Usage questions for you that are using XBMC + NPVR

[osx-addict]

Ok.. So I re-installed Win7x64 yesterday and loaded up all of the Asus drivers for my motherboard -- an Asus P8Z68V-Gen3 using onboard HDMI (but will update some of them direct from chip mfg's site later this evening) -- when I plug in the HDMI cable between our Pioneer Plasma Kuro 50" display, I get audio & video w/o issue and can fire up XBMC (on the same server as NPVR for now) and it works.. albeit with some buffering issues on occasion (I gather I might be able to fix that with a BIOS memory adjustment).. Anyway, if we turn off the display without touching XBMC (leaving it streaming) and come back later, we find super choppy video (like at <1/4 normal frame rate) and no audio..

If I restart XBMC, the video is fine again but still no audio.. I did not try unplugging the HDMI & replugging as I now read others have done elsewhere. I can go into the system tray and adjust the volume slider (for the Realtek HDMI audio out) and it moves but I get no sound.

So, the question comes up in my head -- for those of you that are using this combo -- if you're going to step out for a little while, do you shutdown XBMC or leave it running and just switch off the display? Does it come back fully functional or is fiddling required to get it up again? I'm just trying to figure out if I've got some sort of driver issue or perhaps my hardware doesn't like my display,etc.. I'm thinking that when I switched off the display, XBMC+Windows7 got a bit perturbed and...

Eventually XBMC will be installed on a dedicated PC that will be next to each display and they will in turn communicate over gigabit ethernet to the NPVR server elsewhere within the house. For now I'm combining things due to tight $$

[Graham]

I recently spent weeks Googling to try a solve HDMI problems with on board ATI graphics. I gave up in the end and installed a Nvidia card.

I also have second computer with a mainboard with the same Z68 chipset as your Asus connected by HDMI to a LG monitor with built in speakers. I just tested as follows ...

• Start XBMC Frodo
  
• Start playing a video
  
• Pause video
  
• Switch off monitor
  
• Switch on monitor
  
• Click to un-pause video.
  
• Get audio but no video but the "skin" of XBMC is displayed so XBMC buttons are visible.
  
• Stop video.
  
• Restart video and its all back to normal.
  

This second computer also has a Nvidia card connected to a second monitor via VGA. I repeated the above sequence and the video was all good when I turned the monitor back on.

My amateur opinion is that HDMI is TV stuff and there are still kinks when it is used with PC stuff.

Edit: During my first adventures on Google, I found assorted utilities that supposedly restated the HDMI or somesuch but I never got a good result.

[osx-addict]

Thanks Graham! The XBMC I'm using is the nightly from yesterday so a bit cutting edge I suppose but needed for use w/ NPVR.. I will admit that I did not pause anything and perhaps that's something to try.. I'll try tonight and see how it behaves.. Thx again! I was wondering about the possibility of adding an external video card IF my results are sub-par with the onboard video (care of the Intel i5 I'm using).. I guess I have that as an option..

[mvallevand]

I have 4 HDMI devices connected to my AVR that is then connected to my TV (plus I have an front port I use for testing new devices). Each one seem to impact the TV quite differently and they are all interrelate My Boxee Box is the worst since when I power it off it often turns off all my other devices. One of these devices upset HDCP from time to time too and have to physically disconnect HDMI cables to reset things. The challenge with HDMI is it will be a different experience for everyone, even the same brands have different chipsets. HDMI-CEC is in theory supposed to improve this and XBMC has growing support for CEC, but not all devices are going to react the same way.

Martin

[osx-addict]

Thanks Martin for that.. I guess I won't get my hopes up too high then.. but I will continue to try things out..

[wileecoyote]

I recently spent weeks Googling to try a solve HDMI problems with on board ATI graphics. I gave up in the end and installed a Nvidia card.

Ditto... When I initially switched from MediaPortal to XBMC I had an ATI 5550 PCIe graphics card in my server and fought with it for months. Then I decided to try a Nvidia 520 GT (for $45.00 on sale) and viola, all my problems were solved.

I have three other clients, but there all Zotac's (Mag & Zbox) with Nvidia ION chipsets and I have never had issues via HDMI with any of those. I praise Nvidia when it comes to XBMC

[osx-addict]

Wilee.. Thanks for the info on the Zotac boards.. I was planning on purchasing one of a couple of prebuilt systems that had the processing horsepower to do what I need -- one was a Gateway SX series machine with an Intel processor or a Lenovo H520S with Intel processor.. Unfortunately I don't know what the graphics back-end is for the Gateway (doesn't say) but the Lenovo is likely the same as what I've got now -- integrated Intel..I guess I could always pop in an nVidia standalone board -- any suggestions on a cheapie that might be a good fit that can handle HDMI well for both video/audio and hopefully cost well under $100..?

[Graham]

any suggestions on a cheapie that might be a good fit that can handle HDMI well for both video/audio and hopefully cost well under $100..?

I use a Nvidia Geforce 210 and I have no complaints watching 1080 HD in the UK. The actual board is at ...

http://uk.msi.com/product/vga/N210-MD512D3H-LP.html

[osx-addict]

Thanks Graham! I'll check it out!

[wileecoyote]

Wilee.. Thanks for the info on the Zotac boards.. I was planning on purchasing one of a couple of prebuilt systems that had the processing horsepower to do what I need -- one was a Gateway SX series machine with an Intel processor or a Lenovo H520S with Intel processor.. Unfortunately I don't know what the graphics back-end is for the Gateway (doesn't say) but the Lenovo is likely the same as what I've got now -- integrated Intel..I guess I could always pop in an nVidia standalone board -- any suggestions on a cheapie that might be a good fit that can handle HDMI well for both video/audio and hopefully cost well under $100..?

Not for under $100, sorry to say

Here is one on NewEgg's site for $139 that would be plenty powerful to do all XBMC tasks -> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6813500067. This board should play about anything you can throw at it, and animations should be very smooth.

The three clients I have are much slower than that board (they have Atom 330 processors), but have no issues with 1080P video and play all the formats in my library (i.e. VC1, H.264, Mpeg-2, etc...)

Edit: This is the cheapest 'barebones' Zotac I would recommend -> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6856173034. It has the Nvidia 520 GT built in (also, the 520 will do high def audio, DTS-HD, Dolby TrueHD, etc...)