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OUYA as a Media Server/Center

gligorangligoran Posts: 3Member
in General Discussion
Hey!

I know there's been a couple of discussion about OUYA as a media center on here and those answered a lot of my questions, but there are still some that remain.

For anyone other looking for the same thing, here are the answers I already got:
- Torrent Client support: YES - uTorrent for Android client (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.utorrent.client)
- CEC support (you can use your TV's remote if it also supports CEC - most modern TVs do): YES (http://forums.ouya.tv/discussion/comment/6874/#Comment_6874)
- External HDD support: YES - via USB 2.0 port

Now for the questions I still need answers too:
- Can I share files from external HDD with PC over LAN? Something like samba, which I'm currently using on my Raspberry Pi.
- How fast is the transfer between external HDD via LAN and PC in both directions? The R-Pi is really disappointing in this aspect. I can only get to 1MB/s of transfer speed to my PC or from my PC. With full HD video files weighting in at 10GB+ this is unusable.
- How loud is the OUYA fan? Is it always on, or just when the OUYA really needs it (i.e. when running games, playing video)? I plan on having the media center in my bedroom so I prefer it being as quiet as it can be. While playing movies it's not as important if the sound from the TV drowns it out, but when the TV is off and I'm sleeping I prefer it to make as little noise as possible, if any.
- Can I use an USB hub and connect multiple devices to OUYA that way? This isn't really as important as any of the other questions, but could be useful to know.

Hope you see what I'm trying to achieve with OUYA as a media server/center and can help me out with these answers.

-- gligoran

Comments

  • VoodooDoubloonVoodooDoubloon Posts: 84Member
    The fan is super silent, I wouldn't be concerned about it.
  • greeniekingreeniekin Posts: 92Member
    There are android samba programs. Though would run as a service. I have not really heard anything about running services. Because it might be nice to be able to run chat clients in the background. Though there is a notifications window. That requires you to close the app you are in to access.

    Fan is super quiet I never hear it. Even when I pause halfway through a HD movie I can not hear the fan.
    I have used xbmc to stream the video from my pc over a wireless network. I have never had any issues with pauses or anything because of transfer. 

    I have not personally. Though I have read of people using a usb hub to power devices. I have used a usb thumb drive with ouya and a usb wireless mouse and keyboard that both work.



  • gligorangligoran Posts: 3Member

    Thanks guys!

    This really helps a lot.

    I've looked around for samba on android and found quite a good one called Samba Filesharing for Android. I installed it on my Galaxy S2 and it seems to be working great. I transfered some files from and to it and the speed got up to about 3MB/s, but that's probably limited by WiFi. It would be appreciated to see some speed tests done with OUYA, though.

  • OrikuOriku Posts: 263Member
    it would be really great if it were a java or c/c++ library so I could integrate it with my app =D 
  • PiersPiers Posts: 680Member
    Not much (i.e. any lol) time to reply, but powered usb hub - yes.
  • KethinovKethinov Posts: 1Member
    I've been doing some USB storage testing today and I came away with mixed results.

    - A USB thumb drive formatted as FAT32 works.
    - The same thumb drive formatted as ext4 does not work. (I thought Android supported ext4? Maybe not.)
    - Plugging my old Android 2.3 Droid Incredible into Ouya set in mass storage mode does not work.
    - A USB 1.5tb hard disk formatted as FAT32 crashes apps which try to access it, freezing the entire system.

    Not sure why the large volume seems to be crashing the OS, but the bigger problem to me is lack of ext4 (or similar) file system support. FAT32 is limited to files <4gb which seriously limits the HTPC potential of Ouya.
  • gligorangligoran Posts: 3Member

    Nice, Kethinov!

    Did you also have a chance to try NTFS? FAT32 is pretty much useless with full-length 1080p movies.

    Also if you get a chance can you please test out some Samba transfer speeds to and from Ouya? If you need the app, I linked to it in my previous comment. If the speeds reach about 20MB/s or (hopefully) higher, this might be just the HTPC I'm looking for. Of course I'm talking about wired LAN, not wireless.

  • Skywalker993Skywalker993 Posts: 6Member
    edited May 2013
    I've got XBMC on OUYA up and running, connecting through WiFi to my PC which is etherneted to the modem. Game of Thrones in 720p looks great, and Cabin in the Woods 1080p is running super smooth! The lips match the audio and it only stutters when I bring up the interface (which is slightly choppy anyway).

    I've also been able to add media from a thumb drive. It's weird to find (browse > Root filesystem > usbdrive) but it works.

    The buttons haven't been fully mapped in this version (http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=152005). O brings up the control interface for a quick pause (A hides it again), A brings up the library interface, and D-pad does some seeking. Nothing else operates, either during playback or in menus. I would love to see L/R used for seeking and D-pad switched to volume and audio sync.

    The major problem is since I added the TV and Movie folders to the library over the network, it rescraped everything (I had all the info, titles, and art perfected on my PC) and I can't seem to import the library... the XML file I created on my PC doesn't show up in XBMC Library Import, either on my PC or the OUYA. How are you supposed to import a library??
    Post edited by Skywalker993 on
  • Skywalker993Skywalker993 Posts: 6Member
    gligoran said:

    Nice, Kethinov!

    Did you also have a chance to try NTFS? FAT32 is pretty much useless with full-length 1080p movies.

    Also if you get a chance can you please test out some Samba transfer speeds to and from Ouya? If you need the app, I linked to it in my previous comment. If the speeds reach about 20MB/s or (hopefully) higher, this might be just the HTPC I'm looking for. Of course I'm talking about wired LAN, not wireless.

    Same. I NTFS formatted my USB drive so it can store large .mkv's and there are no issues so far.
  • BergyBergy Posts: 1Member
    Does it run TeamViewer, so you could control the UI with your smart phone?
  • zancoszancos Posts: 1Member
    Hi Bergy,

    Teamviewer works for you? In my case, I install it without any problem but when I execute the app nothing happens!! Any idea about how to use on OUYA?
  • MysticalesMysticales Posts: 5Member
    For those wondering. I use dd-wrt kong mod on my linksys router which has minidlna support. Then I have a 2 TB hard drive hooked up to the router directly and set up a NAS and DLNA server for it, fairly simple. Then I installed MediaHouse on my Ouya along with MX Player and whamo. Now I know this isnt the same as Ouya being the media server itself, but for those looking for an idea. I would say try to get a small linux distro installed on Ouya, which is now more openly available on android platforms and install minidlna on it. Point the server to the mounted hard drive folder and whamo, you should be set as a server. Least in theory, been fiddling around with this all myself.
    ~Battlez-avec la Mystique?~
  • mitchmenghimitchmenghi Posts: 9Member
    Following this thread and i have a couple of related questions.

    - Does the ouya or XBMC decode DTS and DD5.1 with no issues ?
    - Does it stream 1080p over wired ethernet network with no issues ?

    Thanks.
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