[Begall]

XBMC isn't just for you. That's probably the concept you need to wrap your head around.

[vicbitter]

@snowjim, rather than "preach" about what XBMC should or shouldn't be and your development philosophy... Why don't you step back and clearly define your requirements and then build your HTPC to meet those requirements? Ultimately, your final setup will be a combination of hardware, operating system and media player.

[snowjim]

XBMC isn't just for you. That's probably the concept you need to wrap your head around.

Can you pleas explain how you make a assumption like that, have you even read my posts?

I have for example stated that if XBMC would works fully on a specific setup I would go for it even if it was on a Apple product. But there is no such recommendations.

You comment tells me that the platform is important for you? does that mean that you are running it on a tablet or phone maybe? Then I get it multi platform but when it comes to a XBMC in the living room the type of hardware do not really matters as long as it runs good.

Do you demand that all your software is multiform? How are you handling games?

[ixnu]

But I can´t avoid thinking that the XBMC team should focus on getting XBMC running really really well in a specific environment and maybe also suggest a hardware that will for sure work flawless (including necessary accessories).

Challenge accepted.

I was cursed with minor to major problems on various HW configs with Eden/Windows. I can sympathize with your frustrations. But, you need search no longer. These two OpenElec rigs work near-flawless (they both are more stable than my OSx MBA that you describe as solid). They have not crashed once since 2.99.2 of OpenElec. Now I worry more about displays and speaker placement no being absolutely perfect.

OpenElec 2.99.4 Generic - I gave up on Windows and many of my frustrations melted away.
Both use a URC WR7 remote with generic WMC IR

My HD Audio rig:
Intel i3 540
BOXDH57JG
ASUS ENGT430

If you don't need HD Audio and for ~ $220:
MSI FM2-A75MA-E35 FM2 AMD A75
A6 trinity
Crucial 4 GB memory
Crucial M4 64GB SSD

I would gladly pay for XBMC just to get a "finished" product with a hardware that is working out of the box.

PM me for payment information.

freezings in menus

, - never, except sometimes during a library update

freezings in videos

- nope, never

video lag

- nope, never

Audio sync problems

- had many very subtle ones in Eden, now completely gone

library not finding new media

- never, I use MediaElch to construct my metadata is exactly like I want it.

Installation problems

- nope, less than 30 mins from bare metal to a Metropolis skin and a fully scraped 20 TB media library

PC Build (i7, 8 GB, SSD, Geforce)(Windows 8).

- Have you tried OpenElec?

Good luck.

[Martijn]

I would go for it even if it was on a Apple product.

I would instantly leave XBMC if it was only to run on Apple

[snowjim]

@snowjim, rather than "preach" about what XBMC should or shouldn't be and your development philosophy... Why don't you step back and clearly define your requirements and then build your HTPC to meet those requirements? Ultimately, your final setup will be a combination of hardware, operating system and media player.

This is what I don't get, I make a suggestion based on my experience and you give me the "preach" card? really? Is it not a good thing that I care? I could just have gone with another software. If you don´t care about my opinion you could avoid me, right?

I just don't get it that I manage to get 3 setups that don´t work any good with XBMC then there is users that do. I always do a lot of research before building my computers but I do never make it based on a specific software more then power vice but apparently its a different story with XBMC and that's all I wanted to lift.

If it is suppose to be this way (which is sounds like) then why not construct a recommended setup? Your setup seems to work perfect so you do already know working setups why not recommend them on the XBMC site? If the setup do not support all features then simple add a table that explains that this setup is for example not supporting 720p and so on.

[vicbitter]

Then I get it multi platform but when it comes to a XBMC in the living room the type of hardware do not really matters as long as it runs good.

Oh... dear... me... How wrong you are... Depending on the hardware you have will definitely determine what you can and can't do with XBMC... Try and bitstream HD Audio on an ION1 platform. Oh, that's right you can't!

I have for example stated that if XBMC would works fully on a specific setup I would go for it even if it was on a Apple product. But there is no such recommendations.

I gave you my setup that runs XBMC flawlessly in post #9 which seemed to ignore...

Do you demand that all your software is multiform? How are you handling games?

Handling games? Rather than throw in your random requirement to argue your position, why don't you step back and clearly define your requirements and then build your HTPC to meet those requirements?

[snowjim]

...

Thanks alot! nice information! Information like this should be placed on XBMC website as a recommendation and not nested in the forum.

I would instantly leave XBMC if it was only to run on Apple

Yes I do not like Apple eather but pleas, explain why? How does it matter with XBMC?

---

Oh... dear... me... How wrong you are... Depending on the hardware you have will definitely determine what you can and can't do with XBMC... Try and bitstream HD Audio on an ION1 platform. Oh, that's right you can't!

Sorry, of couse the hardware matters, what I meant was that the platform that you run it on does not matter as long as the software is made for it.

I gave you my setup that runs XBMC flawlessly in post #9 which seemed to ignore...

This is not the problem, I suppose I could find alot of setups that users says that it works flawless but some of these users may not care about litte lag or audio sync. What I would like is a rock solid recommendation page on XBMC website that states setups that will for sure work with XBMC even if im picky about lag or audio sync.

Handling games? Rather than throw in your random requirement to argue your position, why don't you step back and clearly define your requirements and then build your HTPC to meet those requirements?

Yes I could build my own HTPC, no problem but how do I know what hardware to choose? XBMC is not working full on all hardware. The same goes for the platform, what operating system should I choose? Where can I find this information besides searching the forum and hope that the information I find is the real deal?

[vicbitter]

I always do a lot of research before building my computers but I do never make it based on a specific software more then power vice but apparently its a different story with XBMC and that's all I wanted to lift.

There's the fundamental flaw in your argument... You always need to take into account the software you plan to run on your hardware... This is a fundamental design philosophy of software architecture... Ask Microsoft, Oracle or any major software vendor for that matter.

---

I gave you my setup that runs XBMC flawlessly in post #9 which seemed to ignore...

This is not the problem, I suppose I could find alot of setups that users says that it works flawless but some of these users may not care about litte lag or audio sync. What I would like is a rock solid recommendation page on XBMC website that states setups that will for sure work with XBMC even if im picky about lag or audio sync.

Like I said my setup in post #9 performs flawlessly (including Bluray content) without any lag or audio sync issues...

[ixnu]

Thanks alot! nice information! Information like this should be placed on XBMC website as a recommendation and not nested in the forum.

No problem. I completely understand both sides of the issue. Whenever somebody recommends hardware (esp a team member) they are really putting their neck out and really open themselves up for criticism if it doesn't work out.

I'm being completely honest and telling you that these rigs are incredibly stable and give me great pleasure - however, unknowns could still ruin it for your setup.

For example:
Tweaks (like XVBA) can make a huge difference.
I run a HUP script upon sleep resume - this helped with various issues prior to 2.99.1 of OE
Some receivers have a mysterious lipsync issue when audio is sync'd to display running at 23.976
VC-1 interlaced and TrueHD on MKV (exactly two titles) had to be muxed to FLAC
I have no idea if the optical outs work well - I'm purely HDMI

Do these issues and tweaks mean that XBMC should still be considered beta for my hardware? Hell no!

[artrafael]

I would go for it even if it was on a Apple product.

I would instantly leave XBMC if it was only to run on Apple

Ditto.

[Zernable]

It's hard to make any hardware/platform recommendations for flawless core functionality for a couple reasons. Core functionality changes for different people. For me and I'd assume most users, the library functions are a core function yet I routinely see people post in the forums who don't use the library. Secondly, any single platform can have differences that affect how XBMC or any software functions. A difference in a bios revision can make a difference. Even within the same line of hardware there can be different chip sets or the machine assembled at a different factory. All these can introduce minor differences that can have an impact on the software installed.

[Begall]

Not only that, but given that XBMC is entirely built around audio/video, the other equipment used along with it is just as important. One person may find that their hardware works fantastically with their specific TV/AVR combination but another person with the exact same box will end up frustrated when the TV fails to correctly fit XBMC to its screen, or their receiver is picky about the audio.

If anyone wants to pick the right hardware for their use case, then they need to do research, not blindly try random combinations hoping for the best.

[Memphiz]

I agree that a closed hw platform might result in a more general flawless experience. But we would loose all users who use xbmc outside of their living room or who use xbmc just because it is available for some hardware they have lying around. If we wouldmake such an annoncement in our blog (maybe we could test on april 1st) - this would be the blog post with the most negative comments ever.

I can tell you - macmini (basically core i5 with intel hd4000 used with hdmi - yamaha avr - lgtv) running ubuntu 12.10 with bumped kernel 3.7.7 with latest master runs flawless (nom ag, no audio sync error, no stutter, no whatever). Now you go buy the same setup and it doesn't fit your experience. What will you do? You will blame me for lying (in your eyes). That's why we don't recommend things. Because we can't.

So coming back to the topic. I do this boring stuff at work. But there they tell me what bugs they find. Beeing as unspecific as "stabelize the core" from a developer? Do you code javascript or what?

Just join the fun and post one stableizing pull request and maybe other devs from the team get sucked in because you make it look that obvious or whatever...

[nickr]

Next thing is we'll have 4K TVs and 4K material and people will complain that XBMC doesn't work again...