[crtach]

Hi folks,


I've just updated my 7MC software which landed me in MC hell, and I'm probably going to wipe the install and start from scratch. I had 7MC and Media Browser running fine, all the watched-items counter working fine, resume working, thumbnails showing for all shows, summaries and banners working etc.


Then I've updated to the latest version of Media Browser, Shark codecs, and followed the 7MC setup guide here to add Media Center Master and TotalMedia Theater, and now all my watched counters have been reset, none of the shows have thumbnails, and most don't even show the name, so I have 50 blank icons when I go into my TV shows and I have to guess which one is which show. Luckily I kept a backup of the old setup, but I think it might be a good idea to start from scratch.


My HTPC is an old Opteron 165 machine with 2GB of RAM and local storage, using a 32GB SSD to boot from. I underclocked and undervolted the CPU and it runs mostly fanless (fan set to start when the temp goes above 35C). The new setup has started to gobble up memory as well, as since I don't want a page file it's also causing problems.


I don't use it for recording TV or watching live TV, I just use the media center for watching TV series and movies. What I really need is a solution that will play MKVs and support multiple audio streams (japanese for example for animes) and multiple subtitles, so that I can easily switch to the ones I want. Apart from that, I need it to be able to pick up new media that's added to the local storage and at least get the thumbnails for the shows/movies. Media Browser did that well, and I used Media Control to change subtitles and audio streams.


Considering I don't need PVR functionality, would I be better off going with XBMC or something else? The hardware isn't powerful and I don't feel like spending hundreds of euros on something that does the exact same job

My TV is 720p and the box does the job well, I just need to find a decent front-end for it. Any recommendations?

 

[captain_video]

JRiver Media Center is getting a lot of chatter lately. There's a free trial you can download from their website. It sounds like it might be perfect for what you want to do and it won't cost you anything to try it.

 

[assassin]

Mediabrowser works fine and is very slick and responsive when it is setup properly.

 

[TRaSH-]

think he didn't run the service refresh of MB.

 

[mr007]

XBMC all the way.

I don't know why people are so involved with WMC unless they have tv tuners.

Just download and install xbmc and everything will play right out of the box.

 

[assassin]



Quote:
Originally Posted by mr007 /forum/post/20795039


XBMC all the way.

I don't know why people are so involved with WMC unless they have tv tuners.

Just download and install xbmc and everything will play right out of the box.

Because WMC is better for a lot of things. And its extremely easy to use if you know what you are doing. And it also can play everything (Again, if you know what you are doing).


I've used both and much prefer WMC. When XBMC can bitstream HD Audio and use a TV tuners send me a PM and I will try it again.

 

[crtach]

Actually I've tried to use XBMC but I'm not having much luck with it.


I tried to install it on a USB drive, it wouldn't work off my media center PC, just failed during the install. Then I've installed it on the USB drive using my workstation, and booted my HTPC using that drive.


Unfortunately it doesn't recognise my 7 year old hardware, no network, and I didn't spend too much time on it but it doesn't see any of my media. All my local storage is NTFS, maybe ubuntu has problems with the filesystem.

I could try XBMC on windows and see how it does.

And lastly, what do you mean by a full Media Browser service refresh? My previous Media Browser install didn't have a service, it only came with the new version. I followed the guide, is there something missing?

 

[Brian B]

Assassin, I notice that GreenEyez does the guide for WMC. Is there something you do that would be radically different?


I am currently using XBMC with Eventghost to work with a Universal Remote Control (URC) remote. How would I use this remote with WMC? Would it be the same thing?


B.

 

[assassin]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Brian B /forum/post/20799447


Assassin, I notice that GreenEyez does the guide for WMC. Is there something you do that would be radically different?


I am currently using XBMC with Eventghost to work with a Universal Remote Control (URC) remote. How would I use this remote with WMC? Would it be the same thing?


B.

I have never looked at his guide so honestly I don't know. I do use a remote in wmc to turn subtitles on and off.

 

[GreenEyez]

@Brian B - Probably enable the SQL database, since it`s turned off by default. As far as i know, the next version, Hydra, will move to SQL completely and will be enabled be default. This should give a slight increase in browsing speed.


As far as items dissapearing from the library, yeah, a lot of people have reported that, try refreshing the cache from the MB serive interface. Ebr is working on some stability fixes for this in the next version, Hydra.

 

[GreenEyez]



Quote:
Originally Posted by mr007 /forum/post/20795039


XBMC all the way.

I don't know why people are so involved with WMC unless they have tv tuners.

Just download and install xbmc and everything will play right out of the box.

TV Tuner support (especially Centon) and HD audio bitstreaming. I`m not interested in TV Tuners and managed to live without HD audio until Eden gets it. Other than that, i have no reason to go back to 7MC, i`m glad i got rid of it.

 

[assassin]

Eh. To each their own.


I have tried both and prefer wmc with mediabrowser. Does absolutely everyrhing I need it to do.

 

[rayons]

Quote:

Originally Posted by assassin Because WMC is better for a lot of things. And its extremely easy to use if you know what you are doing. And it also can play everything (Again, if you know what you are doing).

Easy if you know what you're doing... that's a bit of an oxymoron.

I like XBMC as a front, but if truth be told I keep going back to using explorer and KMplayer... recently I also started using Splash... I know they're not front ends.


Media Browser crashed on me a couple times and I never went back.

MediaPortal isn't bad either... I can write C#

 

[assassin]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rayons Easy if you know what you're doing... that's a bit of an oxymoron.

I guess it might be.


But I taught myself since there were no real guides or anyone else to show me. With that being said I found WMC+MB much much easier to use than XBMC.


But as I have said repeatedly either one is a fine option depending on what you want. For me I want it to look good, be easy to use, bave an extremely high WAF, bitstream anything I throw at it, be able to record TV, be able to share files from anywhere across my network into 1 folder or more and be somewhat customizable. To me WMC+MB meets all those criteria and more.