jonp

Interesting... Will probably play around with this at some point when I have time.

I quit Kodi. Download the new dmg file and launch it. Drag the Kodi app to the "Applications" folder. Then I launch Kodi. This is all done via VNC usually, with a mouse. I also like to check "Recently Added" videos to be sure the artwork is decent. This is the main thing I use VNC for. I hate getting ready to watch a movie and finding out the scraper has mis-matched it. Just an OCD thing I guess. Obviously the same video file is going to play regardless, but all the info will be wrong and it'll drive me crazy throughout the movie. For me it would be very hard to operate Kodi without a monitor. I would always be wanting to know what it looked like. Ok, so you install Kodi on top of another OS (like Ubuntu or otherwise), then you use a VNC server inside that OS to access the OS. With OpenELEC I think you can do the same thing by downloading a VNC add-on for OpenELEC. I haven't done this myself yet, so I'd need to look into it more, but seems like it should be doable. Yes. It's a MacMini. It works great but it's kind of a waste since most of the features of MacOS are never used. That's the main reason I was looking at running Kodi from my unRaid. It would let me put the Mini to use as a network server. It could probably run Kodi and Yosemite Server both simultaneously, but with a core 2 duo processor I'm afraid there might occasionally be issues. Is there anyway I could test the openelec VM and VNC addon without buying a GPU? No, you would definitely need a GPU to even start the OpenELEC VM right now. We are experimenting with making OpenELEC work over purely remote graphics, but its not ready for prime time yet. The closest alternative could be to set up a VM using Kodibuntu. You can obtain the ISO from the Kodi.TV website.

I quit Kodi. Download the new dmg file and launch it. Drag the Kodi app to the "Applications" folder. Then I launch Kodi. This is all done via VNC usually, with a mouse. I also like to check "Recently Added" videos to be sure the artwork is decent. This is the main thing I use VNC for. I hate getting ready to watch a movie and finding out the scraper has mis-matched it. Just an OCD thing I guess. Obviously the same video file is going to play regardless, but all the info will be wrong and it'll drive me crazy throughout the movie. For me it would be very hard to operate Kodi without a monitor. I would always be wanting to know what it looked like. Ok, so you install Kodi on top of another OS (like Ubuntu or otherwise), then you use a VNC server inside that OS to access the OS. With OpenELEC I think you can do the same thing by downloading a VNC add-on for OpenELEC. I haven't done this myself yet, so I'd need to look into it more, but seems like it should be doable.

You cannot use VNC at all with the OE VM. It requires a GPU. There are, however, no updates that you would perform inside the VM. Updates are issued in the form of new VM template images, which you can download through the unRAID web interface. Once a new version is downloaded, you simply stop the VM, edit the VM, and change the template version, then start the VM. That said, even if the VM needed to be updated using GPU assignment, I don't think any HTPC solutions offer a workaround to this either. I'm not quite sure I follow what you're saying? I would have to create a new VM anytime I want to install a new addon or change my settings? When I was talking about using VNC I really meant that it would be for running updates and modifications on my video library. I usually like to check the artwork for new movies and sometimes the scrapers don't scrape the correct info. The remotes won't let me see the actual display. Might just stick with what I have now. The HDMI would be about 75'. Probably too long for a high speed cable which would mean a set of HDMI to cat6 converters. The cost adds up fast. Would probably end up with a price tag higher than the htpc's original cost. No, your settings for Kodi are stored outside the VM image template. Think of the VM image like firmware on a router. When you want to upgrade, you just flash new firmware, but your old settings still persist because they aren't stored in the firmware. So I'm wondering, how do you handle remotely updating your current HTPC?

Gotta love virtualization. It's one of those things that when you finally understand it, you have that "ah hah" moment of, "where have these been all my life!?!?"

Been playing with PlexOE a little more. Now I remember an issue that was a deal breaker for me: hardware acceleration is not working. My CPUs are getting crushed. Like vdpau and whatnot? Yep. I think the issue may be specific to AMD GPUs (if I remember correctly) but it has been a while since I did any research. John Even in our OE VM I had to disable the acceleration for AMD GPUs but NVIDIA works just fine. Why did you need to disable it when it works out of the box with stock OE? My manual installs of OE have it enabled and my CPUs happiny sit at ~ 5% - 10% when streaming even the most demanding content. Maybe my particular AMD GPU wasn't nice with it? Maybe an issue with the OE beta versions? If I left it on, playback would be like 15fps and that's no good. Have you tried with our VM template and an AMD GPU yet?

Been playing with PlexOE a little more. Now I remember an issue that was a deal breaker for me: hardware acceleration is not working. My CPUs are getting crushed. Like vdpau and whatnot? Yep. I think the issue may be specific to AMD GPUs (if I remember correctly) but it has been a while since I did any research. John Even in our OE VM I had to disable the acceleration for AMD GPUs but NVIDIA works just fine.

Been playing with PlexOE a little more. Now I remember an issue that was a deal breaker for me: hardware acceleration is not working. My CPUs are getting crushed. Like vdpau and whatnot?

After posting this though, I did a basic Google search for OpenELEC VNC server and it looks like there may be an add on that you can use to add VNC from inside the VM (as opposed to doing it through the host). Maybe give that a shot?

You cannot use VNC at all with the OE VM. It requires a GPU. There are, however, no updates that you would perform inside the VM. Updates are issued in the form of new VM template images, which you can download through the unRAID web interface. Once a new version is downloaded, you simply stop the VM, edit the VM, and change the template version, then start the VM. That said, even if the VM needed to be updated using GPU assignment, I don't think any HTPC solutions offer a workaround to this either.

That was it, I was putting it on the repository field as it shows on the first post... guess the location changed at some point where it needed to be. Moved it to extra parameters and the webgui is back, thanks! Guess I need to update the guide here. Thanks for reporting and your patience while we sorted it out.

Ok, where are you putting the cpuset-cpus parameter? If you are putting it after the repository name, that may be the problem. You should be using the extra parameters field for this. Let me know.

So you mean that when you click the app icon, the option called WebUI is gone? That is odd. Edit the container again and open advance view. Under additional fields, what does the webui option show?

While I can't speak for these GPUs because I don't own them, I know that SOME GPUs have had issues with safe-resets after being initialized. I also have a personal distaste for Asus brand GPUs and motherboards due to virtualization-specific issues I've experienced with them. So I can't say for certain that your issues wouldn't persist with a different brand GPU, but I can say that there are definitely working combinations out there, and I thought the GT720 was one of them, so maybe it is brand-specific. We are working on building a hardware compatibility database that will be including in a future version of unRAID, so folks can buy HW with more confidence in knowing its fully supported with various use-cases. Keep in mind, we are using OpenELEC 6 Beta 2/3 here, which is based on a new version of Kodi as well. Have you tried running the Beta OE versions on your HTPC? Did those specific versions work with audio pass through ok? Which version did you try on unRAID (Beta 2 or 3)? There was a fix included in Beta 3 for audio issues, but some folks have still reported having to manually edit a file on their build to make this work right. Trying to track that down for inclusion in our plans for unRAID 6.2. Need to know what version of OE you are using for your baseline. Ok, this is very important: did you toggle the machine type under advanced view to i440fx at any point during your testing? If so, please try, on a fresh reboot of the host, starting a VM using Q35 (only) and rebooting the VM. Let me know if the lockup still occurs. There was an issue with i440fx and Linus-based guests with GPU pass through at one point in time. It was supposedly patched/resolved, but want to see if there has been a regression somewhere along the way. This is the exact same symptom of that. I don't think this has anything to do with networking at all. I think it has to do with your VM not safely resetting. I see why you are coming to that theory, but can guarantee that isn't the case. It's very likely an issue with either your motherboard, your GPUs, or possibly both. What make/model mobo / CPU do you have?

That is correct. Integrated graphics are not supported.

This is correct. For Windows, the VirtIO memory balloon driver can be added, but note that if you are passing through a PCI device, you will not be able to take advantage of it (a limitation of PCI device assignment using VFIO, but one that is well worth it). For non-Windows based guests, if they do not have the Linux virtio memory balloon driver as a part of their kernel, you won't be able to use it either.

See here: http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=42259.0

You are correct, as I have learned the hard way. In my case I am using a USB to serial adapter. So how do I add a second one? Any thoughts? Use a different vendor / brand for the second one. The issue here is that it's an unsolvable problem due to the fact that USB devices (in general) are not required to contain a GUID (globally unique identifier). The physical ports on the system do not map to a specific number for bus/address either, so race conditions ultimately end up deciding which bus/address each device gets assigned upon rebooting the system. Sometimes you'll get lucky and the same bus/address gets mapped every time, but other times, this just won't happen. For devices that do contain a GUID (such as some flash storage devices), we could (in the future) find a way to seek for that identifier and use it to identify the bus/address for a device and map that to a specific VM each time the system is booted, but other than for storage devices, I haven't yet found one that has a GUID (although admittedly I've only had a handful of devices to test with). Generally speaking, I don't see this as a huge issue. Is it annoying that you can't use multiple of the same devices? Sure. Is it the end of the world to have to purchase an alternative? Not by a long shot.

For whatever reason, some folks have seen this happen with certain motherboards / GPUs. I have not run into this personally myself on any of my test systems but others have consistently reported this issue. As far as a root cause....your guess is as good as mine at this point. There is some black voodoo magic in graphics pass through sometimes ;-)

Chances are if you put the radeon in your primary graphics slot and the nvidia in the secondary, you could pass through the nvidia card.

Just an FYI, USB device assignment is not the same as PCI pass through. USB devices should be assignable, even without VT-d.

Exactly. Its a fork of OpenELEC (3.2.x I believe) that has the current PHT installed on it instead of Kodi. It turns hardware into a plex appliance basically. Hmm, I will need to talk to Eric. Sounds like a good idea for us to considering that we already have done the bulk of the work in tuning OpenELEC. It might be as simple as pointing your OE unVM to a different image? I'd try, but don't have a vt-d CPU. Probably but we would need to add our customizations to the project you linked me to (such as adding all the virtual drivers). It probably wouldn't work just using the stock image they provide.

Exactly. Its a fork of OpenELEC (3.2.x I believe) that has the current PHT installed on it instead of Kodi. It turns hardware into a plex appliance basically. Hmm, I will need to talk to Eric. Sounds like a good idea for us to considering that we already have done the bulk of the work in tuning OpenELEC.

What is it exactly? A special fork of OpenELEC? A plugin you install on top of OpenELEC. I'm a big Plex fan so I'm intrigued.

No, your MAC address hasn't changed. That's quite literally impossible as its hard coded. What has more likely happened is that you have two Ethernet interfaces and both are plugged in and when this is the case and bonding isn't enabled, a race condition determines which one unRAID uses for network connectivity. Enable bonding under network settings should resolve this.