Linux Asus Chromebox as OpenELEC HW
#1
The newly announced Chromebox from ASUS looks amazing to be running OpenElec and XBMC. The celeron powered model is to retail at 179$ and comes with a 16Gb SSD. Just hook up a usb 3.0 HDD o it and you have all the storage you need
  • Intel 2955U (2C/2T 1.4GHz 2MB L3)
  • Intel HD Graphics (200/1000MHz)
  • RAM 2GB, 2 x DDR3 SO-DIMM Slots
  • 16GB M.2 SSD
  • 10/100/1000Celeron Ethernet
  • Dual-band 802.11 a/b/g/n
  • Bluetooth 4.0
  • SD card reader
  • 4 x USB 3.0
  • 1 x HDMI
  • 1 x DisplayPort
  • 1 x Audio Jack (mic-in/speaker out)
  • 65W power supply
  • 4.88" x 4.88" x 1.65"

Details on Anandtech
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#2
I've got OpenElec working on the Acer C720 Chromebook - which has similar specs (Celeron 2955U, 2GB RAM etc.) It works really nicely, except that you have to press CTRL+L every time you boot to get to the Legacy BIOS. (I believe there may be a way of reflashing to remove this - but I use ChromeOS as well still)

The Chromebox has more USB ports, Displayport and GigE - and it looks like you can add more RAM (the C720 Chromebook RAM is soldered in) - very exciting indeed.
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#3
That looks like a killer HTPC box!
Can you just replace ChromeOS with OpenElec or do you have to use some kind of dual boot?

The fact that it is fanless is the reason for me to consider this over a NUC, because noise is the main reason i switched from a decent HTPC to a RaspberryPi. Rather have a slower system which is silent then a fast and slightly noisy system.

This box could have best of both world Smile ! Very exciting Smile

EDIT: Just noticed the other thread: http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=185329
Let's use that one to discus the Asus Chromebox abilities to run XBMC!
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#4
Not sure it is fanless. Think that may have been an erroneous report.
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#5
Question, are there any msata to Sata adapters you can use to install a regular 2.5ssd? There seems to be enough room where I could put some double sided tape on the bottom for it to fit inside. I ask because I have an extra 2.5 laying around and rather use that with it instead of buying a new msata drive. If it is possible, any idea on how to power my ssd?
Btw. I'm new! Nice to meet yall
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#6
Definitely not fanless.

Mind you my NUC 2820 is barely audible, very very quiet (and per my sig I have custom built a truly silent machine in the past)
Addons I wrote &/or maintain:
OzWeather (Australian BOM weather) | Check Previous Episode | Playback Resumer | Unpause Jumpback | XSqueezeDisplay | (Legacy - XSqueeze & XZen)
Sorry, no help w/out a *full debug log*.
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#7
Did anyone tested playing 10gb or bigger video file on this box with XBMC? how is the performance? does it get hot? any buffering during play? thanks.
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#8
I constantly play files bigger than 10GB, I see no issue with heat or performance. The only issues with this are noted under the wiki:

http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=Asus_Chromebox

This device has a steal of a price for the next month $149.99 after $10 rebate:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00IT1W...OGTJGXTFCS
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#9
(2014-03-10, 11:25)noggin Wrote: I've got OpenElec working on the Acer C720 Chromebook - which has similar specs (Celeron 2955U, 2GB RAM etc.) It works really nicely, except that you have to press CTRL+L every time you boot to get to the Legacy BIOS. (I believe there may be a way of reflashing to remove this - but I use ChromeOS as well still)

The Chromebox has more USB ports, Displayport and GigE - and it looks like you can add more RAM (the C720 Chromebook RAM is soldered in) - very exciting indeed.
Can u tell me step by step how you achieved this?
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#10
(2014-09-11, 00:44)crymsonfyre Wrote:
(2014-03-10, 11:25)noggin Wrote: I've got OpenElec working on the Acer C720 Chromebook - which has similar specs (Celeron 2955U, 2GB RAM etc.) It works really nicely, except that you have to press CTRL+L every time you boot to get to the Legacy BIOS. (I believe there may be a way of reflashing to remove this - but I use ChromeOS as well still)

The Chromebox has more USB ports, Displayport and GigE - and it looks like you can add more RAM (the C720 Chromebook RAM is soldered in) - very exciting indeed.
Can u tell me step by step how you achieved this?

you can use the ChromeBox EZ setup script as well, just be sure to use the dual-boot setup, not standalone (since the standalone firmware will likely brick your system)
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Asus Chromebox as OpenELEC HW0