Hello
Thought I would post with my Xbmc experience so far.
I'm currently an avid mepo user, thought I would check out some of the competition to see what they are doing.
My first step was to create a new partition for Xbmc, I've had fun and games getting to where I am on the install (not used Linux much at all) so fired up the xbmcbuntu - after several hours I gave up trying to install it (it kept freezing/getting stuck at a where are you page and an infinite spinner).
Not willing to give up, i tried Using the full Ubuntu setup and I have it now installed (FYI I still had the infinite spinner problem but found out unplugging the network would let it pass - big bug IMO), I still have issues to resolve but will update (if anyone cares ) once I have worked out how to use tvheadend. My current progress is up to the point of managing to install the amd drivers to fix the sound through hdmi, installing Xbmc and tuner and a basic install of tvheadend (which I can't work out how to set off on grabbing the epg)
Some pros so far:
Ubuntu/Xbmc are very fast at booting/loading and grabbing extensions via GUI is a breeze. Everything is fast in general.
Importing movies - wow, maybe mepo devs can nose at how they are doing it (I use my videos in 1.3 btw, have used moving pictures in the past). The importer scanned in my entire movie library in the time it takes mepo to do 2 lol. Not only that but all the covers were perfect, I don't need to go through and change any of them - my videos I had/have to go through every movie manually to find a nice looking cover to use, it takes AGES. It must be possible to select the preferential cover via code, they appear to use tmdb (same as mepo if not mistaken)
Cons so far:
An a*se to setup, what is a basic task in windows is a mission NASA wouldn't want in Ubuntu. Something's are easy (come along way since I last used Ubuntu)
My biggest problem is down to me not having much Linux knowledge.
I have a chicken and egg error stopping me using apt-get, being a novice and solely relying on forums for help - this will drain a few more hours to resolve.
Hdmi audio a pain to fix/setup and still not there yet with getting pass through (amp is currently flashing the right lights eg true hd) but playback is terrible and sound cuts in and out every second - my primary goal is to finish setting up tvheadend to test tv functionality prior to delving deeper into fully setting up movies (crap tv = me not willing to test further )
Anyway thought it was worth posting my experience so far and maybe mepo can take some thing from it with regards to movie importing (my jaw literally hit the floor) - I normally go and make a cup of tea whilst mepo does its import but I didn't even have time to get off the chair in Xbmc, impressed
Ian
Thought I would post with my Xbmc experience so far.
I'm currently an avid mepo user, thought I would check out some of the competition to see what they are doing.
My first step was to create a new partition for Xbmc, I've had fun and games getting to where I am on the install (not used Linux much at all) so fired up the xbmcbuntu - after several hours I gave up trying to install it (it kept freezing/getting stuck at a where are you page and an infinite spinner).
Not willing to give up, i tried Using the full Ubuntu setup and I have it now installed (FYI I still had the infinite spinner problem but found out unplugging the network would let it pass - big bug IMO), I still have issues to resolve but will update (if anyone cares ) once I have worked out how to use tvheadend. My current progress is up to the point of managing to install the amd drivers to fix the sound through hdmi, installing Xbmc and tuner and a basic install of tvheadend (which I can't work out how to set off on grabbing the epg)
Some pros so far:
Ubuntu/Xbmc are very fast at booting/loading and grabbing extensions via GUI is a breeze. Everything is fast in general.
Importing movies - wow, maybe mepo devs can nose at how they are doing it (I use my videos in 1.3 btw, have used moving pictures in the past). The importer scanned in my entire movie library in the time it takes mepo to do 2 lol. Not only that but all the covers were perfect, I don't need to go through and change any of them - my videos I had/have to go through every movie manually to find a nice looking cover to use, it takes AGES. It must be possible to select the preferential cover via code, they appear to use tmdb (same as mepo if not mistaken)
Cons so far:
An a*se to setup, what is a basic task in windows is a mission NASA wouldn't want in Ubuntu. Something's are easy (come along way since I last used Ubuntu)
My biggest problem is down to me not having much Linux knowledge.
I have a chicken and egg error stopping me using apt-get, being a novice and solely relying on forums for help - this will drain a few more hours to resolve.
Hdmi audio a pain to fix/setup and still not there yet with getting pass through (amp is currently flashing the right lights eg true hd) but playback is terrible and sound cuts in and out every second - my primary goal is to finish setting up tvheadend to test tv functionality prior to delving deeper into fully setting up movies (crap tv = me not willing to test further )
Anyway thought it was worth posting my experience so far and maybe mepo can take some thing from it with regards to movie importing (my jaw literally hit the floor) - I normally go and make a cup of tea whilst mepo does its import but I didn't even have time to get off the chair in Xbmc, impressed
Ian