How to tweak ATV2 for XBMC only
#1
Hi,
I'm using my two ATV2s only for XBMC so i was wondering if there is anything I can do to speed them up?
Like removing software i don't need, terminating backround processes, ...

I mean my videos usually play fine but the UI is pretty slow.
Therefore i'm planning to install a lightwight Skin but so far i don't know which to take.

Also do i benefit from iOS-Updates or should i avoid them? At the moment i am running 4.2 or something like that.
Btw. my XBMC is nightly 20111028.

Thanks!

Nicolai
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#2
There's nothing to delete, just don't install extra software on it like VNC or FireCore's media player.

You could enable Dirty Regions to greatly speed up the UI. It still has a few visual bugs, but those will be fixed as we are getting closer to a final release for Eden (XBMC v11).

Disable iOS software updates. Install update-be-gone from the nitoTV menu or see the terminal commands in the FAQ. iOS updates will uninstall XBMC and undo your jailbreak, and sometimes you have to wait weeks or months for a new jailbreak for the newer iOS version.
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#3
Whats the difference between having dirty regions set to 1 or 2 in the xml?
Set Up
Raspberry Pi running Raspbmc - XBMC 12.2
40" Samsung ES6800 LED Smart 3D 1080P TV
Onkyo HTS3405 5.1 DD True HD and DTS-HD Surround Sound
ReadyNAS Duo with 4TB (2 x 2TB X-RAID) Western Digital Caviar Green using NFS
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#4
deanmv Wrote:Whats the difference between having dirty regions set to 1 or 2 in the xml?

I would like to know this too. Well, I could try myself and see what kind of difference it makes. But then, the difference may not be perceivable at all. So if someone can just elaborate on the difference between using 1 vs 2, that'll be great. Thanks.
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#5
newatv2user Wrote:I would like to know this too. Well, I could try myself and see what kind of difference it makes. But then, the difference may not be perceivable at all. So if someone can just elaborate on the difference between using 1 vs 2, that'll be great. Thanks.

I tried it and put the on screen log on and I didn't see too much of a difference between CPU and FPS...
Set Up
Raspberry Pi running Raspbmc - XBMC 12.2
40" Samsung ES6800 LED Smart 3D 1080P TV
Onkyo HTS3405 5.1 DD True HD and DTS-HD Surround Sound
ReadyNAS Duo with 4TB (2 x 2TB X-RAID) Western Digital Caviar Green using NFS
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#6
As soon as you turn on the screenlog you will destroy he DR benefits. Because screenlog moves all the time and doesn't let XBMC idle. Same for the news ticker.

For testing dr you have to turn off both and idle in the mainscreen. Then ssh into the atv2 and watch the cpu usage with "top" ... thats all
AppleTV4/iPhone/iPod/iPad: HowTo find debug logs and everything else which the devs like so much: click here
HowTo setup NFS for Kodi: NFS (wiki)
HowTo configure avahi (zeroconf): Avahi_Zeroconf (wiki)
READ THE IOS FAQ!: iOS FAQ (wiki)
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#7
Cheers for the tip! Only problem is using top works on my Mac if I just boot up terminal and run it locally, but as soon as I SSH in to my ATV2 and try to run it I get :top: command not found:
Set Up
Raspberry Pi running Raspbmc - XBMC 12.2
40" Samsung ES6800 LED Smart 3D 1080P TV
Onkyo HTS3405 5.1 DD True HD and DTS-HD Surround Sound
ReadyNAS Duo with 4TB (2 x 2TB X-RAID) Western Digital Caviar Green using NFS
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#8
apt-get install top
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#9
jd2157 Wrote:apt-get install top

Cheers! Forgot the install bit haha So what is the difference between option 1 and 2?
Set Up
Raspberry Pi running Raspbmc - XBMC 12.2
40" Samsung ES6800 LED Smart 3D 1080P TV
Onkyo HTS3405 5.1 DD True HD and DTS-HD Surround Sound
ReadyNAS Duo with 4TB (2 x 2TB X-RAID) Western Digital Caviar Green using NFS
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#10
deanmv Wrote:Cheers! Forgot the install bit haha So what is the difference between option 1 and 2?

Only difference I know of is davilla uses 1 and not 2 (last time I saw him post re: DR)... that's good enough for me Nod
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#11
Where does the advancedsettings.xml file go?
The wiki says "\UserData\", but I can't find a folder with this name.
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#12
/var/mobile/Library/Preferences/XBMC/userdata
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#13
Thanks for your replies.
Going to change that today in the evening.

So far i used my ATV2 only for TV-Series which are .avi-files.
Yesterday i tried several .iso with more than 6 or 7 GB and they where stuttering and buffering all the time.
My media resides on a fileserver and they are shared using SMB connected using 100MBit wired network.
I read of a lot of people which play isos just fine so i am wondering whats up with my setup.

My ATV is running iOS 4.2.2 and XBMC nightly 20111030 which should have the fix for isos.

I can try nightly 20111031 and FTP today in the evening but i would love to use SMB or NFS (in case that's already implemented?!).

Cheers,
Nicolai
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#14
Yeah use NFS if you know howto do it...
AppleTV4/iPhone/iPod/iPad: HowTo find debug logs and everything else which the devs like so much: click here
HowTo setup NFS for Kodi: NFS (wiki)
HowTo configure avahi (zeroconf): Avahi_Zeroconf (wiki)
READ THE IOS FAQ!: iOS FAQ (wiki)
Reply
#15
I hoped enabling Dirty Regions would speed up the user interface of XBMC, and maybe make some of the animations in the menu run smoother visually. After enabling it I couldn't establish either of those things. What I did find were the glitches that were mentioned earlier. XBMC keeps showing frames of the menus I visited in the past few minutes while I navigate through my series.

I haven't measured any actual statistics such as CPU-load and I'm not refuting anything that was said before about the upside of Dirty Regions. However, if you are not looking to optimize your AppleTV for its own sake but to improve your day-to-day user experience, I wouldn't bother trying Dirty Regions just yet. The benefits don't outweigh the current visual glitches, in my honest opinion.
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