ARCTIC MC001-N ~ MultiMedia Barebone PC - €114.95 Delivered. [Amazon.de]

Mr McBoatface

Dotts wrote: »

Update:

Have been testing streaming from stb to 3 different clients i.e, the arctic, pi and my laptop some interesting results,
i was able to watch a saorview channel and simultaneously stream 2 more i taught that you would need 3 tuners for this, apparently not.(can anyone explain this?)

At the moment all channels on Saorview are on one MUX so you can in theory and if the software allows watch 1 Saorview channel while recording all other tv and radio channels at the same time. You can only do this when channels are on the same MUX. If/when Saorview gets a 2nd MUX you will need 2nd tuner to guarantee you can watch one channel and record another at the same time.

Remouad

Dotts wrote: »

Remouad wrote: »

Are you using a sky card with this? can you control the stb/choose channels from the client?
I'd like to have access to the sky channels on all the other TVs in my house and the Pi is a nice small STB.




Im only using the box for free to air but id imagine it'd be the same if i had a sky card in it!
Not sure if you could get all the tv's to stream at the same time, might put too much stress on the stb, but i guess in theory if you have 2 sat tuners and 2 saorview tuners, which i have on the vuduo, you could watch say rte1 on the main box, stream rte2 to one xbmc client and then also stream two sat channels to 2 other clients. have never tried to stream to more than one client but i might test it later using the pi the arctic and my laptop while watching on the box itself, not sure how long the box will last unter that much stress but it would be intresting to see

http://tinypic.com/r/207srr9/6
http://tinypic.com/r/2gwdvkx/6
http://tinypic.com/r/25rci06/6
http://tinypic.com/r/2ymvyx3/6

Update:

Have been testing streaming from stb to 3 different clients i.e, the arctic, pi and my laptop some interesting results,
i was able to watch a saorview channel and simultaneously stream 2 more i taught that you would need 3 tuners for this, apparently not.(can anyone explain this?)
also i watched a hd cahnnel on the box while also streaming another hd channel and 2 sd channels to the three xbmc clients, all were perfectly in sync, there is an initial buffering when each client is turned on as they pull the epg off the stb but after this they settle down. i did see buffering on my laptop but that was wireless where as the other 2 are hardwired. i do have a fairly good router (asus rt-n66u) and a gigabit switch on my network, i doubt a standard setup would handle all that traffic, but the stb seams to handle it fine.
arctic and pi are streaming away while i watch the main box, had to exit xbmc on the laptop to post this as it wont run in the backround.

Cheers for testing that out. I've CAT6 around the house and a gigabit switch so performance should be the same for me.

Only just starting to get set up and the amount of options are a bit mind boggling.:)

where did you pick up the box? Did it set you back much?

jobyrne30 wrote: »

At the moment all channels on Saorview are on one MUX so you can in theory and if the software allows watch 1 Saorview channel while recording all other tv and radio channels at the same time. You can only do this when channels are on the same MUX. If/when Saorview gets a 2nd MUX you will need 2nd tuner to guarantee you can watch one channel and record another at the same time.

Think that's the same for the BBC channels as well isn't it?
How many channels can on MUX hold?

So that means that the single tuner on the MC001 will allow for recording all saorview channels simultaniously - Sweet

Remouad

jobyrne30 wrote: »

It's setup as a client HTPC to a MediaPortal back-end running a TV server with 6 DVB-S2 tuners, 2 DVB-S tuners and 2 DVB-T tuners. The server also has 8TB of Media storage (running low on free space )

I thought I was bad having 5TB of media files!

jobyrne30 wrote: »

I know there is a lot of love for Openelec here but Windows7 + MediaPortal 1.3RC is a nice alternate. I've attached some images of my setup with default MP skin.

I've installed mine with a windows openelec dual boot which boots to openelc by default.
Main advantage of the openelec for me is that it boots very fast and goes straight into XBMC which make it very user friendly. Means everyone in the house can use it easily.

Remouad

RoflHarris wrote: »

Sweet, I actually have that page bookmarked from seeing it earlier in the thread but for some reason didn't think to...y'know...look at it? :rolleyes:

It also tells you how to bypass the openelec splash screen which reduces the boot time.

tony1980

I was looking at the MC001-DVD
Entertainment Center with 500GB HDD with Windows 7 pre-installed which is available but it only has a dropdown to the U.S. plug with ATSC TV Tuner.

Im new to all of this but wouldn't I need a DVB-T? Otherwise I would go ahead and order it! http://www.arctic.ac/de/p/living/ent...vd.html?c=2300

Padraig Mor

jobyrne30 wrote: »

Hi Folks, I've gotten over the the disappointment of receiving a faulty unit. I have the replacement up and running on Windows 7 with MediaPortal 1.3RC and I can safely say this is the best bit of HTPC equipment I've ever bought.

I got the DVD version, I added a 25 euro 32GB Kingspec SSD (bought on eBay), 20 Euro 4GB of ram, a 7 Euro RC6 MS media centre remote (bought on eBay). I now have a completely silent HTPC running everything I through at it and it works on only 60 watts!!!

It's setup as a client HTPC to a MediaPortal back-end running a TV server with 6 DVB-S2 tuners, 2 DVB-S tuners and 2 DVB-T tuners. The server also has 8TB of Media storage (running low on free space )

My biggest concern with this unit was could it handle 1080i material and so far from my testing the MC001 handles interlaced HD material with no issues at all!! SD material is no problem as you would expect.

I know there is a lot of love for Openelec here but Windows7 + MediaPortal 1.3RC is a nice alternate. I've attached some images of my setup with default MP skin.

How did you get the Sky channels on your setup? Or is that a question that perhaps can not be answered here?!

Mr McBoatface

Padraig Mor wrote: »

How did you get the Sky channels on your setup? Or is that a question that perhaps can not be answered here?!

There are several ways of using doing it, none are easy and there is lots you need to figure out for youself. I don't think boards allows these methods to be discussed..... avforums.com where I post with the same user name would be a good place to start looking.

Dotts

Remouad wrote: »

Dotts wrote: »

Cheers for testing that out. I've CAT6 around the house and a gigabit switch so performance should be the same for me.

Only just starting to get set up and the amount of options are a bit mind boggling.:)

where did you pick up the box? Did it set you back much?



I've had the box for about 2 and a half years,i got it from some spanish website, not sure how much it was.
Your right there is alot of versatility in the config, takes abit of time and alot of research to set it up but it is amazing what a satilite box can do. I've mounted network drives to play all my media, set up an ip camera in the kids bedroom, which can be shown in the corner of the screen while watching tv or full screen. It's fully controllable from my android phone on LAN or WAN. Going abit off topic here is a great thread with alot of info about it

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055816677

witnessmenow

I got this setup last night, very nice box indeed.

I installed open elec on a old 512mb SD card I had lying around and it seems to be flying it.

Setting up the network on wifi (only temp) is a bit of pain though, no scan function is a pita. I used wlan as the network type and wlan0 as my interface (i think)

I was looking to use it lying on its side, but it seems like it gets too warm on bottom to lie flat. Im after buying some rubber feety things from ebay to raise it bit, so hopefully that works out ok.

keane16

RoflHarris wrote: »

Have openelec on a USB key, have Sabnzbd suite set up on that but nothing is sending from Sickbeard to Sabnzbd (frustatingly I'm not getting any errors so I don't know why). I also got a message on sabnzd saying there was no PAR2 so no repairs could be done, hmm.
Have a feeling installing openelec on a partition on the hard drive might make these problems easier to fix.

I was getting that same error after installing the Sabnzbd suite, I just rebooted and Sabnzbd work fine then.

Calibos

witnessmenow wrote: »

I got this setup last night, very nice box indeed.

I installed open elec on a old 512mb SD card I had lying around and it seems to be flying it.

Setting up the network on wifi (only temp) is a bit of pain though, no scan function is a pita. I used wlan as the network type and wlan0 as my interface (i think)

I was looking to use it lying on its side, but it seems like it gets too warm on bottom to lie flat. Im after buying some rubber feety things from ebay to raise it bit, so hopefully that works out ok.

Metal side up I hope

RoflHarris

Has anybody had problems with openelec contacting the tvdb? At the start it would fail the first time I hit update library but after a few attempts it would connect and update, tonight it is simply not working at all. I've been tearing my hair out trying to fix it and in the end uninstalled the arctic version and replaced it with the generic build. Didn't help at all. The tvdb has been up and running the whole time so the problem is definitely on my end. I'm desperate to make this work so any help would be hugely appreciated.

Calibos

Did I hear/understand correctly? That once you've made your working USB Stick openelec, one can simply copy the contents to another stick as long as its going to be used on an identical hardware device? Kind of Like how I can simply plug the USB stick from one of my mc001's into another of my mc001's and it works because the hardware is the same.

What I mean is that instead of making my new install disc with RC4(or the final depending on when I get a chance) mc001 build and then creating a fresh install on each machines USB stick. Instead I make one new finished stick. Configure openelec, set up sources, update library to cache all the artwork and nfo's from my media folders on the NAS. Then and only then simply copy the entire contents onto my PC and then back onto the other 5 USB sticks for my other 5 mc001's. I know I have to name the sticks OPENELEC? Or can this only be done in a Linux environment so that the USB stick is formatted for Linux?

TheIrishGrover

Can anyone recommend a Digital Sat adaptor for this? Ive never done it before but I like the looks of using Digital Terrestrial/Sat through XBMC on this. I'll prob be running it on Win 7, is it much of a chore?

Cheers folks

stephendevlin

TheIrishGrover wrote: »

Can anyone recommend a Digital Sat adaptor for this? Ive never done it before but I like the looks of using Digital Terrestrial/Sat through XBMC on this. I'll prob be running it on Win 7, is it much of a chore?

Cheers folks

You will need a USB tuner for Satellite

robfowler78

Have mine setup now for movies and tv shows from an external harddrive running openelec. Just wondering what would you guys recommend for add ons and the like. I never used XBMC before so new to the add ons. Also anyone got any emulators to work on it and in ref to live tv whats required to get say soarview or freeview working on this.

Cheers.

Remouad

RoflHarris wrote: »

Has anybody had problems with openelec contacting the tvdb? At the start it would fail the first time I hit update library but after a few attempts it would connect and update, tonight it is simply not working at all. I've been tearing my hair out trying to fix it and in the end uninstalled the arctic version and replaced it with the generic build. Didn't help at all. The tvdb has been up and running the whole time so the problem is definitely on my end. I'm desperate to make this work so any help would be hugely appreciated.

Despite how it looks it's NOT a problem on your end. It's a problem with thetvdb hosting I think

Couple of links I found on the problem

http://forums.thetvdb.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=12909

http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=151104

incredibly annoying as there isn't really a good alternative scraper:mad:

Remouad

robfowler78 wrote: »

Have mine setup now for movies and tv shows from an external harddrive running openelec. Just wondering what would you guys recommend for add ons and the like. I never used XBMC before so new to the add ons. Also anyone got any emulators to work on it and in ref to live tv whats required to get say soarview or freeview working on this.

Cheers.

On the emulators front look up advanced launcher. Loads of tutorials and it even has it's own wiki. Here's a tutorial on getting a n64 emulator to work.

Also if you have a big collection get the missing movie scanner. Very handy for finding what videos haven't been picked up by scrapers.(I'll post a link as soon as I can find it).

On scrapers don't use the movie db scraper as it has waaaaayyyy to many genres and each movie be in loads of them at the same time. use the universal scraper instead.

Have you tried out alternative skins?

robfowler78

Remouad wrote: »

On the emulators front look up advanced launcher. Loads of tutorials and it even has it's own wiki. Here's a tutorial on getting a n64 emulator to work.

Also if you have a big collection get the missing movie scanner. Very handy for finding what videos haven't been picked up by scrapers.(I'll post a link as soon as I can find it).

On scrapers don't use the movie db scraper as it has waaaaayyyy to many genres and each movie be in loads of them at the same time. use the universal scraper instead.

Have you tried out alternative skins?

Thanks I'll give them a look I downloaded all the available skins in the add on section I settled on back row for now I like how the curtain opens when you select a movie to watch.

TheIrishGrover

stephendevlin wrote: »

You will need a USB tuner for Satellite

Yeah, I was just wondering did anyone have a make/model recommendation for a USB sat dongle. Cheers

E90

Cannot download any add ons for XBMC - the list of add-ons is empty, anyone know how to get them?
I can download PVRs but the list is blank for everything else.

E90

E90 wrote: »

Cannot download any add ons for XBMC - the list of add-ons is empty, anyone know how to get them?
I can download PVRs but the list is blank for everything else.

Select the repository, press C/context and choose 'force refresh'.

It is a recent issue and apparently expected behaviour caused by changes in the way XBMC handles repo updates:
http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=157211

m8

Deleted User wrote: »

Select the repository, press C/context and choose 'force refresh'.

It is a recent issue and apparently expected behaviour caused by changes in the way XBMC handles repo updates:
http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=157211

Is there a way to do this with a remote as I don't have a usb keyboard and have the same issue since I updated the version. Borrowed a keyboard to do the update.

m8

m8 wrote: »

Is there a way to do this with a remote as I don't have a usb keyboard and have the same issue since I updated the version. Borrowed a keyboard to do the update.

Most MCE remotes have a button that does it. I think it is the 'tv guide' button.

Alternatively you can just map any button to do it.

http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=137923&pid=1165518#pid1165518

stylie

I know Im very late to the party but has any one links to where these are still on sale ?

MOH

stylie wrote: »

I know Im very late to the party but has any one links to where these are still on sale ?

The XBMC version is back on sale direct from Arctic for €199, with 2GB RAM, Openelec pre installed, 1TB HDD and a remote. That's including shipping from Germany, and VAT.

The barebones version is also there for USD130, but that doesn't include shipping, and you may be hit for VAT on the way in.

[edit] Sorry, I'm an idiot, they're both marked as currently unavailable. Although the one I ordered 3 weeks ago just shipped this morning, so they may have more stock on the way soon.

Do-more

MOH wrote: »

one I ordered 3 weeks ago just shipped this morning, so they may have more stock on the way soon.

I don't think so, I read on XBMC.org that one guy had his money refunded as the barebones unit that was to be shipped to him was faulty when tested prior to despatch and they didn't have anymore left.

The barebones + DVD model is still listed as available on Amazon.co.uk but is only for delivery to the UK. However this is being despatched from Arctic GmbH in Germany so I see no reason why it couldn't be delivered to Ireland.

You could try emailing Arctic GmbH via Amazon to enquire. From a conversation I had with them before I think they could arrange something for you but you will have to pay them direct by bank transfer as they won't be able to process the order via Amazon.

Or you could ask them if they can change the Amazon.co.uk listing so that it allows despatch to Ireland. The model that is listed has a "GB" model code I would guess the only difference is that it is bundled with a 3 pin power lead.

Parcel motel is your other option.

homewardbound11

Dotts wrote: »

I am still hoping to use my alien 2 on spark image with openelec. But unfortunately I haven't seen anyone do this successfully as a tv headend or backend .
Would love to hear any experiences

I'm using openelec on the arctic and a raspberry pi, and am using a vu+duo as a backend, to stream live tv and recordings, although everything works on the arctic i cannot get the mpeg2 channels to play on the raspberry pi, i have bought the mpeg2 hardware decoding licence and i think i have installed it correctly but it still wont play the mpeg2 channels i.e satilite channels, saorview channels and hd channels are fine though [/Quote]
Hi. Managed to get vu + add on to work with the alien2 on enigma hdmu. It streams terrestrial television no problems. It however doesn't stream satellite s2 from sky. I can't stream either from vlc on windows. Am I missing a file access or permissions or codec.

Dotts

[/QUOTE]
Hi. Managed to get vu + add on to work with the alien2 on enigma hdmu. It streams terrestrial television no problems. It however doesn't stream satellite s2 from sky. I can't stream either from vlc on windows. Am I missing a file access or permissions or codec.[QUOTE/]

I don't have this problem with the arctic running openelec (arctic build) it plays both terrestrial and sat channels fine.
the problem with the raspberry pi is delinitely a codec issue because it dosn't have a mpeg2 decoding licence. the arctic and vlc should play the streams so i guess it must be something to do with the stb. not sure what though.Might be some thing to do with sky, try taking out the card and just streaming normal free to air channels, if that works it could be the way sky broadcast their channels.

homewardbound11

Dotts wrote: »

Hi. Managed to get vu + add on to work with the alien2 on enigma hdmu. It streams terrestrial television no problems. It however doesn't stream satellite s2 from sky. I can't stream either from vlc on windows. Am I missing a file access or permissions or codec.[QUOTE/]

I don't have this problem with the arctic running openelec (arctic build) it plays both terrestrial and sat channels fine.
the problem with the raspberry pi is delinitely a codec issue because it dosn't have a mpeg2 decoding licence. the arctic and vlc should play the streams so i guess it must be something to do with the stb. not sure what though.Might be some thing to do with sky, try taking out the card and just streaming normal free to air channels, if that works it could be the way sky broadcast their channels.[/Quote]


Thanks for the reply. I opened the permissions to all directories from root on the alien 2 box and it opened some free to air channels.but only a few. I wonder is there a limit to open channels for streaming on the hdnu enigma image. Also no hd channels.
I'll keep plodding along with it.