[LINUX] XBMC for Linux running on NVIDIA Ion reference box (with VDPAU enabled) [Archive]

drefas

2009-05-22, 21:53

I'm not able to watch the clip here at work, but the playback is flawless?

Really wonder why i'm experiencing hickups when when i play 1080p on my Revo at home... (using both XBMC-Live and on Ubuntu installation)

Kinda hoping someone will release a fully configured and ready to use "Nvidia ION XBMC" image :)

Lamm

2009-05-22, 22:01

Why is killa stuttering? not enough bandwidth?

bnb

2009-05-22, 22:04

Very cool. I hadn't heard about that South Pacific series (I'm in the US). I'll have to check that out.

So, I've only played around with a linux install for a month or so, using a dual monitor setup, as I have my main pc hooked up to my TV for dual purpose.

I would like to do this and start building these for friends and family. Is XBMC at a point, do you think, that a non tech person wouldn't have any trouble once it is setup (as far as crashing, etc. I know when I played around with my non dedicated linux install, that I had issues with the sound driver for the most part)? I guess I should just configure one for myself for a couple of months and see.

fasteddy

2009-05-22, 22:14

bnb

2009-05-22, 22:36

Can a non tech person use it easily? Absolutely, just ask my wife. But can she upkeep and troubleshoot it? Could she figure out why the scrapers don't always work properly and workaround them? No, probably not. XBMC is great for your own home, but do you really want to be an on-call technician for family/friends?

yeah, I guess I forgot about the scraper issues. Hopefully that will change once Boxee, Plex, and others become Final, and I was just reading on the developer forum how their working on a better way of scraping everything.

So hopefully a year from now.

AshsToAshs

2009-05-22, 23:06

How does Aeon run on that Atom 330?

-Ash-

Geekzilla

2009-05-23, 04:09

I hope Nvidia hooked up the devs with a couple of freebies.

motd2k

2009-05-23, 04:56

Got a very busy band-holiday weekend coming up, but i'll post an Aeon video on Monday if I get chance.

Killa sample actually played fine - the first ~1s of it were screwy, but that's pretty normal because of the lack of keyframes at the start of that file. I stopped the video a little early, cos I dropped the camera whilst going in for a closeup on a power meter I had on the plug socket... 32W whilst decoding killa.

Really the only thing I noticed much difference on (apart from compiling XBMC which took __SIXTY__ minutes) was the generation of thumbnails for videos, which is kinda to be expected I suppose.

motd

b_balthasar

2009-05-23, 17:38

empty

2009-05-25, 12:45

Your Mediastream looks differently! Because of using Linux instead of me using the Windows "version" or did you modified your Mediasteam?

And for the topic, this small thing with a DualCore is a must have ;)
but with my DG45FC and a HFX Micro I'am very happy

Loto_Bak

2009-05-26, 04:38

The front page says its an atom 230 processor just want to clarify that it is a N330

davilla

2009-05-26, 05:38

Your Mediastream looks differently! Because of using Linux instead of me using the Windows "version" or did you modified your Mediasteam?

sssshhhhh. You did not see that, really :)

MrIcka

2009-05-26, 12:08

sssshhhhh. You did not see that, really :)

More info? =)

empty

2009-05-26, 12:09

sssshhhhh. You did not see that, really :)

hrhr :D so than make more videos ^^ it is a new official/unofficial version of MS or a custom build? :-)

motd2k

2009-05-26, 16:54

Just ignore the mediastream for now, its not important.

Its a 230 according to the BIOS, can't really tell you any more than that, I see two CPU's but I assume that's just hyperthreading.

rudi123

2009-05-26, 17:30

A single core Atom? Cool...

rudi123

2009-05-26, 17:36

...but back to the more important question: are we gonna see a special ION-only build maybe sometime soon?

motd2k

2009-05-26, 17:47

Wow, that's really impressive :grin:
I was just wondering what the cpu usage is like for the iplayer h264 streams on the atom 330. Does anyone know if they are gpu accelerated on ion boxes under linux?

Yes, they are fine - the video shows me playing a 720p file directly off iplayer infact. However, i very much doubt flash itself would play them.

althekiller

2009-05-26, 19:25

...but back to the more important question: are we gonna see a special ION-only build maybe sometime soon?

I don't know what a "special ION-only" build would entail. Normal XBMC for linux works fine on it.

Gamester17

2009-05-26, 20:31

...but back to the more important question: are we gonna see a special ION-only build maybe sometime soon?I think that rudi123 might be referring to XBMC Live (http://xbmc.org/wiki/?title=XBMC_Live) as it is today, or maybe a future version of it based on the Moblin Linux distro
http://xbmc.org/wiki/?title=XBMC_Live
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moblin

XBMC Live (http://xbmc.org/wiki/?title=XBMC_Live) is today based on a standard installation of Ubuntu, while Moblin was originally specifically designed for Atom based Nettops and Netbooks for fast booting and appliance like setups.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nettop
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netbook

rudi123

2009-05-26, 21:47

Well, i was thinking about an equivalent to Live with the ability to install to a local disk - but stripped down to the minimum needed drivers and optimized for loading speed, disk usage and working standby/resume etc on IONs.

It looks like ION platforms could become THE ideal hardware for a small and simple htpc for lots of people who don't want to spend time in hardware assembling or installing/configuring linux. Therefore the team should think about an own branch for it.

ultrabrutal

2009-05-26, 22:03

rudi123, I totally agree. This is the first real replacement for the old Xbox. I've been using a shitty TViX 6500 for my HD needs ever since abandoning the Xbox. Can't wait to get back to XBMC again :)

Steve_McQueen

2009-05-27, 10:51

Definitely something I'm crossing my fingers for. The Intel guys got the boot-time down to 5 sec by cleaning out the gunk on moblin. There is a lot of promise here.

Starstream

2009-05-27, 13:30

Well if there ever was going to be a release it would be better to call it Atom focused rather than Ion as who knows how long Ion will exist (It's not looking good in the long run).

Intel moving Atom to system on chip (CPU,GPU,memory controller etc) no Nvidia parts to be paired with. (http://www.macworld.co.uk/news/index.cfm?newsid=26107)

Intel wont allow third parties build Atom SoC. (http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/cpu/display/20090331204301_Intel_Fabless_Semiconductor_Develop ers_Will_Not_Be_Able_to_License_Atom_Cores_for_Sys tem_on_Chip_Products.html)

Future Atom's paired with an Nvidia GPU could become quite rare. I just hope Intels video decoding capabilities get a lot better for future versions if were saddled with its GPU's.

Gamester17

2009-05-27, 18:45

Haggy

2009-05-27, 19:06

Future Atom's paired with an Nvidia GPU could become quite rare. I just hope Intels video decoding capabilities get a lot better for future versions if were saddled with its GPU's.

I seriously hope that AMD comes up with something like an Atom soon. But as they're also integrating the GPU onto the CPU die, maybe that would be the same problem. nvidia is kinda stuck atm.

motd2k

2009-05-27, 20:36

Ion2 is on VIA, don't care at all for Intel's politics - they can bite me.

phoboss

2009-05-27, 20:39

how is your audio hooked up to the ion box? HDMI oder S/PDIF?
thinking about getting the new zotac ion board, but i'm a little worried about the driver support for sound over HDMI. can anybody say something about that?

Haggy

2009-05-27, 20:53

Hmm, i suppose it works fine as it does on my 8300 board - at least if you got alsa >= 1.0.18a.

Chaos_666

2009-05-27, 21:27

Hi there
how is your audio hooked up to the ion box? HDMI oder S/PDIF?
thinking about getting the new zotac ion board, but i'm a little worried about the driver support for sound over HDMI. can anybody say something about that?

Got my zotac ion today :grin:
First steps with sound seem to work via hdmi under jaunty server. The menu sounds are working, but if i start a movie i hear a noisy crack. Not sure if this is because the system wants to play ac3 and the system is connected directly to my tft.

So i am still testing, but right now the system looks good.

THX
Chaos

phoboss

2009-05-27, 21:37

i'd greatly appreciate more info when your done setting up your system :D

Chaos_666

2009-05-28, 22:10

Hi there

Sound is working on my tft right now.

Tested music, dts and stereo

using the following .asoundrc in ~
pcm.!spdif {
type hw
card 0
device 3
}

pcm.!default {
type plug
slave {
pcm "spdif"
}
}

and the following settings in xbmc
digital
off
off
hdmi
hdmi
on

right now the system is playing killa sample (via nfs) with 25 dropped frames. So there is still room for some tweaking :grin:

BTW: i set the sound on internal in the bios which means only hdmi sound enabled.

THX
Chaos

AshsToAshs

2009-05-28, 22:42

GIVE US MORE HANDS ON IMPRESSIONS!!!!

-Ash-

TREX6662k5

2009-05-29, 03:14

BTW do you have the dual or single core configuration.

Geekzilla

2009-05-29, 03:42

For us in the USA, newegg now has the N330 model w/o integrated power supply (uses standard power supply). (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813500030) I just ordered one and look forward to playing with this.

Chaos_666

2009-05-29, 20:53

Hi there
BTW do you have the dual or single core configuration.

I am using the single core version (IONITX-B-E)

Maybe i get more time this weekend to test the system.

THX
Chaos

Denner

2009-05-31, 21:16

@ Chaos_666

How is your ZOTAC IONITX-B-E build coming along ?

I got the same motherboard and am having some issues with it, video related, sound is working with no problems.

I am on XBMC 9.04.1 and is running my system with 2gb of ram ( 512 dedicated to video memory ) and running via HDMI to my Onkyo 705 and from that to my Samsung LE 656.

I can play the Killa sample with 5 dropped frames via SMB, but only after I OC'ed the processor to 2ghz, funny thing is that the processor never uses more than 25% playing the sample even at 1.6ghz.

My problem is that XBMC will not let me select 1080/60p or 1080/24p only 1080/50p and 1080/60i, and some other resolutions that is of no use to me :-(

Besides that the auto refresh rate is not working either, probably because the output refresh rates are not working correctly.

Besides that the system lists the XBMClive lists the GPU at unknown, but I am allowed to use VDPAU, so it is kind of working, I guess....

Are you experiencing any of the issues I am having with my ZOTAC IONITX-B-E board ?

Best Regards
Dennis

Kali

2009-05-31, 22:03

My problem is that XBMC will not let me select 1080/60p or 1080/24p only 1080/50p and 1080/60i, and some other resolutions that is of no use to me :-(

same problem :/

althekiller

2009-05-31, 22:04

And...thread jacked...

Denner

2009-05-31, 23:09

Sorry, feel free to delete my post, just thought that it would be use full to know that the ION platform is causing problems for a lot ( I think ) of us....

But I am truly sorry so please delete my post or move it to another place, sorry :-(

hexland

2009-05-31, 23:25

My N330 based ZOTAC IONITX-D-E should arrive tomorrow, so I'll let you know if I have the same problems you're experiencing...

Mind you, I'm a total Linux n00b, so I'll probably bugger something up along the way :)

Chaos_666

2009-06-01, 18:48

Hi there

XBMC lets me select
1080@60, 1080i, 1080@50

I am using Nvidia 185.18.10 drivers.

But i used the configuration of my other XBMC, so not sure i can select these settings because i used this config.

THX
Chaos

Icey

2009-06-01, 19:33

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rv1Q_DWieAQ

Excuse the lack of video editing ability :P

See it in action on XBMC's stand at Linuxtag 09.

motd

http://www.flickr.com/photos/63137071@N00/sets/72157618611884754/

Just wanted to say thanks motd2k!

From the other posts it was clear people were having reasonable success with the Acer Revo ION based unit and XBMC. Your youtube video using the nvidia reference unit closes some open questions I had about playing killa as well as iplayer.

With Computex starting tomorrow I expect a flurry of ION based systems being revealed so I, along with many other no doubt, will be able to pick the unit that suits our needs best.

Gurney

2009-06-02, 00:05

Thread flagged...

Sick of my 780G not being able to decode anything.

hexland

2009-06-02, 04:15

Wow... I didn't realize how much of a n00b I was when it came to Linux. I have no idea what the hell I'm doing.

OK.. so I got my ZOTAC IONITX-D-E board in this morning, and hooked it all up. I set the bios to use a frame buffer to 512Mb (as indicated in another thread)

1. If I run the Live CD (9.04.1), I don't seem to be using any hardware acceleration.
A sample 720p clip from Blade Blu-Ray:
FPS: 20.1, CPU0: 80%, CPU1: 18.3%, CPU2: 55%, CPU3: 62%
Video: h264, yuv420p, 1280x720
Bitrate ~ 9MBit/s

A sample 1080p clip from Star Trek IV Blu-Ray:
FPS: 12.8, CPU0:66%, CPU1: 22%, CPU2: 49%, CPU3: 66%
Video: h264, yuv420p, 1920x818
Bitrate ~ 16MBit/s

2. I'm assuming that, in order to get the board running with HDMI, I need to boot the machine using only the HDMI connector (the machine seems to only display on VGA if the monitor is connected) ?

3. If I boot with HDMI only connected, I just get 'Unsupported Mode' being displayed by my TV. Is there a way to set the valid modes on this output device?

4. System Information displays (when running through VGA)
GPU: unknown board/PCI/SSE2
Screen Resolution: 1920x1200 @ 50Hz (Fullscreen)
OpenGL vendor : NVIDIA Corporation
OpenGL version : 3.0

CPU: Intel Atom CPU 330 @ 1.6Ghz
CPU Temp: ??
CPU Speed: 1600.09Mhz
Total Memory: 1507Mb
Free Memory: 1380Mb

Operating System: Linux 2.6.28-11-generic#42-Ubuntu SMP Fri Apr 17 ...
XBMC 9.04.1 r20654 (Compiled May25)

Any pointers on BIOS settings, XBMC settings, etc would be much appreciated.

Thanks

pumkinut

2009-06-02, 04:19

OK.. so I got my ZOTAC IONITX-D-E board in this morning, and hooked it all up. I set the bios to use a frame buffer to 512Mb (as indicated in another thread)

1. If I run the Live CD (9.04.1), I don't seem to be using any hardware acceleration.
A sample 720p clip from Blade Blu-Ray:
FPS: 20.1, CPU0: 80%, CPU1: 18.3%, CPU2: 55%, CPU3: 62%
Video: h264, yuv420p, 1280x720
Bitrate ~ 9MBit/s

A sample 1080p clip from Star Trek IV Blu-Ray:
FPS: 12.8, CPU0:66%, CPU1: 22%, CPU2: 49%, CPU3: 66%
Video: h264, yuv420p, 1920x818
Bitrate ~ 16MBit/s

Did you set the renderer to VDPAU? If not, it's not using the GPU for decoding, and therefore, your processor is doing all the work.

As far as the other questions go, I can't answer them, although I am seriously thinking about picking up the Zotec board, I just want to have some information first.

hexland

2009-06-02, 05:32

:blush:

Dammit... missed that in the settings... I thought I went through them all.
Well, at least that takes care of the framerate... my 1080p video is a little stuttery, but I can't be sure its not a framerate step up/down to the VGA refresh rate...
I need to get the HDMI working now, so I can be sure.

Thanks

Kali

2009-06-02, 12:28

jacob83

2009-06-02, 12:38

How you configure the graphics to work with Ubuntu??, i'm not able to do that with the aspire revo. Which version of nvidia drivers are you using? (for the video I see that is a beta version?.)

Kali

2009-06-02, 13:00

i followed Method 2 of http://xbmc.org/wiki/?title=XBMCbuntu but with 185.18.14

jacob83

2009-06-02, 17:36

It works, now my aspire revo looks great!

Thanks!

hexland

2009-06-02, 18:48

i got the same mb ZOTAC IONITX-D-E and i have no problem with hdmi (full hd)
with latest xbmc 9.04.1 h264 work wery well, mpeg2 hd (i have just checked one video @720p) have stuttering audio and A/V sync problem

Hey Kali... when you say you have no problem with HDMI...
- are you booting with only HDMI connected?
- are you able to see the boot process (BIOS Post, Grub, Splash Screen) through HDMI, or does it just come on when XBMC loads up?

Kali

2009-06-02, 19:27

Hey Kali... when you say you have no problem with HDMI...
- are you booting with only HDMI connected?
yes

- are you able to see the boot process (BIOS Post, Grub, Splash Screen) through HDMI, or does it just come on when XBMC loads up?
all, like a standard vga/dvi

Hannes The Hun

2009-06-02, 20:11

It works, now my aspire revo looks great!

Thanks!

ah well, I completely followed the instructions, let the driver installer build a new kernel, even updated the xorg.conf manually with the sudo nvidia-xconfig -s --no-logo --force-generate command

no errors whatsoever, but now my XBMC live on SDHC won't start anymore, instead hangs at "loading hardware drivers"

guess I'll wait until i get the new nvidia drivers precompiled into a new 9.04 live build, I'm just not used to linux :sniffle:

hexland

2009-06-02, 20:16

yes
all, like a standard vga/dvi

I've tried this on 3 different HDMI capable displays, and I can't get anything -- I just get 'Unsupported Mode'

Did you have to set anything in the BIOS to enable a particular display mode?

Kali

2009-06-02, 21:14

someone have spoken about latest revo bios have issue with hdmi and was removed from acer site

hexland

2009-06-03, 00:56

OK... so ZOTAC support directed me to a new BIOS which did nothing to help.

Just to test, I installed Windows XP, and installed the NVIDIA video and chipset drivers... although there was no compatible video output during BIOS POST and Windows boot -- the display kicked into life at 1080i (all the TV I'm testing on supports). :)

So, it looks like NVIDIA drivers work correctly under Windows (video and audio).

I guess, next step is to do a clean install of Ubuntu and try it out with the latest NVIDIA drivers.

I guess I can live with the unit not having video output until the drivers kick in, but it's a PITA if I need to go into the BIOS or have problems booting.

I've still got a ZOTAC support ticket open, so I guess we'll see if there's a resolution.

Kali

2009-06-03, 01:07

very strange, my ionitx-D whith stock bios (05-08, i think the same on zotac site pa108) work very well

hexland

2009-06-03, 01:28

I guess this is what we get for being on the bleeding edge!

Geekzilla

2009-06-03, 04:03

I received my Zotac N330 Ion today and have XBMC Live 9.04.1 working really well. I decided to pastebin my generic xorg.conf (http://pastebin.com/f1ad74edb) here along with a couple of notes for my future reference, as well as possibly helping others.

Changed video memory in BIOS to 512MB
I copied the above xorg.conf to the config folder of the thumb drive to alleviate the 50Hz issue.

XBMC Menu changes:
Appearance, Screen, Resolution: 1920x1080p 60Hz (Full Screen)
Appearance, Screen, Vertical Blank Sync: Let Driver Choose
Video, Player, Render Method: VDPAU
Video, Player, Adjust Refresh Rate: ON

I also removed the wireless module from the motherboard since there was no chance I would be using it and felt it could just cause issues/slowdowns.

TREX6662k5

2009-06-03, 14:31

Thanks for your conf geekzilla. Can't wait for my N330 mobo to arrive.

mulder77de

2009-06-03, 15:40

I received my Zotac N330 Ion today and have XBMC Live 9.04.1 working really well.

Do you mean of of these:
http://www.zotac.com/index.php?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=483

Do they are actually shipping. Where are you from?

Markus

hexland

2009-06-03, 18:46

I got it from NewEgg... but they sold out within a day...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813500030

Geekzilla

2009-06-03, 22:56

Do you mean of of these:
http://www.zotac.com/index.php?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=483

Do they are actually shipping. Where are you from?

Markus

Like Hexland I got that same board from Newegg and it was 179 at the time. When they get the N330 model with the laptop style power supply I will be buying 2 more.

hexland

2009-06-04, 20:27

I guess I can live with the unit not having video output until the drivers kick in, but it's a PITA if I need to go into the BIOS or have problems booting.

I've still got a ZOTAC support ticket open, so I guess we'll see if there's a resolution.

Zotac just informed me that they think the board is defective, and I should return it to Newegg :(

I guess I'm going to have to wait until they get them back in stock again before I can get a replacement :(

dannybullit

2009-06-05, 13:23

Zotac just informed me that they think the board is defective, and I should return it to Newegg :(

I guess I'm going to have to wait until they get them back in stock again before I can get a replacement :(

I had a similar problem with a completely different motherboard, no picture at startup using HDMI. Impossible to enter BIOS using HDMI, had to use VGA.

I had the motherboard replaced, same shit remained. Installed windows, got picture over HDMI when windows loaded the nvidia drivers. Funny thing was the lots of other pople got it to work with HDMI, but not me.

I finally bought a nvidia 9400GT instead of using onboard nvidia 7100.
Worked like a charm!

My theory is that my NVIDIA 7100 onboard GPU didn´t work very well with my Panasonic plasma.

I hope that a replacement motherboard helps out.

What TV are you using?

Before sending it back to newegg, try if it works better on another TV.

Br, Daniel

hexland

2009-06-05, 22:07

Thanks Daniel... I already thought of that. I tried the motherboard on two Element HDTV's (19" and 16") and a Polaroid 42".

I also tried a couple of different HDMI cables (one with came with my Xbox360 and one which I got from Monoprice a few months back).

No luck with any of it.

Looks like Newegg isn't getting any more of those motherboards in until June 19th... SUCKS!

If Acer would hurry the hell up and bring out the N330 version of the Revo in the US, I'd have gone for that instead...