New HTPC build advice. - Printable Version

New HTPC build advice. - Printable Version

+- Kodi Community Forum (https://forum.kodi.tv)
+-- Forum: Discussions (https://forum.kodi.tv/forumdisplay.php?fid=222)
+--- Forum: Hardware (https://forum.kodi.tv/forumdisplay.php?fid=112)
+--- Thread: New HTPC build advice. (/showthread.php?tid=217800)

Pages: 1 2 3

New HTPC build advice. - Trebz - 2015-02-09

Hi All

I'm planning on moving away from my current rig which is an Acer Revo unit with Openelec installed.

I'll be buying a Silverstone GD09B and using the internals from what is my current Freenas server, hardware shown below:

AMD Athlon CPU
GA-MA770-UD3 Rev 2.0 Motherboard
2GB DDR2 RAM
500wt OCZ power supply
ATI Radeon 4800 display card
1 X SSD HDD for operating system
2 X 2TB HDD's for file storage

I plan to install Kodi onto the SSD and have the two 2TB hard disks mirrored and setup as the main filestore drives for all media. This is how my Freenas server is right now.

The only change is that the HTPC will boot to Kodi instead of Freenas. All the files in the filestore will remain the same.

My question is: Can I set up a RAID system when using Kodi. I know I can install it onto the SSD hard drive but how would I go about setting up the 2 X 2TB drives mirrored etc.

Thanks in advance.

Trebz

RE: New HTPC build advice. - Trebz - 2015-02-09

I think I may know the answer already.

- Install the latest version of Ubuntu on to the SSD
- Setup the two 2TB hard disks complete with share and permissions
- Install Kodi for Ubuntu
- Setup Ubuntu to open Kodi on boot

I'd really like to do all of this with Openelec however....

Advice and suggestions welcome ladies and gents.

Thanks

Trebz

RE: New HTPC build advice. - Trebz - 2015-02-10

*Tumbleweed*

RE: New HTPC build advice. - noggin - 2015-02-10

I don't think OE supports software RAID in the standard builds. You might be able to do a custom build adding it?

Otherwise Kodibuntu might be a solution?

Many of us run OE with network-attached storage, with a storage optimised OS (unRAID, Freenas etc.) running on a separate box. That way we don't have noisy spinning drives (and any cooling fans needed to keep them healthy) in our main viewing area.

OE is a very lightweight distro really optimised purely for Kodi, as an appliance build. It does what it does very well, precisely because it concentrates on the absolute core functionality required for Kodi, and nothing much else. It's not designed for other, more general, functionality (though some functionality - like TV backends - can be added using add-ons)

If you want to add more general functionality, you are probably better off running a more mainstream linux distro with a package manager (like apt-get, synaptic etc.) etc. alongside Kodi (like Kodibuntu?)

RE: New HTPC build advice. - Trebz - 2015-02-10

I ideally wanted a 'One box for all' solution. The wife and I are getting a bit sick of having to boot all the devices we need to run Kodi / XBMC in order to watch a movie, seems like too much hard work sometimes. I just wanted to simplify it all by putting my NAS and Kodi all in one box.

Hard disk noise is not an issue as I'm half deaf due to my attending rave's in the nineties and my 44 years old body letting me down.

Would the latest Openelec be ok working with my graphics card, I have a ATI Radeon 4800, would the drivers within Openelec be ok with this.

In addition to the above question would Kodibuntu work ok with my graphics card as it's looking more like Kodibuntu is the way to go.

RE: New HTPC build advice. - Trebz - 2015-02-10

The obvious next question would be:

- After installing Kodibuntu how do I setup the RAID 1 array and make it available for Kodi to read ?

I have my current 'Media' share setup on my Freenas server and backed up to an external device.

Ideally I'd like to format my two 2TB drives, setup RAID 1 then make them available for Kodi to read.

RE: New HTPC build advice. - Prof Yaffle - 2015-02-10

You want to look into mdadm - that's the default RAID management tool on 'buntu derivatives. From memory, you need to join the two drives together, then format and mount as a normal filesystem, but don't quote me on that.

WebMin allows you to do it through a web front end if you're squeamish. Might be an idea to have that running anyway, because you can then more easily leave the PC connected to the TV while administering it from a laptop on the sofa (of course, you could always use ssh, so it depends on how hardcore you want to be).

Not sure what's pre-installed on Kodibuntu, but most things are only an apt-get away.

EDIT

Trying to address your other issues - best way to test the graphics card is to boot from USB and see. A quick Google suggests that your check hardware acceleration support, but 4000+ cards should be okay. A replacement is only a few quid if necessary, though.

OE vs Kodibuntu... if you're looking to do anything clever, go for the full-fat OS option instead. OE is JeOS - 'just enough operating system' - and thus is inevitably going to be missing things unless someone's built an addon for it. I doubt proper software RAID management is one of those.

RAID1 seems overkill for movies, though - I presume you have photos and documents as well you're trying to protect - personally, I'd look to a good backup regime for those (even something like Dropbox, or iCloud if you want to share your selfies with the world :-) ) and not rely on RAID for protection. RAID is about availability in the case of HDD failure; backup is about ensuring you keep a copy of your data come what may. RAID is no use if you pour a plate of bolognese onto the HTPC or have it pinched while you're on holiday, for example.

RE: New HTPC build advice. - Trebz - 2015-02-10

(2015-02-10, 13:23)Prof Yaffle Wrote: You want to look into mdadm - that's the default RAID management tool on 'buntu derivatives. From memory, you need to join the two drives together, then format and mount as a normal filesystem, but don't quote me on that.

WebMin allows you to do it through a web front end if you're squeamish. Might be an idea to have that running anyway, because you can then more easily leave the PC connected to the TV while administering it from a laptop on the sofa (of course, you could always use ssh, so it depends on how hardcore you want to be).

Not sure what's pre-installed on Kodibuntu, but most things are only an apt-get away.

EDIT

Trying to address your other issues - best way to test the graphics card is to boot from USB and see. A quick Google suggests that your check hardware acceleration support, but 4000+ cards should be okay. A replacement is only a few quid if necessary, though.

OE vs Kodibuntu... if you're looking to do anything clever, go for the full-fat OS option instead. OE is JeOS - 'just enough operating system' - and thus is inevitably going to be missing things unless someone's built an addon for it. I doubt proper software RAID management is one of those.

RAID1 seems overkill for movies, though - I presume you have photos and documents as well you're trying to protect - personally, I'd look to a good backup regime for those (even something like Dropbox, or iCloud if you want to share your selfies with the world :-) ) and not rely on RAID for protection. RAID is about availability in the case of HDD failure; backup is about ensuring you keep a copy of your data come what may. RAID is no use if you pour a plate of bolognese onto the HTPC or have it pinched while you're on holiday, for example.

I'm a braces and three belts kind of guy, I have our Media which includes all of or our music, movies, documents and pictures all on the current RAID 1 Freenas server. This is in turn backed up to an external device via Rsynch. All pictures and documents are then backed up further via Dropbox. I also make a local backup of all music to my games PC.

The Freenas server is used nearly every day to stream our music and movies. It's upstairs in our spare bedroom. The XMBC / Acer Revo media center is in the living room downstairs.

I'm obviously wanting to save us having two devices running as part of this setup.

When I get the new Kodi media center up and running all data will ideally be stored within this unit in the living room downstairs. The data will be backed up evrry week or so to an external device, the pictures and music will be again backed up to Dropbox and my games PC respectively.

RE: New HTPC build advice. - ant_thomas - 2015-02-10

Personal opinion: unless the current Freenas system is using far too much power I'd leave it running 24/7. It works, it's reliable and you've got it all setup nicely running backups etc.

Then I'd get a small HTPC for the living room to replace the Acer Revo - something along the lines of a Chromebox or Intel NUC.

I have a separate system running as a TVHeadend backend that has a sleep script running to suspend the system when it's not needed. When any HTPCs boot they send a WOL packet to wake it. Something like that might be useful to wake your Freenas system when it's needed.

RE: New HTPC build advice. - Prof Yaffle - 2015-02-10

I'm not criticising - many people confuse RAID with backup, but you've clearly got your head around that and that's fine. It was worth checking :-)

Personally, I have everything on a central server, mirrored to an offsite machine and re-synced twice a day - primary is on 24x7 but the backup is WOL-ed when needed. My HTPCs (Revos) then sit by the TVs and get switched on as required, only taking a few seconds to get going with OpenElec and SSDs. It works for me and it saves having stuff on in the lounge when, say, the kids want to play Minecraft off the server. I also use my server for transcoding, so it's genuinely a general-purpose machine. Idle consumption is maybe 20W for the server, peaking at 100W+ if all cores and HDDs kick in (one benefit of separating OS from data: your data discs can all sleep while the machine is still responsive), otherwise everything else is 'on demand'.

RE: New HTPC build advice. - .:B:. - 2015-02-10

With an AM3 setup and a discrete Radeon 4800 card, there's little chance of getting low power consumption idle.

Frankly, if your RAID mirror is meant as a safety measure, you're better off taking out one 2 TB drive and using it as an external backup (not difficult through rsync etc.). That will also lower your idle power a bit Smile

.

I don't think OpenELEC supports RAID (or mdadm), I personally would not use RAID if you want to safeguard your data, but have offline backups (hence a USB2/3/eSATA disk you can hook up regularly). My 2 cents.

I agree on purchasing a NUC or a Chromebox as a HTPC, it will use far less power, and you can probably keep running the FreeNAS server, even remove the GPU (if the motherboard boots without it).

RE: New HTPC build advice. - Trebz - 2015-02-10

I already bought the Silverstone GD09B, it's being delivered today. So whatever I do it will mean either:

- The Freenas Server getting moved to the new Silverstone GD09B and sticking with the Acer Revo with a new installation of OE or Kodibuntu

or

- Fit the old hardware into the new Silverstone GD09B running Kodibuntu.

I can't afford to move away from the AM3 MoBo setup I have just spent the last of my pocket money on upgrading my gaming and general use PC.

I'm quite interested in the HTPC sending the WOL to the Freenas server. How do I set that up.

RE: New HTPC build advice. - ant_thomas - 2015-02-10

(2015-02-10, 14:58)Trebz Wrote: I'm quite interested in the HTPC sending the WOL to the Freenas server. How do I set that up.

I'm using OpenElec so I'm taking advantage of the autostart.sh script (http://wiki.openelec.tv/index.php?title=Autostart.sh)

autostart.sh then contains the line

Code:
python /storage/.config/bin/WakeOnLan.py 'xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx'

then in /storage/.config/bin/WakeOnLan.py

Code:

#!/usr/bin/env python



# Wake-On-LAN

#

# Copyright (C) 2002 by Micro Systems Marc Balmer

# Written by Marc Balmer, [email protected], www.msys.ch/

# This code is free software under the GPL



import struct, socket, time, sys



ethernet_address=sys.argv[1]



# Construct a six-byte hardware address



addr_byte = ethernet_address.split(':')

hw_addr = struct.pack('BBBBBB', int(addr_byte[0], 16),

int(addr_byte[1], 16),

int(addr_byte[2], 16),

int(addr_byte[3], 16),

int(addr_byte[4], 16),

int(addr_byte[5], 16))



# Build the Wake-On-LAN "Magic Packet"...



msg = '\xff' * 6 + hw_addr * 16



# ...and send it to the broadcast address using UDP



time.sleep(2)

s = socket.socket(socket.AF_INET, socket.SOCK_DGRAM)

s.setsockopt(socket.SOL_SOCKET, socket.SO_BROADCAST, 1)

s.sendto(msg, ('<broadcast>', 9))

s.close()

RE: New HTPC build advice. - Trebz - 2015-02-10

I would have no idea as to how that should be setup.

Apologies.

RE: New HTPC build advice. - Trebz - 2015-02-10

(2015-02-10, 14:08)ant_thomas Wrote: Personal opinion: unless the current Freenas system is using far too much power I'd leave it running 24/7. It works, it's reliable and you've got it all setup nicely running backups etc.

Then I'd get a small HTPC for the living room to replace the Acer Revo - something along the lines of a Chromebox or Intel NUC.

I have a separate system running as a TVHeadend backend that has a sleep script running to suspend the system when it's not needed. When any HTPCs boot they send a WOL packet to wake it. Something like that might be useful to wake your Freenas system when it's needed.

Understood but I'm doing this on a budget. The Chromebox is three times more cost than I can dedicate to the job.

Nice little piece of kit all the same.

Ta