sam9s HTPC Project! powered by XBMC!!

[haisaikat]

great news sam, will try it

 

[dheerajjotwani]

I couldn't notice any improvement in 720p or 1080p playback on my asus transformer infinity or mk808... hw acc still seems to be not working. .. or am I missing something

tapped on Note II cdma

 

[sam9s]

XBMC -13 Code names Gotham on its way with more improvements and features ....

XBMC 13 - Gotham - February Cycle | XBMC

 

[sam9s]

Frodo 12.1 stable version released ....

Downloads | XBMC

 

[sam9s]

OpenELEC 3.0 Released.

http://tpt.to/a3kwHvm

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

 

[sam9s]

XBMC 13 Gotham for Android alpha released .... major update ... Android Hardware Decoading and Stereoscopic 3D Rendering

XBMC

 

[Nishant06]

XBMC 13 Gotham for Android alpha released .... major update ... Android Hardware Decoading and Stereoscopic 3D Rendering

XBMC

Hey this is great news! Especially for the chinese media player makers!! Anyone knows which all chipsets they will support. Amlogic and Allwinner is not supported, but is Rockchip supported?

 

[AshD]

Sam & Other Experts..

I started off by thinking that I shall copy one of you guys and try to build a HTPC.. but I got intimidated as I saw what Sam has done for his HTPC.. Just awesome..

But I loved the way it has come up..

So my shortcut question..

Is there an option to look for a ready made HTPC with XBMC?

I am not sure of the connectivity to internet, but I would like to connect it to my HT and play music and movies.. If it can be controlled using remote/wireless keyboard then nothing like it..

 

[manniraj]

As such there may not be any ready made HTPC with XBMC but you can look out for a barebones or sometimes fully assembed PC and load XBMC if you are not into assembling yourself. It is pretty easy even for a computer novice to install XBMC and make it up and running. You can look for Foxconn or Zotac based etc., These PCs are basically targetted for HTPC purpose which you can use for music playback as well.

Here is a list of the same and I think you can get it in India as well thru ebay or any online seller.

 

[AshD]

As such there may not be any ready made HTPC with XBMC but you can look out for a barebones or sometimes fully assembed PC and load XBMC if you are not into assembling yourself. It is pretty easy even for a computer novice to install XBMC and make it up and running. You can look for Foxconn or Zotac based etc., These PCs are basically targetted for HTPC purpose which you can use for music playback as well.

Here is a list of the same and I think you can get it in India as well thru ebay or any online seller.

Thanks Mani..

How do I go about in case I want to give it a shot to see if I can assemble an HTPC of my own.

1. List of Material.
2. Type and capacity of Int HDD
3. Software needed
4. The process to build.

Does this make sense?

Can I look around search and ask questions to you all for helping me, as I start building it?

 

[sam9s]

Thanks Mani..

How do I go about in case I want to give it a shot to see if I can assemble an HTPC of my own.

1. List of Material.
2. Type and capacity of Int HDD
3. Software needed
4. The process to build.

Does this make sense?

Can I look around search and ask questions to you all for helping me, as I start building it?

yes you can assemble an htpc of your own, but if you are skeptical, you can always get it assembled by any professional at your local computer shop for couple of 100 bucks. But if budget is not much of a concern I will suggest to go for something like Zotec Zbox or Intel's NUC, or any bare bone system like what manniraj has suggested.

Once you have that we can help you out to install and configure XBMC on it.
Mind you these are all base bone PC so you have to purchase Memory and Hard drive seperately. (unless specifically mentioned)

If you go with these bare bones your point 1 (list of materials) is taken care off). For internal HDD if we take an example of Zotac Zbox you will need a 2.5" (one used in laptop) HDD, you can decide any capacity. 500 is good for a start.

Point 3 :: Sofware needed: Windows 7 home basic or Linux any varient, what ever you can manage and/or feel comfortable, and ofcourse XBMC.(that can be downloaded from their website for free) That is all for a start.

Point 4 :: Process to built, well you first get ready with the hardware then we all can help you built the software part for your HTPC.

Best of luck ...

Regards
Sammy

 

[AshD]

Sam,

On another thread for HTPC this is the build suggested..

Motherboard - ASUS F2A85-M-LE
APU - AMD A4 - 4000 (2 Cores / 3 GHz Clock Speed / FM2 Socket Type/ Desktop Processor)
RAM - Corsair XMS3 4GB (Corsair XMS3 DDR3 4 GB Desktop RAM )
HDD - WD Green 1TB (for much more silent operation)
Cabinet and PSU - Iball baby 315


What do you think?

 

[sam9s]

Where is the GPU, are you going to use the inbuilt GPU with the same.???? rest all looks good. Case maybe you can opt for CM Elite series than cheapo iBall. Same with PSU, I would go with Corsair than iBall. Infact I would insist not to go for iBall or any other cheapo PSU.

 

[saketb]

@sam9s

After reading this thread for a couple of weeks, I finally decided to streamline my complete collection of digital media into XBMC.

Followed your detailed guide for doing so as well as the forums at XBMC too. Successfully, integrated all my movies, music, music videos, tv shows, personal videos by creating playlists and segregated separately into different folders. I must agree and confidently say that XBMC is a great, flexible, user friendly, user configurable media center. Well it did take time to first properly name the media files/folders as per the naming conventions supported by XBMC for it to scrape the media properly, and it was a tiring job to do but this helped me in knowing what I really have and recover lots of wasted hard disk space which I feel is very important now.

Current Usage:
Currently, I have a single computer (config in signature) which doubles up as a home/gaming computer as well as a HTPC by connecting it to my Onkyo through a secondary video connection on my GTX770 (HDMI), primary to Dell U2412M UltraSharp via DVI. Now, my collection of media contains about 800 movies (1080p ,720p & 480p), 60 audio CD's converted to flac's, about 8 tv shows and many music videos all arranged in Seagate 2x2TB (4 TB HDD) and everything backed up in Seagate 1x2TB HDD & 1x2TB WD External MyBook.

XBMC-Frodo 12.1 with Aeon Nox as the skin. I even use a generic remote with an USB IR receiver, and it works great (had to change the keyboard.xml file for some specific keys). Bought it off ebay for US$7.00 including shipping.

My Needs:
Now, as I am running out of hard disk space and the accumulating of media is not going to stop. I had thought of buying a 4TB HDD (internal) and a 4 TB External for backup, but this (external) is going to take up additional space on my desk as well as an extra electrical point for power. My computer case can accommodate 1 more hdd (internal) and if I add this 4 TB then this would be the last.

I want suggestions on how to make this happen in a more proper way for storing all my media collection as well as having a copy of backup. It would be very helpful if you could help me in this matter.

Thanks for the write-up.

 

[sam9s]

With so much of data, you definitely look in to the option of having a dedicated NAS, preferably a pre built so as to keep the power footprints to minimum, plus it seems you already are planning to purchase more HDD for the same. Why not invest on a dedicated network storage and pile up all your data on it.

Any specific reason not to go for this option ??

 

[saketb]

With so much of data, you definitely look in to the option of having a dedicated NAS, preferably a pre built so as to keep the power footprints to minimum, plus it seems you already are planning to purchase more HDD for the same. Why not invest on a dedicated network storage and pile up all your data on it.

Any specific reason not to go for this option ??

Thanks for the quick reply, much appreciated.

Yes, I do have a reason for not going with the dedicated NAS option (but I would have loved it)... I do not have space to accommodate another big box like structure in my bedroom. All the A/V + system are in my bedroom, and its cramped up. Coming to power footprint, don't you think if I have a dedicated NAS I would be running it as an extra device along with my PC which currently consumes approx 135-150 watts (as per APC UPS) with XBMC on secondary video output connection.
Well, if you would suggest, what would it be, taking cost into consideration as I will have to shell out for hdd's also and prices are sky-rocketing now. A 4TB internal is somewhere near 13K and external 14K.

On a side note, if you don't mind can you share your current media storing policy (original+backups).

 

[AshD]

Where is the GPU, are you going to use the inbuilt GPU with the same.???? rest all looks good. Case maybe you can opt for CM Elite series than cheapo iBall. Same with PSU, I would go with Corsair than iBall. Infact I would insist not to go for iBall or any other cheapo PSU.

I will check for a better GPU. thanks for pointing that out.. As for the case, I need a flat one so i can fit it in my media center unit. I dont see a flat one with CM Elite. Any other options??


Hey Guys,

Anyone from Mumbai??? I need help to source these items for the build.

 

[sam9s]

Thanks for the quick reply, much appreciated.

Yes, I do have a reason for not going with the dedicated NAS option (but I would have loved it)... I do not have space to accommodate another big box like structure in my bedroom. All the A/V + system are in my bedroom, and its cramped up. Coming to power footprint, don't you think if I have a dedicated NAS I would be running it as an extra device along with my PC which currently consumes approx 135-150 watts (as per APC UPS) with XBMC on secondary video output connection.
Well, if you would suggest, what would it be, taking cost into consideration as I will have to shell out for hdd's also and prices are sky-rocketing now. A 4TB internal is somewhere near 13K and external 14K.

On a side note, if you don't mind can you share your current media storing policy (original+backups).

errrrr I am talking about a pre built NAS, like Synology or Ready NAS. SYnology 413j is just 7.2" Hx6.6" Wx9.0 "D and I just love the power footprint ....30W full access 7W HDD hybernated... Cost is something that synology would defy ....... but you get way you pay, its an elite series NAS and one of the best available out there. For more details check out my NAS review thread in my sig.

My media storing policy is simple. No back up as far as movies goes. For my family photos and music, I have a back up on my regular desktop (critical ones like my wife&kid and all are also backed up on DropBox). For all my office files I have a backup on GDrive ... Heavy office files like VMs are backed up on an external WD USB 3.0 1 TB drive ..... . What else is left ...

 

[sam9s]

I will check for a better GPU. thanks for pointing that out.. As for the case, I need a flat one so i can fit it in my media center unit. I dont see a flat one with CM Elite. Any other options??

By flat I guess you mean Horizontal. Does iBal have a horizontal case ...??? Anyway I'd rather go for a quality vertical case than cheap Horizontal one

 

[saketb]

errrrr I am talking about a pre built NAS, like Synology or Ready NAS. SYnology 413j is just 7.2" Hx6.6" Wx9.0 "D and I just love the power footprint ....30W full access 7W HDD hybernated... Cost is something that synology would defy ....... but you get way you pay, its an elite series NAS and one of the best available out there. For more details check out my NAS review thread in my sig.

My media storing policy is simple. No back up as far as movies goes. For my family photos and music, I have a back up on my regular desktop (critical ones like my wife&kid and all are also backed up on DropBox). For all my office files I have a backup on GDrive ... Heavy office files like VMs are backed up on an external WD USB 3.0 1 TB drive ..... . What else is left ...

Well, I never realized the size of a NAS enclosure, if its that small than it would be okay to welcome one of those to my den. Now, the question is which one?

Synology DS413j is very expensive and would work out US$380.00+shipping+customs (approx 31500) landed to my place.

Netgear ReadyNAS (4 bay) is available on flipkart.com for 16500 with free delivery but I am in-doubt purchasing from flipkart. My local dealer here in SP Road, Bangalore quoted 21500 but suggested to go with flipkart as there is a difference of 5k in price.

Another option is QNAP but again its on the higher side.

So, I think Netgear ReadyNAS is the option I can go for. As ReadyNAS 104 supports a max of 16TB of data spread across 4x4TB HDD's, what hard drives do you suggest, considering I already own Seagate 2x2TB with data, ready to go in the NAS along with backup for any additional drives.

Regarding Backup - Why my mind changed...
You have written that you do not backup movies, now that is a very bold statement. Even I never used to backup data before but, considering TB's of data collected over a long time and if anything goes haywire one loses all of them. I remember, I had a Seagate 1 TB and it crashed which resulted in losing everything (movies, music and some programs). It was under warranty so got a replacement but the data completely gone.