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noobnas · 2012-01-28, 10:58

@ scott - mind if i ask u for a link mate?

@ darnun - im having second thoughts, if its that bad. i simply want a player that plays everything smoothly via a NAS.

Middors · 2012-01-28, 13:19

@Darnun if you have ATV2 Black media player installed, then remove that and also disable airplay in the atv2 main menu settings and use the XBMC airplay instead. This completely got rid of all my crashes and XBMC has been running great since and hasn't crashed in 10 days for me.

I love my ATV2, XBMC is great and if you make sure your media is stored properly then I doubt you'll have problems. I'm running 2 now and despite a buffering issue (which I've now fixed) I've had no other problems. Currently controlling the setup from android phones with the XBMC app and love it !

I used YANFOE to scrape all my movie rips and add in the .nfo files into the directories and XBMC scanned it all in 2 minutes with no issues.

Some of the more "heavy" skins can be a little slower to scroll through but I'm running "refocused" as my skin and as well as looking pretty it's so smooth to use.

~~Ned Scott~~ · 2012-01-28, 15:29

*READ THIS 1st BEFORE POSTING* How to Install, Jailbreak and other FAQs

~~Ned Scott~~ · 2012-01-28, 15:30

Darnun Wrote:Noobnas, I am not sure whether my issues are mac related but I have to stream my stuff from it to the ATV2 via the AFP protocol. Its pretty flaky and half my MKV HD files are stuttery but that could also be down to the encoding in the MKV. A lot of suggestions point towards making sure you get HD stuff as .h264 in order for them to work.

It is not a suggestion, it is a requirement. The ATV2 will not hardware decode non h.264 material.

Darnun · 2012-01-28, 15:50

Middors I will give that a try and see how it reacts. Thank you. Interested in the Yanfoe to scrape as well. Is that in the default XBMC add-on menu or is it one I have to install from a separate repository?

Sorry Ned, I wasn't suggesting it wasn't a requirement, it was from memory is all

~~Ned Scott~~ · 2012-01-28, 16:00

Darnun Wrote:Middors I will give that a try and see how it reacts. Thank you. Interested in the Yanfoe to scrape as well. Is that in the default XBMC add-on menu or is it one I have to install from a separate repository?

Sorry Ned, I wasn't suggesting it wasn't a requirement, it was from memory is all

No worries, I just wanted it to be clear that (as far as right now) it simply won't work with HD and other codecs ;)

Middors · 2012-01-28, 17:05

Darnun Wrote:Middors I will give that a try and see how it reacts. Thank you. Interested in the Yanfoe to scrape as well. Is that in the default XBMC add-on menu or is it one I have to install from a separate repository?

Sorry Ned, I wasn't suggesting it wasn't a requirement, it was from memory is all

YANFOE is a stand alone program. I use it outside of XBMC, once you have your library imported it will show newly added movies and will create the files (fanart, nfo's etc) for you. You can pick which fanart you want from a selection of images etc.

It's a bit more hands on but it takes literally 20 seconds of my time after new movies are added to my collection and it always has the correct results and more importantly if you have more than one install of XBMC in your house then you don't have to scrape data as they all pull it off the local folders.

noobnas · 2012-01-28, 20:38

Thanks Ned for the link. It still doesn't answer my question which was, do i need to convert media to a format that Apple TV will understand, even though its jailbroken?

Darnun · 2012-01-28, 20:41

Through XBMC on a jailbroken ATV2, you can play most movie files.
I have Avi and MKV mostly and they all work. I changed all my MKV non h264 to h264 today and they now all work fine.
As long as you're not using a weird format you should be fine mate

noobnas · 2012-01-28, 20:43

thanks Darnun for the quick response. How long did it take you to convert all the files? I have several terabytes of movies mate. I'm just weighing up the options of either building an ultra small pc to use as a player or to get a WDTV/Apple TV.

Darnun · 2012-01-28, 20:45

Each MKV I have is about 4gb and each one took about 10 - 15 minutes.
That's on a virtual windows 7 build on an iMac, so if you have a dedicated windows PC, should be quicker.
Mind you, TB of movies is a lot (Do you have a life) LOL

noobnas · 2012-01-28, 20:49

lol! i do have a life mate, but not much. I'm a bit of a movie fanatic. It seems that assuming each movie was 4gb and took 15mins, then one tb of movies will 3 days to convert! So 2 tb will take almost a week to convert.

Are you streaming movies from a NAS? If so, do you have any jerky/stuttering problems?

Darnun · 2012-01-28, 21:01

iMac, with a 2TB WD eBook attached.
Ethernet from iMac to the Apple TV and then streamed over afp protocol.

If the MKV is h264 format then I can sometimes get a little bit of stuttering yes and sometimes buffering but I honestly think this is down to the AFP protocol I use, more than the ATV2.
If you can use windows SMB then you most likely get better results.

1080P HD is down converted to 720P (The max output for ATV2 by the way) just in case you're a HD 1080P only fanatic too :-)

I did try to stream from a Buffalo NAS but it was too much hassle for me but others have no issues at all with that set up.
My only problem is having the mac on to get the ATV2 to stream but it's not the end of the world.

XBMC on ATV2 is what it is and you have to be aware that there updates to XBMC all the time, so don't expect perfection. If you want that go down the boxee or popcorn route, then you will get what you want but at a cost.

noobnas · 2012-01-28, 21:09

i'm not too fussed about 1080p mate as i think its a bit of a gimmick. But i couldn't live with any stuttering/buffering.

I think my only option is to build an atom-based pc/media player. That way i'm guaranteed compatibility and speed.

Darnun · 2012-01-28, 21:10

Well that is your choice but I wouldn't simply take my opinions as gospel. I have my own experiences based on my set up. Others have it and have no problems what so ever.
Good luck though :-)