[mythtv-users] Zotac Zbox Replacement

[Michael A Weber]

> On Aug 11, 2016, at 10:15 AM, R. G. Newbury <newbury at mandamus.org> wrote:
> 
> On 08/11/2016 12:58 AM, Michael Papet wrote:
>> Hi all,
>> 
>> I've got a Zotac Zbox of uncertain vintage running Debian testing that
>> simply cannot seem to draw OTA HDTV when the frames get "busy" (think
>> rendering live sports) in 2016.  I'm done fiddling with Nvidia's driver
>> and tried playback using OpenGL and vdpau. It just doesn't seem to have
>> enough throughput.  I'm ready to blame it on the hardware being unable
>> to keep up.
>> 
>> My front end prior to the Zotac was an old HP dual-core desktop that ran
>> HDTV sports just fine.  I'm trying to find middle ground between the
>> tiny Zotac that looks fine in the media cabinet and the "too big for
>> 2016" desktop.
>> 
>> I'm looking to step away from Atom architecture for something like a
>> USFF box that isn't Atom and available as an off-lease/used on ebay, no
>> OS. I've had fantastic luck buying this way, so far.  A fan is fine as
>> most seem pretty quiet these days.  With that in mind, any
>> recommendations would be great.
> 
> If you open a console and run dmidecode and lspci -v you cam learn a lot about the machine.
> 
> I have an early Zotac Ion which runs an Atom 330 CPU at 1.6G and it handled OTA HD perfectly *with the proper nvidia driver installed*. Mine has an nvidia GeForce 9400M gpu which now uses the 'Legacy' 340.xxx series driver.
> 
> It's been my VOIP box for some years now but I ran it as a myth frontend for a while for testing purposes with iirc a 190.xxx series nvidia driver. It had no problems even with very high bit-rate HD content. (Normal network broadcast HD runs about 7Gig per hour recorded, but CBS for one, broadcasts sports (NFL!) at a higher bit-rate and runs about 11Gig per hour. The Zotac had no problems with that).
> 
> Maybe you should try installing the nvidia driver again? It's fiddly to do but worth it.
> 
> 
> Geoff
> 
> 
> 
> 
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+1

Or, if those commands Geoff suggested let you know that your existing Zotac hardware is definitely not capable, I recommend checking into a used Zotac Zbox with better specs.  I picked mine up from eBay on the cheap, attached it to my network and setup a network boot, and it’s been an outstanding performer (and certainly not bad on the eyes or a space hog).  It’s an ID84 for whatever that’s worth, no hard drive and 2GB ram.

Mike