Better yet, XBMC on a Raspberry Pi with an external Drive
www.raspbmc.org
Jim MacDonald
jim@macdonald.org
On May 7, 2014, at 5:34 AM, Royce Williams <royce@tycho.org> wrote:
> Just passing on what I've heard, but haven't done it myself (yet) ...
>
> Sounds like you want an XBMC server:
>
> http://xbmc.org/
>
> It's very well baked, and designed for exactly what you're doing, There are distros (even live CDs) built around it. I know multiple people who have tens of terabytes of movies that they can watch in an instant, and stream different movies to different places in the house simultaneously. There are forums that are chock full of very helpful folks doing it, including helping folks select hardware, etc.
>
> The size of each movie depends on how you rip it. Preserving the original quality will probably take roughly as much space as the original raw data - couple of gigs minimum for a full-length film. But you can step it down. Considering how folks tend to grow into using it more and more, though, I recommend preserving the original quality; you'll thank yourself down the road.
>
> Some transcoding software takes advantage of the GPU these days, speeding things up quite a bit. But XBMC doesn't care where there stuff is, as long as it can be mounted in some way and reached - CIFS, Samba, sshfs, you name it. So the XBMC server and the file storage don't have to be the same box -- in fact, it's probably better if they're not. You could build a generic fileserver (I recommend FreeNAS), and hook up an XBMC streaming box (even a Raspberry Pi!):
>
> http://www.raspbmc.com/
>
> ... to the TV, point the Pi at the fileserver, and go to town. You may want to do the transcoding on something more hefty than the Pi, I would think, but its video chipset is actually not bad. So you can transcode wherever it makes the most sense, put the files on the fileserver, and stream them from the XBMC box. It's all pretty flexible and fun.
>
> Let us know how it goes!
>
> Royce
>
>
> On Tue, May 6, 2014 at 11:07 PM, Kurt Brendgard <brendgard@yahoo.com> wrote:
> You would think that when your kids have reached 31 years old, they would have learned by then that you take care of DVDs so as not to scratch them, or they might become unusable. I think I actually hear DVDs scream in terror when she enters a room. I can't say as it's different because it was daddy's money involved, because she does it to her own DVDs, paid for with her own hard earned money. Lol.
>
> We have some pawn shops here(WA state), where I can pick up used DVDs and so my collection has been growing. I check them out before I buy, because many of them are scratched, some very badly. Buuuuuutttt.... Even though I clearly dictate that my DVDs will get treated good, somehow they get scratches on them when borrowed by my kids, especially one in particular. Love them, but sometimes.....
>
> I have been thinking about how to put an end to this. Please feel free to poke very large holes in my thinking, and offer better suggestions. But this is what has been growing in the back of my head. I would like to convert my DVDs into MP4 format. I'm thinking MP4s are compatable with almost anything, even the Android tablet I've been drooling over. I'm not really wanting to make them into Divx, because I'd have to instal codecs on most things, and don't want to do that, especially not to the Windowz laptop I have to keep around. I try not to instal anything on it so that I don't run the risk of crashing it. Same thing for Apple's favorite format. So unless there is a compelling reason otherwise, I'm thinking MP4 format.
>
> I would like to put them on a small server stuffed into a closet or on a shelf out of the way, so that I can watch them from whatever I happen to be on at the moment(I finally managed to get a Linux laptop sorta going and have been drooling over an older model Android I can put on layaway at K Mart real cheap.)
>
> For the server, I'm kinda leaning towards a small server apliance I came across in Wally World that has no hard drive of its own, but you plug in external USB drives.(Haven't seen it in a while though, and forget the name, making it harder to google it.) That would allow me to add more drive space as needed. Another alternative is to get one of the NAS servers off the shelf at Staples. Smaller footprint, fewer wires, but probably not as easy to add drive space, or replace ones that are dieing. I never did get that little netbook to work with Linux, and finally traded it away anyway, which is why I'm looking at a network appliance now.
>
> If I could do such a thing, I could then lock my DVDs in a closet, where nobody but me can get to them. Thus preventing people from scratching them.
>
> Now I do understand that this is a touchy subject with many people, because many would just rip the DVD and share it with people. Not what I intend to do. Having published some books myself, I respect IP rights, and understand the concept of it causing royalty money loss. Not what I want to do or cause.
>
> But if somebody could give me a pointer in the right direction, I would sure appreciate it.
>
> I also understand that US copyright law provides for the making of 1 backup copy of what you buy. It must be destroyed if the DVD changes hands, or go with it. So what I hope to do is legal. (Last I checked anyway.)
>
> That's what I'm looking to do. But I have no idea of what software to use to convert a DVD as I have never done it before. Never had this be a big problem before. I'm looking for both Linux and Windowz solutions, but most would be done on a Windowz box for now. I would like to avoid software that has a bad rep for being buggy, crashing, or including malware, and anything that requires a high end machine to work. Does anybody have any idea of how much room each will take up, so that I can figure out how many will fit on a hard drive? Or even if it's feasable? Any experience with such network appliances, especially the kind that you plug external drives into? Or know a brand name/model so I can research it? I'm especially interested in one where I can manually set the TCP/IP address and/or block specific addresses.
>
> Any and all input welcome, even flames.
>
> Thanks in advance
> Kurt
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