 22:20

IUG posted:

So I just moved to a new house, and for some reason I'm having problems with my setup. On the local file server I can fire up the library without a problem. But on my laptop and my HTPC it freezes at the XBMC logo. I think the problem is with the SQL server and a new Linksys router, as the computers can access the movie files and play them without a problem via VLC.

So I have one question before I try to fix that tonight. Is SQL and SMB sharing still the way to go? I know there's some new Zeroconf thing, but I don't know a thing about that. I figure I might as well start fresh if the current install is having a problem, or see if I should figure out if my router isn't letting the SQL information pass through the network.

When you setup SQL you have to specify the ip address inside the xml file. Did this change with your new router?

IUG · IUG Jul 14, 2007

Don Lapre posted:

When you setup SQL you have to specify the ip address inside the xml file. Did this change with your new router?

I kept the IPs the same on the new network (for the server at least). Nothing changed for the network drives and they were able to connect without a problem or changing anything. The same advanced.xml didn't change either.

kri kri · kri kri Jul 18, 2007

IUG posted:

So I have one question before I try to fix that tonight. Is SQL and SMB sharing still the way to go?

Works perfectly fine for me. I think the only other option is NFS but I think getting that running in windows is a pain.

Look at the xbmc logs.

IUG · IUG Jul 14, 2007

kri kri posted:

Works perfectly fine for me. I think the only other option is NFS but I think getting that running in windows is a pain.

Look at the xbmc logs.

For some reason the Mac client wasn't generating logs. I could disable Wifi on my laptop and then XBMC would launch and go to the (empty) library without a problem.

I eventually figured out the problem though. I never finished setting up the internet settings for my desktop server. I had the IP and subnet set, but not the gateway. After that and the DNS, I could get my library connected again.

I never tried to use the internet on my desktop yet, but as soon as I tried to load a webpage for any kind of troubleshooting I figured it out. :v:

Devian666 · # ? Sep 2, 2013 13:20

I've been using a Tronsmart MK908 running 4.2 for a while now. While streaming 720p content I'm getting crashes. It looks like these aren't very stable yet even running the XAF build. I'm going to try a few other things to see if it'll run stable but so far the longest continuous run time while streaming is 90 minutes.

Corb3t · Corb3t Jun 7, 2003

When I used to press "OK" on my remote while playing a video, it would show me details like what time it would be when the video ends. These details are now gone, now it just shows a list of icons at the top and a small timeline bar at the bottom. How do I get the full details back? I'm using Aeon Nox.

Keito · # ? Sep 2, 2013 19:08

Bag of Sun Chips posted:

When I used to press "OK" on my remote while playing a video, it would show me details like what time it would be when the video ends. These details are now gone, now it just shows a list of icons at the top and a small timeline bar at the bottom. How do I get the full details back? I'm using Aeon Nox.

Icons as in the menu icons or just media logos? I get all the neat details you mention when I press "info" on my remote, and the "menu" button logically pops up the menu.

If it is actually the info screen you're calling, go check the advanced skin options under settings, there might be a toggle in there.

Fillerbunny · # ? Sep 2, 2013 19:52

I know what he's talking about. In Aeon Nox there are actually two different menus you can call up while a video is playing. One is the icon screen which lead to different sub menus like audio, etc. The other is video details. The former can be pulled up by hitting the Enter key by default. The latter is accessed by hitting the I key. The XBMC wiki has information about changing the default key mapping, if you're looking to change it.

Atarian · # ? Sep 4, 2013 21:12

I've been using the same Revo 1600 since 2009, and it is great, But I'm looking to move this one to the bedroom and get something new for the living room. I love the small form factor, so I'd like to get something similar, if not smaller to run openelec.

I would like it to be able to run a little more eye candy than my Revo can handle without freezing up on the menus. I won't be dual booting or anything, so I don't need an OS. I'd run openelec from either a usb drive or ssd or something. Wasn't sure if the suggestions in the OP were up to date. The ad12 mentioned there looks nice, but looks aren't entirely important, as it will be strapped to the back of the TV. I just need it to be small and slim. A bonus would be integrated bluetooth, but it isn't required. Any suggestions?

DR FRASIER KRANG · # ? Sep 4, 2013 21:18

I just got an intel NUC and it fits your requirements quite well. Easily mounts to the back of a tv and has bt integrated into the (separately purchased) wifi card. I run openelec from a thumb drive without any freezing in the menus like I had with my appletv.

Suniikaa · # ? Sep 4, 2013 21:18

Atarian posted:

I've been using the same Revo 1600 since 2009, and it is great, But I'm looking to move this one to the bedroom and get something new for the living room. I love the small form factor, so I'd like to get something similar, if not smaller to run openelec.

I would like it to be able to run a little more eye candy than my Revo can handle without freezing up on the menus. I won't be dual booting or anything, so I don't need an OS. I'd run openelec from either a usb drive or ssd or something. Wasn't sure if the suggestions in the OP were up to date. The ad12 mentioned there looks nice, but looks aren't entirely important, as it will be strapped to the back of the TV. I just need it to be small and slim. A bonus would be integrated bluetooth, but it isn't required. Any suggestions?

The amd foxconn nettops are nice (I just ordered one yesterday) and do pretty much everything you want, minus integrated bluetooth. Just be sure to install the latest bios update for better support.

Atarian · # ? Sep 5, 2013 22:21

Thanks for the tips, guys. I went with a NUC. Probably huge overkill for my needs, but now I can enable all the flashy crap I want and I'm sure it wont hurt for emulator and plugin performance.

jonathan · # ? Sep 6, 2013 04:52

Atarian posted:

Thanks for the tips, guys. I went with a NUC. Probably huge overkill for my needs, but now I can enable all the flashy crap I want and I'm sure it wont hurt for emulator and plugin performance.

my small form htpc is an i5 laptop with 8gb ram. I have no regrets. I software decode high bitrate lossless audio bluray rips without issue. Aeon NOX runs ultra smooth.

Atarian · # ? Sep 6, 2013 05:29

jonathan posted:

my small form htpc is an i5 laptop with 8gb ram. I have no regrets. I software decode high bitrate lossless audio bluray rips without issue. Aeon NOX runs ultra smooth.

Awesome. Mine is an i3 with 8gb of ram. Looking forward to going back to Aeon nox. Gonna set it up with the retroplayer build of openelec, and never leave the house again.

Cornjob · # ? Sep 6, 2013 06:25

Suniikaa posted:

The amd foxconn nettops are nice (I just ordered one yesterday) and do pretty much everything you want, minus integrated bluetooth. Just be sure to install the latest bios update for better support.

I've been running a Foxconn + Openelec + wmc remote + quartz skin.

All in I think I spent $150, not including hard drives. All my hard drives are directly connected via USB. I don't use it for any streaming services, just the local content.

Only complaints are occasionally slow menu response ( skins like neon are quite slow) and lack of high res audio support. (DTS-HD gets converted to DTS) but that could me fault for not getting an intel based unit.

Besides those minor concerns, I love my setup.

Drevoak · Drevoak Jan 30, 2007

So my AD10 with openelec is now bootlooping. If I unplug the ethernet then it will boot fine and I can plug the ethernet back in but will still crash the second it attempts to update the database. I've wiped the system, rolled back to the stable version and it still bootloops once I copy over my advance/source settings. My other computers w/ xbmc have no problems. I am almost positive that it has something to do with my mySQL database considering my logs are filled with mysql errors. I'm just surprised that trying to update a database will cause the system to crash. The log just states that it is having issues connecting to the mysql which I don't understand why it is.

Error Log

Keito · # ? Sep 7, 2013 02:19

Drevoak posted:

So my AD10 with openelec is now bootlooping. If I unplug the ethernet then it will boot fine and I can plug the ethernet back in but will still crash the second it attempts to update the database. I've wiped the system, rolled back to the stable version and it still bootloops once I copy over my advance/source settings. My other computers w/ xbmc have no problems. I am almost positive that it has something to do with my mySQL database considering my logs are filled with mysql errors. I'm just surprised that trying to update a database will cause the system to crash. The log just states that it is having issues connecting to the mysql which I don't understand why it is.

Error Log

So did XBMC crash at the end of the session you posted the log for? Because I'm not seeing anything about it.

Is the MySQL server still running at address 192.168.1.4? Try sshing into the system and pinging that address if it's correct.
http://openelec.tv/forum/12-guides-tips-and-tricks/887-guide-guide-for-ssh-within-openelec

(Turns out the OpenELEC root password is hardcoded, that's really horrible from a security perspective. Glad I never used this thing.)

Drevoak · Drevoak Jan 30, 2007

Keito posted:

So did XBMC crash at the end of the session you posted the log for? Because I'm not seeing anything about it.

Is the MySQL server still running at address 192.168.1.4? Try sshing into the system and pinging that address if it's correct.
http://openelec.tv/forum/12-guides-tips-and-tricks/887-guide-guide-for-ssh-within-openelec

(Turns out the OpenELEC root password is hardcoded, that's really horrible from a security perspective. Glad I never used this thing.)

Sorry I guess I shouldn't have said crash, once it starts scanning the screen will go black with a small X in the middle then show the main menu again and attempt to scan again, repeat forever. The MySQL server still works fine, my other XBMC can see it and update it.

Keito · # ? Sep 7, 2013 03:24

Drevoak posted:

Sorry I guess I shouldn't have said crash, once it starts scanning the screen will go black with a small X in the middle then show the main menu again and attempt to scan again, repeat forever. The MySQL server still works fine, my other XBMC can see it and update it.

Alright, but did you verify that the IP address it tries to connect to is correct? Did you also try connecting to the system running OpenELEC and pinging the address from there?

Drevoak · Drevoak Jan 30, 2007

Keito posted:

Alright, but did you verify that the IP address it tries to connect to is correct? Did you also try connecting to the system running OpenELEC and pinging the address from there?

Yep double checked the IP and the openelec machine was able to ping it.

G-Prime · # ? Sep 7, 2013 16:21

Unlikely long shot, but do you have the account that XBMC is connecting to on the MySQL server restricted in any way? There's a max simultaneous connections setting per account, and you could alternately have it set to only allow connections from a specific IP. For kicks, try killing your other instance of XBMC, wait a minute or two, and try connecting with the one that isn't working.

drewmoney · # ? Sep 8, 2013 04:26

Running OpenELEC on a Arctic MC-001 on version 3.0.6 my Samba streams work 100% fine. If I upgrade to any of the beta versions (3.1.x) my smb streams run so bad they barely work. Anyone know what changes between versions that might cause this? As soon as I upgrade, it dies, downgrade without changing anything and it's 100% fine. Running over gigabit ethernet as well, so no wifi etc...

EC · # ? Sep 9, 2013 16:27

XBMC 13 "Gotham" August Cycle is now available, and includes some cool stuff, including 3D support (something I never saw coming, so that's pretty cool). Link. Also, hope you aren't still holding on to that WinXP system, because XBMC is dropping support for it.

quote:

For those keeping track, we�ve just completed alpha #7 in the August cycle, which includes two absolutely massive new features: Stereoscopic 3D support and Android Hardware video decoding. As always, the monthly alpha build is available on our Snapshots page, and the typical warning applies: this is alpha software; things are very likely to break. With that said, let�s look at what we�ve been working on.

Android Hardware Decoding
It�s been a long time coming, but we are excited to announce that hardware decoding of video has finally made its way to the XBMC for Android platform. The most important caveat is that the implemented hardware decoding does not support AmLogic or Allwinner chipsets, and it does require Android 4.0 (�Ice Cream Sandwich�) or higher to run. With that said, the more popular tablets sold in the past year, such as the Nexus 7 and 10, should work quite well with this alpha, and users are welcome to discuss their experiences in the comments below. Kudos to Koying for his work on this project.

Stereoscopic 3D Rendering
For you lovers of 3D out there, we are also pleased to say that we now support 3D movies encoded in the following formats: SBS, TAB, anaglyph, and interlaced (on supported platforms for passive TVs). Unfortunately, XBMC cannot yet support 3D blurays and cannot provide hardware acceleration for FullSBS/TAB movies (therefore limiting those videos to relatively high powered CPUs).

A useful feature that also comes with this alpha is a dedicated button to toggle 3D mode, which has two benefits: First, while XBMC should automatically recognize 3D-encoded movies, if it fails to recognize the format, users can force 3D mode. Second, users are now welcome to encode all their ripped blu-rays into 3D and skip making a second encode in 2D, because toggling off 3D mode on a 3D recognized movie will simply display the film in traditional 2D. This button requires an update to your skin of choice, so, if you are not using Confluence, feel free to point the feature out to your favorite Skilled Skinner.

Some of the newly available 3D Options
Some of the newly available 3D Options

Context Menu Clean-up
In addition to bigger features, if you�ve been following along, you know that we�ve been working for quite some time on making the entire user experience more friendly. To that end, this past month has been one of cleaning up the context menu. We�ve worked to clean it up in two ways. First, we�ve pulled items out that don�t actually make sense to be in a context menu. Second, we�ve moved some options that people rarely use into a second �Manage� dialog.

In your day-to-day experience, this means the Update Library option is now always available in the side-bar, as can be seen in the below picture. This is quite similar to how we�ve moved the different setting levels (Basic/Standard/Advanced/Expert) to the sidebar on the System Settings pages.

UpdateLibrary

And the context menu has a new option to explore the Manage menu�

ManageOption
Manage� option

Manage... menu for TV shows
Manage� menu for TV shows

Goodbye Windows XP
We are happy to announce that we will be joining Microsoft in dropping support for Windows XP in 2014 by dropping support for XP with XBMC 13. At present, there are certain features that are being held back by our continuing support of the XP platform, and the best path forward is to halt support on the roughly 12 year old OS. Vista, 7, and 8 will all continue to be supported from this point forward.

Hasta la XP, baby.
Hasta la XP, baby.

Bug List and Other Changes
A change that certainly couldn�t be called a feature involves Weather Underground. Unfortunately, WU is currently being hit with far more XBMC traffic than even a full sponsorship could pay for. To resolve this, at least in the short term, XBMC 13 will now ship without a default weather app. Users who are upgrading will not see a change, and new users are welcome to re-download the addon if they choose.

Finally, below are some notable bugs fixed with this month�s update

EPG no longer crashes when there is no EPG data
Music Database fixes
font processing fixes
Fixed non-trivial dirty rectangle modes
Fix gain for MP3 files (vs FLAC and other audio files)
Fix file parse bugs (results in speedier file parsing)
Numerous Raspberry Pi fixes
Conclusion
Of course, as always, this is merely a very small sample of the many changes in this cycle. If you are feeling a bit brave and a bit lucky, it�s time to start downloading. Be aware though, that this is very alpha software with potentially numerous bugs. There is a good chance that this alpha will break on you.

Lowen SoDium · # ? Sep 9, 2013 17:10

Android HW decoding is great news. I am interested to hear how well it is supported and which hardware it works well on. It's unfortunate that AmLogic and Allwinner are not supported since they make up the bulk of the cheap chinese HDMI sticks and set top boxes, but I am still hoping that this means more sub $100 XBMC boxes.

Also, the 3d support is cool. Is the lack of HW decoding for full SBS and TAB 3d because it's full resolution x2 and current hardware decoders can't handle it?

I am really disappointed that they haven't worked on a closed source binary plug-in system so that we might get official add-ons for things like Hulu, Netflix, Amazon VoD, etc. Or even an included HTML5 engine for similar purposes or even HTML5 based skins. But I am getting the impression that the XBMC devs don't feel that this is an important function to include.

Has there been any new news on uPNP library sharing? Or the game/ROM/emulator engine?

kri kri · kri kri Jul 18, 2007

Have they commented on the centralized library function at all?

gary oldmans diary · # ? Sep 9, 2013 20:02

quote:

Android Hardware Decoding
It�s been a long time coming, but we are excited to announce that hardware decoding of video has finally made its way to the XBMC for Android platform. The most important caveat is that the implemented hardware decoding does not support AmLogic or Allwinner chipsets

I don't know what those are, but is Nook HD+ XBMC H/W decoding a go?

jonathan · # ? Sep 9, 2013 20:05

Im wondering if 3d support automatically kicks out a proper 3d. As in, will the TV/Projector change to 3d automatically ? I think I will need to try this out.

edit: Gave it a shot. Its nice that the interface works in SBS now. Having trouble getting XBMC to scan/tag movies as 3d. Also searching for discussion related to this. adding "3dsbs" to the filename doesn't seem to work.

Ideas ?

jonathan fucked around with this message at 21:05 on Sep 9, 2013

wolfbiker · wolfbiker Nov 6, 2009

I use EMM for scraping metadata for all my movies, so I just added a 3D genre in that and would check 3D for any movie that applied, and now I just go to browse, genres, and choose 3D.

EC · # ? Sep 10, 2013 01:56

jonathan posted:

Im wondering if 3d support automatically kicks out a proper 3d. As in, will the TV/Projector change to 3d automatically ? I think I will need to try this out.

edit: Gave it a shot. Its nice that the interface works in SBS now. Having trouble getting XBMC to scan/tag movies as 3d. Also searching for discussion related to this. adding "3dsbs" to the filename doesn't seem to work.

Ideas ?

No, I doubt it, since half SBS stuff isn't true HDMI 1.4 Approved Official Patented Three Dee.

bam thwok · # ? Sep 10, 2013 17:18

I've been running a windows xbmc + sabnzbd + sickbeard + couch potato + headphones set up for a while, and because I reliability issues I'd really like to transition to a *nix set up. What's the least painful way to accomplish this? I'm running a purpose-built HTPC rather than a net-top, so I don't think I need to go super lean on performance with something like open-elec.

Fillerbunny · # ? Sep 10, 2013 21:58

I don't know that you'd be able to accomplish all that with just OpenELEC anyway, unless there are plugins for sabnzbd, sickbeard, couchpotato, and headphones. OpenELEC is geared more toward a device that has a single purpose: watching videos. Yes, it can do more, but you're almost better off if you let it stick to what it does best.

In your case, you're probably looking at XBMCbuntu. Though I might suggest some sort of VM setup at first, probably with VirtualBox, to get the hang of it before making the leap. I jumped in with both feet, and I kind of wish I had eased into it a little more than I did. I think a VirtualBox setup with help that.

dox · dox Mar 4, 2006

bam thwok posted:

I've been running a windows xbmc + sabnzbd + sickbeard + couch potato + headphones set up for a while, and because I reliability issues I'd really like to transition to a *nix set up. What's the least painful way to accomplish this? I'm running a purpose-built HTPC rather than a net-top, so I don't think I need to go super lean on performance with something like open-elec.

Although it's not ideal, you can just install debian or your preferred nix distro and install them all that way... it's a bit easier to manage if they are separate but it will work. I personally have a NAS that runs sb/sabnzbd/etc and a custom HTPC build with dedicated openelec install although one day I will get around to setting up some emulation fun.

edit: on second thought you probably want to ubuntu if you're going to go that route

dox fucked around with this message at 01:08 on Sep 11, 2013

Devian666 · # ? Sep 11, 2013 01:43

Lowen SoDium posted:

Android HW decoding is great news. I am interested to hear how well it is supported and which hardware it works well on. It's unfortunate that AmLogic and Allwinner are not supported since they make up the bulk of the cheap chinese HDMI sticks and set top boxes, but I am still hoping that this means more sub $100 XBMC boxes.

Once it's released I'll test it on an RK908. I desperately want the HW decoding as it's software decoding is overheating my android stick.

snuff · snuff Jul 16, 2003

bam thwok posted:

I've been running a windows xbmc + sabnzbd + sickbeard + couch potato + headphones set up for a while, and because I reliability issues I'd really like to transition to a *nix set up. What's the least painful way to accomplish this? I'm running a purpose-built HTPC rather than a net-top, so I don't think I need to go super lean on performance with something like open-elec.

Install OpenELEC and the sabnzbd/cp/etc. addons, easy.

Keito · # ? Sep 11, 2013 18:33

Is it a trivial process to install/upgrade sabnzbd and friends straight from git on OpenELEC?

If not, get XBMCbuntu. Or even just plain Xubuntu, it's not like installing XBMC and making it autostart on boot will take more than five minutes. Then you have a complete system running underneath, instead of a minimal embedded OS designed to power XBMC with every other function being an afterthought.

gary oldmans diary · # ? Sep 11, 2013 21:52

bam thwok posted:

I've been running a windows xbmc + sabnzbd + sickbeard + couch potato + headphones set up for a while, and because I reliability issues I'd really like to transition to a *nix set up. What's the least painful way to accomplish this? I'm running a purpose-built HTPC rather than a net-top, so I don't think I need to go super lean on performance with something like open-elec.

The Linux installation for all of those are just a few command lines each (Google "install ______ linux" for each one). Practically pain-free, potentially even comfortable (with a little trust). Even if you don't understand exactly what you're doing, I think you'll get it up and running in no time.

...And while you still have Windows on there (if you need to), back-up your Windows drivers with DoubleDriver and your Windows key with Magic JellyBean. Could come in handy.

I'm curious, though -are these programs being unreliable for you on Windows or is Windows being unreliable? If it's the programs, deleting their configurations and reinstalling each could fix it. If it's Windows, an unstable system is usually a bad driver. Just saying because PC gaming is a big part of a HTPCs for me (even though it doesn't fit the acronym very well). Since XBMC can apparently launch external programs pretty easy (according to XBMC/emulation tutorials I haven't personally followed) I was hoping I'd be able to integrate my Steam and GOG libraries with it some time in the "near" (not really too near) future.

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snuff · snuff Jul 16, 2003

Keito posted:

Is it a trivial process to install/upgrade sabnzbd and friends straight from git on OpenELEC?

Easy as pie, I have no linux experience and it didn't take me long. Setting it all up on the other hand was a bit of a pain, but that's just sabnzbd.