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Idiot's Guide to Chromebox & NUC
Flirc is pretty amazing. Fyi. I programmed several remotes. Now anything laying around controls XBMC. Win!
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Keyboard Compatibility

I can confirm that IOGEAR Model GKM681R, combo keyboard and mouse, permits you to do Ctrl-D/Ctrl-L. It does not appear to be afflicted with the "K400" problem.

I'm not sure of a better forum for this.
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I just got done reading (most of) this thread. I'm ready to buy something today - I want to have it in place for this weekend as a project. I'm replacing an AppleTV1 w/ CrystalHD card. I have another ATV(3) to get to iTunes stuff, and I'm tired of both of them listening to my IR commands. (I have a Harmony Smart Control remote, and I can't seem to get the Apple remote pairing to work with it.)

I'm trying to decide on NUC vs Chromebox. Until I read this forum, I was leaning hard towards Chromebox, but after all the problems I've seen here, I'm now not sure. I'm a software engineer... I've done hacking before. But honestly I really like not having to hack, unless it's dead simple and never fails. I've hacked my older ATV2's, for example. They work well.. you just can't get them anymore, and I'm looking for a box that will do 1080p for my home theater (the ATV2's are attached to regular, smaller TVs - the theater is a projector.)

The Chromebox is $179 and has everything I need except IR receiver. And I happen to already have a Flirc, so I'm good there.

The cost comparison looks like this to me:

CHROMEBOX: $179
- includes SSD (16GB), RAM (2GB), power cord
- includes Bluetooth and wifi

NUC P847DYE: $206
- base unit ($149)
- 2GB Crucial RAM ($22)
- 16GB mSata SSD ($30) - these are hard to find, most are larger and more expensive
- power cable ($5)
- no BT, no wifi

The Chromebox seems much cheaper and simpler, in terms of hardware. But after reading this post, I'm worried about the hacking part - sounds very problematic.

And then you need to add an IR receiver to either one.
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(2014-05-08, 19:20)McButton Wrote: Flirc is pretty amazing. Fyi. I programmed several remotes. Now anything laying around controls XBMC. Win!

Can you tell me how to program the Flirc best for XBMC and Harmony Smart Control Remote? The programming mode usually wants you to train it from the original remote, but I don't have a true dedicated remote - I have a remote that will do anything. So, which "brand/model" do I choose for the Harmony? And then do I just program the Flirc in training mode then? I think I tried the built-in XBMC remote on Harmony, but couldn't get it to work.
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I just took the plunge with a NUC - totally different one than I was originally considering, and a much better deal.

BOXDN2820FYKH0: $133 shipped
- includes IR receiver (no dongle needed, which is nice)
- includes power cable
- has BT and wifi
- N2820 Celeron

Was able to get 2GB of RAM for $17 on ebay. I'm trying to decide on whether to boot from USB or get a hard drive, but if I go USB, I can get a 16GB USB3 drive for $15 or so. Add that up, and it's under $165, which is cheaper than the Chromebox. Had a friend of mine recommend this build to me, so I know it works.
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Already have Celeron NUC, but w/Chromebox, sounds like extra 2GB RAM is needed to alleviate high CPU usage?
[H]i-[d]eft [M]edia [K]een [V]ideosaurus
My Family Room Theater
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Chromebox is easy to setup. I just made it too hard. Matt Devo made an easy install tool as well on another post.
Don't stress. I can do it with my eyes closed. Just follow the wiki steps EXACTLY, and you'll be good. I'd say it takes a few extra minutes, but the internals seem to be better than NUCs at the same price.

For Flirc, I used my Time Warner dvr remote and several others. I can control several devices. Some remotes force you to use specific buttons and locks others =/. I can use Xbmc set + keyboard settings OR just use the keyboard settings. If your remote requires a pairing key to be entered as well, you may need to do that before Flirc.
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As far as RAM, chromebox doesn't seem to use all the RAM... Ever. But, it can't hurt. Mine freezes SOMETIMES. It may be openelec..... It may be RAM. I don't know yet.
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(2014-05-20, 01:54)zoom Wrote: I just took the plunge with a NUC - totally different one than I was originally considering, and a much better deal.

BOXDN2820FYKH0: $133 shipped
- includes IR receiver (no dongle needed, which is nice)
- includes power cable
- has BT and wifi
- N2820 Celeron

Was able to get 2GB of RAM for $17 on ebay. I'm trying to decide on whether to boot from USB or get a hard drive, but if I go USB, I can get a 16GB USB3 drive for $15 or so. Add that up, and it's under $165, which is cheaper than the Chromebox. Had a friend of mine recommend this build to me, so I know it works.

Where did you buy it at that price shipped?
My XBMC/Kodi folder: addons, skins, addon/menu backgrounds & more
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Village idiot here...
Questions for a Chromebox Netflix/Openelec setup:

1. Can I use Flirc and a Harmony remote to send keyboard commands to switch between Openlec and ChromeOS with a dual boot setup. Or is a keyboard needed full stop to switch between the two. ?

2. We all know most Android devices cannot output 24p content properly, does Openelec running on the Chromebox have the 24,50 and 60Hz video output options and will Openelec autoswitch my display refresh rate based on content playing ?

3. Any CEC contol on the Chromebox, ie turn TV one from remote when Chromebox has been in standby ?

Thanks.

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(2014-10-26, 09:12)wrxtasy Wrote: Village idiot here...
Questions for a Chromebox Netflix/Openelec setup:

1. Can I use Flirc and a Harmony remote to send keyboard commands to switch between Openlec and ChromeOS with a dual boot setup. Or is a keyboard needed full stop to switch between the two. ?

2. We all know most Android devices cannot output 24p content properly, does Openelec running on the Chromebox have the 24,50 and 60Hz video output options and will Openelec autoswitch my display refresh rate based on content playing ?

3. Any CEC contol on the Chromebox, ie turn TV one from remote when Chromebox has been in standby ?

Thanks.

1) no

2) yes, it's an x86 PC running Linux, nothing to do with Android or its current limitations

3) yes, with an adapter from Pulse-Eight
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(2014-10-26, 09:12)wrxtasy Wrote: 2. We all know most Android devices cannot output 24p content properly, does Openelec running on the Chromebox have the 24,50 and 60Hz video output options and will Openelec autoswitch my display refresh rate based on content playing ?
My Chromebox does 23.976/50/59.94Hz output absolutely fine. It's a Haswell x86 box running OpenElec (which is a cut-down Linux distro) - nothing to do with Android. It also outputs DTS HD MA/HR and Dolby True HD with no problems.
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Thanks everyone.

Still not pefect for a complete lounge lizard / remote in hand / switchable between XBMC and ChromesOS - but getting close these boxes.

Fantastic value tho ! Wink

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Hello,

After reading a lot of posts I share with you my problem, I have some issues in my new HP Chromebox with SeaBIOS (version rel-1.7.5-82-g8d...), I tried to make the standalone installation, and it was not successful.

The SD cards I was using to install OPENLEC and saving the BACKUP, are no longer available, seems they were not working properly (F*ck!)

Now I'm trying to make a Factory reset, but no luck, check the below image. I followed instructions posted in the wiki and also I used the Chrome tool, selecting my device, but although seems start working, it stops in the first second...

Check image:
Image

What can I do? I tried to do the same that other users commented here, but nothing fixes the problem.

Thank you Smile
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(2014-10-31, 17:47)axelpc Wrote: Hello,

After reading a lot of posts I share with you my problem, I have some issues in my new HP Chromebox with SeaBIOS (version rel-1.7.5-82-g8d...), I tried to make the standalone installation, and it was not successful.

The SD cards I was using to install OPENLEC and saving the BACKUP, are no longer available, seems they were not working properly (F*ck!)

Now I'm trying to make a Factory reset, but no luck, check the below image. I followed instructions posted in the wiki and also I used the Chrome tool, selecting my device, but although seems start working, it stops in the first second...

What can I do? I tried to do the same that other users commented here, but nothing fixes the problem.

Thank you Smile

if you're trying to do a standalone OpenELEC, and your install media isn't working, then just use a different USB stick/SD card, download OpenELEC from their site, and create the install media as per their instructions. Info is on the ChromeBox wiki. Since you've performed a standalone setup (which flashes the firmware), your ChromeBox is basically a regular PC now, not a ChromeOS device.

there's no need to do a factory reset, but if you were going to, you need to first restore the stock firmware, again as per the wiki.
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Idiot's Guide to Chromebox & NUC2