XBMC Media Center : Setup Guide, Knowlege Base & Support - Page 89

I use all three TV Settings options in XBMC

• Synchronize channel groups with backends
• Always use the channel from the backend(s)
• Use backend channels numbers (only works with 1 enabled PVR addon)

It pulled all the guide data correctly, but I had to get it working with NPVR first. I'm also trying Schedules Direct instead of a Web Grabber. I'm not sure if you can take advantage of the WMC downloaded Zap2it, but that would be nice.

I get an image like this each time I start XBMC

Do you have 'Group Movies in Sets' enabled under System-Video?

Yep, no dice

Media center master screws up something with sets in XBMC. Just go into your movies, hit "c" for the menu, go to movie info and hit refresh. You'll have to do that for every movie, but once you do, if you have movie sets turned on, xbmc should properly re-scrape them and put them into the sets.

Yeah I have all of those enabled, but still no EPG. Maybe its something wrong on the MediaPortal TV server. But I have gone through all of those options as well with no success.

Hi
I may need some help here. I've got Asrock VisionX Series HTPC. All drivers and programm installed and working properly.
Yesterday I installed XBMC 11 and today tried 12 with the same issue.
The XBMC coming up, but no text can be visible.
See images attached.
Can somebody give me an idea?
Bot TMT5 and MPC-HC working fine.

Thank you for the link, it seems like AMD driver has an issue.

Right click, go to properties, set it to run in compatibility mode for Windows XP.

Yes, the new "Never Settle" beta drivers kill the fonts in XBMC.

With the wealth of knowledge on this site and this sub-forum in particular, I've gathered up the courage to try my own HTPC build with XBMC running the show. All parts have been ordered based on recommendations that I've read in my extensive searches, but one little blip that I came across recently has me questioning one of the items I purchased. I went with the AMD A6-5400K based on people's seemingly positive experiences with that processor; however, I read the other day (after my order was placed) that the A6 cannot handle 3D and that it may compromise the speed at which I am able to rip my movies. Now the 3D thing doesn't really bother me as I have no desire to jump into that realm whatsoever, but if my ripping speed is somehow affected; I definitely want to upgrade to soemthing else. So, I guess my question is........should I move forward with exchanging the A6, and if so, which of the other AMD APUs should fit the bill? I have about 350 dvds and 150 blu-rays that will need to be ripped, so speed is definitely a factor for me.

Thanks in advance for any replies. I have already been playing around with XBMC on my laptop and to say that I'm impressed would be a severe understatement. This build will function only as a source for all my media and to maybe surf the net every now and then. No plans to record anything off the tv.

This has got to be one of the most exciting projects I've ever engaged in, btw.

Which PVR apps are you guys using?

Argus TV
NextPVR
MediaPortal

Which offers the best overall performance?

Thanks,

Ripping is not that cpu intensive. Shouldn't have any problems with makemkv and the llano. Most other forums are still chock full of AMD supporters, but for average usage most of the HTPC recommendations around here are for intel's i3 or g630

Some discussions you'll read might be confusing ripping with encoding. Some people have an obsession with saving 1:1 iso files of all their discs, and then encoding them to 720p for tablet/smartphone playback. Encoding (and transcoding) is CPU intensive, and it typically uses all available cpu by default. I don't really encode, but I've read this in response to Handbrake and Plex users reporting over 90% utilitzation. I'd bet that you can lower your cpu usage within the options if you are willing to live with slower encoding times

To de-bottleneck ripping MKVs, you would go in the following order -> BD-rom speed -> HDD write speed -> RAM/CPU (for buffer space)

Your BD-rom and HDD will get you the 95% increase for 5% cost solution where a ram/cpu upgrade may never see a difference if everything is choked at the BD/HDD interfaces

I use NextPVR and like it a lot. I haven't tried Argus, but MediaPortal was still requiring a 32 bit version of W7 to be running last I checked (for cablecard support at least). MediaPortal is a very polished looking front-end replacement in my opinion, where NextPVR is really directed at the TV portion of things. LiveTV, recording management, programming guides, and a lighter-weight installation vs a full fledged 10-foot interface. Different approaches but I wanted a very flexible livetv/recording experience. For me NextPVR was the first one I went about trying to get integrated into XBMC, and I'm satisfied with the results so far

Good question and from looking I see alot of people using the 2nd/3rd option. I tried the mediaportal backend a while back but had issues. I may try it again soon when I get a chance.

Thanks guys.

I don't have cable. I'll be viewing primarily OTA network channels with an antenna and tuner card.

So you think NextPVR is the choice for this? I am on Win7 64bit, btw.

Run it in compatibility mode for windows xp and there's no problem. You'll notice no difference in performance and it fixes the fonts.

Fixed in the newest ATI drivers, though I didn't have the issue, I understand that running in compatibility mode kills HD Audio - if running a build that supports it.

Thanks for the reply. In anticipation of my eventual build, I've been using AnyDVD to rip to the hard drive and then CloneDVD to create perfect iso copies on my laptop. That was one of my pre-determined rules in this project: exact copies of all my discs. So in my case, a faster processor could certainly improve the time it takes to copy my discs??

edit: After re-reading, maybe I misinterpreted. I will not be encoding to 720p. Just storing exact copies of my movies (both dvd and blu-ray) to my local hard drives for playback on XBMC.

if you are all about ripping only (like anydvd's rip to image option) then bd-rom speed is the biggest bottleneck. I had a 4x bdrom and now I have a 12x i beleive - anyway speed went from like 8mbs to over 20 or 25 mbs now.. I think. Time went from around1 hour for a movie down to about 20 minutes give or take. Same PC / CPU/ Hard Drive

I probably rambled too much . . . but 1:1 ripping speed boosts would mostly benefit from the fastest possible BD drive first (as jim said)

Next improvement would come from a faster storage drive (where they are being ripped to), but it'll take a while before they even make BD drives that can read faster than high end storage drives currently write

Okay, thanks for the info fellas! My LG drive is 12X so it appears that I'll be trudging through my rips as fast as I could hope for. Since I don't necessarily have to follow through with the RMA process that I already started, I think I'll just roll with the A6.

Just got a text from my wife......."2 large packages just arrived at the door"!!

And the saga begins...........

Wish me luck.

What is the current fastest BD ripper? I know ripping speed can vary from the speed listed on the drive.

15x



http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827129072

Careful, ripping is read dependent

Those pioneer drives are still 12x single layer and 8x dual layer

12x LiteOn internal Blu Ray readers are the same spec for Single Layer, and 6x (instead of 8x) for Dual Layer for $40 less

No. The Pioneer BRD-2208 only rips at 8x for DL BD-ROM and 12x for SL BD-ROM

http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PUSA/Computer/Computer+Drives/BDR-2208

Incidentally, there are several models that can rip at those speeds. DL BD-ROM has been stuck at 8x for quite a while now.

The LG WH14NS40 is $70 at newegg, and it can do 8x/12x for DL/SL. Also, unlike previous LG models, this one does not have rip-lock.

You are correct. Was thinking of writing.

I got an LG drive and that thing rips pretty fast with MakeMKV. Maybe 20-25min per blu-ray disc.

I am trying to figure out the best way to store my movies.

I store my music like this :
music/artist/album/
in the folder I store the music files and the cover.jpg


What is the standard way to store movies? I am going to start organizing, and just want to make sure i do this correctly before I start XBMC. Is there a certain way to name the cover files?


I have another question:
Is there a way to have XBMC store the cover art for the movies and music locally on my HTPC SSD instead of relying on the server?


Thanks

For watching (not recording) Live TV with my HDHomeRun, I use the TVGuide program addon for XBMC with mc2xml. I use the original HDHR with an antenna and only use one tuner. Works great for just watching TV.

It's easy to set up. I created a custom mc2xml.chl file to use only the channels I actually receive, and a mc2xml.ren file to rename the channels to my liking (for the TVGuide display). Info on how to create the mc2xml files is on the mc2xml website.