Acer Revo as a HTPC?

Kur4mA

PogMoThoin wrote: »

I've had a few niggly little issues since I wiped my HTPC and installed XBMCbuntu. I had trouble getting the sound over HDMI working, had an issue where XBMC was continuously maxing one cpu to 100% and I've had problems with my Windows shares not connecting. I've them all sorted now, but my advise is to skip XBMCbuntu and install Ubuntu 12.04 LTS as it'll have better support and XBMC Eden is going to be in the main repositories.
http://iloveubuntu.net/xbmc-land-ubuntu-1204-available-ubuntu-software-center

Also, don't use XBMC to find Windows shares, mount your Windows shares locally in Ubuntu and then use that local mount point in XBMC. It's much faster and less problematic.
http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=127342&pid=1063074#pid1063074

That's great news! It's about bloody time tbh. I had repeated problems running XBMCbuntu with sound over HDMI too. After much tinkering it would work perfectly and then stop again so I went back to running XBMC on Windows 7 instead. I don't have time to tinker with linux every bloody time I want to watch a movie tbh.

vibe666

have you tried openELEC?

there's a beta version of xbmc eden now, although i haven't tried it yet.

granted, not all the plugins are working, but it's lean and fast and the xbmc side of it seems to work fine from the testing i did.

if i didn't want the convenience of windows on my revo, i'd choose it as my main htpc OS.

PogMoThoin

Yeah, I've tried OpenElec and I had sound problems too. It's a fine option for someone who just wants XBMC. I've been using linux for a few years now and much prefer to have a full OS on my HTPC that I can ssh into.

Redsoxfan

PogMoThoin wrote: »

I've had a few niggly little issues since I wiped my HTPC and installed XBMCbuntu. I had trouble getting the sound over HDMI working, had an issue where XBMC was continuously maxing one cpu to 100% and I've had problems with my Windows shares not connecting. I've them all sorted now, but my advise is to skip XBMCbuntu and install Ubuntu 12.04 LTS as it'll have better support and XBMC Eden is going to be in the main repositories.
http://iloveubuntu.net/xbmc-land-ubuntu-1204-available-ubuntu-software-center

Glad to hear it's not just me having issues with sound over HDMI. So you reckon installing Ubuntu 12.04 LTS will solve this problem?

PogMoThoin

Redsoxfan wrote: »

Glad to hear it's not just me having issues with sound over HDMI. So you reckon installing Ubuntu 12.04 LTS will solve this problem?

No idea, it'll certainly be easier to find a solution to problems. The new Long Term Support is also upped from 3 to 5 years this time so it'll most likely be a keeper for the life of the box. XBMC being in the repo's means it will autoupdate with all the other package updates.

pug_

Anyone using xbmc from the ubuntu repo should probably be aware of the differences between the repo and standard build...

decss support (encrypted dvd playback) is disabled unless libdvdcss2 has been installed from a third-party repo.

libav is used rather than ffmpeg, as Debian unstable has gone this direction.

AFP (Apple File Protocol) support is currently disabled due to packaging issues.

rar support is disabled due to Debian policy, which we hope to resolve soon by switching to libarchive, which Andres is personally working on as well. The guy is a unstoppable!

http://xbmc.org/theuni/2012/04/10/xbmc-accepted-into-debian/

For sound problems, the 4th post in this thread worked for me, but that could be because the card I'm using is almost identical to the posters and my needs are minimal..

http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=127428

deuces wild

I have an acer revo 3600 with 1gb ram and a 2TB external hard drive.what would be my best option for setting this up as a HTPC bearing in mind i would not be overly technical......I am currently using an old laptop to download series that i want and using that as a server for the revo with XBMC but i would like to have couch potato etc on the revo if that would be possible?I believe XBMCUBUNTU would be an option but i really dont know where to start.any help appreciated.

armitage_skanks

Try OpenElec.

It is pure XBMC appliance (you can't quit out to a desktop etc) but there is a couple of good add-ons including SABnzbd (nzb downloader), transmission (torrent client) couch potato & sickbeard.

XBMCBuntu is more flexible (you can quit out to an Ubuntu enviroment and run any app you want), but also naturally more complicated.

I prefer OpenElec because all im doing with my HTPC is watching and downloading stuff. I don't even have a keyboard connected up to it, just an IR remote.

1GB of ram is plenty for OpenElec. Revo 3600 is shared ram afaik so you have to allocate some to GPU... 256-512MB is recommended for GPU. The free ram might not be enough for XBMCBuntu, i don't know how much it uses personally. But OpenElec only uses about 100MB at bootup.

BionicRasher

armitage_skanks wrote: »

Try OpenElec.

It is pure XBMC appliance (you can't quit out to a desktop etc) but there is a couple of good add-ons including SABnzbd (nzb downloader), transmission (torrent client) couch potato & sickbeard.

XBMCBuntu is more flexible (you can quit out to an Ubuntu enviroment and run any app you want), but also naturally more complicated.

I prefer OpenElec because all im doing with my HTPC is watching and downloading stuff. I don't even have a keyboard connected up to it, just an IR remote.

1GB of ram is plenty for OpenElec. Revo 3600 is shared ram afaik so you have to allocate some to GPU... 256-512MB is recommended for GPU. The free ram might not be enough for XBMCBuntu, i don't know how much it uses personally. But OpenElec only uses about 100MB at bootup.

Is it possible to dual boot OpenElec with Win7? Want to have the option of using my Asus eb1501p as a pure Media Center or be able to boot in to Windows to use Win MC to watch live TV and do a bit of PC type stuff

PogMoThoin

tui0hcg wrote: »

Is it possible to dual boot OpenElec with Win7? Want to have the option of using my Asus eb1501p as a pure Media Center or be able to boot in to Windows to use Win MC to watch live TV and do a bit of PC type stuff

It's always possible It's not that straightforward though
http://sunfizz98.wordpress.com/2011/10/10/tutorial-multiboot-openelec-windows-without-linux-install/

BionicRasher

PogMoThoin wrote: »

It's always possible It's not that straightforward though
http://sunfizz98.wordpress.com/2011/10/10/tutorial-multiboot-openelec-windows-without-linux-install/

looks complex but I will see if I can get through it and see if its worth trying

armitage_skanks

You've got a card reader on your Asus so maybe it's possible to just install OpenElec on a SDHC card and set the boot order of that above your existing Win7 HDD. Then pop the SD card out when you want to boot Windows.

Im no good with linux stuff so maybe it's not that simple.

vibe666

my revo r3610 has an sd card slot, so i have openelec installed onto that and windows and xbmcbuntu on the hdd.

whenever i want to do something with openelec i just click in the sd card and reboot and any time i want to get into windows or xbmcbuntu i click it out again and reboot, nice and simple.

not sure about the latest version of openelec, but the one i have only offered a destructive install on whatever disk you install it on, so it would have wiped out windows/linux, which i didn't want. you can also install it onto a usb stick (assuming your pc can boot from usb) if you don't have an sd slot.

BionicRasher

armitage_skanks wrote: »

You've got a card reader on your Asus so maybe it's possible to just install OpenElec on a SDHC card and set the boot order of that above your existing Win7 HDD. Then pop the SD card out when you want to boot Windows.

Im no good with linux stuff so maybe it's not that simple.

vibe666 wrote: »

my revo r3610 has an sd card slot, so i have openelec installed onto that and windows and xbmcbuntu on the hdd.

whenever i want to do something with openelec i just click in the sd card and reboot and any time i want to get into windows or xbmcbuntu i click it out again and reboot, nice and simple.

not sure about the latest version of openelec, but the one i have only offered a destructive install on whatever disk you install it on, so it would have wiped out windows/linux, which i didn't want. you can also install it onto a usb stick (assuming your pc can boot from usb) if you don't have an sd slot.

Now that sounds like a plan - seems way easier as I am not at all familiar with Linux

vibe666

tui0hcg wrote: »

Now that sounds like a plan - seems way easier as I am not at all familiar with Linux

yup, just make doubly sure you're installing it onto the right disk as it will wipe whatever you put it on.

Wcool

deuces wild wrote: »

I have an acer revo 3600 with 1gb ram and a 2TB external hard drive.what would be my best option for setting this up as a HTPC bearing in mind i would not be overly technical......I am currently using an old laptop to download series that i want and using that as a server for the revo with XBMC but i would like to have couch potato etc on the revo if that would be possible?I believe XBMCUBUNTU would be an option but i really dont know where to start.any help appreciated.

Hi deuces,
I think if you are not that technical, Windows is your best option. I have a 3600 too (but linux) and it plays everything out of the box. I have very few addons though. If you are not using your Revo now, there is nothing to lose.

tonyfillony

Im looking into getting the rl70 as well now, prob going to get this one from ebuyer
http://www.ebuyer.com/319567-acer-re...c-pt-sj4ec-003
also get an extra 2g and porb get a ssd later down the line .
Hopefully then I will be running one of these
openelec
xmbc

Qucik quesition are any of the above compatible with sopcast?

DBCyc

tonyfillony wrote: »

Im looking into getting the rl70 as well now, prob going to get this one from ebuyer
http://www.ebuyer.com/319567-acer-re...c-pt-sj4ec-003
also get an extra 2g and porb get a ssd later down the line .
Hopefully then I will be running one of these
openelec
xmbc

Qucik quesition are any of the above compatible with sopcast?

Looking to get one of these also from ebuyer but it wont let me order without a UK credit card. I was going to use deliverme.ie to get it delivered but I cant get the thing ordered.

Anyone had any luck here?

tonyfillony

DBCyc wrote: »

Looking to get one of these also from ebuyer but it wont let me order without a UK credit card. I was going to use deliverme.ie to get it delivered but I cant get the thing ordered.

Anyone had any luck here?

Balls , have you tried a 3v card?

DBCyc

tonyfillony wrote: »

Balls , have you tried a 3v card?

Nope, I contacted ebuyer and they said that they weren't aware of any way to accept Irish credit cards.

Deliverme.ie assured me that they pick up orders from ebuyer all the time so I'm not sure how this is done.

I tried ordering through Paypal and the order was cancelled as the delivery address (deliverme.ie address in Newry) was not confirmed.

I'll try the 3v option now

vibe666

did you try using google checkout on the ebuyer site? i'm sure someone mentioned before that it still worked. combine that with deliverme.ie and you should (hopefully) be all sorted.

DBCyc

vibe666 wrote: »

did you try using google checkout on the ebuyer site? i'm sure someone mentioned before that it still worked. combine that with deliverme.ie and you should (hopefully) be all sorted.

I tried Google and kept getting delays where my payment was 'under review' and then cancelled. I tried to contact them about it but its impossible to reach them.

Grrr...very frustrating.

That 3v card seems to be something you can just buy in stores. I would have to go to the uk to get a uk card it seems :mad:

EDIT: Payment Processed through Google there after slight delay. Should be grand now to receive through DeliverMe.ie. Cheers

Access

DBCyc wrote: »

EDIT: Payment Processed through Google there after slight delay. Should be grand now to receive through DeliverMe.ie. Cheers

Thanks for the tip on the forwarding company... just looked up the site and delighted to see that there will be no more "sorry, we do not ship to Ireland" obstacles in the future for me!

livEwirE

Can someone please post here how the RL70 handles Netflix HD playback please?