Best Practice XBMC in action
#1
Hi,

I am new to XBMC and I am circling with all the information in this forum about what is the "best practice" set up - for me.

Let me give a few notes on my use case and current set up (open for discussion):

I want a library for films that allows me to nicely organize and control my videos from a tablet/smartphone for playback on a Smart TV.
Second scope (no must) is playback of Photo *Albums* (not photos from a directory) on my Smart TV ( I am currently using IPhono and like it Smile
I have a separate perfectly working solution on Sonos for music.

XBMC is currently running on my MacBook
I have no HTPC and am not sure I really need one for a suitable set up (part of the question)
I have a Samsung Smart TV supporting UPnP/DLNA
My media is on a HDD connected to a Router via USB, exposed using FTP to XBMC
I am using XBMC remote on iPhone (but can currently only control play back on the XBMC itself - no "play with" feature)
I am using IPhoto plug in with XBMC - works OK - but I do not really like control and Thumbnail view from XBMC remote (so using ATV today)

I have a ATV3 which is not used in the XBMC set up right now but used for iphoto running on the MacBook for playback on TV (A Jail brake would have resolved my issues right away :/

Next door - literally on the wall behind the TV - I have a WinPC (I could, and thought about, getting a HDMI cable through the wall from the PC to the TV - 50 cm)

I am going to purchase a proper NAS, QNAP or Synology (part of my question) - this could be one with local XBMC, and be placed in the room with the Win PC to connect to the TV via HDMI?
I am going to purchase a Tablet - iOS or Android (whatever makes in above setup more sense)
I do not necessarily want to purchase a dedicated HTPC - but I am open if that is what I need - DLNA should do the job in my view?

My Media is in one large directory - with one subdirectory for each film/series - Media is in mixed format today.
(for sake of a smoothly working solution, I am OK to convert to suitable formats for the TV.)

Some issues I currently have with XBMC in the above set up - in perspective of my set scope:
- I can only "play with" controlled from my MacBook to stream from the DLNA/HDD to the TV - this is not (yetHuh) possible from the XBMC remote
- I do not (necessarily) want to connect the MacBook via HDMI to the TV to achieve control from the iPhone / planned tablet
- Apple OS seems to have an issue with the media presented from XBMC (using SMB)- and does not show all films /directories. (same directly on Finder) - that is why I have changed to FTP.


My thinking:
- What is the better option DLNA play with or XBMC HMDI to the TV (not leveraging the smart TV capabilities)
- QNAP has NAS with support for XBMC - should I possibly run XBMC there instead of MacBook?
- Eventually XBMC remote may support "play with", so the control from Tablet will work with XBMC on Macook - however that has to be always on.
- Not sure my WinPC is of any help here - I do not want to have it running permanently.
- QNAP can stream through ATV - but I think this is not working from XBMC -
- probably there are other/better library solutions to XBMC for my use cases

Sorry for the loooong pre-amble- but I thought it would be worth sharing this background for the answers I am looking for

Bottom line: I am lost in different approaches and need to make right decision on NAS.

Please share with me what works for you and what you believe from experience is the best practice to achieve what I am looking for (guess this is not unusual set up)

Many thanks

Eric
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#2
Hi

may be my long intro kept you from sharing your ideas with me Huh

I give it a new try simplifying my story:

I understand there are various ways to use XBMC for movie play back on TV and comfortable control from remote using Library functionality
- local HTPC running XBMC
- HTPC on QNAP with HMDI connected to TV
- UPnP/DLNA to SMART TV - with the limitation that XBMC remote does not support play with feature and I have to control from XBMC itself


My question is on best practice approach based on your experience.
I am about to invest in a NAS and it may become a central element or "just" a data repository.
Also I was so far reluctant to invest into a separate HTPC with expectation DLNA may do the job - but XBMC remote is the handicap here. Just recently I found QNAP with XBMC app - but here I have heard bad stories about limitation of intel chip and delays in offering latest XBMC.

I am interested to learn from you what you think about this

Gracias!
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#3
Ya, I read through your messages, but didn't retain a lot... information overload? From my point of view most smart TV's take the stupid road eventually. There's no one here that is going to put the puzzle together for you and take responsibility to hand hold your decisions. Mistakes will be made, don't be hard on yourself or others. At least you're trying to arm yourself with enough data to make educated choices. Scope out the hardware forum, most of the guys have most of what you're looking for.

I kinda fall into the KISS mentality... HDMI output from a PC into the HDMI port on a TV (although most have a AV/reciver in between. Wireless anything usually bottles necks something, I kinda like the idea of a tablet for a remote, and I guess the cost effective choice is Google's Nexus 7, A Nas is (not a backup) made to run 24/7 while a media player with attached drives or access to media might be more comfortable if you have a proper back-up. Many more questions and answers are needed, with only 5 posts, I'd suggest you get a bit more familiar with some of characters that hang about the forums and see if you can tease the correct answers from these old dogs.

I believe you'll find most of your answers in the XBMC wiki's and here's a few links out of the box to help you get a handle on the issues.

http://lifehacker.com/5900626/create-a-k...lete-guide
http://arstechnica.com/civis/viewtopic.p...&start=320
http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?t=95231
http://lifehacker.com/5536963/the-ultima...dia-center
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#4
(2014-05-04, 20:21)EVO22 Wrote: My thinking:
- What is the better option DLNA play with or XBMC HMDI to the TV (not leveraging the smart TV capabilities)
- QNAP has NAS with support for XBMC - should I possibly run XBMC there instead of MacBook?
- Eventually XBMC remote may support "play with", so the control from Tablet will work with XBMC on Macook - however that has to be always on.
- Not sure my WinPC is of any help here - I do not want to have it running permanently.
- QNAP can stream through ATV - but I think this is not working from XBMC -
- probably there are other/better library solutions to XBMC for my use cases

imho...

1. ditch the "Smart TV" it's a marketing gimmick and will never work properly.
2. get a dedicated htpc, if you want lower power go for a raspberry pi or a intel nuc
3. removes the whole play with issue if you actually have a htpc connected via hdmi to the tv.

I personally have a server which holds all of my media, 2x htpc's (lounge and master bedroom) and an ATV2 in the kids bedroom.

All run xbmc and i can start a film in one room and finish it in a another, everyone has thier own profile, with thier own tv shows / movies photo's etc.

Also i didn't quite get this bit
Quote:Second scope (no must) is playback of Photo *Albums* (not photos from a directory) on my Smart TV ( I am currently using IPhono and like it

Surely the photo's must exist in a directory or cloud storage, so whats the difference between using a slideshow in xbmc or sending them to your smart tv?

Well that's my 2p's worth,

you'll probably get a different answer from everyone that replies.
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#5
qnap xbmc support is lacking. i would not bother running on the qnap.
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#6
I know this thread has gone a bit quiet. But it is the one that came up in my Google search for best practices last month… I did not get so many answers from here. But thought I would share in case I can help anyone, particularly if lossless media and subtitles are important for you, or if you live in a concrete bunker.

The best set up depends on one’s:
+ Preferences
+ Resources
+ Capabilities
+ Environment

For me:
• Lossless sound and video are required ; home video and pictures I do not put on my NAS
• I have 20TB on the NAS (16TB with RAID5), and I do not want to waste this on multiple copies of media so that less capable machines can play them back
• I have not coded since living on Kobol. But I am willing to have a go at editing cache buffer settings for android boxes so that they can play 1080p Bluray rips.
• I live in a multistory concrete dwelling with a multi-lingual family unit that makes use of subtitles and wants access to media on Android devices as well as on WIN-PCs and Smart TVs. I have not as yet tried to get any of the iDevices in the house in touch with my NAS.

My solution:
• A Thecus N5550 NAS with an Atom chip and 2GB RAM. Basically a NAS that has rudimentary PC-like functionality, including HDMI output and USB plugs for a keyboard.
• Plex Media Server on the NAS broadcasting via UPnP. I’d use the XBMC UPnP server, but it does not start automatically – at least not with the Thecus – if the HDMI-attached TV is not already turned on. I will try Kodi by and by.
• My LG SmartTVs seem to get on well with Plex too, including pausing, fast forwarding and rewind, but not chapter skipping. I read somewhere that their software may be Plex related. Subtitles are not well supported by the LGs. Samsung is better in this regard. But still not a patch on XBMC at all at all, which also allows for switching soundtracks on the fly.
• Various WIN-PC Laptops in the house are loaded with XBMC Gotham 13.2. I have shared drives (e.g., Z: for Video) mapped on them. But Bluray’s freeze too much with cache problems when I go via SMB. Whereas both XBMC and Plex UPnP servers from the NAS play smoothly on the PCs… at least when the PCs without AC WiFi are connected to the router via Ethernet. (More on networking below.)
• I also have a Minix X8-H Smartbox. This reduces the need for one HTPC. The Minix has Gotham 13.2 for Android and is linked to an older but DTS-capable Marantz 7.1-channel receiver. Unfortunately, I can only get 7.1 channel sound to play for occasional rips. For example, Thor with Master 7.1 ripped with MakeMKV plays in 7.1. But Thor Dark Kingdom ripped on the same day does not, coming across as 5.1, although it would otherwise seem to have the same audio, and XBMC also indicates that it is Master 7.1. Wolverine 7.1 is fine. But Iron Man 3 comes across as 5.1 channels. Star Trek into Darkness is a True 7.1 format. This is probably a different problem for the old receiver, which plays this as 5.1, no matter my fiddling with passthru settings.
• For Android Smartphones and Tablets, I use BubbleUPnP. Bubble now plays FLAC music rips itself. For video playback, it hands off to MX player. I suppose that I could use a Plex App instead. But I do not know yet if I will stay with Plex. I do not try to play full-sized Blurays rips on phones. But MKVs of DVDs stream fine over N-band Wi-Fi.
• For video, I use MakeMKV and Pavtube ByteCopy to make lossless MKVs. Pavtube I use in particular to convert VC-1 format Blurays to H264. I started doing this when Frodo came out and VC-1 Blurays that Eden played fine no longer played fine. Occasionally neither MakeMKV nor Pavtube can rip a Bluray. DVDFab can usually then make an ISO copy, which Pavtube can convert to MKV.
• I use Winamp both for ripping CD music to FLAC and for playback on PCs. I tag-edit with MP3Tag. Sometimes I use XBMC for playback instead of Winamp. As I mentioned above, BubbleUPnP handles music playback on Android Smartphones and Tablets. I do allow MP3-320 duplicates of FLAC files for playing in cars via USB sticks. I convert with Foobar.
• Network-wise, I have an AC router (Netgear Nighthawk) but so far only a few AC-capable devices. I should probably use Powerline to get signals past the steel in the concrete to other floors. But I am making do with a Netgear N-repeater upstairs and a Netgear AC-bridge (EX6200) downstairs. I do not use the AC-bridge as a WiFi repeater at all. Rather, its 5GHz band is dedicated to linking with the AC-router on the middle floor. The EX6200 has five Ethernet jacks. I am using four at present for two PCs, a SmartTV and a printer. The WiFi signal to the basement is actually OK for N-band devices. But they need AC help to stream Blurays. The one AC laptop that we have does not need additional help though; it streams Bluray fine – as long as it is via UPnP and not via SMB, as mentioned above.

Hope these items help someone. Any friendly advice back is appreciated.
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#7
well, a great list for newbies. Will add my own when I found something useful
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