View Full Version : best os to use xbmc
dave1233345
2009-02-26, 11:31
right i need help. i've been having issues with vista. so im thinking of going to xp. but now im not sure. is linux a better os for it? is there anyway i can boot straight into xbmc?
what kind of issues were you having?
not sure there really is a definite "best" OS for xbmc. xbmc is not reliant on external codecs so it's relatively self-contained.
Many will say linux but install and driver support can be daunting to some unfamiliar with it (even with ubuntu)
I use win xp 32bit sp3 - and everything works like a charm for me
there are quite a few threads on here about using xbmc as a shell but they all involve installing stripped down versions of xp as the os.
tebicenter
2009-02-26, 15:56
Look here
http://xbmc.org/forum/showthread.php?t=46038
I use XP SP2 and works really good, really fast and no problems.
Running windows xp sp3, haven't had any problems that I can tell.
TC :grin:
althekiller
2009-02-26, 18:44
Do you really think you're going to get unbiased answers to that question in the windows forum?
Go linux. You'll be able to get VDPAU.
dave1233345
2009-02-26, 22:24
go linux. You'll be able to get vdpau.
vdpau?
xanadu1979
2009-02-26, 22:28
vdpau?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VDPAU
It basically means a lot of the video decoding will be handed off to your graphics card (assuming the graphics card is supported). This will bring the CPU usage down to a fraction of what it is today.
It's a unix only technology, so I don't think we'll ever see it for Windows. I'll probably switch to Ubuntu myself when the VDPAU code is merged into the main branch.
VDPAU shounds interesting, but in my case I'm very happy with my stripped down version of XP. Full HD videos barely scratch my CPU, so I won't bother trying ubuntu for quite some time.
If you want to give XP a shot, use nlite to strip it down first, you can basically create a version of XP that will only use ~50Megs or ram or so. Everything else will be dedicated to XBMC...
As someone else mentinoed though, my answer is biased because I've only tried XP and AppleTV. I've never tried playing with Ubuntu and i'm really not excited at the idea of having to deal with yet another type of OS...
- Cas
VDPAU shounds interesting, but in my case I'm very happy with my stripped down version of XP. Full HD videos barely scratch my CPU, so I won't bother trying ubuntu for quite some time.
If you want to give XP a shot, use nlite to strip it down first, you can basically create a version of XP that will only use ~50Megs or ram or so. Everything else will be dedicated to XBMC...
As someone else mentinoed though, my answer is biased because I've only tried XP and AppleTV. I've never tried playing with Ubuntu and i'm really not excited at the idea of having to deal with yet another type of OS...
- Cas
But right now you won't get full hd without dropped frames if you use XBMC since XBMC does not have GPU accel on windows. Currently VDPAU is in its own branch but is for linux.
TS
natethomas
2009-02-27, 04:14
Before answering your question, I'm curious what issues you've been having. I'm also curious what your goals for XBMC are.
And for that matter, you need to understand...
Well, there's too much to understand. The value of GPU acceleration is all in having a weak CPU. If you have a CPU below dual core 2.4-3.0, decoding 1080p video gets trickier. If your CPU is equal to or better than that, GPU acceleration is essentially a non-issue.
Point being, people are going to keep throwing out random opinions on these things until we know what your problems are. Is your CPU too slow? Do you have less than at least 2gb of RAM? Are you experiencing strange video driver problems?
But right now you won't get full hd without dropped frames if you use XBMC since XBMC does not have GPU accel on windows. ??? It depends on your CPU,doesn't it?
Accessing VDPAU obviously frees up CPU for other stuff, such as postprocessing. Only thing, I question the opportunity of postprocessing when decoding high bitrate h264 material (the only stressful material for modern dual core CPUs). Even die hard videophiles admit that dedicated external video processors don't matter much when handling 1080p high bitrate material.
But right now you won't get full hd without dropped frames if you use XBMC since XBMC does not have GPU accel on windows. Currently VDPAU is in its own branch but is for linux.
TS
Using the Jester Multi-Threading builds I was able to play the Killasample on a 1.86GHz Core 2 Duo (E6300) without dropped frames (only a few for audio/videosync on initial start) and an average CPU-load of 40-50%. Most people with a PC not older than 3 years will be able to utilize their CPU for decoding, without relying on GPU.
That said, GPU-acceleration certainly has it advantages as the GPU is much more efficient at handling h264 encoded files and multithreading, resulting in lower powerconsumption. And if you have a higher end GPU it will be able to do all the deinterlacing and postprocessing as well, leaving CPU-time for other processes.
Although VDPAU is Linux-only, so is DXVA for Windows. Since Linux lacks DirectX-support (DUH!) you won't be able to benefit from DXVA, same as you won't be able to benefit from VDPAU on Windows.
When and if XBMC will implement DXVA support in Windows there's no real reason to choose one platform above the other, other than personal preference. I've been an Apple user for years, but before that I always used Windows. Although Linux always had that interesting geeky factor to me, I never got around the little issues with configuration and drivers. And until Linux becomes as user-friendly as OSX and will get Wizard-based installation for all drivers, like in Windows, I will go for Windows instead for HTPC-purposes.
OSX is a great platform for productivity and creativity, but lacks simple things like BluRay and HDMI. The only interesting HTPC-product, form-factor wise, is the Mac Mini, but the little machine with it's ageing GMA 950 graphics are unable to output true 24p. Building a Hackintosh is an appealing option, but even then you'll probably need something like SwitchResX to create a 24p-profile for your videocard. Still, HD-audio and BluRay isn't supported.
So.... if it was me, I'd go for Windows until Linux as a userfriendly platform matures and OSX get's the HTPC-support it desperately needs / I need.
From everything I've read so far on these boards, I strongly doubt DXVA will ever arrive as a built-in portion of XBMC. I'd gladly be proven wrong, though (even though, then, somebody should show me the real benefits of DXVA once you have a 3 GHz CPU).
From everything I've read so far on these boards, I strongly doubt DXVA will ever arrive as a built-in portion of XBMC. I'd gladly be proven wrong, though.
When and IF XBMC will implement DXVA support in Windows...
I can imagine that the XBMC will not actively pursue DXVA-support, but since they use the ffmpeg-library and MPC-HT has contributed significantly to DXVA-support in that library, it's not completely unlikely that it will.... someday...
xanadu1979
2009-02-27, 17:53
Correct me if I'm wrong. But don't you need DirectX for DXVA? And doesn't XBMC not use DirectX at all?
...
I can imagine that the XBMC will not actively pursue DXVA-support, but since they use the ffmpeg-library and MPC-HT has contributed significantly to DXVA-support in that library, it's not completely unlikely that it will.... someday...That's something I meant to ask for quite a long time. Is DXVA in MPC-HC realized through FFMPEG? Are you sure?
As far as I know, XBMC uses DirectX for its sound portion (through SDL that needs DirectX for sound functionality under Windows).
That's something I meant to ask for quite a long time. Is DXVA in MPC-HC realized through FFMPEG? Are you sure?
As far as I know, XBMC uses DirectX for its sound portion (through SDL that needs DirectX for sound functionality under Windows).
My understanding is that they made a patch for ffmpeg to enable DXVA-support, but thinking about it would imply that rendering would be done by DirectX, even though XBMC uses OpenGL. Unless they found some way to tunnel this, it indeed seems unlikely.
I can understand why the XBMC team chooses Linux as the main target platform, but installing, configuring and using Linux can be somewhat overwhelming for many, if not most users.
XBMC Live seems to be a viable solution to solve many issues, but it seems to me there are no recent SVN builds, so the most recent release is 8.10 'Atlantis'. Maybe somebody could build a Windows/Mac/Linux-based configuration utility, where you can select your hardware and it will automatically build a XBMC Live image from a selectable SVN-build? (I'm not applying for the job, though :rolleyes:)
Would, for example, XBMC Live support my hardware without any hassle and give me hardware-acceleration, automatic framerate switching and will connect to my AFP-shares (like Windows can by default)?
But right now you won't get full hd without dropped frames if you use XBMC since XBMC does not have GPU accel on windows. Currently VDPAU is in its own branch but is for linux.
TS
The only dropped frames i have are when the file open (less than 5 drop frames during the very first second of the film.) And that's with a $90 cpu... Nothing fancy.
I haven't tried the killa sample yet, but i would guess i'd be fine. None of my 1080p mkvs use more than 30% of cpu right now... So please, don't make false assumption on platforms. You made it sound as if xbmc with XP can't play true HD no matter what. This is just not true.
- Cas