cheapest / quickest / easiest XBMC setup

Access wrote: »

I normally scrape from the internet when i do a fresh install of xbmc which is fine but can take hours. (my movies are on my NAS in one big folder altogether just named "MOVIES") - Single files in there i.e.
NAS/Movies/
movie title 1 (year).avi
movie title 2 (year).avi
etc.

If i used ember and stored all my movies info and pics in the folder with each movie on my NAS, does this mean the next time i go to scrape info during a fresh install of xbmc it will get its info from the movies folders instead saving hours?

Yes, that is the idea, you save them once, edit them to your liking. Ember has an option to move all movies into seperate folders, you are better doing this so you can add clearart, banners and logo's with the artwork downloaded addon later. I can import my full library (7TB) in 10 mins with all artwork.

Access wrote: »

Also, does it cache the movie info then full time on the htpc in the xbmc database like normal?... reason i ask is that one of my XBMC machines is a Raspberry Pi and it would slow down to no speed at all if it had to pull the movie info in real time each time from the NAS as i browsed the movie list.

Yes, XBMC stores the info from the nfo in it's database. It pulls the thumbnails from the remote drive though, doesn't cache them.

Another tip I figured is to sign up to Trakt.tv and setup the Traktr addon to scrobble as you've watched and sync your Movie and TV collection and progress each boot. Then when you reinstall, setup the addon and you'll have your progress in your TV Shows you are watching and Movies will be marked as seen. It saves the trouble of setting up a local database. You don't need to make your profile public, mine is private, I only use it for the reasons above. I know it's data mining, but I don't care, it has it's uses.

PogMoThoin wrote: »

Yes, that is the idea, you save them once, edit them to your liking. Ember has an option to move all movies into seperate folders, you are better doing this so you can add clearart, banners and logo's with the artwork downloaded addon later. I can import my full library (7TB) in 10 mins with all artwork.

Yes, XBMC stores the info from the nfo in it's database. It pulls the thumbnails from the remote drive though, doesn't cache them.

7TB in ten mins! sweet jesus! That sounds brilliant... took 12 hours for getting info and pics for ~500 gig movies (slow BroadBand!).

Worried about running the Pi this way though... if the Pi had to pull the image for a movie cover from the NAS each time while browsing my movies on it, that could get very slow. Are you 100% sure this is the case? - my HTPC xbmc setup has a folder locally in "xbmc/userdata/Thumbnails" that has all the images local on the htpc, as does the Pi on its SD card.

You can click system-->video-->library-->import video library and it saves them locally to speed it up. It will copy them from the Nas then, no lookup.

Damn... guess what i am doing for the weekend so!

Ember would be the best media organiser out there so?

Might duplicate my movie folder on the NAS and try it on there before committing to it so.

Yeah, I've tried a few and find it the best. I blogged a guide about setting it up for Boxee whick is pretty similar: http://leetstreet.net/blog/2011/05/embe/

Use a renamer first, something like Filebot, make sure everything is named correctly. Then before you start scraping with Ember, add the source click tools and sort files into folders, select your movies folder and it will put each one in it's own folder. I have since gone over mine and added other artwork Boxee doesn't use to suit XBMC, banners etc. it's best you add them now. It will find most movies, but you will have to help it through some of them.

Access wrote: »

Are you 100% sure this is the case? - my HTPC xbmc setup has a folder locally in "xbmc/userdata/Thumbnails" that has all the images local on the htpc, as does the Pi on its SD card.

XBMC caches library artwork locally.

If you don't want to use Ember just scrape your library once with XBMC and export as single files. It does the same thing.

Deleted User wrote: »

XBMC caches library artwork locally.

If you don't want to use Ember just scrape your library once with XBMC and export as single files. It does the same thing.

Ive done export to single file before and saved the database on the Nas so have experience of that, but am currently setting up xbmc on a Pi and it wont let me import that library... Only giving me the option of finding a library on the Pi's rootfolder and homefolder on the Pi's SD card.

No option of opening a folder anywhere else on the Pi or the network it is on... hence why i had to scrape everything from the internet.

Apologies, import seems to only want to import from a single file, not separate folders. http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=Import-export_library

Access wrote: »

Ive done export to single file before and saved the database on the Nas so have experience of that, but am currently setting up xbmc on a Pi and it wont let me import that library... Only giving me the option of finding a library on the Pi's rootfolder and homefolder on the Pi's SD card.

No option of opening a folder anywhere else on the Pi or the network it is on... hence why i had to scrape everything from the internet.

Sorry, I meant the option that is called 'export to separate files' in XBMC.

What that does is put a nfo, poster, banner etc into the folder of each movie or TV show (and you should definitely store your movies in separate folders, it is much neater).

Then in future if you need re-scrape your library (in the case of a second machine or reinstall) it will see those nfo etc files and use them instead of going online.

I'm going to jump on the arctic.

Can I just check with you guys:

Will I get the Kingston ValueRAM PC3-10600 RAM 4 GB found in the (Customers who bought this) section
Seems like an SSD doesn't gain me much over a USB thumb drive for installing openelec and the userdata folder with the artwork cached locally. Might as well get those on amazon. Can anyone recommend me a Thumb drive. ie. Do I need to be looking for a certain spec and what capacity would I need?? Or did I hear SDcard How about this bought by other customers (16GB microSDHC Class 10 UHS-I Memory card micro Samsung chips with SD Adapter) only 9 euro!! Is 16gb enough for my needs. I've only about 2tb of content on my Nas's Or a 32gig Sandisc Sd card Class 4???

Calibos wrote: »

I'm going to jump on the arctic.

Can I just check with you guys:

Will I get the Kingston ValueRAM PC3-10600 RAM 4 GB found in the (Customers who bought this) section
Seems like an SSD doesn't gain me much over a USB thumb drive for installing openelec and the userdata folder with the artwork cached locally. Might as well get those on amazon. Can anyone recommend me a Thumb drive. ie. Do I need to be looking for a certain spec and what capacity would I need?? Or did I hear SDcard How about this bought by other customers (16GB microSDHC Class 10 UHS-I Memory card micro Samsung chips with SD Adapter) only 9 euro!! Is 16gb enough for my needs. I've only about 2tb of content on my Nas's Or a 32gig Sandisc Sd card Class 4???

Booting from the card-reader should be possible (it is on some systems ive had) but note that nettop card-readers usually function at USB 2.0 speed or even slower.

The Arctic has 2xUSB 3.0 up front, I don't know if its bootable. If it was bootable, a lot of the cheap thumbdrives are exceeding 30MB/s nowadays so it would be worthwhile looking at them. Obviously once you go over a certain price point you'd be better off just getting a small SSD. But i've run OpenElec from slow thumbdrives and its fine.

You'd want at least a couple of gig for a decent sized library anyway. Above that it just depends what else you want to do with it.

RAM wise even 1GB is enough. Obviously its more economic to go for 2GB or 4GB but don't worry too much, OpenElec literally uses a couple of hundred MB most of the time. Get whatever you think is good value.

Deleted User wrote: »

RAM wise even 1GB is enough. Obviously its more economic to go for 2GB or 4GB but don't worry too much, OpenElec literally uses a couple of hundred MB most of the time. Get whatever you think is good value.

Exactly, I have XBMCbuntu running on my HTPC with 2GB ram and I have 1600MB free ram

Right. Ordered 4 of them. Est Delivery is 5th-22nd February which was expected. 400 euro odd with 20 euro shipping

Didn't order any of the USB3 Flash drives or Memory or Harmony remotes I need because the shipping went up to 150 euro!!!! for some reason. I'll source them elsewhere. I have plenty of time till the Arctics arrive anyway. The important thing was to get the order in for the Arctics at that price. Seen the current deal mentioned on loads of forums like the XBMC forums or Openelec, Whirlpool, aria etc. Orders coming into Amazon.de from all over Europe going on the posts on the various forums.

Dr Nic

Hey guys, just bought the artic. The plan is to run XBMC, dl torrents to it (legal of course), and watch sky go. Any advice? I assume thats all do-able right?
And control it with an xbmc android remote on my s3?

stephendevlin

Dr Nic wrote: »

Hey guys, just bought the artic. The plan is to run XBMC, dl torrents to it (legal of course), and watch sky go. Any advice? I assume thats all do-able right?
And control it with an xbmc android remote on my s3?

All is possible.

Dr Nic

Is xmbc the best option for that?
Is it called xbmc ubuntu?

What about this openelec business? Thanks again, phenomenally good price cant wait to get stuck into it!!

stephendevlin

Dr Nic wrote: »

Is xmbc the best option for that?
Is it called xbmc ubuntu?

What about this openelec business? Thanks again, phenomenally good price cant wait to get stuck into it!!

Its the smallest and the quickest distro. If its only XBMC you want then openelec is the way to go. Boots up in seconds and is very resposnsive. been using it for a few months now and have to say it works great in my opinion. Ive tried the rest and this seems to me to be the best.

Cyrus

looking at the artic myself

what benefits would it offer over my jailbroken atv 2?

faster im asssuming and 1080p

also what else do i need to get with it? An SD card to run xbmc and ram, is that it?

stephendevlin

Cyrus wrote: »

looking at the artic myself

what benefits would it offer over my jailbroken atv 2?

faster im asssuming and 1080p

also what else do i need to get with it? An SD card to run xbmc and ram, is that it?

Correct. A low profile usb flash drive might be more descrete

If it were me with the ATV2 I would flog it. They can fetch a great price at the moment. Wont stay like that for long as better alternatives are already making there way through

Cyrus

stephendevlin wrote: »

Correct. A low profile usb flash drive might be more descrete

If it were me with the ATV2 I would flog it. They can fetch a great price at the moment. Wont stay like that for long as better alternatives are already making there way through

Can the artic be layed on its side?

Cyrus wrote: »

Can the artic be layed on its side?

It's not recommended due to cooling reasons.

Cyrus wrote: »

Can the artic be layed on its side?

I was thinking that too... but that it cant be is slightly annoying for my needs.
But that is only a small issue.

A lot of pros on this particular HTPC, is there any cons that people can see with this unit? Im on the fence with this one if i am honest.

Cyrus

I Kill You Scum! wrote: »

It's not recommended due to cooling reasons.

Ok, any idea how tall it is standing?

Cyrus wrote: »

Ok, any idea how tall it is standing?

Spec is on the Arctic page, google it.

Cyrus wrote: »

Ok, any idea how tall it is standing?

They're big...big and bouncy....and curvy....

Sorry, Oh you mean the Arctic??

Do-more

Calibos wrote: »

They're big...big and bouncy....and curvy....

My perception is that she is quite slim on top (middle & bottom) but all in all rather tall and elegant. Being necessary to keep her upright it might prove quite difficult to stuff her, in behind the telly. A lot of bondage gear is probably called for.

Do-more wrote: »

My perception is that she is quite slim on top (middle & bottom) but all in all rather tall and elegant. Being necessary to keep her upright it might prove quite difficult to stuff her, in behind the telly. A lot of bondage gear is probably called for.

And, you wont be able to lay her down on her side cause she will overheat! :P

I'm trying to decide whether to insert my Thumbstick into the front port or the back port.

Cause the front is USB 3 and the back is USB 2, like...