2012-02-20, 17:39
Hi. I've just come back to XBMC after using GBPVR for a while, or whatever the new name for it is. XBMC is amazing, it's the only media center software I've found that really does what I want it to. Everything is so configurable, well done and good work.
I wonder if someone could tell me if the following is possible :
I've got XBMC running on a PC in the living room, when I moved in I fed an HDMI cable through the wall from the living room to the kitchen so I can watch films or tv shows when I'm cooking which I do a lot of. Without thinking it through properly the HDMI cable is pretty much the only thing cable I ran and when it came to testing it - which I couldn't do till long after all the decorating had been done - I realised I had a problem with sound. Basically the PC in the living room uses DVI->HDMI into the TV. Sound is via coax to a 5.1 amp in the corner. The HDMI cable runs to a monitor/TV in the kitchen which is configured as a duplicate desktop so both images are identical. The problem stems from the fact that I can use XBMC to output EITHER to coax, which gives surround sound in the living room but no sound in the kitchen via the HDMI cable, or sound output to HDMI which gives sound on the TV in the kitchen but no sound in the living room. It's way too much effort and girlfriend-negative-hassle to run another cable through the wall this soon after decorating so adding speaker cables is a no go. I was thinking is it possible to have 2 separate and distinct instances of XBMC running on the same PC, one which serves the living room and is configured for coax sound output, and one which serves the kitchen and is configured for HDMI sound output ?
My first instinct is this probably isn't possible since I'm not sure how the appdata could be separated therefore they'll both be using the same set of config files. There's also another issue with controlling the second install since I can't see how it would be possible to use a specific keyboard in the kitchen that controls one XBMC instance and then a keyboard and remote in the living room controlling the other XBMC instance without them affecting each other.
The more I type this and think it through the more I'm convinced it's not possible but if anyone has any ideas I'd gladly hear them. The only other possible solution I think of is to try and feed some speaker cable through using the existing HDMI cable as a kind of guide/feed cable but this is unlikely to work since it loops round the back of built in cupboard and through some pipes so I guess the chances of a cable feeding through cleanly is pretty minimal. Wish I'd thought it through a little better in the first instance ! So frustrating.
I wonder if someone could tell me if the following is possible :
I've got XBMC running on a PC in the living room, when I moved in I fed an HDMI cable through the wall from the living room to the kitchen so I can watch films or tv shows when I'm cooking which I do a lot of. Without thinking it through properly the HDMI cable is pretty much the only thing cable I ran and when it came to testing it - which I couldn't do till long after all the decorating had been done - I realised I had a problem with sound. Basically the PC in the living room uses DVI->HDMI into the TV. Sound is via coax to a 5.1 amp in the corner. The HDMI cable runs to a monitor/TV in the kitchen which is configured as a duplicate desktop so both images are identical. The problem stems from the fact that I can use XBMC to output EITHER to coax, which gives surround sound in the living room but no sound in the kitchen via the HDMI cable, or sound output to HDMI which gives sound on the TV in the kitchen but no sound in the living room. It's way too much effort and girlfriend-negative-hassle to run another cable through the wall this soon after decorating so adding speaker cables is a no go. I was thinking is it possible to have 2 separate and distinct instances of XBMC running on the same PC, one which serves the living room and is configured for coax sound output, and one which serves the kitchen and is configured for HDMI sound output ?
My first instinct is this probably isn't possible since I'm not sure how the appdata could be separated therefore they'll both be using the same set of config files. There's also another issue with controlling the second install since I can't see how it would be possible to use a specific keyboard in the kitchen that controls one XBMC instance and then a keyboard and remote in the living room controlling the other XBMC instance without them affecting each other.
The more I type this and think it through the more I'm convinced it's not possible but if anyone has any ideas I'd gladly hear them. The only other possible solution I think of is to try and feed some speaker cable through using the existing HDMI cable as a kind of guide/feed cable but this is unlikely to work since it loops round the back of built in cupboard and through some pipes so I guess the chances of a cable feeding through cleanly is pretty minimal. Wish I'd thought it through a little better in the first instance ! So frustrating.