View Full Version : XBMC on Intel Mac Mini
I have recently gotten a mac mini. 1.83 GHZ Core Duo. Its fast enough to playback any of the 720p content i throw at it. Not tested 1080p yet but i hear its up for the job also. The Intel GM950 graphic card seems to be a little sub standard. I see in some threads that XBMC will only support GM965 and above. What is the likely hood of getting XBMC up and running on the mac mini?
I get a GLX error when starting the gl xbmc compile and there is a compile error for the SDL mode so i have been unable to test any XBMC yet. Running Ubuntu with the desktop effects turned on i get all the 3D desktop effects working fine so i think there is hope for the GM950! Anybody got any ideas when the SDL compile will be fixed. Cheers.
mbuchoff
2007-07-23, 14:23
Can you copy-paste the compile error?
Can you copy-paste the compile error?
GUIFontTTF.cpp: In member function ‘void CGUIFontTTF::RenderCharacter(float, float, const CGUIFontTTF::Character*, D3DCOLOR)’:
GUIFontTTF.cpp:914: error: ‘angle’ was not declared in this scope
make[1]: *** [GUIFontTTF.o] Error 1
make[1]: Leaving directory `/home/xbmc/XBMC/guilib'
make: *** [guilib] Error 2
This is revision 9592 which was the most recent when i checked out. Not checked for any updates yet. Other people have mentioned it in other threads.
mbuchoff
2007-07-25, 15:49
Unfortunately, it appears as though XBMC is trying to use software rendering, which is broken at the moment (http://xbmc.org/forum/showthread.php?t=27442).
Can you try piping make to a text file and see if "--disable-gl" is in it? Maybe if it is and you remove it, it will "magically" work.
Progress update. Its now working. Got the latest from svn and the GL version is running well on the mac mini. It was using between 3-5% CPU and running about 45-50 FPS. Setting up ubuntu and getting it working corrrectly with my Samaung 40" TV was the hard bit and its still not perfect but its will get there in the end. Anyone know about getting the apple remote working with XBMC? Its great to see that the mac mini is up for the job even with its crap graphics card.
Cheers.
Skindred
2007-08-11, 23:21
Can you tell me a little more about that remote, flash?
Is it IrDA? (InfraRed)
or Bluetooth?
of it is InfraRed, LIRC might do the trick for ya ;)
GrandAnse
2007-08-11, 23:21
Progress update. Its now working. Got the latest from svn and the GL version is running well on the mac mini. It was using between 3-5% CPU and running about 45-50 FPS. Setting up ubuntu and getting it working corrrectly with my Samaung 40" TV was the hard bit and its still not perfect but its will get there in the end. Anyone know about getting the apple remote working with XBMC? Its great to see that the mac mini is up for the job even with its crap graphics card.
Cheers.
Have you tryed to play HD video files, 720p or 1080p ?
Do you have a new Core 2 Duo Mac mini ?
Have you tryed to play HD video files, 720p or 1080p ?
Do you have a new Core 2 Duo Mac mini ?
No i have the older Core Duo model. 720p playback is fine in OSX. For the highbitrate 720p vids its struggling at the moment in linux but i'm sure that will be sorted. The box is more than up for the job. My tv will only handles 720p so i am not interested in 1080p but i have tried some with no luck. Its possible the newer Core 2 Duo models might have better luck.
I've succesfully been using inputlirc on my mac mini under ubuntu 7.04 to control mythtv. It's based on the sourcecode of LIRC but only supports input events (/dev/input/event*). However, it's much easier to setup than LIRC when it comes to events. Like LIRC, you have to create a lircrc file and use irxevent at the prog entry and define keyboard commands to send at the config entry.
In my case the remote control worked out of the box with ubuntu 7.04, but you can check it by running lsinput and you should have an entry that says "Apple Mac mini infrared remote controller". As far as I remember you need the uinput module loaded in order for it to work.
I compiled the XBMC source last night and it's working quite well. I can look up IMDB info about movies and play them. However, the audio sync is a bit of, sometimes ahead and sometimes behind. And for some reason I can fast forward but not rewind. As far as i can tell music playback is stable but I am unable to lookup track info and fetch covers. It simply crashes with a "core dumped". Are others experiencing the same or is this a mac mini issue?
ewequeone
2007-09-24, 14:22
any progress on the issues solver and flash have mentioned here? I'm keen on buying a macmini and all the home theatre/media centre software I've seen for it is completely and utterly crap.
If xbmc works on it I'll buy one tomorrow :)
any progress on the issues solver and flash have mentioned here? I'm keen on buying a macmini and all the home theatre/media centre software I've seen for it is completely and utterly crap.
If xbmc works on it I'll buy one tomorrow :)
I have recently installed ubuntu 7.1 and this solves all the screen setup issues. It sets up the Intel Graphics Mod driver correctly which is great. XBMC is running really well. ~95 FPS and 720p seems to be running fine. There is however a problem in that quiet often there is some strange lines appearing on the screen. Hard to describe but i get the same when using the glxgears and moving it around screen. Just cannot deal with movement. If i use mplayer or VLC its not a problem though. I guess this is because no OpenGL support. I know the mplayer port is way down the list of things to do for XBMC but looks like it will be required for the macmini to display video correctly. Cheers.
Gamester17
2007-10-30, 19:32
There is however a problem in that quiet often there is some strange lines appearing on the screen. Hard to describe but i get the same when using the glxgears and moving it around screen. Just cannot deal with movement.Could it be page tearing (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tearing) that you are seening?, try enabling v-sync (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vertical_synchronization) via xorg.conf
Does that help?
Gamester17
2007-10-31, 16:12
Could it be page tearing (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tearing) that you are seening?, try enabling v-sync (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vertical_synchronization) via xorg.confhttp://xbmc.org/forum/showthread.php?t=29437
Helps some people at least :;):
http://xbmc.org/forum/showthread.php?t=29437
Helps some people at least :;):
OK the fix for this was as simple as enabling the option in XBMC.
Another problem i seem to have is when playing back MKV 720p files i am getting the backing tracks for the audio but not the main audio track itself. I have a simple setup. No sound system to speak of so just want normal stereo sound. Any ideas anyone. This is quiet annoying.
Now that video playback is sorted does anyone have the mac mini remote working correctly. On my first install of lirc and it running the config tool i was able to select the apple remote. All was working fine and in IRW i could see the apple remote sending commands. I then rebooted the machine and lirc will just not work. irw will jsut says connection failed. Anybody got any ideas? I am going to retry install from fresh again.
1 more question. I know this is very insecure but i am not too bothered. How do i disable the ubuntu login screen so that i just go straight to my desktop. I do not want to have a keyboard attached to the macmini all the time for this. Also i would like XBMC to start when i click a button on the remote but i assume i can set this up with lirc when i get it running.
1 more question. I know this is very insecure but i am not too bothered. How do i disable the ubuntu login screen so that i just go straight to my desktop.
There is an option for automatic login under System>Administration>Login Window. Should have googled before i asked the question. Cheers.
Now that video playback is sorted does anyone have the mac mini remote working correctly. On my first install of lirc and it running the config tool i was able to select the apple remote. All was working fine and in IRW i could see the apple remote sending commands. I then rebooted the machine and lirc will just not work. irw will jsut says connection failed. Anybody got any ideas? I am going to retry install from fresh again.
OK did a little more on this.
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Install_Lirc_Gutsy
There is a section here about the apple remote. The DEVICE has to be set in the hardware.conf. The reason my lirc was failing is i hadnt set this. Using lsinput i see which device to set this to e.g /dev/input/event6 but after a reboot this device id can change e.g /dev/input/event4. Is there anyway to force this onto the same event name after every reboot or else the lirc config will always have to change.
A bit off-topic,
but is there any chance that sometime in the not-too-distance future that it will be possible to compile XBMC on OSX? seeing as it has unix underpinnings as well as X?
either that, or would running it be feasible to run XBMC under VMware fusion (or would it probably be too slow).
I can't unfortunately ditch OSX (I need it for certain apps I'm running on the mini) but I'd love to get XBMC back in my home as i've been without it since my Xbox died.
griffore
2007-11-13, 03:28
comments from a newb:
assuming that all the libraries are available for Mac OSX, it shouldn't be too difficult to compile - BUT THAT'S A BIG ASSUMPTION!
Leopard does support OpenGL 2.1 but who knows what else is required to compile the goodness that is XBMC...
Gamester17
2007-11-13, 12:55
but is there any chance that sometime in the not-too-distance future that it will be possible to compile XBMC on OSX? seeing as it has unix underpinnings as well as X?Possible yes, 'all' that is needed is a skilled C/C++ developer willing and able to make it work under OSX. You (or anyone) are more than welcomed to try to lobby a such developer, ...I am sure the whole Team-XBMC are willing to answer any questions a such developer might have, however that developer will have to do the 'heavy lifting' themselves.
either that, or would running it be feasible to run XBMC under VMware fusion (or would it probably be too slow).I'm pretty sure that VMware Fusion do not support OpenGL 2.0 for the guest operating-system(?)
Thanks for the reply.
I got XBMC to compile under Ubuntu in Parallels (it supports OpenGL), but there were graphical glitches (it would flicker incessantly). I think it might be due to the fact that opengl in linux under parallels isn't 100% yet, but I'm not sure.
It's moments like these I wish I went into more advanced programming (instead of just web stuff and basic perl, etc).
I'd love to find a developer who'd be willing to undertake this task (I'm just wondering, how much "heavy lifting" there would be)? Quite a few linux apps get ported to OSX without much difficulty, so I'm hoping it'd be the same with XBMC.
I would be in a digital home nirvana with XBMC running natively on my Mini in OSX, to me anyway, it would be a perfect platform for xbmc (but i'm sure many people are saying that for Linux, PS3, etc).
Gamester17
2007-11-15, 11:01
I'd love to find a developer who'd be willing to undertake this task (I'm just wondering, how much "heavy lifting" there would be)? Quite a few linux apps get ported to OSX without much difficulty, so I'm hoping it'd be the same with XBMC).I'm not a programmer/developer myself so I'm not really qualified to answer that question, however since XBMC Linux port uses SDL (Simple DirectMedia Layer) (http://www.libsdl.org) it should in theory not be that difficult as SDL is designed to make applications relativly easy to port to other platforms.
I would be in a digital home nirvana with XBMC running natively on my Mini in OSX, to me anyway, it would be a perfect platform for xbmc (but i'm sure many people are saying that for Linux, PS3, etc).One of the must common comment in any request/suggestion we get contain some form of the frase "if you only add this then XBMC will be perfect for me (http://xboxmediacenter.com/wiki/index.php?title=What_is_XBMC_%26_What_Can_it_Do%3F #Where_can_I_suggest.2Frequest_a_new_feature_or_fu nction_to_be_implemented_into_XBMC.3F)", so yes (it is even in our FAQ), ...saying that will not help someone win any point with the developers
Thanks for the reply.
I got XBMC to compile under Ubuntu in Parallels (it supports OpenGL), but there were graphical glitches (it would flicker incessantly). I think it might be due to the fact that opengl in linux under parallels isn't 100% yet, but I'm not sure.
It's moments like these I wish I went into more advanced programming (instead of just web stuff and basic perl, etc).
I'd love to find a developer who'd be willing to undertake this task (I'm just wondering, how much "heavy lifting" there would be)? Quite a few linux apps get ported to OSX without much difficulty, so I'm hoping it'd be the same with XBMC.
I would be in a digital home nirvana with XBMC running natively on my Mini in OSX, to me anyway, it would be a perfect platform for xbmc (but i'm sure many people are saying that for Linux, PS3, etc).
Not quite.. Parallels 3.0 supports 3D acceleration for windows vm but not linux vm.. at least not yet.. I've read that the developers are working on 3D acceleration for linux... run glxinfo or glxgears and you'll see...