[crxsi71]

Okay I've looked around and found some info on this topic but I want to know if someone can definitively tell me if the BCM970015 works on the 2006 Mac Mini upgraded from 1.66Ghz CoreDuo to 2.33Ghz Core2Duo with 2Gb of ram running 10.6.8 upgraded at the Genius Bar which I recommend for everyone that has access to a GB and has the ability to wipe your os completely and start fresh, b/c my old mac mini is zinging after the GB upgraded it. I bought the disc and did it myself and ran all the updates and it was still giving me problems but the GBs upgrade of my os was sweet. I digress. I want to buy this card to improve performance in video playback on my old mac mini. I would also like to know how to install it (Software&Drivers&Such) if it will work and please if you can help please put it in a step by step process that I can follow like a manual. I know how to physically install it, its the files and commands I need. I have my mac mini running flawlessly except for this and I don't want to screw it up with the wrong info.

[crxsi71]

Did I post in the wrong place or something? If so I apologize I thought this was an OS X question. If I'm wrong someone please tell me and I'll move it where it goes. I read the rules and thought I was ok?

[Ned Scott]

http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?pid=481157

[crxsi71]

Is this same for the bcm970012?

[Ned Scott]

Yes

[crxsi71]

Okay I began to read and first hurdle I need to jump is this one which file to download and work from for OS X 10.6.8. I went to the download page from above link and this is what there is there:


OSX driver and library support for the Broadcom Crystal HD Video Accelerator.

Project HomeDownloadsSource
Search for
1 - 8 of 8
Filename ▼ Summary + Labels ▼ Uploaded ▼ ReleaseDate ▼ Size ▼ DownloadCount ▼ ...
crystalhd-for-osx-3.6.0.zip crystalhd kext, library and firmware based on r156 Aug 2010 1.3 MB 5837
crystalhd-for-osx-2.0.1.zip crystalhd kext, library and firmware based on r145 with 8 DMA buffers Aug 2010 1.3 MB 673
turbo_atv_enabler.bin mirror for http://0xfeedbeef.com/appletv/turbo_atv_enabler.bin Aug 2010 17.4 KB 43578
crystalhd-for-osx-2.0.0.zip crystalhd kext, library and firmware based on r145 Aug 2010 1.3 MB 283
crystalhd-for-osx-1.0.3.zip crystalhd kext, library and firmware based on r26 Feb 2010 1007 KB 1982
test_video.264 h.264 annex b format test file, for use with hellobcm only !!!!!! Feb 2010 28.1 MB 739
crystalhd-for-osx-1.0.1.zip crystalhd kext, library and firmware based on r16 Jan 2010 1006 KB 2797
crystalhd-for-osx-1.0.0.zip crystalhd kext and library, initial distro Jan 2010 59.3 KB 565


So theres all the files and the project home says that it supports 10.4 and 10.5. So which one for 10.6.8.
the guide says use 1.0.1 but as I just stated it also says that is for 10.4 -10.5?

[crxsi71]

so no one can help me?

[Ned Scott]

You want crystalhd-for-osx-3.6.0.zip: http://crystalhd-for-osx.googlecode.com/...-3.6.0.zip

[DBMandrake]

Just a general question about Crystal HD support, particularly in 10.6.8 - how robust is it (playback compatibility / bugs etc) and what are its prospects for continued support through Gotham etc, or is it more of a deprecated feature nowadays ?

I have a Mac Mini 2007 1.83Ghz core 2 duo which only supports software rendering - the vast majority of what I play works fine as is, however bit rates above approximately 15Mbit/sec are too much for it, and while it will play MOST 1080p content ok, some higher bitrate stuff will stutter slightly in places although usually only if the screen output resolution is actually set at 1920x1080 - the screen currently connected is 1680x1050 and in this resolution it copes. (I believe this is a consequence of the relatively weak Intel GMA graphics chip or perhaps GPU memory bandwidth)

This is in contrast to the hardware decoding on my humble Raspberry Pi which can handle up to 70Mbit/sec (yes I've tested it!) at 1920x1080 outputting at 1920x1080 without the slightest stutter. The irony here is that when I switch to a full 1920x1080 display soon I may be better off accepting the slower CPU and GUI performance of the Raspberry Pi for its much faster GPU video decoding performance!

I've been on the fence for a while about getting a Crystal HD card as it means the loss of the wireless card, and I'm not sure if it will solve the issues at 1920x1080 output res or whether that is a performance bottleneck of the GPU. However if it will bring the hardware decoding abilities up to a par or exceed those of the Raspberry Pi then I'll probably go with it.

[Soli]

I have a mini 2006 1,66ghz running 10.6.8 with crystalhd x15 and xbmc 13.2. It's more or less working flawless in xbmc. But flash for xbmc doesnt support crystal hd. Since this machine is now at my parents house i wanted them to actually be able to use it. I installed windows 8.1 on it, on another partition. I have sucessfully been running windows 7 before with crystal hd working great, both flash and xbmc. But I dont know if windows 8.1 is the problem, the newer code in gotham or something else, but crystal hd in xbmc is now really bad , frames dropping like crazy and lagging too, even at 720p. Normal flash sites are also terribly slow, except a little less laggy on youtube for some reason. But using media player classic, the playback is more or less perfect, even high rate 1080p. Weird huh? I also have a couple of atv1s running crystalbuntu 2, gotham 13.1 (havent upgraded to 13.2). Their playback of 1080p within xbmc is also essentially perfect. Hope this helps.

[Memphiz]

hit "o" during playback and check if crystalhd is even used on windows.

[Soli]

Yes, it is. Actually I think there is a bug, because even if I turn off the CHD decoding in XBMC, it still use CHD decoding. I have to uninstall the CHD drivers and THEN FFmpeg will take over.

Just to verify this, I actually reinstalled Windows 8.1 32bit yesterday (sorry, I do realise this is the OSX specific forums).
Crystalhd Driver 3.6.9, x15 card.
XBMC 13.2.

Youtube in a browser works okayish, whereas most other sites that use flash are sluggish. (Weird as they all do use flash, and yes I did doublecheck)
Media Player Classic works great.
Crystalhd in xbmc 13.2 works but is crappy as hell.

Best best is to install Linux if you want xbmc and flash support (I even read you can use it for html5 with chrome in Linux). Also, Windows 7 might work great too for xbmc and flash.

But yes, CHD in OSX 10.6.8 using xbmc 13.2 works without a single hitch, essentially perfect!