[simonsullivan]

I have recently purchased a Zotac ZBOX AD04 and thought I'd share my experiences. I can't take much credit for any guidance I offer - as most of it has come from threads within this forum but thought that I'd tie my experiences to one thread.

First, my setup:
Zotac ZBOX AD04 AMD 1.6GHz E450
8GB of 1600MHz Corsair Vengeance
64GB Crucial M4 SSD - boot drive only
Windows 7 64bit

I know the RAM is overkill but why not. It's all hooked directly to a 32" Panasonic TV HD Ready via HDMI and all my content is stored on a Synology DS212j NAS via wifi.

Details:
Entering the BIOS is achieved by hitting F2. Everything is pretty well laid out. The one alteration I made before installing windows was to change the IDE configuration to ACHI to improve read/write speeds - performace test

I installed Windows via USB using the following guide to create a bootable USB install - guide
The ZBOX appeared to boot from USB by default and the rest of the installation was easy. Just make sure that you don't use either of the USB 3 ports until all the drivers have been installed as they won't function until then.

Once Windows was installed I installed XBMC Eden. I already have xbmc installed on my main HTPC and my laptop. so I copied my userdata folder across. I have my xbmc database and thumbnails stored on my synology so needed the advancedsettings and sources xml files from my other installs rather than retyping them out again. BTW I love have a centralised database as it means I don't have to update each library individually (just one of them once and it's done for all) and if I start watching something in the living room then I can resume from where I left off on any of the other installs.

One point worth mentioning about streaming my content. I stream via wifi which I was worried about to begin with because many people say that they struggle with wifi, but I have not had any issues. I stream SD and 720 and 1080 files in different formats and don't have any issues with any. I don't however stream any full BD rips, the largest files I stream are around 8GB I think. Also, the access point is in the next room so I guess this helps. Thought I'd mention it before some starts running lengths of cat5 or spending out on home plugs.

The XBMC install itself
I use the Aeon Nox skin and don't have any issues at all. The only issue I had was when something moved from one frame to the next I would get a slight break in picture, it would run about a 5th of the way up the screen across the full width of the screen. I tried many teaks in the xbmc menu to get rid of this and the only thing that worked in the end was changing the xbmc resolution output from my native screen resolution of 768 to 720. No issues once I changed this.

Lastly, the ZBOX came with a remote which is a great size and with the use of event ghost works a treat with xbmc. I did use the following threads to get the remote working and to switch the WMC button from launching WMC to xbmc - Both pages and the link on the second page.

Well that's pretty much it. Sorry it's not the most well laid out post but it's not normally something I do, it's just that I was so pleased with the results I wanted to share them with a forum that without who's presence I wouldn't be so content in the first place.

If anyone has any questions about the set up or the process I went through to achieve it then please feel free to ask, it'd be great to give something back to the forum.

EDIT:
Waking from Sleep issue
I had an issue where the Zotac AD04 wouldn't resume from S3 via the remote control. After changing the settings and so on I realised this was because I had changed the USB port it was connected to to one of the USB3 ports. I assume that as the USB3 ports are only supported in Windows that the USB port was unable to receive signals from the remote when in S3 sleep state. Once I changed the USB port to a USB2 I was able to wake the frontend up using the remote.

[willburstyle06]

I have a Zotac Zbox AD04
8GB Kingston 4GB 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM DDR3 1333
Seagate Momentus XL Hybrid HD 750GB
Windows 64bit
XBMC and XBMC launcher which replaces the windows shell on boot right into XBMC


I'm having trouble playing HD streaming on Netflix and Youtube
I was also wondering how you mapped your mce remote to XBMC
It would also be helpful if you listed what AMD catalyst settings for video playback you have set up

[simonsullivan]

Hi Willburstyle,

I apologise for not posting sooner but been a busy week at work.

I don't use it for Netflix but I have tried streaming a few HD trailers on youtube (fullscreen) and I haven't had any issues.

I don't use an MCE remote with XBMC, I've used the Zotac remote and Eventghost, although if you had an MCE remote then again I would use eventghost and the XBMC plugin - I use that set up downstairs on my self built media PC and works just fine. Additionally, my Sony Bravia TV remote also works through Eventghost so I can use that to control XBMC as well.

I use AMD Vision Engine Control Center which has a whole load of settings, too many to list so if you have specific settings questions then feel free to ask.

[willburstyle06]

I fixed the YouTube issue by downloading an extension for Google chrome that played videos as HTML5. On internet Explorer youtube videos play 1080p video files with no issues.
I tried installing the CIR Remote drivers from zotac website for the zbox remote but I get a 00000x error. The remote seems to work anyways but has some trouble navigating XBMC movie lists. I'm going to try using event ghost for the remote, Ill let you know what happens.
Did you adjust your page file size for random access memory?
Also for streaming did you set up a raid server?

[simonsullivan]

Good news about fixing the youtube thing.

I've tried playing some larger HD files and it's okay with up to around 6GB files, but tried a 10GB one and it struggled - to give you an idea at least.

Yeah, I had the same issue with the drivers but I actually use a USB-UIRT receiver as that has a plugin for eventghost, never actually tried mapping the remote with it's own receiver.

I didn't change the page file size.

I use a Synology 212j, 2 bay NAS, to stream. It's not in raid at the moment, but if I upgrade to a larger NAS then I might think about it. It works great and would recommend it to anyone. I have all the front ends connected via power lines, so don't do wireless streaming.

[willburstyle06]

That is interesting. I have gotten everything running smoothly including larger HD files. I am able to play 3 lord of the Rings mkv 1080p files that are each around 25gb. Try increasing your page file size. Netflix now streams in HD and have no issues with online hd playback either.

[simonsullivan]

Glad to hear you've got it all sorted - always nice when it does what you want :O)

[gerardjm]

I I installed with Windows 8 x64 in a 1Gb network, and whe I streaming from a nework nas of a MKV in bdremux, it did buffering a lot, before with a ASUS barebon it never happend.

any help