XBMCbuntu vs. OpenELEC
#16
I also say xbmcbuntu, I have gone back and forth with them both, I currently have 4 systems running, currently 2 xbmcbuntu, 1 openelec, and 1 crystalbuntu on an ATV1,

Openelc
Pros
Quick and easy to install and very easy to update
Fast bootup times
simple things just work out of the box ( i.e remote controls )

Cons
customization is just painful, you cant tweak anything at the OS level ( While this is not needed for most people and obviously isn't needed for me on 1 machine hence I have Openelec )
While Openelec has recently got more plugin support there is still plugins that will just not work due to the OS level ( Swiss Army knife is a good example )

XBMCBUNTU

Pros
Customization with little limits
Huge user base for support

Cons
You need to know a basic understanding of Linux ( For instance if you want to setup a static IP or DNS servers, this is all done in the OS command line level, unlike Openelec which is a plugin)

One issue you get on both of these versions due to being Linux is no Netflix support, personally I could care less for it as I find Hulu and Amazon Prime will give you more content that Netflix can but some people are very attached to Netflix and in that case you should look at XBMC running on M$ or Apple.
Reply
#17
Hi,

Just adding a little to this almost gone thread.

IIRC, Netflix went to Silverlight some time ago to meet with Digital Rights Management pressure from big companies like Sony. It used Flash before this, and there were simple ways (I hear) of capturing the stream.

Universal is talking about a minimal Linux install. There is an old thread on the AVS Forum on how to setup Ubuntu (LINK). I know NOTHING about Linux, but I wanted to ask: Is this the type of "minimal install" someone would need to do?

Could XBMCbuntu, OpenELEC, or anything else be configured to run/boot off a USB flash drive or card reader? I'm a Windows developer and I really only understand Windows, but I am interested in evaluating one of these Linux flavors.

I tried Ubuntu in the past, but immediately had to install my NVIDIA ION driver. This required a reboot, and when it rebooted, it either loaded fresh from the CD (i.e. needed to install the video driver again) or I could pull out the CD and the PC would boot to Windows.

I looked into installing Ubuntu as a second OS on my HTPC, but the primary drive is already partitioned with my Recovery sector, a C:\ drive, and a D:\ drive for RecordedTV.
Reply
#18
(2013-01-05, 18:37)jp2code Wrote: Could XBMCbuntu, OpenELEC, or anything else be configured to run/boot off a USB flash drive or card reader? I'm a Windows developer and I really only understand Windows, but I am interested in evaluating one of these Linux flavors.

Yes, both can be installed from USB.
It was clear from your post that you were a windows developer by the questions you asked. Wink
Reply
#19
When people say slow bootup times, what are we talking about here? Like 10 seconds openelec and 30 seconds XBMCbuntu?
Reply
#20
Another consideration in the XBMCbuntu vs OpenELEC argument is addins. At least one very popular addin doesn't currently work in OpenELEC, but does in XBMCbuntu. The same may be true of others.
Reply
#21
wat
Reply
#22
(2014-02-07, 18:48)gdub Wrote: When people say slow bootup times, what are we talking about here? Like 10 seconds openelec and 30 seconds XBMCbuntu?

for me on my celeron NUC with a mSATA drive, it was like 7 seconds to boot Openelec and like 9 for XBMCbuntu. I'm finding XBMCbuntu much easier to tweak (and set up a tvheadend back end on) so i dont mind the extra 2 seconds of boot time (also since I just leave it on all the time)
Reply
#23
I am just going to echo uNiversal on this one.


I run Openelec on my MacMini and its fantastic, it really is if you just want XBMC and thats it, then go with Openelec, but I want to do other things on my main HTPC so its Ubuntu minimal then XBMC by itself.

No crap running that is not needed and enough flexibility for my needs.

I have never felt the need to time the boot (after post) so that should say all you need to know about the bootup time :p
Reply
#24
Does the boot time realy matter that much for you guys ? Smile

Xbmcbuntu takes me about 10 - 20 sec to boot so i dont complain
Reply
#25
same here for me I can't tell quite any difference between the two's boot time, but then I'm running from ssd.

for me I've switch between openelec and xbmcbuntu, pretty much the options I need to change I figure out how to do on both and they're mostly simple stuff. Lately I've switched back to a recent openelec nightly gotham build since for the life of me I couldn't figure out how to get xbmcbuntu's hw vaapi acceleration working on my haswell nuc i5 box (the same image works fine on my ivy nuc i3), since I found a openelec build that works I just switched back to it Smile
Reply
#26
afaikc xbmcbuntu is too old to support haswells follow http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=165707 or stick to OE.
Reply
#27
I don't know what I'm doing wrong I installed minimal but xbmc will not start I keep getting terminal
Reply
#28
Try the beta XBMCbuntu (wiki) <-
Reply
#29
I was convinced right here on these forums to try OpenElec and I haven't looked back. Make sure you enable "wait for network" in the OpenElec settings. As for the lockups, I found personally it was because OE was making itself master browser. I forget the actual directory, but if you ssh in and look for (I think) /storage/.config/ or something like that you will see a samba.conf.sample. vi that and change anything relating to Master Browser to no and reboot. I'll bet your lockups will stop. Here is what I changed and saved as samba.conf:

preferred master = no
domain master = no
local master = no
printcap name = /dev/null

I haven't had a lockup since. My theory is that OE was fighting for Master Browser and causing network problems which caused the system to lockup.
Server: Synology Diskstation 1511+ with 8x WD Red NAS 3TB drives, DSM 5.2
Main HTPC: Home Built i3, 8GB RAM, Corsair 128GB SSD, nVidia 630GTX, Harmony Home Control, Pioneer VSX-53, Panasonic VT30 65" 3D TV, Windows 10, Isengard
Bedroom HTPC: Zotac-ID 41 8GB RAM, 128GB SSD, Rii micro keyboard remote, Samsung HW-E550, Sony 32" Google TV, OpenElec 6.0 beta 4
Reply
#30
hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm i hate to dis openelec but i messed with it for a fwe days and between people not explaining the install correctly
has a lot to do with why some of us who can not or have a hard time installing openelec, first of that usb prg that suppose to make your usb drive bootable
dont work, i have not figure out way yet but i will tear it down and find out why, what i do i know is, if you use the rufus 2.1 usb boot tool and if u can find
or convert openelec too an iso, and if the iso is correctly done, and do check that your need what i use is isobuster, or any prg that view files in an iso.
once you see all the files are their including the boot folder with the files neeeded, you can run rufus 2.1 and point it to the iso,change the file system to fat 32
and thats it, the problem is, i did that for kodibuntu, the dam thing booted and in 3 mins i was up and running, (3 mins) tops and dang it is fast it boots quickly
no wait time, no that depends on what motherboard your using and ram and proc, myself asus mobo A78M-A the Amd proc A series A6 7400K, 8 gigs of ram,
SSD 120 gig sandisk, and i formatted the ssd drive with parted magic ext4 which might not of mattered, because kodibuntu did its thing anyway.. my point is even thou
your talking about xbmcbunto vs openelec kodibuntu is the same thing, just a newer version of xbmc helix thats it. and i really think i dont know yet but if u can find
and iso of openelec it might work just as good as kodibuntu did for me, if you follow those simple instructions. all i can say is guys the video plays so dam smooth,
i thought i was looking at my samsung 65" the video section on that mobo is is wicked. the graphics is what i was going for, and am thinkin most of you are going for
the graphics in the picture smoothness..
Reply

Logout Mark Read Team Forum Stats Members Help
XBMCbuntu vs. OpenELEC0