MediaPortal vs XBMC

In a moment of weakness, I installed XMBC Gotham (13.1) to see what had changed since I used version 12. I was also interested in the MediaBrowser XBMB3C Add-On that integrates MediaBrowser right into XBMC.

We've been having occasional freezes and crashes in MediaPortal clients over the past few weeks so I guess I'm also on the lookout for something that might bring a little more stability.

unRAID v6 beta6

There's a really big release from Lime Technology this week; unRAID 6beta6 has lots of new goodies including support for KVM and Docker virtualisation (in addition to the existing Xen capabilities), lots of updates including linux kernel  as well as initial steps towards a new file system (btrfs is now supported on the cache drive).

My own system is currently working well on b5a and, while there's a lot here I'd love to play with, I think I'll be letting some others iron out the initial wrinkles so will probably upgrade to beta 7 when it arrives.

The other cool thing is we're seeing a lot more communication from LimeTech staff on the forums and a real effort to support this release with how-to guides and the like.

Looking forward to upcoming releases.

Latest GPLPV Drivers

This weekend I've started playing about with MediaBrowser 3. Looks like it will bring a lot to the party for me in that it integrates well with MediaPortal, provides the client/server model I miss from Plex and does media transcoding for handheld device playback.

However, this latest feature wasn't working well for me. I'd installed MediaBrowser Server in my TVServer Win 7 VM but when I tried to play back media from devices requiring transcoding (iPad, web browser) there was very poor performance, a lot of stuttering and general failure.

Even when I attempted to play back an audio track, it was skipping and pausing.

However, this reminded me of an issue I had when I had Logitech Media Server installed in the same VM. I'd get skipping on local tracks and a lot of buffering playing tunes from Spotify.

Le Roi est mort. Vive le Roi.

Readers here will have figured out that I'm a fan of unRAID and have been using the new Xen virtualisation features of v6 beta to bundle all kinds of of interesting functions into a single server.

In a mildly shocking turn of events, it has come to light that mid beta, LimeTech are considering ousting Xen in favour of KVM and/or Docker.

I started my virtualisation journey late last year with KVM and liked it a lot and was slightly disappointed when Xen became the platform of choice for unRAID. However, in the past months I've come to know it and it works great for me.

There are a lot of good reasons why the change is necessary and LimeTech representatives on their forums have promised to detail the reasoning and plan soon. However, it looks like we'll be changing tack in the coming months.

Current Build

Over two years ago, I wrote a blog entry that outlined my objectives in embarking on the MediaServer8 project;

- Centralised storage for media files
- Time Machine Backup Server
- Work File Storage
- Snatching
- Media Playback
- Whole House Audio
- Live TV Distribution / PVR

At the time, I had an unRAID  NAS system for file storage and Plex serving and was contemplating a move to Windows Server 8. Now, I've got pretty much all of the above set up in a single machine, and more.

I've been interested in whole-house a/v since we started planning our renovation over 12 years ago and I've been through system after system, technology after technology. Some worked well, some not at all. However, all were defined by a lack of unity. I could have a great HTPC system but it wouldn't integrate well with whole house audio or lighting control or mass storage or whatever.

If I was building again...

If I was re-building my unified whole house media server today, I think I would be using the following core components;


Gigabyte 990FXA-UD7 Motherboard
This is a step up from the UD5 currently in my system but crucially replaces the PCIe x1 slot with a full-length slot. This would allow me add an additional PCIe graphics card and therefore a 3rd client system with GPU passthrough.

AMD FX8350 Black Edition 8 Core Processor (4.0/4.2G)
This is the CPU I have right now and have no problems with it whatsoever. It's running the base unRAID / Xen OS plus multiple guest VMs with ease. Very impressed.