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

ArthurG

Hi finally got one of these and have OpenElec running. Having 2 really annoying problems however, any idea how I can go about resolving?

The unit is the barebone one and I've added 4gig ram and a 32gig SSD.

1) when I restart the unit, I regularly get an error saying '"XZ-compressed data is corrupt' and i need to power cycle to get anywhere. Switching it off and on anything upto 10 times will randomly solve the issue and everything boots and runs perfectly.

2) when rebooting as described above, occasionally I get no video output, and tv reports no signal. Further reboots again randomly solve it.

Both these problems are intermittent. It's the latest Arctic Openelec release I'm running, installed from a USB key onto the SSD. From what I've read the XZ issue often related to a dodgy USB stick if you're running Openelec from it, but that's not the case for me.

Are there any memory checks I can do? I am an Openelec/Linux novice by the way!!

When it works its brilliant, really love the system, but these issues are really bugging me......
Thanks.

ArthurG

I may have solved this since I posted.....

Using a different USB stick I made a bootable version of Openelec, and its working fine, no issues what so ever. I'm going to try wiping the SSD completely and reinstalling, then return if no joy.

It's weird, cos once I booted from the USB, Openelec found all my old media. It can only have got it from the SsD, so I'm kinda hoping its just the install that is fecked up in some way....

skydish79

ArthurG wrote: »

I may have solved this since I posted.....

Using a different USB stick I made a bootable version of Openelec, and its working fine, no issues what so ever. I'm going to try wiping the SSD completely and reinstalling, then return if no joy.

It's weird, cos once I booted from the USB, Openelec found all my old media. It can only have got it from the SsD, so I'm kinda hoping its just the install that is fecked up in some way....

What is the easiest way to wipe an ssd on these?

Allyall

skydish79 wrote: »

What is the easiest way to wipe an ssd on these?

Probably using any partition tool or diskwipe via USB.

Try UBUNTU or GParted, tons more..

ArthurG

skydish79 wrote: »

What is the easiest way to wipe an ssd on these?

Also I think Openelec installer wipes the drive, but I'll be happily corrected on that.

joe250

Looking to setup another media center for a bedroom.
Would this one be any good?
Price dropped to 159.99 3 days ago

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Asus-EB1007P-B0180-Desktop-Processor-Operating/dp/product-description/B00AAXC42E/ref=dp_proddesc_0?ie=UTF8&n=340831031&s=computers

Allyall

joe250 wrote: »

Looking to setup another media center for a bedroom.
Would this one be any good?
Price dropped to 159.99 3 days ago

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Asus-EB1007P-B0180-Desktop-Processor-Operating/dp/product-description/B00AAXC42E/ref=dp_proddesc_0?ie=UTF8&n=340831031&s=computers

It's a good price, but i don't think it would be very suitable as a HTPC. I'm not sure the integrated graphics would be very good. I didn't look much into it. I just saw it was advertised as a small desktop for business, rather than a HTPC for media.
Also, it's an Intel Atom D425. For €185 you could get a much better spec barebones for a HTPC.

ongarite

Allyall wrote: »

It's a good price, but i don't think it would be very suitable as a HTPC. I'm not sure the integrated graphics would be very good. I didn't look much into it. I just saw it was advertised as a small desktop for business, rather than a HTPC for media.
Also, it's an Intel Atom D425. For €185 you could get a much better spec barebones for a HTPC.

Agree 100%.
The reason the Arctic was such good value was that the video card into it (ATI 5400M) supports HW acceleration of video content and DXVA in XBMC.
The above has integrated graphics which doesn't and the Atom CPU won't have the power to decode HD content in software.

BionicRasher

joe250 wrote: »

Looking to setup another media center for a bedroom.
Would this one be any good?
Price dropped to 159.99 3 days ago

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Asus-EB1007P-B0180-Desktop-Processor-Operating/dp/product-description/B00AAXC42E/ref=dp_proddesc_0?ie=UTF8&n=340831031&s=computers

I have one of these and its a great bit of kit. Running Windows 7 and XBMC. Looks like they can be gotten for about 220 used
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Asus-EB1501P-B0600-1-80GHz-Graphics-Operating/dp/B007Y4VGNK/ref=sr_1_3?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1366202240&sr=1-3&keywords=asus+eb1501

However not fanless like the Artic but its but noisy at all really

Allyall

@joe250

You may want to look at the Revo L80 for that price. And maybe use Parcel Motel to get it shipped here.

Ebuyer £169
WAE+ £159
Digital Fusion £160

It has integrated Graphics (Intel HD HM70 express), but has an intel Celeron 887 which is a better processor..

Do-more

If you don't need local storage I would go for the Intel Nuc with celeron chip which is £134 on ebuyer, I don't see it on Amazon at the moment.

You'll need to add some ram and you can run Openelec off a USB stick.

There is a thread on Xbmc.org for more details but there are lots of people using this setup with good results.

You can always add an ssd and and external drive if you wish.

It's not fanless but noise doesn't seem to be a problem as some have already stated on this thread.

There are passive cooled cases available for the Nuc which work very well but they are expensive at around 99 euro.

quad_red

Lads, I've got an arctic hooked up to the tv via plasma.

The sound stopped working today. Haven't touched settings - both audio output and the passthrough device are set to HD-Audio Generic, HDMI. Like they've always been.

Have checked and volume is maxed on both the Arctic and the tv. No mutes on either.

Tv works perfectly for PS3 on HDMI and UPC box on scart.

Any advice?

tony1980

Strange, that happened me today too! I was half watching something and minding the child when the sound stopped working, I had a quick check of the settings and all looked ok, then had to leave it for a few mins to do something in the house and it was working when I came back in! Not too sure what happened, nothing was muted.

quad_red

tony1980 wrote: »

Strange, that happened me today too! I was half watching something and minding the child when the sound stopped working, I had a quick check of the settings and all looked ok, then had to leave it for a few mins to do something in the house and it was working when I came back in! Not too sure what happened, nothing was muted.

That's weird.

I turned it off in frustration earlier and watched a blu ray.

Just turned it on there again to start messing and bing - sound was back. Straight away, menu sounds.

To be clear - I did *nothing* in the interim.

What the hell is that about?

Allyall

Could it have been an update?
Are all of you using Openelec?
Or are all on the same OS?

Hasn't happened to me, that i noticed, but i only turn it on at night, wathc something and fall asleep, so maybe mine has updated while i'm out cold.

ArthurG

quad_red wrote: »

Lads, I've got an arctic hooked up to the tv via plasma.

The sound stopped working today. Haven't touched settings - both audio output and the passthrough device are set to HD-Audio Generic, HDMI. Like they've always been.

Have checked and volume is maxed on both the Arctic and the tv. No mutes on either.

Tv works perfectly for PS3 on HDMI and UPC box on scart.

Any advice?

Very strange, I'm getting exactly the same things intermittently. Annoying as I thought everything was fine having solved my earlier issues (had a bad stick of RAM).

This can happen in the middle of a film (as it did last night), or when the unit comes out of standby, or just when its not been used for a while (no GUI sounds). A reboot fixes it, but its very annoying.

rai555

Hi folks, i have MC001 for a month or so and all looks fine, it does the job but sometimes it had stops for few seconds when dealing with heavy files, say 8 gigs FullHD file over the network from my NAS. It is anonyng to me and sometimes i consider putting my my beauty for sale. Is there anything else i could try to make things better ?
Running latest 3.0.1 release from USB stick

quad_red

ArthurG wrote: »

Very strange, I'm getting exactly the same things intermittently. Annoying as I thought everything was fine having solved my earlier issues (had a bad stick of RAM).

This can happen in the middle of a film (as it did last night), or when the unit comes out of standby, or just when its not been used for a while (no GUI sounds). A reboot fixes it, but its very annoying.

Happened again tonight. This isn't a goer - not knowing whether ill be able to get sound or not.

It can't be a settings issue given I'm not changing any settings in between it working and not working.

It's not the TV - that has zero problem with a PS3, 360, UPC or laptop.

Allyall

quad_red wrote: »

That's weird.

I turned it off in frustration earlier and watched a blu ray.

Just turned it on there again to start messing and bing - sound was back. Straight away, menu sounds.

To be clear - I did *nothing* in the interim.

What the hell is that about?

I'd say it's most likely a bug with OpenElec

http://openelec.tv/forum/41-supported-hardware/31404-arctic-mc001-e-and-other-versions

If you go through that thread you may find an answer, or some help.
I just randomly skipped through the thread, and i saw that some people had fixed their issues. Maybe everyone did, but i didn't read the whole lot.

quad_red

quad_red wrote: »

Happened again tonight. This isn't a goer - not knowing whether ill be able to get sound or not.

It can't be a settings issue given I'm not changing any settings in between it working and not working.

It's not the TV - that has zero problem with a PS3, 360, UPC or laptop.

Take note of when the problem happens and then post the logs on OE forum. Just access your machine via Samba and you'll see a logfile folder.

It could be a bug (there have been some HDMI handshake issues) or it could be failing hardware. Most likely just a bug. I would certainly change the HDMI cable in order to eliminate that as a cause. And always make sure the TV is switched on before turning on your MC001. Avoid the use of standby if possible as it is buggy across all platforms imo.

If the folks on OE forum help you to determine that it is a bug, you will need to file a bug report on github:
https://github.com/OpenELEC/OpenELEC.tv/issues
Its a community project so things don't get fixed if people don't file bug reports.

neacy69

I've had the same issues since updating to OE 3.0. Happens every now and then so I need to reboot each time to fix it.
I still have to update to 3.0.2 so that might fix it

Remouad

I'm having the same problem.

Happens if the TV was off when the machine was started or if the tv is turned off and on again.

I'm running the 3.0.2 arctic build of openelec.

is it specific to that build or are people having the same issue with the generic one?

m8

Remouad wrote: »

I'm having the same problem.

Happens if the TV was off when the machine was started or if the tv is turned off and on again.

I'm running the 3.0.2 arctic build of openelec.

is it specific to that build or are people having the same issue with the generic one?

same for me if TV is on and set to the correct CH then I have sound if not no sound when I switch to the CH the Arctic is on.

SickBoy

Similar issue here, if I change the source on my TV to watch Sky or something and go back to the Arctic then there's no sound. Rebooting the Arctic resolves the issue but as soon as the TV source changes again it's back to no sound.
I've discovered that rebooting is not necessary and disconnecting and reconnecting the HDMI cable to the Arctic brings back the sound.
This is not a bad cable or a TV issue as I've tried a number of HDMI cables and 3 different TVs from LG to Samsung.

Also worth noting here, I'm currently running the OpenELEC Arctic specific build(3.0.1 to be exact) and previously when using XBMCbuntu or Windows 7 this sound problem was not present so it seems to be a software issue rather than a hardware issue.

It sounds like a HDMI handshake issue.

Check if there is already a bug report on github and if not then one of ye (whoever has most linux experience) should file one with description and log. It wont get fixed otherwise. I use toslink to an amp so I havent experienced it.

neacy69

I am going to update to the latest openelec version and if it still happens then i will try to look into reporting it.

Have many of you successfully installed a OpenElec/Windows dualboot? do you use it?

Allyall

neacy69 wrote: »

I am going to update to the latest openelec version and if it still happens then i will try to look into reporting it.

Have many of you successfully installed a OpenElec/Windows dualboot? do you use it?

Yeah, i did it for a friend of mine. He uses it all the time, logs in to Windows when using it as a PC and at night uses it as a HTPC, watches TV and Movies on it.
No problems. If there was i'd definitely know, he rings when it's unplugged and he can't turn it on...

neacy69

OpenELEC 3.0.3 released
17
MAY
2013


The OpenELEC team is proud to release OpenELEC 3.0.3

This is a maintenance release with some bug and security fixes since OpenELEC 3.0.2. You must upgrade from any previous 2.9x.x or 3.x release to 3.0.3.

FYI....I'll stick the update on mine tonight and see if i still have issues with the sound.

I setup the live TV last night seems to be working well. Any know if i can add the Northern DTT to this? I can get BBC and E4 in the kitchen so i should be able to on this

SickBoy

neacy69 wrote: »

FYI....I'll stick the update on mine tonight and see if i still have issues with the sound.

I setup the live TV last night seems to be working well. Any know if i can add the Northern DTT to this? I can get BBC and E4 in the kitchen so i should be able to on this

Thanks, I'll check this out tonight and see if it resolves my audio issue.

Mr McBoatface

Hi Guys,

Hope the mods don't mind.

I going to be selling one of my MC001 to help fund new project (Streamcom FC5WS Evo Fanless Chassis :cool: ).....
Anyway it is the MC001-E model with DVD rom, 4gb of ram, a 40 gig harddrive, and a fresh install Windows 7 Home Premium. Was going to put it on adverts.ie but I thought I'd post here first. If anybody is interested send me a PM. 160 euro collect from Athy or 175 posted.