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Kodi (XBMC) via Chromebox

99K views 1K replies 137 participants last post by  PWH1 
#1 · (Edited)
I found a thread for the Chromebox in the HTPC forum although I consider it more of a streamer than PC so I decided to start/post a thread here. As far as I know the ASUS and HP models are identical outside of their respective cases. I happen to prefer the HP and wanted to get Smoke Silver which Amazon has for $150 (at the time of my purchase). I noticed Best Buy has the HP (Snow White) and decided I could live with it and priced match Amazon. If I decide to punt I can return it to Best Buy without a restocking fee and I believe Amazon charges one.

The process is very simple and very well documented at the following two URLS...

http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=194362
http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=ASUS_Chromebox

I had zero issues setting up dual boot as I didn't want to "gut" the device before my return period expired. Total time was roughly 30 minutes and only requires a small USB flash drive. I did the installation in my den. The only thing that wasn't install friendly is my wireless keyboard isn't recognized at boot time. Perhaps a BIOS setting can be changed. Once booted it worked like a champ as well as my Harmony remote via a IR sensor.

The debate as been going on for a while now whether the NUC or Chromebox is better. My take is they are more apples and oranges and based on your needs one will be the clear winner. In this case I went with the Chromebox for two reasons. I have played with a good dozen NUCs and I know I wouldn't get a desire to install Windows on the Chromebox. It would require too many upgrades... but never say never.

First pass XBMC is running great and has already upgraded itself. Yes HD audio is supported. Beyond that I can't comment at least for a few days.

A few points of interest...


  • The Celeron version is more than powerful enough to run Kodi "without compromise"
  • The HP has only one memory slot (ASUS two) - adding additional memory won't increase its performance (My HP running Kodi reports 1719MB free)
  • The HP fan spins slightly faster (a little louder) by default
  • The custom firmware reduces the fan noise to being virtually non-existent
  • Under System Power Saving you can configure if and when the display is turned off after x minutes of being idle
  • When selecting Suspend as you exit XBMC you can "wake it up" with a (harmony) remote
  • CPU details
  • Following the links above you can always return your Chromebox to its original state
  • If you are using HDMI you can't use DisplayPort as well (two displays)
  • If you want to use a IR remote (Harmony?) you will need a sensor - I have used this guy for years and it's very powerful (one of the strongest I have seen) - http://www.amazon.com/Ortek-Windows...&qid=1414692887&sr=8-1&keywords=wmc+ir+remote
  • Kodi's limited 3D support
  • Additional Kodi information/support

Recommended video settings

System - Video

  • Limited Colour Range - Selected (based on how the rest of the chain is calibrated - if selected add autostart.sh to /storage/.config with the following xrandr --output HDMI1 --set "Broadcast RGB" "Full"
  • Vertical Blank Sync - Enabled during playback
Video - Acceleration

  • Use VC-1 VAAPI - Selected
  • Use SW Filter for VAAPI - Selected (not available with Kodi (14.x)) | Deselect Prefer VAAPI rendering for 14.x

I recommend reading this post/thread for further information regarding calibrating your display.

SSH Access

I recommend using putty to remotely access the Chromebox. Log in using root with password: openelec

As an example to view the various output settings you would enter: xrandr --verbose
Which displays similar to the following - you can arrow up and down to view the various lines (note there was no active display when I did such)

Screen 0: minimum 320 x 200, current 320 x 200, maximum 32767 x 32767
HDMI1 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
Identifier: 0x43
Timestamp: 898912694
Subpixel: unknown
Clones:
CRTCs: 0 1 2
Transform: 1.000000 0.000000 0.000000
0.000000 1.000000 0.000000
0.000000 0.000000 1.000000
filter:
aspect ratio: Automatic
supported: Automatic, 4:3, 16:9
Broadcast RGB: Full
supported: Automatic, Full, Limited 16:235
audio: auto
supported: force-dvi, off, auto, on

Mounting a Network Drive

To mount a network drive at boot time simply add the mount command to the /storage/.config/autostart.sh file - if it doesn't exist you will need to create it. There is a working sample in the image attachments... of course you need to change the username, password, share (//192.168.1.136/tv) and mounting point (/storage/videos) to match your values. Be sure the mounting point exists or it will fail.

#!/bin/sh
(sleep 10; \
xrandr --output HDMI1 --set "Broadcast RGB" "Full"
mount -t cifs -o username=Media,password=password,rw //192.168.1.112/tv /storage/videos; \
)&


Here's a link to a few popular commands. If you know vi (text editor) it helps when you need to create and or edit files. However in many cases you can create the file in Windows and simply drop the file into the appropriate SMB share. Just be sure it's stored in plain text without a default file extension.

Current Affairs

I have installed OpenELEC 5.0.8 (Kodi 14.2) via Standalone. For live TV and recordings I'm using the DVBLink Add-on with DVBLink running on my NAS.

DVR support

If you are interested in using the Chromebox/Kodi for TV viewing check this thread for one option. Another is using ServerWMC covered in my WMC thread.


What is Kodi (XBMC) and OpenELEC

If you use the following software please consider making a donation to one or both of the groups. What would they cost to purchase as a commercial software package?

  • XBMC is an award-winning free and open source (GPL) software media player and entertainment hub that can be installed on Linux, OSX, Windows, iOS, and Android, featuring a 10-foot user interface for use with televisions and remote controls. It allows users to play and view most videos, music, podcasts, and other digital media files from local and network storage media and the internet.
  • Open Embedded Linux Entertainment Center (OpenELEC) is a small Linux distribution built from scratch as a platform to turn your computer into an XBMC media center. OpenELEC is designed to make your system boot fast, and the install is so easy that anyone can turn a blank PC into a media machine in less than 15 minutes.

 

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#2 ·
I have the Asus Chromebox and love how it works with XBMC. The setup took a little time to complete, but it was well worth it. It plays any and every file I throw at it, and it does HD audio, including multichannel FLAC perfectly. I also did dual boot and use Chrome for full screen video in browser when needed.

For the price, this is a true winner. It replaced an Oppo BDP-103, and I don't miss the Oppo at all. I just use a (much) cheaper Blu-Ray player for discs and the Chromebox for everything else. I sold the Oppo and will use the leftover cash for other toys.
 
#7 ·
With Ubuntu/XBMC you can use NextPVR or some such back-end and record/view OTA. It works great although you would have to subscribe to a guide service. However I would recommend viewing on the Chromebox via OpenELEC/XBMC and letting another PC (Windows) do the recordings via WMC. With ServerWMC installed on the PC it will stream live TV and recordings to the Chromebox. You can schedule recordings and virtually everything else inside of XBMC.

If you search my WMC thread there are images of the XBMC's Live TV interface and lots of related information.
 
#6 ·
You can if you have a PVR backend. I was thinking of using pvr.wmc, but it looked like quite some effort to set-up and you need WMC either running under Window 7/8 on the HTPC or another PC you're using as the WMC server.

Instead, what I do is use Simple.tv (I have a Simple.tv gen 1 box) with the Android app for it sideloaded on my Fire TV with XBMC. From XBMC, I have a direct shortcut to Simple.tv. Only caveat is that you need a mouse inside Simple.tv app.
 
#8 · (Edited)
I was thinking of using pvr.wmc, but it looked like quite some effort to set-up and you need WMC either running under Window 7/8 on the HTPC or another PC you're using as the WMC server.
To flush this out some... ServerWMC takes about 2 minutes to install and configure on your WMC PC. And the client Add-on about three minutes to install and configure within XBMC.

https://0df317251eddfb99d4fce96eecb.../host/0ByNnAMYBoWvfTk8tRWJXYko1T2c/index.html

So a good five minutes and your channels, recordings and everything else magically appear and you are good to go. Very impressive apps!

A few images from the WMC thread...
 

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#9 ·
Okay, you may have pushed me to finally give this a go over the weekend :). I've read about issues with permissions; is it common, and how do you get around it? What I'd like to do is use my old Win7 laptop with WMC and have that be the server that my Chromebox and Fire TV's access. Will this work, and with these multiple clients? Also, where do the actual recordings get stored? I'm guessing on the server/PC with WMC? Thanks.
 
#10 · (Edited)
I've read about issues with permissions; is it common, and how do you get around it?
  • Only permission to be concerned about is the Recorded TV folder (per WMC). You need to provide access to this directory. You do this via the tab shown in the image below. If something is wrong it will let you know when you try to enter the values.
  • WMC uses very little resources and will happily run on just about anything. It's very stable and even an external USB 2.0 drive is fast enough to record four recordings and stream concurrently.
  • The recordings have to be stored locally. You can't use a network drive. With the exception being iSCSI. You can record directly to your NAS or other device using iSCSI.

On the client side be sure to enter the IP address or Host name for the WMC PC (server) when you configure the Add-on. As shown in the image.
 

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#12 ·
Great. Feel free to PM with any questions. I'm not an expert but I have bumped into most of the mistakes and Googled my way out of them. :)
 
#13 ·
Anything further to report? I'm thinking of going with either NUC or Chromebox and the Chromebox sure would be easier on the budget right now. By the time I get a known good configuration of the NUC with something other than Celeron I'm looking at $300 plus. I don't care about recording television or anything like that. I want to be able to play my BD-ISO and MKV files with HD audio and problem free 24p from my unRaid server and do occasional streaming of add-on content through XBMC.
 
#14 ·
Anything further to report?

I want to be able to play my BD-ISO and MKV files with HD audio and problem free 24p from my unRaid server and do occasional streaming of add-on content through XBMC.
Such as? Just spent three hours calibrating, testing and overall playing around with my Chromebox's OpenELEC installation. Works like a champ with MKV 24Hz and HD audio.
 
#16 ·
I have seen this on several occasions. Set the permissions per the PM I sent and I think you'll be good to go.
 
#19 ·
I decided the Chromebox is a keeper and as such I had to switch to Smoke Silver. I know it doesn't matter but...
 

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#20 ·
Charles, thanks again for your help via PM in my setting up ServerWMC for use by my Fire TV clients. I still have a Chromebox, but thinking of eBaying it. FTV is more of an all-in-one box (Netflix, Amazon, XBMC w/live TV and occasional games). Also, I think FTV's YouTube app is nicer than trying to use YouTube via XBMC. For dedicated home theater use, I still rely on Mede8er X3D (full 3D playback, proper 23.976 and hd audio).
 
#21 ·
Let me know if you decide to sell the Chromebox, I might be interested. I like the FireTV but I have started getting messages about full memory and I keep having to change video settings when going from XBMC streaming video content to my local content (BD-ISO and MKV). It doesn't play VC1 encoded files and I don't think it's really handling 24p properly. I have a Mede8er (450X2 I think is the model). That little player has been about the best I have had besides my Dune and if I could get a jukebox working on it I might move it to the theater room instead of the bedroom where it currently sits.
 
#24 ·
I just started seeing the message in the last few days. I haven't added any apps, games or anything so I'm not really sure what I can delete. Do you have yours setup for "0 cache" or something else? I found mine buffers less that way on XBMC content. I'm finding that all of that stuff is very source dependent. Movies seem to work pretty well but TV shows (not live), seem to always want to buffer. I'm using Navix for most of the TV stuff (this is my wife's only interest in the FireTV and XBMC).
 
#29 ·
Yes.

For me this is a mute issue as I use it in a dedicated room and I kill the power (via a Brickwall) when I'm done. However I did some testing with the following results...


  • Under System Power Saving you can configure if and when the display is turned off after x minutes of being idle. Works fine.
  • When I exit XBMC and select Suspend I can "wake" it up with my harmony remote. In my case I have the standard BIOS with dual boot so once it wakes up it goes to the screen where I select (Crtl L) OpenELEC. I presume if you changed the default boot to OpenELEC or wasn't using dual boot at all it would automatically resume into OpenELEC.
 
#33 ·
Anyone using the DisplayPort output via OpenELEC? I'm having zero luck. I booted into Chrome OS and it works as an extended display.

Under Settings - System - Video output - I get the option to switch outputs but it only cycles to HDMI1 (the HDMI output). I also have an option to disable the other display... which is new to me. I'd like to run it directly to my projector as I did with the NUCs...
 
#37 ·
Charles, are the USB ports available for storage of cover art from scraping when using Openelec version of XBMC? This is the limitation of my FireTV at the moment in that I quickly run out of space on the internal storage when adding titles to my library (the scraped info). Adding external storage to the FireTV required rooting the box and looks like a bit more than I want to get into.
 
#40 ·
Charles, are the USB ports available for storage of cover art from scraping when using Openelec version of XBMC?
By default they are placed on the boot drive. You could always edit the scripts and there are Add-ons that will place them in the same directory as the movies themselves.

However I think it is a moot issue. Even with a dual boot you can have 9GB (or more) of storage and since XBMC only takes (roughly) 100MB there is a lot of storage for user data.
 
#45 · (Edited)
I have a remote question. I want to try the Chromebox with my den setup which is very simple. Old plasma TV, receiver, two speakers, Xbox 360 and hopefully a Chromebox. I have a Harmony remote in my theater room but not looking to spend $200-$300 for a remote in this secondary setup which is mostly used by my wife so needs to be very simple. If I get the Chromebox it will be used with Openelec/XBMC as Charles is doing. However, I don't care about dual boot or retaining any sort of OS. I want to use this as an appliance only for XBMC streaming online content and my local movie library on NAS. Any suggestions for an inexpensive remote solution that will control all of the hardware and maybe have a built in keyboard? It doesn't have to be a Harmony type experience with everything turning on and off at the same time but I have never had a universal remote in this room and adding yet another piece of hardware (Chromebox) and another remote I'm sure will just frustrate the wife even further. I want to clean things up a bit.
 
#46 ·
I have a remote question.
First you need to acquire a IR receiver and I would recommend this guy...

http://www.amazon.com/Ortek-Windows...d=1409934687&sr=8-1&keywords=wmc+remote+ortek

You can probably find the receiver all by itself if you look around and save a few bucks. It works wonderfully and it's very strong... Also, it's plug and play. You can find further details in my WMC thread linked to in my signature.

As far as remotes go I would pick up a Logitech Harmony 300 via eBay or some such. It's easily under $30 and will control four devices. There are other options covered in the WMC thread if you search... Best Buy always sells the Harmony 650 over the Holiday period (not far off is it!) online for half price or less.
 
#53 · (Edited)
Not exactly the best video as if I viewed it before I installed Kodi I would have probably said the heck with it. :) Plus you don't have to open her up for the installation. If you don't all you lose is the option to switch which OS boots by default. It's far easier than this...

 
#54 ·
For me in the past, OpenElec never lived up to it's concept. There was always something missing. I have an i3 NUC, a Pi, an Arctic, and I always ended up scrapping OpenElec and using Windows for one reason or another (except Pi). Now, OpenElec has matured (lossless audio finally!), XBMC has also gotten past all of the nasty VC1 ffmpeg problems, and the new Celeron platform used for the Chromebox does what appears to be glitch-free 24p. I have never achieved everything I wanted in a local-media streamer until now.

I run the stand-alone Coreboot firmware, which makes this a nice XBMC appliance in operation. To have such fast boot/reboot times and not waste a windows license is a welcome cherry on top.

LOVE this box, and it needs no additional memory or storage in this particular usage scenario. I consider this the Goldie-Locks of the XBMC boxes.
 
#58 ·
I don't really use it often as it's installed in my dedicated room which is only used a few times a month tops. I have used it a few times with the monitor in the room and so far so good. It has updated OpenELEC a couple of times and played several movie segments testing the audio. I did spend a decent calibration session with the projector although I still need some more time.
 
#56 ·
I use my Logitech harmony with my chromebox and changed the power setting to have it go to sleep when I power down with the remote. Wakes up no problem when powering on with remote.

All this talk about watching live TV through XBMC has me wondering, is there a way to do this with a windows 8 desktop and an HD homerun ?
 
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