XBMC 12.0 'Frodo' Released: PVR-Support, HD Audio and More

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XBMC 12.0 'Frodo' Released: PVR-Support, HD Audio and More

Posted by Soulskill on Tuesday January 29, 2013 @12:41PM from the i-will-take-the-codec-to-mordor dept.

fluor2 writes "Team XBMC have released XBMC 12 'Frodo.' Features for XBMC 12 include: HD audio support (including DTS-MA and Dolby True-HD) via the new XBMC AudioEngine (OS X/iOS not yet available), live TV and PVR support, h.264 10-bit (aka Hi10P), 64-bit support in OS X to match the 64-bit support in Linux, improved image support, support for the Raspberry Pi, initial support for the Android platform, improved AirPlay support across all platforms, improved controller support in Windows and Linux, advanced filtering in the library, video library tags to complement movie sets, advanced UPnP sharing, and more!"

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Now to fix Android remotes... by aybiss · 2013-01-29 12:56 · Score: 2, Interesting

..that haven't been working since at least RC2.
This annoys me because the interface is such a f*ck*rse to operate with the mouse.

--
It's OK Bender, there's no such thing as 2.
1. Re:Now to fix Android remotes... by SomePgmr · 2013-01-29 13:01 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  Yatse. It's far-and-away the nicest xbmc remote for android I've used. I think it's $3. It's absolutely worth it.
2. Re:Now to fix Android remotes... by guantamanera · 2013-01-29 13:07 · Score: 2
  
  ..that haven't been working since at least RC2.
  This annoys me because the interface is such a f*ck*rse to operate with the mouse.
  Man, sounds like you're paying for their product I hope you're donating something at least. The remote was fixed long time ago. Just install one of the nightlies apk's from their website trying doing some goggling next time
3. Re:Now to fix Android remotes... by Lumpy · 2013-01-29 13:13 · Score: 0, Flamebait
  
  What moron uses a mouse? get a frigging IR remote and call it done.
  
  --
  Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
4. Re:Now to fix Android remotes... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-01-29 13:14 · Score: 1
  
  An apk of the xbmc remote for android is available to download from the google code page. It works perfectly with the last release candidate. Although I'm using a playbook so I don't know how easy it would be to install it on whatever android device you're using.
5. Re:Now to fix Android remotes... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-01-29 14:00 · Score: 0
  
  Maybe some people LIKE mouse input. You know, because that's just what they prefer.
  Moron.
6. Re:Now to fix Android remotes... by itslifejimbutnotaswe · 2013-01-29 14:47 · Score: 1
  
  There are touch based skins that might operate a little better with the mouse - Confluence works, but sure, it's not designed for it. The official Android remote should have an update for Frodo in the play store shortly (it's been submitted afaik). There are other remotes out there and apk's are available elsewhere in the meantime.
7. Re:Now to fix Android remotes... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-01-29 14:48 · Score: 0
  
  I use Music Pump as my remote for my Raspberry Pi. It's simple, free, and worked out of the box (no settings, just detected the Pi on the network and worked).
8. Re:Now to fix Android remotes... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-01-29 14:50 · Score: 0
  
  But they aren't the people who say " the interface is such a f*ck*rse to operate with the mouse".
9. Re:Now to fix Android remotes... by zugmeister · 2013-01-29 15:12 · Score: 1
  
  I went on Amazon and dropped $15 on a noname IR remote, works beautifully. Are you sure you've given this a proper chance?
10. Re:Now to fix Android remotes... by AbRASiON · 2013-01-29 15:45 · Score: 1
  
  I find it surprisingly good with a keyboard.
  Yes a wireless keyboard, logitech Dinovo edge for me- I find myself browsing in the lounge all the time now too.
  Glorious.
11. Re:Now to fix Android remotes... by ozmanjusri · 2013-01-29 16:15 · Score: 1
  
  You can thank me later....
  http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Mele-F10-Flying-Mouse-Air-Mouse-And-Keyboard-Remote-Controller-Three-In-One-For-Android-TV/582628817.html
  
  --
  "I've got more toys than Teruhisa Kitahara."
12. Re:Now to fix Android remotes... by frente69 · 2013-01-29 17:36 · Score: 1
  
  They released a new version on the 29th. Seems to work fine for me now.
13. Re:Now to fix Android remotes... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-01-29 17:55 · Score: 0
  
  I'd rather they fix the horrible sleep bug. On my HTPC, if I let it go to sleep, no problem, wakes up fine and everything works. If I let it got to sleep while XBMC is running, when it wakes up, the system is slow with high CPU usage even if I kill off XBMC. I thought it might be something else, but no, it ONLY happens if the system sleeps while XBMC is running.
  I hope they fixed that.
14. Re:Now to fix Android remotes... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-01-29 18:06 · Score: 0
  
  ..that haven't been working since at least RC2.
  This annoys me because the interface is such a f*ck*rse to operate with the mouse.
  Check Google Play, an updated Remote App popped up this morning
15. Re:Now to fix Android remotes... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-01-29 18:39 · Score: 0
  
  Yatse is a piece of shit. It doesn't even support Bluetooth, you HAVE to use a LAN to communicate with the computer sitting a couple metres away.
16. Re:Now to fix Android remotes... by dutchwhizzman · 2013-01-29 18:45 · Score: 1
  
  Sort of working version http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=147741
  The remote part works for me, most of the times. It's rough though
  
  --
  I was promised a flying car. Where is my flying car?
17. Re:Now to fix Android remotes... by Zouden · 2013-01-29 20:14 · Score: 1
  
  Seconded. Yatse works great on both my phone and tablet and I prefer using it over my bluetooth mini keyboard.
  
  --
  "A week in the lab saves an hour in the library"
18. Re:Now to fix Android remotes... by hamvil · 2013-01-29 20:31 · Score: 1
  
  Mod parent down. My raspberry does not have a BT interface. On the other hand my mobile phone is always connected to my home wifi network. The result is that in order to use yatse I had to just plug the RPI to the ethernet and start using the damn thing.
19. Re:Now to fix Android remotes... by wonkey_monkey · 2013-01-29 20:48 · Score: 1
  
  Mod parent down. My raspberry does not have a BT interface.
  How does that invalidate the AC's opinion? I haven't got a 3D TV but I don't go around telling people that their opinions of them are worthless because I haven't got one.
  
  --
  systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
20. Re:Now to fix Android remotes... by Zouden · 2013-01-29 20:54 · Score: 1
  
  The AC's opinion is that Yatse sucks despite it doing exactly what it's advertised to do, ie, controls XBMC over a lan using the HTTP api.
  Yatse displays the XBMC media library on your tablet and lets you control playlists, etc. Try doing that with bluetooth.
  
  --
  "A week in the lab saves an hour in the library"
21. Re:Now to fix Android remotes... by hamvil · 2013-01-29 20:55 · Score: 1
  
  How does that invalidate the AC's opinion? I haven't got a 3D TV but I don't go around telling people that their opinions of them are worthless because I haven't got one.
  Because it is fair to assume that an XBMC is connected to an home (W)LAN. It is also fair to assume that an android phone running Yatse is also associated to your home WiFi network when you are at home. Using BT would instead require hardware support on the XBMC box, which is not very common for embedded platforms such as the RPI nor for recycled hardware on top of which people may decide to run XBMC. If you want something simple and that does not consume battery just buy an dedicated remote (the one for boxee is plug and play with every xbmc setup i've ever played with).
22. Re:Now to fix Android remotes... by wonkey_monkey · 2013-01-29 22:10 · Score: 1
  
  Okay, that invalidates the AC's opinion.
  
  --
  systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
23. Re:Now to fix Android remotes... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-01-30 02:54 · Score: 0
  
  What moron uses a mouse?
  This moron (mcgrew here, can't log in on this PC). I have a tower PC running kubuntu plugged into my TV set. Ever check your mail using a TV remote? Scroll through an online TV listing with an IR remote? The mouse (which is actually an IR cordless mouse) was designed to work with a computer, and the computer is what I'm watching on my TV, whether I'm watching Big Bang Theory on CBS.com (their local channel doesn't always come in well), Hulu, movies stored on the hard drive, OGGs, KSHE, as well as copy files from one of the 3 PCs on the network to another... why should I spend money on yet another input device when the mouse works well?
24. Re:Now to fix Android remotes... by Vince+Ferg · 2013-01-30 02:56 · Score: 1
  
  Just use Yatse. It is updated frequently and worked fine throughout the entire RC releases. It offers a lot more functionality over the official app to. The user interface is also amazing and they are continuing to add big changes and try new things out which the others don't seem to bother with. You can even start xbmc using the remote as well instead of having to have a second app to do that for you. It has a lot more options as well that the official doesn't offer like having a subtitle button or a shuffle and repeat button and others that the official remote does not have. Seriously everyone should try out Yatse and give it a shot.
25. Re:Now to fix Android remotes... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-01-30 03:00 · Score: 0
  
  Give Yatse a try... it workes 100%
26. Re:Now to fix Android remotes... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-01-30 03:45 · Score: 0
  
  Worse is the XBMC bugs which cause it to hang during start and exit for some USB devices.
27. Re:Now to fix Android remotes... by hairyfeet · 2013-01-30 03:56 · Score: 1
  
  I've also had pretty good luck with the Lenovo HTPC remote and its combo of trackball and mini-keyboard makes it quite easy to do a lot of the stuff that would normally require you putting down your remote and reaching for a keyboard, renaming files or whipping off a quick chat for instance.
  For those that want an XBMC HTPC without all the hassle I'd suggest OpenELEC as they have it pre-built for most of the popular HTPC hardware, Atom+ION, AMD Fusion, Intel GMA, even Apple TV and Raspberry Pi. They are at RC2 with this latest XBMC so I figure another few days and it'll be the main release and it is pretty much install and go.
  So if all you want is an HTPC there ya go, its lightweight, built just for running XBMC, and has all the drivers for the hardware you are gonna be using, couldn't be simpler.
  
  --
  ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
28. Re:Now to fix Android remotes... by 0100010001010011 · 2013-01-30 04:44 · Score: 1
  
  A remote for a TV interface? I use LIRC. It behaves just like everything else in the house on the TV.
29. Re:Now to fix Android remotes... by Sloppy · 2013-01-30 04:55 · Score: 1
  
  What moron uses a mouse?
  If you were a character in a movie and said that near the beginning, I would write a scene immediately following that, where you have a nightmare about slowly scrolling through long lists, and .. *shudder* .. not having a scroll wheel.
  If it's a Freddy Kruger type movie, then that's it for you. You're dead.
  Same applies if it's a nature documentary. A predator got you while you were wasting time scrolling or searching or sorting, or your own prey escaped.
  If it's one of those "some guy finally gets a clue" type movies, then you'd wake up in the morning and realize that the "Ten Foot Interface" guys are working on something which is maybe a little .. faddish? .. and there really aren't very many of these people compared to the computer interface industry+hobbyists at large, and the TFI guys have only really been trying hard, for a paltry decade and half. Their "Best and Brightest" aren't stupid and I never would say they are, but they're from a very small pool, haven't had much time, and right now they're a decade or three behind the state of the art -- competing with the refined results of several decades of development in file managers. It's damn slick compared to people manually working with videotapes, so people loved it around the turn of the century , as it really was a major upgrade in entertainment systems. But .. something's not quite right. It's almost as though organizing and presenting videos from among a list, is Just Another Form of a Long Understood Problem which Top Men have been Tuning For A Long Time.
  Throw in the fact that sometimes you use the same room for things other than finding and playing videos, and you'll realize that creating lircd entries for the game-of-the-week you've been playing, isn't really the best use of your time. You're going to have a mouse and keyboard in there anyway... Once you figure out where to put them (a non-trivial problem for some rooms, I'll admit) you just might find yourself looking contemptuously at the coating of dust on your IR or bluetooth remote.
  If it's a super-hero gadgeteer movie, I suppose you'd end up with some kind of complicated handheld remote with a scroll wheel and full keyboard and maybe a trackpad(?) all integrated into it. You would successfully fight crime with your super-remote most of the time, getting by just fine, and sometimes to pretty nifty effect. The gadget itself is ok. But make no mistake, I put your reliance on this ridiculous gizmo into the story, as a potential weakness that I could sometimes exploit for dramatic effect.
  
  --
  As copyright owner of this comment, I authorize everyone to defeat any technological measure which limits access to it.
30. Re:Now to fix Android remotes... by gl4ss · 2013-01-30 07:57 · Score: 1
  
  The AC's opinion is that Yatse sucks despite it doing exactly what it's advertised to do, ie, controls XBMC over a lan using the HTTP api.
  Yatse displays the XBMC media library on your tablet and lets you control playlists, etc. Try doing that with bluetooth.
  can't see why that couldn't be done with bluetooth.
  though, if you set up PAN on bt you could probably do it over it already. or some bt dun hack. but that kind of invalidates the point, however it's relatively simple to get a serial connection going through bluetooth.
  
  --
  world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
31. Re:Now to fix Android remotes... by Karzz1 · 2013-01-30 11:57 · Score: 2
  
  Best $15 I ever spent.
  
  --
  Beware of he who would deny you access to information, for in his heart he dreams himself your master.
PVR by LMariachi · 2013-01-29 12:59 · Score: 1, Informative

The live TV/PVR "functionality" is still dogshit, apparently shoehorned in at the last minute. I've used it with NPVR and MythTV backends and it doesn't do the most basic things like pause or rewind. Other than that it's lovely.
1. Re:PVR by 7213 · 2013-01-29 13:05 · Score: 2
  
  Is that a limitation of the PVR API, or the PVR plugin your using?
  If it's available within the API, then I'd wager it's coming sooner rather then later, if the plugin is actively maintained.
  That's the beauty of implementing the backend client in a plugin, they can be updated far more regularly then XBMC proper.
2. Re:PVR by guantamanera · 2013-01-29 13:14 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  The live TV/PVR "functionality" is still dogshit, apparently shoehorned in at the last minute. I've used it with NPVR and MythTV backends and it doesn't do the most basic things like pause or rewind. Other than that it's lovely.
  I think you're doing something wrong. I been running frodo in a raspberrypi using mythtv backend, and I can rewind, fast forward, pause and schedule recordings. I even returned the cable boxes to my cable provider, 4 of boxes and now comcast refunds me $3 per month for not renting their cable box. I could not do any recordings if the backend was tvheadend but it works just fine with mythtv and VDR.
3. Re:PVR by Charliemopps · 2013-01-29 13:22 · Score: 0
  
  Legacy support for TV/PVR is probably one of the last things on their mind. Next you'll be complaining about their horrible phonograph support. Stop consuming your media in such and ancient, outdated manner and you'll suddenly find out how great XBMC really is. The vast majority of XBMC users don't even have Cable/Satellite subscriptions anymore. We get all our media via XBMC and/or downloads. Create your own channels and drop your carrier.
4. Re:PVR by opdenkamp · 2013-01-29 13:24 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  It's a limitation of the add-on that you're using. Multiple add-ons support these features, and you can find all the information on our wiki: http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=PVR And as the dev who merged PVR support in and maintained the PVR support in XBMC for the last 3-4 years: no it was not shoehorned in. You just failed to read the documentation that is available and/or you're using a backend or add-on that doesn't support these things.
5. Re:PVR by spire3661 · 2013-01-29 13:30 · Score: 1
  
  What are you using for tuners?
  
  --
  Good-bye
6. Re:PVR by Anonymous Coward · 2013-01-29 13:40 · Score: 0
  
  Works fine for me: I start/pause/rewind/fast forward/schedule my shows using XBMC/MythTV daily.
7. Re:PVR by watermark · 2013-01-29 14:19 · Score: 1
  
  I agree that it still needs work (it's hit and miss on my box whether it works or not), but I'd rather have what I have rather than go back to a straight MythTv box. When it works, pausing and rewinding work fine with a MythTv backend.
8. Re:PVR by TigerTime · 2013-01-29 14:24 · Score: 1, Insightful
  
  From where do you stream live Channels like ESPN, NFLHD, FoxSports?....Oh you don't? Well then quit acting like a pretentious prick and STFU.
9. Re:PVR by guantamanera · 2013-01-29 15:29 · Score: 1
  
  What are you using for tuners?
  I am using 1 HDHomerun Prime and a HDHomeRunDUal I have the cablecard connected in cardsharing mode. I had to modify of VDR-SC to share the cablecard with both devices, but it works much better than in default mode because all my tuners(5) can decode the channels I subscribe to, and it get rids of the copy once flag and I am able to playback in any device I want.
10. Re:PVR by spire3661 · 2013-01-29 15:47 · Score: 2
  
  Just so i have the whole picture. You have a cableCARD fed MythTV box, outputting to Raspberry Pi frontend (with appropriate codec licenses, i assume)?
  
  You are recording the premium HD channels right? not just QAM?
  
  I ask because i have the exact same tuner setups, save i have the older 'dual'. I am using a Win7 DVR right now but would eventually like to switch to a MythTV box and output via R Pi.
  
  Any distro you recommend? I have tried doing Myth on ubuntu and i get stuck in an infinite menu loop in the setup every time i try.
  
  --
  Good-bye
11. Re:PVR by ganjadude · 2013-01-29 15:49 · Score: 1
  
  Actually the XBMCWizard addon that was released in december does give me those options. I dont get "full local" streaming but i do get the 3 you referenced.
  
  --
  have you seen my sig? there are many others like it but none that are the same
12. Re:PVR by ganjadude · 2013-01-29 15:50 · Score: 1
  
  sorry, thats XBMCHUB Wizard
  
  --
  have you seen my sig? there are many others like it but none that are the same
13. Re:PVR by Anonymous Coward · 2013-01-29 16:50 · Score: 0
  
  You don't get ESPN or NFLHD. You get highlights and news. This clearly isn't what he was talking about.
14. Re:PVR by ganjadude · 2013-01-29 19:25 · Score: 1
  
  on one of the channels, i dont recall which i do so get those stations streaming, There are NFL channels and espn channels with highlights corrrect, but those are not what i am talking about
  
  --
  have you seen my sig? there are many others like it but none that are the same
15. Re:PVR by jgtg32a · 2013-01-30 01:43 · Score: 1
  
  In this instance I took a page from my parents, I go to a sports bar to watch sporting events. I'm good on everything else, free cable addon has just about everything. If there was a netflix plugin I'd be golden, minus the sports thing.
16. Re:PVR by jgtg32a · 2013-01-30 01:51 · Score: 1
  
  So do cable cards actually work now? Last time I looked into doing something like this it was 10+ years ago.
17. Re:PVR by Anonymous Coward · 2013-01-30 03:11 · Score: 0
  
  Unless I'm mistaken copy once flagged channels are not viewable through mythtv, unless VDR-SC is doing some of its own magic on the stream? Care to share any insight on viewing copy once channels from myth?
18. Re:PVR by Zarquon · 2013-01-30 03:36 · Score: 1
  
  It's a crapshoot depending on the CCI settings of your cable provider, but yes, they do. I have the quad tuner from Ceton, and from Verizon FIOS I get locals, expanded basic, and some of the premium channels with my mythtv backend. I recently rebuilt the box; it's currently running on Ubuntu raring, with an AMD A10 and 5x3TB in a ZFS array.
  There's a small database that might be helpful:
  http://www.ronfrazier.net/mythtv/cci/index.php
  http://www.mythtv.org/wiki/CableCARD
  You'll also need a listings provider; I use Schedules Direct, which just works but does charge.
  -R C
  (Under linux, you'll only receive channels with no flags or the Copy Freely flag. In the absence of CCI flags, the Ceton tuner will also respect the old school analog (macrovision?) flags that are ignored by clear qam tuners.)
  
  --
  "'Tis great confidence in a friend to tell him your faults, greater to tell him his." --Poor Richard's Almanac
19. Re:PVR by godefroi · 2013-01-30 04:10 · Score: 1
  
  But, you see, they call them "local channels" for a reason! It turns out (many do not know this) that they just BROADCAST them, right over the air! It's like a giant WiFi with all the major networks on it, streamed for free (and legally!) right to your house!
  But seriously, why bother with paying for a usenet provider (which is dying) or run a BT client only to download illegal crappy encodes when I can get full-quality 0-day video streamed right to my house?
  
  --
  Karma: Poor (Mostly affected by lame karma-joke sigs)
20. Re:PVR by Anonymous Coward · 2013-01-30 05:00 · Score: 0
  
  It's easy enough to record with tvheadend using tvhguide.
21. Re:PVR by Anonymous Coward · 2013-01-30 07:15 · Score: 0
  
  The live TV/PVR "functionality" is still dogshit, apparently shoehorned in at the last minute.
  I second the grandparent - this is hacked on.
  PVR might be great under the hood; but the first encounter with it is...
  Ooh, shiny interface. Ok - live TV. "No PVR selected", hmm, ok; go to settings, and enable... why are there five to choose from? None of them are my hardware. Oh, they're names of competing open-source projects? Oh, those whacky unix guys. Fine, let's choose one - mythTv; I've heard of that. ... invalid database connection.
  Wat? WHY does... fine; we'll try the next one. ... None of them work.
  Ok, so I need to download something extra. Wasn't on the front page of the downloads.. ok, the wiki tells me, on the fourth most obvious page.
  And those links.. take me to forum pages. Which want me to download stuff.
  Fine. Argus is the least painful looking. And it downloads what it claims is a .doc file? But it's actually a zip; so I rename it.
  And it starts to install; and its installation instructions start talking about needing a database server...
  WHY?
  I don't want a database server.
  This is NOT a usable installation process. It is, in fact, a good example of open-source being terrible from a usability perspective.
  Three different pages of instructions, and I'm still not sure whether this one will work - in which case I have to back it all out and try another one.
22. Re:PVR by Anonymous Coward · 2013-01-30 08:47 · Score: 0
  
  That is what VDR-SC is doing. VDR-SC is one of the many cardsharing and softcam emulators out there. I preffer SASC-NG. These tools were meant for DVB Satellite(dishnetwork) but they're easily modifiable to be used in NA cable providers. In cardsharing mode, just like the name suggest the card can be shared with multiple devices or people, and it can leave you with a clear stream no flags.
23. Re:PVR by Anonymous Coward · 2013-01-31 02:41 · Score: 0
  
  Have an links to information on the modifications that are needed?
Bloated, and not copyfree. by Anonymous Coward · 2013-01-29 13:19 · Score: 1

There is no genuinely free media player currently available, but from the options that are available, XBMC seems like a far more bloated option compared to good old mplayer.
Just look at the dependencies for the XBMC port on FreeBSD (`make pretty-print-run-depends-list pretty-print-build-depends-list -C /usr/ports/multimedia/xbmc`, with all `make config` flags disabled):
This port requires package(s) "aalib-1.4.r5_6 atk-2.0.1 avahi-app-0.6.29_3 bitstream-vera-1.10_5 boost-libs-1.48.0_2 ca_root_nss-3.14.1 cairo-1.10.2_5,2 cdparanoia-3.9.8_9 compositeproto-0.4.2 consolekit-0.4.3 curl-7.24.0_1 damageproto-1.2.1 dbus-1.4.14_4 dbus-glib-0.94 dmidecode-2.11 dri2proto-2.6 eggdbus-0.6_1 enca-1.13 encodings-1.0.4,1 expat-2.0.1_2 fixesproto-5.0 flac-1.2.1_3 font-bh-ttf-1.0.3 font-misc-ethiopic-1.0.3 font-misc-meltho-1.0.3 font-util-1.2.0 fontconfig-2.9.0,1 freeglut-2.8.0 freetype2-2.4.11 fribidi-0.19.2_1 gamin-0.1.10_4 gdbm-1.9.1 gdk-pixbuf-2.23.5_3 gettext-0.18.1.1 gio-fam-backend-2.28.8_1 glew-1.9.0 glib-2.28.8_5 gnome_subr-1.0 gobject-introspection-0.10.8_3 gtk-update-icon-cache-2.24.6_1 hal-0.5.14_20 hicolor-icon-theme-0.12 icu-50.1.1 inputproto-2.0.2 jasper-1.900.1_10 jbigkit-1.6 jpeg-8_4 kbproto-1.0.5 lame-3.99.5 lcms-1.19_1,1 libGL-7.6.1_2 libGLU-7.6.1_1 libICE-1.0.7,1 libSM-1.2.0,1 libX11-1.4.4,1 libXau-1.0.6 libXcomposite-0.4.3,1 libXcursor-1.1.12 libXdamage-1.1.3 libXdmcp-1.1.0 libXext-1.3.0_1,1 libXfixes-5.0 libXft-2.1.14 libXi-1.4.5,1 libXinerama-1.1.1,1 libXmu-1.1.0,1 libXp-1.0.1,1 libXrandr-1.3.2 libXrender-0.9.6 libXt-1.1.1,1 libXtst-1.2.0 libXxf86dga-1.1.2 libXxf86vm-1.1.1 libaacs-0.3.0 libass-0.10.1 libbluray-0.2.2,1 libcddb-1.3.2_1 libcdio-0.83_1 libdaemon-0.14 libdrm-2.4.17_1 libexecinfo-1.1_3 libffi-3.0.11 libfontenc-1.1.0 libgcrypt-1.5.0_1 libgpg-error-1.10 libiconv-1.14 libltdl-2.4.2 libmad-0.15.1b_2 libmicrohttpd-0.9.23 libmodplug-0.8.8.4 libmpeg2-0.5.1_1 libogg-1.3.0,4 libpciaccess-0.12.1 libplist-1.8 libpthread-stubs-0.3_3 libsamplerate-0.1.8_3 libsndfile-1.0.25_2 libssh-0.5.2 libvolume_id-0.81.1 libvorbis-1.3.3_1,3 libxcb-1.7 libxml2-2.7.8_5 lzo2-2.06 mesa-demos-7.6.1_1 mkfontdir-1.0.6 mkfontscale-1.0.9 mysql-client-5.5.29 ncurses-5.9_1 p5-Unicode-Map8-0.13 p5-Unicode-String-2.09 pango-1.28.4_1 pciids-20121208 pcre-8.32 perl-5.14.2_2 pixman-0.24.2 pkgconf-0.8.9 png-1.5.14 policykit-0.9_6 polkit-0.99 popt-1.16 printproto-1.0.5 py27-imaging-1.1.7_1 py27-sqlite3-2.7.3_2 py27-tkinter-2.7.3_3 python27-2.7.3_6 randrproto-1.3.2 recode-3.6_8 recordproto-1.14.1 renderproto-0.11.1 rtmpdump-2.4_1 samba34-libsmbclient-3.4.17 sdl-1.2.15_2,2 sdl_image-1.2.12_1 shared-mime-info-1.0_2 sqlite3-3.7.14.1 taglib-1.8 talloc-2.0.7 tcl-8.5.13 tcl-modules-8.5.13 tiff-4.0.3 tinyxml-2.6.2_1 tk-8.5.13 xcb-util-0.3.9_1,1 xcb-util-renderutil-0.3.8 xdpyinfo-1.3.0 xextproto-7.2.0 xf86dgaproto-2.1 xf86vidmodeproto-2.3.1 xineramaproto-1.2.1 xorg-fonts-truetype-7.5.1 xproto-7.0.22 yajl-2.0.4_1" to run.
This port requires package(s) "aalib-1.4.r5_6 atk-2.0.1 autoconf-2.69 autoconf-wrapper-20101119 automake-1.12.6 automake-wrapper-20101119 avahi-app-0.6.29_3 bitstream-vera-1.10_5 boost-libs-1.48.0_2 ca_root_nss-3.14.1 cairo-1.10.2_5,2 cdparanoia-3.9.8_9 cmake-2.8.9 cmake-modules-2.8.9 compositeproto-0.4.2 consolekit-0.4.3 cups-client-1.5.4 curl-7.24.0_1 damageproto-1.2.1 dbus-1.4.14_4 dbus-glib-0.94 dejavu-2.33 dmidecode-2.11 dri2proto-2.6 eggdbus-0.6_1 enca-1.13 encodings-1.0.4,1 expat-2.0.1_2 fixesproto-5.0 flac-1.2.1_3 font-bh-ttf-1.0.3 font-misc-ethiopic-1.0.3 font-misc-meltho-1.0.3 font-util-1.2.0 fontconfig-2.9.0,1 freetype2-2.4.11 fribidi-0.19.2_1 gamin-0.1.10_4 gawk-4.0.2 gdbm-1.9.1 gdk-pixbuf-2.23.5_3 gettext-0.18.1.1 gio-fam-backend-2.28.8_1 glew-1.9.0 glib-2.28.8_5 gmake-3.82_1 gnome_subr-1.0 gobject-introspection-0.10.8_3 gperf-3.0.3 gtk-2.24.6_2 gtk-update-icon-cache-2.24.6_1 hal-0.5.14_20 hicolor-icon-theme-0.12 icu-50.1.1 inputproto-2.0.2 jasper-1.900.1_10 java-zoneinfo-2012.j javavmwrapper-2.4_3 jbigkit-1.6 jpeg-8_4 kbproto-1.0.5 lame-3.99.5 lib
1. Re:Bloated, and not copyfree. by itslifejimbutnotaswe · 2013-01-29 14:41 · Score: 2
  
  Are you selling axes? Do they come in other shapes than the one you're grinding now?
2. Re:Bloated, and not copyfree. by PopeRatzo · 2013-01-29 16:19 · Score: 1
  
  So what?
  
  --
  You are welcome on my lawn.
3. Re:Bloated, and not copyfree. by Anonymous Coward · 2013-01-29 18:55 · Score: 0
  
  Good luck on running mplayer with a remote control. XBMC is meant for media center usage, not jerking off to porn at the desktop.
4. Re:Bloated, and not copyfree. by Anonymous Coward · 2013-01-30 07:51 · Score: 0
  
  what's bloated about linking to libraries?
  the majority of listed deps are X11, SDL, GL, image loading libraries and media decoding libraries.
  we need to link to X11 cause it's the windowing system, SDL is something we want to kill but it's not like it is bloat, it's necessary for handling input and such. GL is used for rendering the graphics, hardly bloat. we need to load images for our GUI (not bloat) and being a media application, it's only natural to pull in some audio/video decoding libraries. absolutely none of these qualifies as bloat.
  mplayer links to 95% of these as well. for some of the decoding libraries they have their own copy of, support loading dll's for and support through ffmpeg. if anything, you can argue this is bloat! (i'm not)
  some other easily explained deps; python is used for plugins (and brings a lot of shit). the java deps are build-time deps, as we need the jvm to run groovy for code generation. avahi to register our services on the zeroconf bus. curl to do url handling (and that brings in about 20 of those deps).
  it is also very hard to see what makes us not be free software according to your definitions. i would like to point at that we apparently are according to the sflc since they are supporting us in legal matters and they are listed on your page.
  finally, the fact that you compare a media center to a mere command line player tells me you are barking up a tree you have never climbed.
5. Re:Bloated, and not copyfree. by Anonymous Coward · 2013-01-30 08:22 · Score: 0
  
  Good luck on running mplayer with a remote control.
  "RTFM" > "LUCK"
  Mplayer had LIRC support for over a decade, including on FreeBSD.
  
  XBMC is meant for media center usage, not jerking off to porn at the desktop.
  Real geeks have no use for the former. 8-)
  But seriously - the opposite of "bloated" is "modular". Mplayer "does one thing and does it well", as per The UNIX Way . It's easily scripted and controllable via a runtime API, with many existing wrappers. So instead of having one bloated mess like XBMC trying to be all things to all people, all we should need is a simple video menu app that then passes control to mplayer.
  It so happens that I'm toying around with precisely this kind of project on the back-burner: a Node.JS + HTML5 media searching / browsing UI that can launch mplayer if connecting from localhost. (HTML5 video still sucks, especially on my old system.) It even remembers which parts of the video you've played or skipped through, for automatic resume. I personally don't use a remote control, but hopefully HTML 5.1+ will support that "10-foot user interface" crap as well. And hopefully someday in-browser video formats will be common enough, and in-browser player features powerful enough, to make all them copyleft stand-alone player apps obsolete!
  --libman
6. Re:Bloated, and not copyfree. by Anonymous Coward · 2013-01-30 10:52 · Score: 0
  
  mplayer links to 95% of these as well.
  "95%" is a ridiculous guess, but that's not what's important - what's important is whether those dependencies are feature-optional.
  XBMC with all `make config` options disabled:
  `make run-depends-list -C /usr/ports/multimedia/xbmc | wc -l` => 51
  `make build-depends-list -C /usr/ports/multimedia/xbmc | wc -l` => 60
  Mplayer as I use it to play anything and everything (with the following `make config` options enabled: RTCPU, OCFLAGS, X11, X11XV, THEORA, VPX, WIN32):
  `make run-depends-list -C /usr/ports/multimedia/mplayer | wc -l` => 8
  `make build-depends-list -C /usr/ports/multimedia/mplayer | wc -l` => 9
  Mplayer runs without perl / python / tcl / bash, without any gnome stuff, etc. On Gentoo Linux (my favorite Linux distro before I went all BSD) it can even run on the framebuffer, with no X! I can understand why a media center might want to optionally support any number of plug-in scripting languages, database backends, GNOME desktop integration, network protocols (ex. SAMBA), etc - but making all of them mandatory is just bloat!
  
  it is also very hard to see what makes us not be free software according to your definitions.
  I said it's not " genuinely free", with the link explaining what I mean by "genuine" - but only in passing (see above).
  
  the fact that you compare a media center to a mere command line player tells me you are barking up a tree you have never climbed.
  First of all, mplayer is not "a mere command line player", it is a modular piece of software. It can be used with a GUI front-end or inside a Web browser. It can run as a daemon and be controlled by another application, like one that shows a touchscreen / mouse / LIRC menu, or takes voice commands, or Kinect input, or whatever else.
  Secondly, comparing mplayer to XBMC is like comparing a UNIX system to a caricature of a "fully loaded" Windows PC that won't let you uninstall anything. Some trees are not worth climbing.
  --
  I think that in-browser video is the future, but note that "in-browser" doesn't necessarily mean "online". (Also future browser input device possibilities will be vastly greater than today. Most people will watch movies by sitting on a couch / armchair / recliner in front of a wall-sized screen, but how they control it will be up to them: voice commands, gesture recognition, flexible touch-pads on their couches or clothes, wearable type-on-air finger motion capture, etc, etc, etc. Stay tuned for HTML6, 7, etc...)
  Examples of Web Apps that present video would include: whitelisted BitTorrent Web-sites that integrate with a BT download daemon running on your computer, a local RSS downloader daemon with a Web interface (like an in-browser alternative to Miro), an "/index.html6" on removable media, etc. Mplayer can still be a useful component for those apps (ex. launched full-screen by a client-side daemon that is controlled from the browser with a WebSockets API), until HTML5+ video makes it entirely obsolete. XBMC, on the other hand, is just The Wrong Way To Do It.
  --libman
7. Re:Bloated, and not copyfree. by Anonymous Coward · 2013-01-30 12:33 · Score: 0
  
  you come through rather incoherent, but i'll try to address what i think is your main points.
  you have a beef with the build system on freebsd. there is exactly one contributor on bsd, so here you can make a big difference contributing instead of whining on slashdot (somehow my hopes are low..) also, whoever set up the port for xbmc enabled everything under the sun, as many of the libs we can use are optional in the build system. samba is an example, mysql is an example, the "gnome stuff" (which is just gtk and is only used for the fatal error handler is optional). lots and lots of stuff is already optional. we only embed a single scripting language (python), this is not optional afaik, but the rest are pulled in as dependencies of other packages (blame whoever set up the ports!)
  i'm sure that if you reduced xbmc to a mere media player (i.e. extracted our dvdplayer), you could get us down to mplayer in terms of deps. but then you have taken a media center and made it into a media player. and just the opposite, if you do everything in mplayer such as remote control support, gui, hwdecoders, whatnot you end up with a list close to xbmc in terms of deps. and still get far less functionality than you get in xbmc mind you.
  for the record, i have used mplayer since the first public version back in ~ 1999 and all it could do was pretty much load the *binary* dshow codec and play some xvid videos. i still use it - when a media player is what i'm after.
  can you point to one feature you think is bloated? bloat is *not* features you have no interest in. if that's your definition, you are abusing the word. xbmc runs on everything from high end htpcs to small handheld devices such as phones and pads. if it was bloated, that would be pretty hard to pull off.
8. Re:Bloated, and not copyfree. by Anonymous Coward · 2013-01-30 15:43 · Score: 0
  
  Alright, so I'm a grouchy minimalist unixbeard. And XBMC is a perfect example of the kind of an app that people like me have no use for. If you're its developer - please don't take my bah-humbugging personally. You can't please everybody. I've stated my opinion of XBMC, and why I'd rather script together my own media center that uses mplayer (see above). But, as HTML5+ video advances, it won't just be people like me...
  
  you have a beef with the build system on freebsd
  Of course my opinion of XBMC was affected by how it's packaged for my OS, as would be the case for any user. This may indeed be a very rare example of bad packaging for FreeBSD (I've contacted the port maintainer). But, looking at the far more flexible ebuild, it's clear that some fraction of my criticism remains valid.
  
  i'm sure that if you reduced xbmc to a mere media player (i.e. extracted our dvdplayer), you could get us down to mplayer in terms of deps.
  Now you're just being silly. To go pound-for-pound against mplayer (or ffplay), you'd have to rewrite xbmc from scratch in C, not C++/Boost + Python.
  --libman
9. Re:Bloated, and not copyfree. by Anonymous Coward · 2013-01-30 19:47 · Score: 0
  
  sure i dont give a rats ass about your opinion on xbmc. it was the fud i disliked. sure there are improvements to be had but some of your statements were blatantly wrong and that had to be commented on.
  the only boost usage in xbmc is for the sharedptr class.
  yes i used to be a developer for xbmc. one of a couple of hundred contributors over the years.
  you go back to writing html css javascript to launch mplayer.
  spiff
10. Re:Bloated, and not copyfree. by Anonymous Coward · 2013-01-31 08:03 · Score: 0
  
  [...] some of your statements were blatantly wrong and that had to be commented on.
  No one has yet pointed out a single statement I've made on this thread that was technically wrong. The FreeBSD-specific flaw was significant, and has now been addressed - the port maintainer says he'll "add more options in the Frodo update". I've done my little part - maybe someone who cares about XBMC will care to check up on the BSD port later.
  The remaining divergences on software design aesthetics are nothing new, and nothing constructive will be gained by resorting to personal attacks or trying to stifle my opinion. Nothing in the Slashdot "terms of service" requires the comments to be one big circle-jerk of positivism - you'll hear from those who like your software, and occasionally from those that do not. If you are not capable of gaining anything constructive from my criticism, then you are more than welcome to ignore it.
  
  you go back to writing html css javascript to launch mplayer.
  Technically it'd be a daemon process with an HTTP API that launches mplayer when the in-browser scripts request it (if connecting from localhost, obviously), which is only needed to fill the current gaps in HTML5+ video capability. This might have seemed strange in the pre-ChromeOS days, but in-browser apps are becoming increasingly common, and they offer many advantages. We'll see how the most popular home media centers will function a few years from now...
  --libman
11. Re:Bloated, and not copyfree. by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-01 01:05 · Score: 0
  
  if i came through as resorting to personal attacks, i'm sorry, that was honestly not my intention. sure, there's some sarcasm in there, i'll gladly admit that, but it's just my way of expressing myself. i'm used to conversing in this manner (and sometimes i forget that not all are used to this tone..) if it was the incoherency comment, it was a bit hard to follow your line of thought hopping from pointing out the (faultily) large dependency list to spawning mplayer through a web browser (which has much more deps - we have resorted from pulling in webkit for that very reason), which surely embeds more scripting languages and has an even higher complexity than xbmc. i see from your explanation now, that you aren't doing exactly what i thought you were so it was statements based on a somewhat wrong ground.
  i pointed out that the list of deps in the port is not the "real" amount of *required* dependencies. that's the statement i found wrong. which turned out wasn't really your "fault". and hey, it's awesome that something good came out of it, ie. the port being improved.
  i also disagree on the number of dependencies being a metric of bloat. there's a much bigger chance of bloat by everything being reimplemented, NIH and all that.
  while i'm all onboard with the unix philosophy of one tool for each task and do it well, it sometimes stands in the way of getting software properly integrated to form an endproduct. and (*can be*) a big usability problem for less technically inclined endusers. that being said, modularity is certainly an area xbmc can still improve in. a lot of the monolithic nature sterns from our legacy - we started out on the xbox where we had to provide everything ourself. xbmc has moved to a much more modular design in later years and there is work in progress to move more and more things to binary (i.e. compiled) add-ons. but it moves slowly as things get complicated when you have to deal with all the platforms, archs etc we run on these days (compiling, distribution). for instance, the pvr add-ons were added in this way from their very first incarnation (in the mainline) and are built completely separate.
  as for the new wine being html5+, which i guess is your point here, i personally welcome any "new" tech and "competition" in the area of media centers. i got engaged back in 2004 because frankly what was available at the time was far from satisfactory, so i wanted to scratch my own itch. if something better than what we have created over the last 10 years pops up, i'd welcome it. but so far, nothing is close in terms of (to me; useful) functionality. i really think you should look again at what xbmc offers. it's not just a pretty gui to launch a video player.
  hope this clears things up somewhat, and sorry for any offense taken, it was never intended.
  spiff
12. Re:Bloated, and not copyfree. by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-01 10:51 · Score: 0
  
  if i came through as resorting to personal attacks, i'm sorry, that was honestly not my intention. sure, there's some sarcasm in there, i'll gladly admit that, but it's just my way of expressing myself. i'm used to conversing in this manner (and sometimes i forget that not all are used to this tone..)
  And I apologize for my tendency to speak in generalities and lump people together - no particular "personal attacks" came from you.
  No one should be blamed for "not giving a rat's ass about my opinion" - I just write the things that I think deserve to be written.
  (The "go back to writing html css javascript..." comment struck a bit of a nerve, but only due to my own insecurities... I haven't done much but scripting since the 90s, while I'd rather be writing more serious software in C, or at least Go/Rust/Nimrod... But the in-browser software stack is a universal standard that I am forced to accept.)
  I do appreciate criticism, sarcasm, and passionate self-expression - it's the "shut up, troll" stuff (from other people) that should be avoided.
  
  if it was the incoherency comment, it was a bit hard to follow your line of thought hopping from pointing out the (faultily) large dependency list...
  My first post, while not wrong, was poorly researched. It was based on a single piece of anecdotal evidence that atypically turned out not to be representative of how XBMC is packaged on other OS'es. The purpose of that post was not to present a well-rounded review of XBMC, and it was clear that I was talking about that specific observation on FreeBSD. I don't comment on every piece of software that I don't use, but I thought that particular observation was interesting enough to give voice to. From the purist point of view, the criticism of "software bloat" still applies to XBMC as it's packaged for other OS'es, but that is far less noteworthy.
  I'm obviously presenting a specific point of view, and one that is admittedly not very popular. I am trying to practice and evolve a software philosophy that values simplicity, modularity, and reuse of common components. I am also biased against software that is not permissively licensed, and am trying to make things work while using as few of those components as possible. Some copyleft components, like mplayer/ffmpeg and Web browser dependencies, cannot yet be avoided, but the amount of unavoidable copyleft code needed for a functional UNIX desktop / workstation is gradually shrinking.
  
  ...to spawning mplayer through a web browser (which has much more deps - we have resorted from pulling in webkit for that very reason), which surely embeds more scripting languages and has an even higher complexity than xbmc.
  I didn't want to simply badmouth XBMC for being 100MB of "GUItard GNUshit" (parody quotes); I also wanted to presented my alternative vision for how a Media Center app ought to be designed. Or, rather, it was two perspectives that sort of melted together. The first one is that "you don't need it" - one can use decentralized media tools and script them together for any desired effect. The second perspective was access to all your media via Web-based app / apps (which of course can run locally).
  That first perspective comes from the minimalist unixbeard perspective, which is a minority, even on Slashdot. I just can't imagine having a keyboard very far away from me at any time. Even when relaxing on the couch and watching video on the big screen, reaching for a laptop on the tray table right in front of me (which I occasionally do anyway if I'm on IRC, etc) takes less time than reaching for a dumbremo
hi10p multithreading by AdamWill · 2013-01-29 13:21 · Score: 2

If you're forced to watch a lot of hi10p stuff (thanks, bandwagon-jumping fansub groups!) you may want to grab this patch:
https://github.com/xbmc/xbmc/pull/2064
it enables multithreaded decoding of hi10p content (and *only* hi10p, it won't enable multithreading for anything else, where it could potentially be buggy). Since there's nothing at all capable of hardware decoding hi10p at present, this is a huge boon for those of us trying to watch HD hi10p files on little media server boxes. It takes typical hi10p files from 'visibly jerky' to 'nearly perfect' on my zotac box. OpenELEC 3.0 rc2 has this patch built in, as it comes from an openelec dev; other XBMC users might want to add it to their setups.
1. Re:hi10p multithreading by Anonymous Coward · 2013-01-29 21:37 · Score: 0
  
  The evil fansub groups, holding a gun to your head and forcing you to watch content you were not supposed to watch!
  How do they sleep at night?
2. Re:hi10p multithreading by Anonymous Coward · 2013-01-30 00:47 · Score: 0
  
  or you use the packages from https://launchpad.net/~wsnipex/+archive/xbmc-xvba-frodo (Frodo stable)
  or
  https://launchpad.net/~wsnipex/+archive/xbmc-xvba (tested Git builds)
  both do already include the hi10p multithreading patch
3. Re:hi10p multithreading by SeaFox · 2013-01-30 02:16 · Score: 1
  
  If you're forced to watch a lot of hi10p stuff (thanks, bandwagon-jumping fansub groups!) you may want to grab this patch:
  https://github.com/xbmc/xbmc/pull/2064
  
  Bandwagon? This transition has been going on for over a year now. It's not like the beginning when it was Commie and gg and nobody else.
  You can always watch HorribleSubs, they're still 8-bit. Deadfish does 8-bit and hardsubbed MP4's and I'm pretty sure he uses the major groups' scripts.
4. Re:hi10p multithreading by AdamWill · 2013-01-31 08:15 · Score: 1
  
  "This transition has been going on for over a year now"
  I know - with scant regard to the fact that there is still zero hardware acceleration support for 10-bit. None, zip, zero, nada. Knowing 'this transition' is going on doesn't do you much good if you actually need hardware accelerated playback. My whole point is that this started with one or two groups and now lots of others are jumping on the _bandwagon_ without waiting for playback capabilities to catch up...
  Even with multithreaded software decoding you need a pretty powerful CPU to keep up with HD hi10p; so far as media centre boxes go you pretty much need something from the most recent CPU generation. My previous-gen Zotac box can now play _most_ 720p files with little framedrop, but it still doesn't stand a chance of keeping up with most 1080p stuff.
  It's kind of weird to cut out anyone who's not using a powerful current-gen PC from playing your stuff, especially now streamer boxes are so common and there are big communities of people using e.g. RasbPi and Apple TV boxes as XBMC platforms. They don't stand a hope in hell of playing anything their hardware decoders don't support.
  I know which groups use 8 and which use 10, but not all stuff is available from 8-bit groups.
5. Re:hi10p multithreading by AdamWill · 2013-01-31 08:16 · Score: 1
  
  I'm a paid-up subscriber to all available legal services, thanks.
6. Re:hi10p multithreading by SeaFox · 2013-01-31 17:58 · Score: 1
  
  I know - with scant regard to the fact that there is still zero hardware acceleration support for 10-bit. None, zip, zero, nada. Knowing 'this transition' is going on doesn't do you much good if you actually need hardware accelerated playback.
  DXVA encoding was already rather unpopular because it required quality tradeoffs and was a support issue the groups didn't want to have in their blogs. One of the reasons THORA went to Hi10P was to get out of that. MediaPlayerClassic-Homecinema allowed hardware-accelerated playback on many files by ignoring some of the checks it should normally be making by default. As for full hardware acceleration, it's not supported evenly by all graphics processors and the results could vary even when they were.
  I honestly doubt we'll see 10-bit h264 hardware support. The collective consumer electronics industry is already looking toward h265 for the next hardware playback step. They only begrudgingly support MKV for a container format, which I bet is why the Live TV pirates chose to move to MP4 when they stepped up recently. They don't have to support subs and don't care about chaptering. Consider how long it took to get broad support for 8-bit h264/high for video at all, and how it held back the Live TV pirating community. They are 3-5 years behind us today because they were holding onto their XviD/AVI format for playback on their DIVX DVD players.
  I don't think the fansub community sees any reason to let corporations steer the decisions that effect their projects. Software decoding works, is more reliable than hardware-accelerated playback, and is more balanced on the system. You can put your graphics card to use on a better picture renderer, like MadVR, instead of settling for Overlay even EVR.
  
  My whole point is that this started with one or two groups and now lots of others are jumping on the _bandwagon_ without waiting for playback capabilities to catch up...
  For the fansub community, playback capability is judged by the state of ffdshow, they aren't aiming for hardware-acceleration -- because most of the audience is watching on their PCs and if it is in the living room it's likely being transcoded and streamed anyway by PS3MediaServer. This is why many groups will only "guarantee" their releases to play back right in CCCP. They didn't start moving to 10-bit encoding until 10-bit was in a stable ffdshow release. The incredibly late arrival of VLC to 10-bit compatibility has only made it more of a joke than it was.
  
  Even with multithreaded software decoding you need a pretty powerful CPU to keep up with HD hi10p; so far as media centre boxes go you pretty much need something from the most recent CPU generation. My previous-gen Zotac box can now play _most_ 720p files with little framedrop, but it still doesn't stand a chance of keeping up with most 1080p stuff.
  It's kind of weird to cut out anyone who's not using a powerful current-gen PC from playing your stuff,
  I would say any non-POS PC from the last 5 years should be fine for 720p. The load isn't that much more than 8-bit for the decoding itself. You might be having more probelms because everyone is soft-subbing everything now, and some of that work is getting more complicated (UTW is very bad with that karaoke effects). Which is why we have that fork of VOBSub with multi-threading now.
  
  especially now streamer boxes are so common and there are big communities of people using e.g. RasbPi and Apple TV boxes as XBMC platforms. They don't stand a hope in hell of playing anything their hardware decoders don't support.
  Streamer boxes generally don't support ASS subtitles, either. So it's already a non-issue. For playback like that it's going to get transcoded beforehand, or done in real time from a regular PC in another room..
  
  I know which groups use 8 and which use 10, but not all stuff is available from 8-bit groups.
  And you can transcode the rest yourself with XviD4PSP. I transcode 10-bit h264 and occasionally 8-bit h264 (that's over L4.1) down to hardsubbed h264/MP4 to play back on my blu-ray player.
But does it see your tuner cards. by Anonymous Coward · 2013-01-29 13:53 · Score: 0

I always have to wonder.
Some other drivers for these cards besides windows would be a god send.
Just be careful by Daetrin · 2013-01-29 14:18 · Score: 2

Even if it does run on Android, try not to get your Frodo mixed up with your Froyo. That never ends well.

...

Okay, unless you like short hairy people covered in yogurt. I guess i shouldn't judge.

--
This Space Intentionally Left Blank
TV by Ark42 · 2013-01-29 14:30 · Score: 1

Does this somehow get my MKV files on my computer to play on my TV? Lots of features, but lots of confusion as to what XMBC actually does, if you've never touched it before.

--
Morphing Software
1. Re:TV by DeadS0ul · 2013-01-29 14:35 · Score: 1
  
  You should look into Serviio or Plex for that. I recommend Serviio more, and Plex if you have a samsung TV smart TV, or a Roku.
2. Re:TV by itslifejimbutnotaswe · 2013-01-29 14:43 · Score: 1
  
  Is your computer plugged into your TV? If so, then ofcourse. If not, does your computer support UPnP, and does it support the types of files on your computer? If so, then ofcourse (subject to the TV having a half decent UPnP client). To fully apprecieate XBMC, you want the former, not the latter.
3. Re:TV by rueger · 2013-01-29 14:54 · Score: 1
  
  FWIW Servio and Plex couldn't seem to work with my Sony, but Wild Media Server did right out of the box.
  
  Disclaimer: Cheap, but not free; really bizarre licencing terms; equally bizarre docs.
  
  --
  Three Squirrels
4. Re:TV by Ark42 · 2013-01-29 15:30 · Score: 1
  
  No, my TV is 200' away and up a floor. There is an Xbox360, and Samsung Blu-ray player. It seems like the TV supports crappy DLNA, which doesn't work with MKV, and the Xbox is useless for anything as long as I'm not going to pay for Gold. The Blu-ray player has 4 built-in features: Youtube, Blockbuster, Netflix, Pandora.
  
  --
  Morphing Software
5. Re:TV by itslifejimbutnotaswe · 2013-01-29 15:35 · Score: 1
  
  Considered purchasing a cheap Android box? There's a bunch of them now that work nicely with XBMC for under $100. I'm sure you can get some info on xbmc.org as to which ones work well and which ones are best avoided. Alternatives are getting a UPnP server that will transcode - XBMC won't do that, but there's many other apps out there that will. Ofcourse, there may be other deficiencies with your TVs UPnP client to concern yourself with - thus the suggestion of a cheap client.
6. Re:TV by Anonymous Coward · 2013-01-29 16:00 · Score: 0
  
  Or look at the Rokus - I just got the XS one, and it streams from my pc using Plex very nicely; when I bought it I thought I'd have to copy all my movies to another usb drive for it, but once I started playing around & found Plex I went for that. I even dropped the $5 to get the iOS client so now my wife can watch anything she wants on her ipad without me having to convert to m4v.
7. Re:TV by silas_moeckel · 2013-01-29 16:43 · Score: 1
  
  If it supports DLNA just setup a converter there are many to choose from that can cross convert in real time.
  
  --
  No sir I dont like it.
8. Re:TV by voxner · 2013-01-29 21:48 · Score: 1
  
  Matroska format is not supported in some TVs. For my bravia i convert mkv to mpeg4 format. Unless you want to encode subtitles it could just be a copy of the video codec in the mpeg4 container. ffmpeg is your friend.
9. Re:TV by drinkypoo · 2013-01-30 01:45 · Score: 1
  
  Did you try PS3MediaServer?
  
  --
  "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
10. Re:TV by Anonymous Coward · 2013-01-30 03:54 · Score: 0
  
  Spend about $90 on a WD TV Live. It is an amazing little box that plays darn near everything, even HD mkv.
  XBMC is great, I have used it for years and even have PTSD from using the official forums. But if you don't have a computer next to your TV, the WD box is great.
11. Re:TV by Fallingcow · 2013-01-30 05:16 · Score: 1
  
  PS3 Media Server
  It's not just for the PS3. Pretty sure the 360 can use it. TV might be able to. PS3, XBMC, and Windows Media Player all can.
  Note that it doesn't work so great over wireless with 720p or higher content, so you'll need to have a wired connection (preferably Gigabit, especially if you want to play 1080p video) between the PC and the 360 or TV. Your computer will also need enough horsepower to transcode HD video on the fly, or you're out of luck—I've got an old dual-core Pentium D that does just fine, picked it up used for $100 at a PC recycling place.
12. Re:TV by coxymla · 2013-01-30 13:12 · Score: 1
  
  360 is 100Mbit only. Its DLNA is also a bit dodgy in my experience.
How to fix YouTube by Anonymous Coward · 2013-01-29 14:54 · Score: 0

What annoys me is that every new release breaks a lot of the plugins, so youtube doesn't work. /firefox rant
This is the same as Firefox did it, up until about version 10, Firefox marked every new release as not working, until the developers re-did it for the new version. Then they released quick upgrades so that NOTHING EVER WORKED, nobody could ever use it and plugin developers discontinued work.
e.g. Twonky Beam, was a plug in that could send the media on a page being viewed in Firefox to any DNLA renderer (like your TV, or Xbox, or PS3 or DVR, anything with DNLA support). Twonky had enough and stopped developing it, and now Firefox has no DNLA beamer. /rant
If XBMC keep breaking their plugins the end result will be exactly the same as Firefox, they'll lose a lot of users, and a lot of plugin developers.
1. Re:How to fix YouTube by itslifejimbutnotaswe · 2013-01-29 17:18 · Score: 1
  
  AFAIK the only plugins marked as broken are actually broken. I believe the python API is now generated from C++ code directly rather than being hand coded, so some breakage is possible due to that, however, the vast majority will be broken due to website changes, rather than XBMC-side changes, which have been reasonably static for the last few months (i.e. plenty of time for add-on devs to work with).
  There is no marking as broken as a matter of course on version update as far as I can discern. If anything, the add-on would simply not be moved into the new versions repository - i.e. current users won't be affected, but it won't (initially) be available to new users until the author has tested and approved it for the new repository.
2. Re:How to fix YouTube by bruce_the_loon · 2013-01-29 18:03 · Score: 1
  
  Youtube plugin is working fine in 12.0. The only issue I've experienced with XBMC's break/fix of plugins is that while you are alerted that a plugin as marked broken, there isn't a corresponding alert that it has been fixed.
  
  --
  Trying to become famous by taking photos. Visit my homepage please.
Why do I care about Hi10p? by franciscohs · 2013-01-29 15:01 · Score: 1

Can someone explain why should we care about this profile?
From what I see there is no hardware decoding for it yet, so it doesn't seem like something I'd use for the moment. Is there anything that hi10p provides that the previous profile couldn't achieve with a slightly larger file size?
1. Re:Why do I care about Hi10p? by Anonymous Coward · 2013-01-29 15:25 · Score: 1
  
  Anime fansub groups have started using it to cut down on banding. Since cartoons often have gradual color transitions, the repeated encode process (broadcast MPEG-2 -> Capture H.264 -> Reencode H.264 with subs baked on) introduces banding on those transitions that Hi10P at least somewhat mitigates. Basically it's a way to reduce the errors introduced in encoding further generations.
2. Re:Why do I care about Hi10p? by Anonymous Coward · 2013-01-29 15:31 · Score: 2, Informative
  
  >Can someone explain why should we care about this profile?
  In really basic terms, in Hi10p more data is used to define color which means there is less banding for a smaller file size. It's an H.264 profile which uses 10 bits of information to represent color. It's a huge improvement because there is less file size, which in the long run saves bandwidth.
  Advantages
  Significantly higher compression ratios resulting in decreased file sizes.
  Far more information is preserved from the original, removing such issues as banding and poor detail in dark scenes.
  Disadvantages
  Slower decoding and encoding.
  No support for DXVA or CUDA as of writing.
  Slight compatibility issues with older devices during playback.
  If you want to play it, http://haruhichan.com/forum/showthread.php?7545-KCP-Kawaii-Codec-Pack/page23the Kawaii Codec Pack is probably your best bet.
3. Re:Why do I care about Hi10p? by wierd_w · 2013-01-29 17:25 · Score: 1
  
  Uhm, that's what the fast HUFFYUV codec is for. Lossless, fast video codec. Sure, the filesize will be out of control on the capture, but it *WONT* introduce more block artifacts. It's freaking part of FDDShow's plugin pack for goodness sake! It can capture RGB formats just fine.
  Just have a decent capture rig, and off you go.
  I can capture a live source in huffyuv just fine without frame drops, and get a high quality input stream for an h264 encode run. Because it's a lossless format, you can bake your subs on without introducing artifacts of doom. Only ONE h264 pass needed, for final release.
4. Re:Why do I care about Hi10p? by Anonymous Coward · 2013-01-29 19:28 · Score: 0
  
  Those in Japan who capture the content are the same as those who encode the fansubbed video for the western world? I don't think you have a grasp on the fansubbing community. The unsubtitled H.264 release isn't made by or for the fansub group, it's made for anyone primarily for direct consumption.
  Even if there was someone releasing HUFFYUV encodes that the group could use, transmitting one 720p HUFFYUV video per show week over consumer broadband connections? Good luck with that. God help if the encoder does more than one show.
5. Re:Why do I care about Hi10p? by Anonymous Coward · 2013-01-29 21:46 · Score: 0
  
  >broadcast MPEG-2 -> Capture H.264 -> Reencode H.264 with subs baked on
  What is this, 2002?
  Nobody does that anymore.
  This is what really happens, for any encoder worth their salt, anyway:
  Broadcast MPEG-2 -> H.264 encode (deinterlacing, filtering, etc... if necessary) -> Mux video+audio+subs into MKV
6. Re:Why do I care about Hi10p? by jgtg32a · 2013-01-30 01:33 · Score: 1
  
  So Hi10p is better with dark scenes even if the 8bit (wasn't it) is an equivalent larger file size? If that's true looks like it is good to have then, because the reduced file sizes really isn't a good argument.
7. Re:Why do I care about Hi10p? by SeaFox · 2013-01-30 02:30 · Score: 1
  
  Anime fansub groups have started using it to cut down on banding. Since cartoons often have gradual color transitions, the repeated encode process (broadcast MPEG-2 -> Capture H.264 -> Reencode H.264 with subs baked on) introduces banding on those transitions that Hi10P at least somewhat mitigates.
  That intermediary h264 step doesn't exist any more (the "raw"). I suspect it's primary function was to simply create a more efficiently encoded version of the broadcast for distribution on the Internet. But with faster Internet connections more common now and quality of greater importance than file size now they aren't used if they can't be avoided. In fact, if you were encoding from a raw, you wouldn't use Hi10P because it would be worthless since the raw was generally 8-bit.
  The better groups have their own dedicated capper in Japan or access to a shared MPEG2 transport stream. They might do a quick "work raw" or internal usage but the actual final encode would be done straight from the source transport stream to the final encode after filtering.
  But you're right as to the general reason for Hi10P, greater quality and less banding/blocking (especially in darker scene) and smaller file sizes. The processing requirements are higher, but not much higher (for software-based decoding) and today's machines are so overpowered for most consumer uses in general it's not that big of an issue.
8. Re:Why do I care about Hi10p? by SeaFox · 2013-01-30 02:32 · Score: 1
  
  Whoops. Replied to the wrong post.
9. Re:Why do I care about Hi10p? by SeaFox · 2013-01-30 02:34 · Score: 1
  
  Oh, no I didn't. Dammit. I'd really like Slashdot to get their page threading display fixed.
10. Re:Why do I care about Hi10p? by SeaFox · 2013-01-30 02:46 · Score: 1
  
  Those in Japan who capture the content are the same as those who encode the fansubbed video for the western world?
  He didn't say that. The capture is used by fansubbers, they do their own final encode.
  
  I don't think you have a grasp on the fansubbing community. The unsubtitled H.264 release isn't made by or for the fansub group, it's made for anyone primarily for direct consumption.
  It's well known that many groups (gg being the first that comes to mind) have their own cappers often and they sometimes have exclusivity deals with the cappers, too.
  
  Even if there was someone releasing HUFFYUV encodes that the group could use, transmitting one 720p HUFFYUV video per show week over consumer broadband connections? Good luck with that. God help if the encoder does more than one show.
  If there's anyone who doesn't have a good grasp it seems to be you. Go look at the major anime bluray encoders (THORAnime, Coalgirls, Kira-Fansubs, Afternoon Naps Empire). They sometimes purchase/have access to actual JDM blu-ray discs, but sometimes they're having to download their source as BDMVs -- that's downloading a bluray disc over their Internet connections.
obvious joke... by musikit · 2013-01-29 15:19 · Score: 1

has anyone watched frodo (hobbit) using frodo(XMBC) on frodo(Android)?
1. Re:obvious joke... by c0d3g33k · 2013-01-29 16:06 · Score: 1
  
  Doesn't quite work, but nice try.
  The android version you're alluding to is called "froyo", not "frodo".
  Perhaps you were trying to (weakly) pun-ish us?
2. Re:obvious joke... by LiENUS · 2013-01-29 17:17 · Score: 1
  
  You mean froyo android? afaik there was no frodo release of android.
You're comparing a role suit to a clr video player by raymorris · 2013-01-29 16:01 · Score: 1

Xmbc is lime Windows Media Cenyer Edition + Roku + a few other things. Comparing it to a command line player is just silly. That's like comparing a $2 million luxury RV to a bicycle.

mplayer is great. I use mplayer DAILY. It's in no way similar to XMBC though.
He made a valid point by Anonymous Coward · 2013-01-29 16:10 · Score: 0

You made a soundbite, he made a valid point.
I don't have a favorable view of XBMC, most of the plugins didn't work, some were marked as working and gave mysterious errors. It was pretty, but shallow, barely a front end to a lot of plugins that didn't work.
If only it wasn't tarnished... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-01-29 16:29 · Score: 0

...by pulseaudio, which doesn't work on any known distro. Every time I've tried to show people an awesome XBMC setup or just sit down and watch/listen to something pulseaudio never fails to randomly mute the sound or break completely. Most distros don't even install the right tools along with pulseaudio to control it and the only real fix I've ever come across is to remove it completely just so that a media player actually works like one.
1. Re:If only it wasn't tarnished... by CronoCloud · 2013-01-30 00:46 · Score: 1
  
  Pulseaudio works fine on Fedora.
  What you should have said was the pulse doesn't work on YOUR hardware for YOU.
2. Re:If only it wasn't tarnished... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-01-30 03:01 · Score: 0
  
  SHHHHH, don't use facts to counter-argue against the loud minority. Next thing you know, you'll be saying that Gnome3 or Unity are perfectly usable desktop environments.
3. Re:If only it wasn't tarnished... by Lord+Apathy · 2013-01-30 05:48 · Score: 1
  
  Pulseaudio is garbage and everyone knows it. To get sound to work right under Centos the first lines of the instructions where how to disable and remove pulseaudio. After that all my audio problems went away.
  The real quesion and mystery is why distrubutions still use it at all.
  
  --
  Supporting World Peace Through Nuclear Pacification
4. Re:If only it wasn't tarnished... by 0100010001010011 · 2013-01-30 06:20 · Score: 1
  
  I've completely uninstalled Pulse with all XBMC Linux installs. If you just want a dumb HTPC box get OpenELEC which is a distro built from the ground up just to run XBMC.
5. Re:If only it wasn't tarnished... by CronoCloud · 2013-01-30 13:00 · Score: 1
  
  Pulseaudio is garbage and everyone knows it.
  Who is this "everyone" you speak of? As I said, I use Fedora, and I"ve been using pulse since I started using it. Not had much trouble with it, in fact they've fixed stuff that didn't use to work:
  1. HDMI Audio, when I first started using it, I had to manually set up which HDMI output for pulse to use (a la 1:3, 1:5, 1:7), now that's fixed, it's automatic now.
  2. Switching ouputs on the fly works properly now. For example if I'm running an application, I can switch it from HDMI out to Analog audio on the fly. That didn't use to work properly and you had to restart the application.
  
  To get sound to work right under Centos the first lines of the instructions where how to disable and remove pulseaudio.
  
  WHAT instructions from WHOM? There are some cranks out there who have an unjustified hate for pulseaudio, often because they only tried it when it was new, untested and needed work and have been using alsa for so long they don't understand anything else.
  Need I remind you that CentOS is using older packages than Fedora and thusly would not be benefitting from any recent fixes. With pulse I can have multiple applications use sound and route them as I please. And if one must be s stickler for alsa, pulseaudio emulates it/provides a compatibility layer.
6. Re:If only it wasn't tarnished... by CronoCloud · 2013-01-30 13:04 · Score: 1
  
  I can't stand Gnome3 or Unity myself, but they actually "might" be perfectly usable and intuitive desktops environments for some.
7. Re:If only it wasn't tarnished... by Lord+Apathy · 2013-02-05 10:03 · Score: 1
  
  Well from what I've read the latest incanation of Fedora is garbage too. So since only you seem to disagree with me. Pulseaudio is still garbage and should have been abandoned long ago.
  
  --
  Supporting World Peace Through Nuclear Pacification
XBMC as a service? by MindPhlux · 2013-01-29 17:13 · Score: 1

I really really wish they'd add some sort of functionality to separate the media server/player portion of XBMC from the front end, and allow you to run it as a service. I have a HTPC hooked up to my surround sound system, and I absolutely love the android XBMC app. It lets you browse the entire media library and queue up stuff, and even has album art and everything.
The only problem is, I have to turn on my TV, log in to my HTPC, start XBMC (or go to task manager, kill the process, then relaunch if XBMC has hung up like it seems to do 30% of the time), and then go to my ipad/android device to queue up music. I really don't even care about the PC interface, since as someone put it earlier, 'the interface is a f*ck*rse to use with a mouse'. Well, I mean I have an IR remote and everything, but the interface is still less than fun to putz around in from the couch.
The apps on a touchscreen though are stellar. if only I could run XBMC as a service and cut out 3-5 minutes of bullshit every time I want to play some tunes!
1. Re:XBMC as a service? by aXis100 · 2013-01-29 17:33 · Score: 1
  
  Are you using the windows version?
  I've used the XBMC Live and OpenElec distros and they run all day every day for months on end without ever locking up. It would be trivial to have a headless box running them and never have to touch it.
2. Re:XBMC as a service? by MindPhlux · 2013-01-29 18:11 · Score: 1
  
  Yes, unfortunately. I'd like to continue using windows as well, as I do other things with the HTPC box, like gaming, microsoft outlook, etc. I'd certainly believe the linux versions are more stable, but can't bring myself to spend money and time to set up another box for a dedicated XBMC server when I was planning on doing just that with my windows HTPC...
3. Re:XBMC as a service? by aXis100 · 2013-01-29 18:25 · Score: 2
  
  Try OpenELEC then, it's an XBMC distro that runs perfectly well off a USB thumbdrive, and takes all of 15 minutes to install. It would at least make dual booting a snap.
  Personally I use a relatively cheap, low power Zotac ZBOX to run XBMC (OpenELEC) permanently, and keep the noisy, power hungry 3D gaming machine turned off 99% of the time. Just the power savings alone would pay off the Zotac box in a few years.
4. Re:XBMC as a service? by dropadrop · 2013-01-29 19:01 · Score: 1
  
  Try OpenELEC then, it's an XBMC distro that runs perfectly well off a USB thumbdrive, and takes all of 15 minutes to install. It would at least make dual booting a snap.
  Personally I use a relatively cheap, low power Zotac ZBOX to run XBMC (OpenELEC) permanently, and keep the noisy, power hungry 3D gaming machine turned off 99% of the time. Just the power savings alone would pay off the Zotac box in a few years.
  Another vote for OpenELEC. I used to run XBMC on a small Asus box, but after having a bucket of water fall on it replaced it with a passively cooled Shuttle running OpenELEC. Install was a breeze, small footprint. Unlike XBMC it was almost fully functional from the first boot (note, hardware changed too which might have affected this). It made a samba share with config files, changing audio configuration was as simple as dragging a ready configuration file from one folder in the samba share to another and rebooting.
  Basically it's of course the same thing, both are XBMC. OpenELEC just is the whole distro aimed at having a dedicated as light as possible linux installation dedicated to XBMC. It removes a majority of all configuration, boots really fast and just works.
5. Re:XBMC as a service? by chill · 2013-01-30 04:24 · Score: 1
  
  OpenELEC has a Raspberry Pi build that gets good reviews. The only drawback seems to be the lack of horsepower to decode AC-3 audio, but that is solved by passing it thru to the TV.
  I've just ordered one for myself to test. $35 + $10 for the case. I already have a USB charger, Ethernet and HDMI cables.
  That's cheap enough I can detach it from my main system and not care.
  
  --
  Learning HOW to think is more important than learning WHAT to think.
6. Re:XBMC as a service? by butchersong · 2013-01-30 05:46 · Score: 1
  
  I have several Raspberry pi boards that I'm using with xbmc (different distros, versions etc). They work but in all honesty the hardware is too anemic to make it a pleasant experience. I've gone back to my mini itx computer at the TV.
A quick thanks to Pulse-Eight by rklrkl · 2013-01-29 21:58 · Score: 1

It always perplexed me why the standard XBMC release has taken 12 major versions spread over a decade before the media centre software included any support for TV viewing/recording at all. From what I can see, pretty well every other media centre software supports that, so to miss it out for so long made it hard to recommend XBMC to people who wanted a single setup for all their media needs.
Yes, I know the Live TV/PVR functionality was available as an extra install prior to XBMC 12 and I must give a shout out to Pulse-Eight here, who nicely packaged up XBMC with the Live TV/PVR stuff included for pre-12 versions, though of course I guess they won't be needed for version 12 onwards now.
However, the fact that you had to go outside of xbmc.org for what many might think should be core functionality probably meant that not a lot of people have considered XBMC as a replacement for their DVR until this version 12 release. Personally, I use tvheadend for my backend which is turning out to be quite a slick Web interface (though I wish it had guided wizards to make the setup flow more obvious). I still think Web interfaces are the way to go for initial setup and EPG use - it allows you to use any Net-connected device to manage your PVR setup.
1. Re:A quick thanks to Pulse-Eight by opdenkamp · 2013-01-30 00:09 · Score: 1
  
  You're welcome :-) These were pre-releases of Eden (11.0) and Dharma (10.0), that I originally hosted on my personal website and Launchpad while I was working on the PVR feature (see https://github.com/opdenkamp/xbmc ). When I started working for Pulse-Eight, I took the builds with me and hosted them on Pulse-Eight's servers, where I continued to work on the PVR feature and HDMI-CEC support. I've backported all these things into mainline XBMC now, and they are included in the Frodo release. The builds on http://packages.pulse-eight.net/ will be updated with Frodo builds shortly. The reason why you didn't find any builds on xbmc.org was that the feature was still under development. Pulse-Eight was created by a Team XBMC member, and there are currently 3 team members working for Pulse-Eight (including myself).
2. Re:A quick thanks to Pulse-Eight by Hatta · 2013-01-30 02:31 · Score: 1
  
  I've always viewed XBMC as an alternative to live TV. If i have XBMC and an internet connection, I don't need live TV at all. The PVR functionality will go completely unused here.
  
  --
  Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
3. Re:A quick thanks to Pulse-Eight by EmagGeek · 2013-01-30 02:48 · Score: 1
  
  It is because PVR is a low priority. It is a low priority because there are relatively few places where you can actually record live TV, owing to the fact that cable companies rarely transmit even OTA stations in unencrypted format that can be decoded by a typical PC-based capture card.
Why is it called Frodo? by MartinSchou · 2013-01-29 22:18 · Score: 0

Why is it called Frodo? Has XBMC had it's red ring destroyed?
1. Re:Why is it called Frodo? by opdenkamp · 2013-01-30 00:11 · Score: 1
  
  Frodo was the nickname of one of the developers who started XBMC.
I hope they fixed it by NynexNinja · 2013-01-30 01:08 · Score: 1

When I tried XBMC about a year ago, there were numerous problems. There was problems with the packages not working with the most recent version of Ubuntu. After the install, there was random seg faults throughout the UI, involving everything from playing video to navigating the UI to indexing video files. There was also the huge issue of it not recognizing more than 75% of my library, and then the 25% of the library that it did "recognize", it mislabeled about 75% of that as well. So then there is the issue of the content that it did correctly identify (about 10% of my library) alot of that content would not render using their playing tool. After about a day of playing with it, I uninstalled it. I tried another solution called "Boxee" and found the same class of problems exist with it too.

I will say that in the span of two days I wrote an indexer to scan my 20TB library, put the files into a mysql database, and then wrote a front end for it (all in PHP), which then I can use to one-click pop mplayer fullscreen (in -slave mode), and it also does the same with Youtube videos (using Chrome with fullscreen options, and youtube-dl to queue / download the video files and add them to my library). It has a lot of other features, but I will say that is a lot faster to find my actual content, and does not attempt to mislabel anything, and in the end I have a pretty scalable solution.
1. Re:I hope they fixed it by Anonymous Coward · 2013-01-30 03:57 · Score: 0
  
  With XBMC you have to *follow* very closely their naming conventions. You stray from that and forget it. It pretty much has to be in thetvdb, imdb, or themoviedb or it will not find it. Also it *must* be named (or at least as close as possible) to whatever name is in the scraper you are using. Out of my 2k in movies I have 10 or so that scraping does not find at all, and about 20 more that it still gets wrong. But you can fix that with a 'refresh'.
  I use imdb as my 'source' for movies. 1 large folder of 'movies' so it ends up something like this 'movies\imdb movie name (20xx)\imdb movie name (20xx) D1.iso' Stray from that form and you are in a world of hurt.
2. Re:I hope they fixed it by butchersong · 2013-01-30 05:52 · Score: 1
  
  Like the AC said if you're going to use xbmc you really should download a script to run against all your files that will name them to xbmc standards otherwise it's an exercise in frustration. Once that's done it's seamless in my experience. I consume all my TV and Movies through xbmc and very very rarely have a problem.
Cable Cards by chemdream78 · 2013-01-30 02:00 · Score: 1

Just another reason I wish cable cards were more widely used. XBMC, MythTV, UbuntuTV and handful of other programs support live TV and cable cards that have a much better interface than the cable boxes given out by cable providers.
Great for ignoring DTS licensing by Anonymous Coward · 2013-01-30 03:20 · Score: 0

So much media depends on DTS and they are pricks about licensing it.
Been using it awhile... by Uteck · 2013-01-30 05:22 · Score: 1

I installed the RC3 version a few weeks ago and been pleased with it. I have a stand alone MythTV backend and 2 frontends, so now I don't have to use Mythfrontend any more since LiveTV did not work unless it was a combo backend/frontend. I like how you can see what will be recorded next on the home screen, and I can make changes to the recording scedule which I cold not do in the Mythbox add-on.
But it is not perfect. Commercial skip does not work for MythTV recordings, and the system is very slow to get working when it first starts as it queries the MythTV backend which takes a few minutes for you can watch anything.

--
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Re:You're comparing a role suit to a clr video pla by EasyTarget · 2013-01-30 06:17 · Score: 1

I've lost count of how many luxury RV's I have seen stuck in my cities eternal traffic jams as I cycle past.

--
"Oops, I always forget the purpose of competition is to divide people into winners and losers." - Hobbes
Not better or worse, just different things by raymorris · 2013-01-30 07:47 · Score: 1

Sure, most of the time I like small things, especially small, dedicated single purpose software that does one thing well. I watch all of my porn with mplayer. For the home entertainment system, though, scheduling TV recordings, etc., clicking a the menu an integrated suite is much nicer.
1. Re:Not better or worse, just different things by Anonymous Coward · 2013-01-30 11:43 · Score: 0
  
  No one is complaining that XBMC has too many features. The problem is that it's bloated, monolithic, and just represents the wrong approach to designing this kind of software.
  One could easily build a better Media Center in a very small number of KLOCs on top of your existing Web browser + HTML5/JS UI + mplayer + a few daemons (metadata scraper and SQLite / JSON cache updater, P2P downloader, search, player-wrapper, etc). It could leverage other existing projects (aria2c, lircd, youtube-dl (or ideally its C rewrite), etc) - if and only if their functionality is desired! With modern computing power / RAM prices, using anything fancier than SQLite for a media center backend, much less requiring MySQL support, is ridiculous! And you won't even need mplayer if/when HTML5+ video formats become ubiquitous...
  --libman
Re:Idiot troll... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-01-30 08:55 · Score: 0

Wow indeed,
My "wow" was directed at that list of dependencies - which is with all optional stuff disabled. You know you've got a design problem when a piece of software simultaneously and inevitably requires *3* different scripting languages!

you hate the GPL yet you bother to come on slashdot?
Ha, so you admit that Slashdot is biased against copyfree software?
And my post was 99% about XBMC's bloat (and/or lack of configurability on the FreeBSD port). The obligatory copyfree snobbery was merely in passing.
Licensing issues are, however, very relevant to which video player software / components will remain popular in the long run, as HTML5, HTML6, etc standards have to be completely free (i.e. not copyleft).

Are you retarded or something? If you're going to troll, you can do way better than this!
I don't know what you think the word "troll" means, but I've been expressing a consistent and well-defended opinion on software licensing and design aesthetics for many years. Insults don't win arguments (and neither does ideological misuse of the moderator features). Or are we not allowed to criticize XBMC when commenting on an XBMC discussion thread?
--libman
Re:You're comparing a role suit to a clr video pla by Anonymous Coward · 2013-01-30 16:16 · Score: 0

Comparing it to a command line player is just silly. That's like comparing a $2 million luxury RV to a bicycle.
No, it's like comparing a spoon to an InYourFaceFoodShover 40,000 XL.
The former does one thing, and does it flawlessly. No matter what the food is, where the food is, or where your mouth is, it always does what you want it to do. You can combine it with other utensils and be in control of your meal.
The latter is for people who are too lazy to learn how to use utensils. It shoves food in your mouth. And sometimes your ears. It's always changing, so you never know what it will do next.
--libman