HP ProLiant MicroServer

[Soul Assassin]

Yeah I tried that once and to make Windows 10 boot into Kodi fullscreen at startup required so many jumps through hoops and hacks that I just installed Ubuntu and later OpenELEC.

OpenELEC is awesome because it’s basically a super lightweight appliance which makes it even better suited to the already pap Microserver.

It should take max 20 seconds to make Kodi launch on boot.

 

[SauRoNZA]

It should take max 20 seconds to make Kodi launch on boot.

I don’t remember all the details but there is obviously the first hurdle to jump through for auto-login.

And then there was a deeper problem with the way Kodi launches bringing control back to the desktop so you had to go about it a different way to basically launch it as the window manager and not have the menus load.

May have changed since, but I suspect even if you know exactly how it’s not going to be 20 seconds.

****

This was the whole drama.

http://kodi.wiki/view/Archive:HOW-TO:Make_Windows_boot_directly_to_Kodi_(as_a_shell)

I see they do call it as outdated but don’t link to anything new.

 

[Soul Assassin]

I don’t remember all the details but there is obviously the first hurdle to jump through for auto-login.

And then there was a deeper problem with the way Kodi launches bringing control back to the desktop so you had to go about it a different way to basically launch it as the window manager and not have the menus load.

May have changed since, but I suspect even if you know exactly how it’s not going to be 20 seconds.

Will install Kodi later today and check.

 

[SauRoNZA]

Seems to still be the case as they still make Launcher4Kodi an application to do exactly this.

Basically Windows doesn’t make for a great headless system.

The trick is to set Kodi up to boot as the shell and not load explorer on startup.

 

[Soul Assassin]

Seems to still be the case as they still make Launcher4Kodi an application to do exactly this.

Basically Windows doesn’t make for a great headless system.

The trick is to set Kodi up to boot as the shell and not load explorer on startup.

Will just set it to launch as a custom user interface and see if I run into any issues.

 

[Soul Assassin]

Seems to still be the case as they still make Launcher4Kodi an application to do exactly this.

Basically Windows doesn’t make for a great headless system.

The trick is to set Kodi up to boot as the shell and not load explorer on startup.

Will just set it to launch as a custom user interface and see if I run into any issues.

Can confirm, took less than 20 seconds, just set it as a custom user interface, restarted my PC and Kodi started right up.

If you didn't know you'd think it was OpenELEC.

 

[SauRoNZA]

Can confirm, took less than 20 seconds, just set it as a custom user interface, restarted my PC and Kodi started right up.

If you didn't know you'd think it was OpenELEC.

Ignoring the massive loss of resources.

Oh and how Storage Spaces ****ed me over.

But if it works it works.

 

[Soul Assassin]

Ignoring the massive loss of resources.

Oh and how Storage Spaces ****ed me over.

But if it works it works.

What do you mean?

 

[SauRoNZA]

What do you mean?

Windows eats infinitely more resources than Linux or specifically OpenELEC does.

On a low powered system like the Microserver it means the difference between being able to transcode in real time or not.

****

If you were referring to Storage Spaces comment I ran Windows 10 for a year or so with a Storage Space pool which failed slowly over time with no warning whatsoever.

By the time I realised the excessive I/O I was seeing was an underlying disk issue it was a cluster**** of note.

Which is why I now run UnRAID exclusively, but I also have no need for running XBMC or Plex with direct output from the Microserver.

 

[Soul Assassin]

Windows eats infinitely more resources than Linux or specifically OpenELEC does.

On a low powered system like the Microserver it means the difference between being able to transcode in real time or not.

Aren't you playing on the HP itself?

 

[SauRoNZA]

Aren't you playing on the HP itself?

Sorry I made an edit.

Yeah if playing on the HP itself it’s less of an issue.

But I also realised now half my issues were related to Plex not wanting to run properly full screen on startup and not XBMC/Kodi.

I made the switch from OpenELEC (Xbmc) to Plex in the same transition.

So I’m sorry I realise now I wasted your time with the shell test.

My problem was specific to the Windows 10 store version of Plex and it’s full screen issues because of the headless nature.

Was resolved through compromising with the PHT self install version instead.

 

[Soul Assassin]

Sorry I made an edit.

Yeah if playing on the HP itself it’s less of an issue.

But I also realised now half my issues were related to Plex not wanting to run properly full screen on startup and not XBMC/Kodi.

I made the switch from OpenELEC (Xbmc) to Plex in the same transition.

So I’m sorry I realise now I wasted your time with the shell test.

My problem was specific to the Windows 10 store version of Plex and it’s full screen issues because of the headless nature.

Was resolved through compromising with the PHT self install version instead.

It took less than 20 seconds so not the end of the world

But the original post from Sinbad that started this discussion, there is no reason for him to not run Windows if he adds the GT 1030.

If he adds a GT 1030 he is really extending the life of his MicroServer.

Anyone know whether there's a gfx card that fits in the microserver and does hardware hevc on openelec?

Somehow this option completely slipped my mind, using the MicroServer purely as a NAS and then getting a media player that handles the HEVC decoding and all the heavy lifting is also an option.

 

[sajunky]

But the original post from Sinbad that started this discussion, there is no reason for him to not run Windows if he adds the GT 1030.

If he adds a GT 1030 he is really extending the life of his MicroServer.

Adding GT 1030 to the gen7 Microserver right now.
Bad luck, as fanless Gigabyte card GV-N1030SL-2GL is 5mm thicker than a standard PCI card. It simply doesn't fit in the box. On the full size PC it will take a space for other card, so be warned. Will be trying version with a fan - GV-N1030D5-2GL next week, I but think there is no stock.

 

[Soul Assassin]

Adding GT 1030 to the gen7 Microserver right now.
Bad luck, as fanless Gigabyte card GV-N1030SL-2GL is 5mm thicker than a standard PCI card. It simply doesn't fit in the box. On the full size PC it will take a space for other card, so be warned. Will be trying version with a fan - GV-N1030D5-2GL next week, I but think there is no stock.

Rebel Tech?

Yeah no stock unfortunately, check out the Zotac from Wootware

 

[sajunky]

Rebel Tech?

Yeah no stock unfortunately, check out the Zotac from Wootware

Don't know for sure whether the Zotac will fit in Microserver. It goes over radiator assembly on the mobo. Just to be sure will be ordering MSI which is shorter. It has HDMI + Display Port as a bonus instead of single-link DVI-I.
https://www.msi.com/Graphics-card/support/GeForce-GT-1030-2G-LP-OC.html
Evetech has on special R1311 (or R1249), they messed up with the model number, but it looks like the same:
https://www.evetech.co.za/msi-gt-1030-lp-2gb-oc/best-deal/2776.aspx

 

[sajunky]

Just let you know that MSI "GT 1030 2G LP OC" works like a charm in Microserver NL40L 2GB RAM, Win10 1607, projecting to the Full HD HDMI TV. Every video I tried (maximum 1080p) is using hardware decoder (pressing 'O' in Kodi). It is quite heavy on CPU though - 20% when playing the most demanding 1080p 10-bit HECV. It also takes 40% RAM, so will be adding another 2GB RAM soon.

 

[Soul Assassin]

Just let you know that MSI "GT 1030 2G LP OC" works like a charm in Microserver NL40L 2GB RAM, Win10 1607, projecting to the Full HD HDMI TV. Every video I tried (maximum 1080p) is using hardware decoder (pressing 'O' in Kodi). It is quite heavy on CPU though - 20% when playing the most demanding 1080p 10-bit HECV. It also takes 40% RAM, so will be adding another 2GB RAM soon.

Our definition of heavy differ.

 

[sajunky]

Our definition of heavy differ.

Yeh, on the GT610 CPU usage was 100% and it was giving just a messy slide show with completely out of sync sound.

By saying heavy usage I meant there may be no room for playing higher resolution content which the card do fully support. I wasn't able to test 4K movies. We don't know in particular whether downscalling to the 1080p output is made by GPU or it is done on PC by software driver. It would be interesting to hear from other users, as this card already gives a new life for NL40L.

 

[Sinbad]

1030 looks tempting.

Anyone tried it with openelec yet?

 

[sajunky]

1030 looks tempting.

Anyone tried it with openelec yet?

Special cases maybe not supported. According to: https://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=252916

4K HEVC & HDR devices

Q. What about devices for up to 4K HEVC (H265) video playback over HDMI 2.0 to my non HDR capable 4K TV ?
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GeForce GT 1030 or better. (Windows 7/10 only)
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