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XMBC for PowerPC

post #1 of 11
4/23/09 at 5:41pm
Thread Starter 
I just noticed that there's a version of XMBC for PowerPC Macs now. This is the foundation for Plex and for Boxee so maybe those two projects can add PPC support at some point in the future.

XBMC 9.04 (Babylon) Beta 1 released

It seems to work well on my G5, but I would prefer Boxee because it has support for a lot more internet media types. Maybe I just need to look a little closer at what it actually does support...

Dennis
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post #2 of 11
4/24/09 at 5:26am
Can I safely assume that a Dual G5 would not have the horsepower to handle HD content? All the HD material on Hulu is stutteriffic.

I'm planning on getting a Mac Mini 2.26, loading Boxee/Plex/XBMC and seeing which fits me best.
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post #3 of 11
4/24/09 at 6:25am
Thread Starter 
I'm not sure about the HD content on hulu and TV.com, which runs in the browser, but in general my 2.5Ghz G5 handles HD recorded with EyeTV and 720p content just fine. When I've tried to play HD content from TV.com, such as CSI, it has stuttered badly so I have to switch to the SD versions.

But that's more a problem with Flash in the browser the G5's ability to play HD content. On YouTube, for example, if I try to play an HD clip in Safari or Firefox where there's a Flash skin on it, it stutters and is unwatchable. However, if I download the h.264 clip from YouTube and play it in Quicktime Player or another Quicktime application, it plays just fine.

I also played a 720p clip in XMBC and it worked just fine.

Dennis
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post #4 of 11
4/24/09 at 7:49am
Quote:


but in general my 2.5Ghz G5 handles HD recorded with EyeTV and 720p content just fine

You're getting some impressive results with that dual G5, most EyeTV users here gave them up a long time ago because even the inexpensive Intel Macs were running circles around them in the home theater. At the moment I'm using EyeTV 3.1 with a 2.0 C2D Macbook circa 2007 (X3100 and 4GB RAM) it can barely, just barely, play back EyeTV recorded 1080i content at its best deinterlace setting without dropping frames. On all my Intel Macs prior to this--a 1.83 CD and a 2.0 C2D with the GMA950--I had to step EyeTV down to "motion adaptive" for it to be tolerable--and when you have to do that, it's noticeably lower quality playback.
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post #5 of 11
4/25/09 at 9:38am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by chefklc View Post

You're getting some impressive results with that dual G5...

Well, I do have EyeTV set for "motion adaptive" deinterlacing on the G5, but bad performance is not all that noticeable to me. I've been using that G5 and the EyeTV 200 to record and watch HDTV since 2004. I'm also using EyeTV 2.5.3 since there is nothing compelling in the 3.x versions of EyeTV worthy of an upgrade.

I have watched recordings using my 2.2Ghz Macbook Pro and perhaps the performance is a little better than on the G5, but not so much that I'd want to use the Macbook Pro as my main media computer. The G5 has fast hard drives, more memory and an adequate ATI Radeon 9600 Pro video card (better than the Intel motherboard video on earlier Minis and Macbooks).

The G5 also houses my 1.5GB library of media recordings (iTunes and EyeTV). If I did a lot of transcoding that perhaps would be a major reason to upgrade as there's no doubt newer Intel Macs are faster for that task.

For a few years before I bought the Macbook Pro, I was also recording and editing HDV video using Final Cut Studio so the G5 is a pretty good performer even as it approaches its fifth birthday.

Dennis
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post #6 of 11
4/26/09 at 2:24am
Quote:
Originally Posted by ultimate View Post

...For a few years before I bought the Macbook Pro, I was also recording and editing HDV video using Final Cut Studio so the G5 is a pretty good performer even as it approaches its fifth birthday.

Dennis


Same here. No problem running HD video on the old G5 and still using it for video production.

As for XMBC, it seems OK but I would rather use something that allows access to various online video sources. I recently added Understudy to the G5 which does show up in Front Row. Too bad the Netflix stream requires an Intel system. That along with Boxee is starting to make the G5 a bit dated even though it still works great.
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post #7 of 11
4/28/09 at 5:39am
Quote:


I've been using that G5 and the EyeTV 200 to record and watch HDTV since 2004.

Dennis, you mean a 500, right, because the 200 can't record high def...
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post #8 of 11
4/29/09 at 6:45am
Thread Starter 
Definitely the EyeTV 500. Guess I should have looked on the bottom. The $200 I paid for it has been a great value...

Dennis
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post #9 of 11
4/30/09 at 1:50am
Is there a way to make the XMBC interface full screen? I'm not finding that option anywhere. Thanks in advance for your help.
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post #10 of 11
4/30/09 at 2:00am
Yes, it is a bit tricky. If you go into settings, you can select the display size, however, you then need to quit and restart the program for it to take effect.
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post #11 of 11
5/1/09 at 7:39am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Further View Post

Yes, it is a bit tricky. If you go into settings, you can select the display size, however, you then need to quit and restart the program for it to take effect.


Thanks for that. That did the trick!
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