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  2. #2
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    Default Re: Acer Revo Media Centre Guides Index

    Stutter-free HD Playback in Windows

    Bear in mind this is an experimental XBMC installation so is not a final release. So far the bugs I have found are:

    If you alt, tab away from XBMC, then go back into it the keyboard will no longer function as a remote, you need to use the mouse.

    Skipping forward through HD video has a massive lag, audio works immediately and video takes a while, then it's out of sync. The video will skip forward faster than the audio to eventually correct this.

    Guide:
    Spoiler:
    Remove any current XBMC installation, including the User Profile folder (stored in Appdata), also uninstall ffdshow including program folder (usually in CCCP folder, only delete ffdshow folder).

    Install XBMC with integrated DSPlayer, it is now safe to use the latest version, they are now merged to the official trunk of XBMC.

    Install with all boxes checked, when ffdshow installs I don’t think it matters if you install with the additional boxes ticked. Once installed do not launch XBMC yet.

    Before continuing please note I am running this on a Dualcore 4GB machine, a note from the author says only follow this part of the guide if your hardware can handle it. Follow this guide (props to therealjoeblow @ XBMC) to upscale all media to 1080p:
    Spoiler:
    NOTE: This is NOT a intended to be comprehensive "I've never played digital media before" guide for newbies, it assumes you have a working dsplayer setup, AND a working knowledge of how to of how to enable both ffdshow's software/directshow filter the dxva filter properly configured to handle the codecs you want it to handle. Infact, if you have ffdshow properly configured, then this resize will benefit any video player, not just xbmc/dsplayer.

    Note also that software upscaling is somewhat processor intensive, so if you have an old crappy machine, this might not work too well for you.

    1) configure the standard ffdshow directshow decoder to handle xvid and h264 on the codecs tab (using libavcodec), as well as any others you want it to (only exception is MPEG2, use libmpeg2 for that instead of libavcodec). On the H.264/AVC item in the right pane, do NOT enable either of the "skip deblocking" tickboxes at the bottom, otherwise you'll negatively impact image quality in a big way! On the MPEG2 item, enable the "DVD decoding" tickbox at the bottom of the right pane if you want to use ffdshow to view standard DVD's.

    I personally use virtually all of the common formats, ffdshow is the only video decoder on most of my machines, if you are using it there generally is *no* need for any other codecs and definitely no need for codec packs. Codec packs of any kind are evil, avoid them like the plague unless you want to fubar your system beyond repair.



    2) configure the ffdshow dxva filter to enable DXVA for H264 and VC1. Also enable "Surface Overlay" in post processing if you want subs in DXVA decoded material with ffdshow, otherwise subs won't work.



    3) back to the standard directshow filter: select the "Profiles / Preset settings" item from the left pane, go to the right pane and create a "New" profile, and name it something unique (I used "resize_for_w<1280").



    4) Still on the new "resize_for_w<1280" profile, enable the "Automatic preset loading" tick box at the bottom, then click the "Preset autload conditions..." button to bring up the autoloading window. Set it exactly as shown in the image above. This will cause this profile to load for all material where the image width is less than 1280 pixels. The default profile (where you hopefully didn't change anything before, but left everything at defaults) will load for all other material. You can tweak the settings if you're comfortable to make loading of this profile more restrictive using filenames, decoder matches, etc. but you really don't need to.

    5) Now still with that new "resize_for_w<1280", profile selected (make sure it's hilighted and *not* the default one), on the left pane, enable the tickbox for "Resize & aspect" partway down the page and then click the "Resize & aspect" item to select it. On the right pane, enable exactly as shown in the image (horizontal size set to 1920; "resize always" enabled; "keep original aspect ratio" enabled)



    6) Now on the left pane, select the "Settings" sub-item from the "Resize & aspect item", and set as shown (Luma and Chroma methods both set to Lanczos; Number of taps for each slider set to 4.00, Accurate rounding enabled). You can also experiment with Luma sharpen and Chroma sharpen, but I don't use those. Also, you can go higher than 4.00 for the Number of taps for more sharpening, but this also increases processing requirements a lot, and might cause 100% CPU useage and therefore jumpy playback, so use caution. Too much sharpening will negatvely impact image quality anyway. Lanzcos 4 tap is a generally accepted good standard resizer.



    **ADDED BY EVILSATAN: the below step tells you to create a rule for DSPlayer. To do this go into the XBMC Program folder, System, Players, DSPlayer, rightclick 'dsfilterconfig.xml' then click edit. Add the rule towards the bottom of this txt file one line under the wmv rules '[/rule]'. More info on the dsfilterconfig.xml here. Save to desktop then copy into the folder to overwrite the original.**

    7) Finally, to bring it all together, you need a rule in DSPlayer to make it load the DXVA filter for 1080p material, and the normal software directshow filter for other material. Since I use a filenaming convention like "Movie.Name.2010.1080p.BluRay.DTS.x264.mkv", I can use 1080p and 720p in the filename as triggers for rules. If you don't use such a naming convention, you'll have to find another way to trigger the correct rule in DSPlayer:

    Code:
        <rule filetype="mkv">
          <source filter="mkvsource" />
          <splitter filter="mkvsplitter" />
          <video>
            <video dxva="true" filename=".*1080.*" filter="ffdvideodxvadec" />
            <video filter="ffdvideodec" />
          </video>
          <audio filter="ffdaudiodec" />
        </rule>
    That's it. Once you get this done, then the DXVA filter should load for 1080p material, and do nothing else to it. And the ffdshow software directshow filter should load for everything else, and resize it to 1920 pixels wide, with a subtle sharpening, but major noticeable improvement in quality.


    Added by Evilsatan:
    The final part of the above guide is the rule which tells DSPlayer when to use DXVA codecs to process the video. I suggest altering the below line from:
    <video dxva="true" filename=".*1080.*" filter="ffdvideodxvadec" />
    To:
    <video dxva="true" filename=".*720.*|.*1080.*" filter="ffdvideodxvadec" />

    This ensures DXVA processes all 720p and 1080p content WHEN 720p OR 1080p APPEAR IN THE FILENAME OF THE VIDEO! Alternatively to have DXVA process all MKVs remove the filename tag so the line reads:
    <video dxva="true” filter="ffdvideodxvadec" />

    Once you have ffdshow DXVA and Video Decoders setup as above, and you have added the rule to dsfilterconfig.xml you should be ready to launch XBMC.


    Goto your Movies section of the menu and highlight your MKV HD movie, press ‘c’ and select ‘Play with...’, then select ‘DSPlayer’. The movie should open and start playing. Press ‘o’ to check your CPU usage and also it should show that ffdshow DXVA codec is being used to play the video. EDIT: This is no longer necessary, on the later builds DSPlayer is the default player so just press enter to play.

    N.B.
    If you have followed the above and you select the video and it plays audio with a blank screen you need to goto XBMC settings/system, Video, Playback, and disable ‘Adjust screen refresh rate to match video’.

    If you followed the above and when you try to run your video XBMC just refreshes the Movies menu/does nothing then you need to uninstall ffdshow, go to the CCCP Program folder and delete the ffdshow folder. Then reinstall ffdshow using the XBMC installer. You will need to re-enter the upscaling settings. If this does not work post your XBMC log.

    Now you might want to Change Default Player in XBMC.
    Last edited by evilsatan; 4th May 2010 at 10:39 AM.


  3. #3
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    Default Re: Acer Revo Media Centre Guides Index

    Using PS3 Media Remote On Windows XBMC

    I have this working on Windows 7 x64.

    1. Firstly you need a USB bluetooth receiver. You can get one from play.com for £3.50 or Dealextreme for about £1.50 (and DF get commission ).

    2. Plug into any USB slot on your Revo and let Windows install the driver.

    3. Now goto your Bluetooth 'Add a Device' section on Windows. In Windows 7 do this by looking for the blutooth logo on the systray, click it, then it's the top option.

    4.Windows will scan for devices, on the PS3 remote hold 'Start' and 'Enter' until the device appears. Then click it and add the device.

    5. When windows asks what you want to do about a pairing key select do not use a pairing key.

    6. Now your remote is added as a device navigate to the 'Show Bluetooth Devices' section, right click the remote (may be called a HID device or BD Remote Control), goto Properties, Services tab and make sure the HID service is selected. Now exit these options.

    7. Next download the PS3 remote application from here, and install.

    8. Once installed you can customise what each button on the PS3 remote does. I have began to customise for my remote and I have attached my settings. To use my settings open the app by right clicking the green play button logo in your systray, then click Configuration. Then click file, Import and select the file I have attached to this post.

    Note that I have only had a 5 minute play with the configurations so have a go yourself to suit your needs. The only bug I have come across is the letter O will not work in the configuration.

    Hold the PS button on the remote for 6 seconds to make it sleep (save battery life). It will wake when you press any button.

    You might want to Automatically Run Apps at Windows Startup.


    Please post any problems/tips in the feedback thread. Make sure you state your OS.
    Attached Files Attached Files
    Last edited by evilsatan; 24th March 2010 at 10:43 AM.


  4. #4
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    Default Re: Acer Revo Media Centre Guides Index

    Change Default Player in XBMC

    There are two ways of doing this, the XBMC wiki pages are out of date so be careful which advice you take. Took me ages of messing about before I found that out, then it took 2 minutes to resolve. If the first method fails then try Specify Players for Filetypes.

    I am going to assume you have a normal install, not a portable install. This will work with a portable install, just move the advancedsettings.xml to the userdata directory inside the XBMC program files folder.

    1. Open a notepad file and paste the following in:
    Code:
    <advancedsettings>
     <video>
      <defaultplayer>dsplayer</defaultplayer>
     </video>
    </advancedsettings>
    You can replace 'dsplayer' for any player you have in your XBMC\System\Players folder (in Program Files). It is case sensitive!

    2. Click file, Save as, and name it advancedsettings.xml. On the File type drop down box select 'All files'. Save this file to your desktop.

    3. Open the run dialogue on the start menu and enter the appropriate path of your Userdata directory (e.g. C:\Users\[user]\AppData\Roaming\XBMC\). Below are the default paths.
    Windows Xp: Documents and Settings\[user]\Application Data\XBMC\
    Vista/Windows 7: Users\[user]\AppData\Roaming\XBMC\

    4. When the XBMC directory opens (as in step 3, not the Program files XBMC dir) you will see Userdata. Open that folder and paste the advancedsettings.xml file.

    5. Run XBMC and your new default should be set and working!
    Last edited by evilsatan; 23rd March 2010 at 08:35 PM.


  5. #5
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    Default Re: Acer Revo Media Centre Guides Index

    Specify Players for Filetypes

    Some people might want to be selective when a player is used. You can specify this by using rules in the playercorefactory.xml.

    1. Open a notepad file and paste the following in:
    Code:
    <playercorefactory>
      <players>
        <player name="DSPlayer" type="dsplayer" audio="false" video="true">
        </player>
      </players>
      <rules action="prepend">
        <rule filetypes="mkv|avi" player="DSPlayer"/>
      </rules>
    </playercorefactory>
    You can replace 'dsplayer' for any player you have in your XBMC\System\Players folder (in Program Files). It is case sensitive! You can also add/remove filetypes into the 'rule filetypes' line.

    2. Click file, Save as, and name it playercorefactory.xml. On the File type drop down box select 'All files'. Save this file to your desktop.

    3. Open the run dialogue on the start menu and enter the appropriate path of your Userdata directory (e.g. C:\Users\[user]\AppData\Roaming\XBMC\). Below are the default paths.
    Windows Xp: Documents and Settings\[user]\Application Data\XBMC\
    Vista/Windows 7: Users\[user]\AppData\Roaming\XBMC\

    4. When the XBMC directory opens (as in step 3, not the Program files XBMC dir) you will see Userdata. Open that folder and paste the playercorefactory.xml file.

    5. Run XBMC and your new default should be set and working for the videos you selected!


  6. #6
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    Default Re: Acer Revo Media Centre Guides Index

    Automatically Run Apps at Windows Startup

    This guide will explain how to have apps run automatically when you start windows. This is useful for apps like PS3 Remote or perhaps even XBMC. Doing this with too many apps will make startup times take a long time.

    Windows 7:
    Spoiler:
    Step 1. Click the Start icon from the bottom left hand corner of the screen. If you favor using the keyboard, press the Windows key on your keyboard (the one bearing the Microsoft logo).

    Step 2. Select All Programs

    Step 3. Right click the Startup folder -> select Open All Users to open the startup folder for all user accounts. Right click the Startup folder -> select Explore to open the startup folder for the currently logged user.

    Step 4. Locate the program, file or folder you want to automatically run at startup. Right click the file and select Copy Shortcut.

    Step 5. Paste the shortcut in the Startup folder.


    Windows XP:
    Spoiler:
    1. Right-click Start, and then click Explore. Windows Explorer opens and displays your Start menu.

    2. In the left pane, click Programs. Browse to find the program you want to automatically open. In the right pane, right-click the program, and then click Copy.

    3. In the left pane, click Programs, right-click Startup, and then click Paste.


  7. #7
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    Default Re: Acer Revo Media Centre Guides Index

    Using Scrapers to Grab Movie Info and Artwork

    The default movie scraper is themoviedb, this may be ok for big films but it is terrible for any smaller films; IMDB is miles better.

    1. Go into XBMC settings and look for the Scrapers tab. In the Showmix skin it is under Videos/Playback.

    2. Change the Movies default scraper to IMDB by clicking on one of the arrows. You can do the same for TV shows to any scraper you wish. I am not sure which is the most accurate.

    3. Now you can add your movie sources to the Videos section and set the content. Once the content has been set XBMC will use the default scrapers to grab all the posters, artwork and movie details.

    Optional:
    4. To manually edit the movie artwork you can hover over the movie, press 'i', then select Thumb or Fanart accordingly. This will bring up a box and download thumbnails for you to choose from.

    5. If the scraper has grabbed the wrong movie info then hover over it, press 'i', then select 'Reload'. This will bring up a box with all matches for you to choose from. If your movie still isn't listed then check it is on IMDB and use the IMDB movie name as your filename.


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    Default Re: Acer Revo Media Centre Guides Index

    Installing Ubuntu 9.10 (minimal) to be used with XBMC

    This how-to explains the relatively simple process of installing ubuntu 9.10 (minimal) as a vessel for XBMC.

    Firstly you need to grab the minimal iso. There's a lot of talk over the decision between 32 and 64bit and this is my take on it. There's no good reason not to use 64bit Ubuntu, other than the fact that it's a bit 'junior' to the 32 bit release and therefore maybe not so stable. Personally I chose 32bit and it's been fine.

    32 bit iso http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dis...tboot/mini.iso

    64 bit iso http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dis...tboot/mini.iso

    the creator of the xci (xbox media centre complete installer) script has been good enough to make some usb-flash-drive ready images

    32 bit http://www.mediafire.com/file/4zztym..._32bit-USB.zip

    64 bit http://www.mediafire.com/file/byhgnz..._64bit-USB.zip

    although I can't advise on them as i've not used them.

    Once your boot media is sorted, boot the revo from it and follow the default options all the way through. Be aware that you need to have a network connection. An ethernet cable plugged in to the revo connected to a dhcp capable router is the fastest way of making this work.

    When it comes to user creation, if you want to make life easy for yourself, make the user xbmc with the password xbmc. You don't have to, it just makes other guides match up (default paths etc.)

    After install and reboot, login with your user account and install openshh. This allows you to remotely administer the new machine.

    sudo apt-get install openssh

    input your password and you should be all set...
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  9. #9
    DF Admin maltloaf's Avatar
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    Default Re: Acer Revo Media Centre Guides Index

    Installing XBMC via the Complete Installer Script (XCI)

    Boot up your revo and log in to your newly installed minimal Ubuntu 9.10 system

    At the command prompt, issue the following command…

    Code:
    wget https://sourceforge.net/projects/xci/files/Release/xci.sh/download
    this will get the script from the souceforge project page.

    next you need to make the script executable, so execute this command...

    chmod +x xci.sh

    then.. run the script (sudo runs the command as root, so you will need to enter the root password)

    sudo ./xci.sh

    The menu should come up and your first port of call should be the top menu option, to install xbmc 9.11

    At the time of writing (24/3) you shouldn't use NVidia driver v195 (use v190). Everything else is pretty straightforward.

    At the end of the install, you'll need to reboot the system (the script should do it for you) and you should come back up into the XBMC desktop. If you don't, you've done something wrong.

    At this point, you'll want to enable VDPAU as the render method in System > Videos > Playback > Render method

    and force Vertical Blank Sync (stops tearing) to always on …

    Settings > System > Video output > Vertical Blank Sync

    and in audio output set your default output device (the optical is listed as IEC958 etc)

    Go back to the main menu and then into Videos. In here you need to add whatever sources you have, wether they be samba shares, as drives etc.

    You should be all set now to play HD video without any stuttering !


    questions / comments in the other thread.
    Last edited by maltloaf; 24th March 2010 at 06:13 PM.
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  10. #10
    DF Admin maltloaf's Avatar
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    Default Re: Acer Revo Media Centre Guides Index

    Permanently mounting Mac (HFS+) usb drives with read/write permissions

    If you plug in a Mac formatted HFS+ drive to a XBMC (linux) system, you should see it mount (read only). If you want to automatically mount it in future and use it for shares etc, you will need to do the following.

    first find out the device name of the usb drive, execute the following command.

    sudo blkid

    and you should get an output like the following...

    /dev/sda1: UUID="FC5867F15867A8DA" LABEL="System Reserved" TYPE="ntfs"
    /dev/sda2: UUID="B4DCD9C1DCD97DD4" TYPE="ntfs"
    /dev/sda5: UUID="c17fa966-29f0-469c-adba-99501cf32938" TYPE="ext4"
    /dev/sda6: UUID="a068abf1-4289-4fcc-a19b-df842365f4d4" TYPE="swap"
    /dev/sdb1: UUID="095ef5d3-3462-3b29-9279-3742edc67db5" LABEL="Western Digital 2" TYPE="hfsplus"

    the hfs+ disk is the one at the bottom, as you can see. Make a note of the UUID without the quotes.

    UUID=095ef5d3-3462-3b29-9279-3742edc67db5

    also make a note of the device name for the drive, in this case /dev/sdb1

    now, make a permanent mountpoint for your HFS+ disk.

    sudo mkdir /media/macdrive

    next you need to edit your fstab so that the disk is auto mounted.

    sudo pico /etc/fstab

    add the following line at the bottom...

    UUID=095ef5d3-3462-3b29-9279-3742edc67db5 /media/macdrive hfsplus rw,force,user,auto 0 0

    but replace the UUID with your own.

    and use ctrl-x to exit then confirm with y and enter.

    You now need to unmount the temporary mount so do

    sudo umount /dev/sdb1

    replacing /dev/sdb1 with whatever your device was called above...

    now test your mount with...

    sudo mount -a

    and if you get no errors, you most likely did it right.

    now you need to fix the permissions of all the files/folders on the drive so the last command we need is

    sudo chmod -R 777 /media/macdrive

    Your drive should now be permanently mounted on /mount/macdrive with full read write permissions...
    Last edited by maltloaf; 27th March 2010 at 06:29 PM.
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