Archive:Kodibuntu FAQ

INCOMPLETE: This page or section is incomplete. Please add information or correct uncertain data which is marked with a ?

What is XBMC Live?

XBMC Live is the XBMC Media Center software bundled with a embedded operating-system, for that set-top-box feeling. XBMC Live also lets you easily boot to the XBMC Live CD in order to demo XBMC for your friends and family on practically any relatively modern computer, (as long as it was manufactured in the last 5-years or so it should meet the XBMC's minimum requirements).

XBMC Live CD can also create a bootable USB disk with which a completely independent OS can be booted, thus not requiring any modifications to the host PC disk.

How long time does it take to start XBMC Live?

The time it takes to do a cold boot (from when the system is totally powered down) mostly depends on how long it takes for your motherboard to to complete the P.O.S.T. (Power On Self Test), on some motherboards the POST take 2 seconds (like on a IBM/Lenovo ThinkPad laptop) while on others it might take up to 30 seconds.

The good news is that XBMC Live supports Suspend, (look under XBMC settings in the GUI), and power-up from suspend takes about 3-seconds on most computers. Suspend (S3) mode on a computer is like a TV Stand-By mode, it that the system does not completely power-off but instead shutdown almost completely while still providing electricity to RAM (Random Access Memory) keeping everything saved, drawing perhaps around 1 Watt while in this Suspend mode,, (most Apple Mac desktop computers use this as default making them really fast to 'boot').

How can I transfer files to/from XBMC Live?

FTP access has been superseded by SCP/SFTP. On Windows, use a client like WinSCP or FileZilla and use xbmc/xbmc as username/password.

How can I backup all my settings to restore them if something goes wrong?

Save the file "live-rw" and you will be done, unless you won't be able to boot any more from the flash drive; in this last case a rebuild is due, but you can then restore your last known good file on the brand new build

What are the minimum requirement and recommended hardware for XBMC

For end-users the recommended minimum requirement is a x86-based computer, with a 3D GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) that at least supports Shader Model 3.0 and OpenGL 2.0 (that features 24bpp or 32bpp for 3D hardware-acceleration support, which XBMC GUI need to run smoothly at an acceptable frame-rate). Graphic adapters that support DirectX version 9.0c or later usually meet all of those mentioned requirements, (Team-XBMC recommends NVIDIA GeForce 6150 or later as NVIDIA are currently the manufacturer that offers good device-drivers for Linux (and NVIDIA GeForce 6150 or later supports OpenGL 2.0).

XBMC Live minimum requirements

• x86 (Intel/AMD-based) processor computer capable of booting to CD-ROM.
  • Intel Pentium 4, Intel Pentium M, AMD Athlon XP/64, AMD Opteron, or newer CPU (that support SSE).
  • Fast modern dual-core processor is required to decode H.264 videos in FullHD (1080p).
  • For clarification; XBMC Live does not work on the Xbox game-console.
• ATI/AMD, Intel, or NVIDIA (recommended) graphic controller which supports OpenGL 1.3 (+ GLSL) or later (2.0 recommended).
  • ATI Radeon R420 (X800) or newer supported, ATI Radeon R700 (HD 4000) or newer recommended.
  • Intel GMA 950 (945G) or newer supported, Intel GMA 4500 and newer recommended.
  • NVIDIA GeForce 6-Series and newer supported, GeForce 8-Series and newer recommended.
• Optional is to install to a 2GB (or larger) USB-flash-drive.
  • If you like to install XBMC Live to USB then note that it can not still have U3 software on it (so uninstall that first).
  • Larger than 2GB is if you have a lot of media as covers are cached on it.