QQ Media Player NUC Buyers Club - Discussion

[PK]

For those who need to know, i just recieved one of the power supplies that was reccomended. The plug is 5.5mm as measured with a caliper

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Looks like a fatty...almost looks like 6!! Oh my, lol.

 

[barfle]

Is there a way to control the NUC with a Logitech Harmony remote?

 

[esimms86]

For those who need to know, i just recieved one of the power supplies that was reccomended. The plug is 5.5mm as measured with a caliper

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Thanks for the update. My charger is coming in today’s mail.

 

[steelydave]

Is there a way to control the NUC with a Logitech Harmony remote?

Yes definitely, add a media device and choose 'Microsoft' as the manufacturer and 'Kodi' as the model. I've done this with my UGoos AM6b+ (which is coreELEC) but it should work with any iteration including libreELEC as long as your device has Bluetooth. Once you do this, your Harmony remote will tell you to put your device into Bluetooth pairing mode, which you do via one of the menus in Kodi/coreELEC/libreELEC. If you search through my recent posts you'll see me raving about how great the Harmony remote functionality is with Kodi, it's snappier and more responsive than my actual cable TV remote - absolute game changer for me in moving away from a logitech keyboard + trackpad for browsing/playing my media.

 

[HomerJAU]

Is there a way to control the NUC with a Logitech Harmony remote?

Yes, but let’s leave that until everyone has delivery, up and running and questions have reduced to a trickle.

 

[HomerJAU]

absolute game changer for me in moving away from a logitech keyboard + trackpad for browsing/playing my media.

Totally agree Dave. It’s so much easier and way more like using a DVD or BD player and not a ‘computer’.

Also a small hand held remote is miles ahead of a clunky bulky KB. When I’m in my office ‘playing’ around with Kodi customisation or testing Kodi, although I have a separate KB I can use, and a 2nd monitor, I always use a remote control for Kodi!

 

[Mackspower]

For those who need to know, i just recieved one of the power supplies that was reccomended. The plug is 5.5mm as measured with a caliper

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No batteries taken to a whole new level

 

[HomerJAU]

Attention ALL US build NUC Buyers:

Project Update:
All Intel NUCs for US Round 1 and 2 buyers are now with Paul in NY.

All NVME SSDs, are ordered and about to ship (from within US)

Paul is now in the process of updating all NUCs: Resetting bios security, updating to latest Intel firmware, setting our bios settings (enabling users to boot to a USB Windows drive) and updating the HDMI firmware and unlocking the security settings. These NUCS will be totally unlocked for buyers to do anything you like.

The 2nd shipment of Bluetooth remotes (R2 buyers): I chased up last night, "they will ship in 2 days" I was told.

Paul is working his way through 50 NUCs. He found one with a noisy fan. Once we have run them all (doing the bios updates). We plan to buy new fans to replace any noisy ones (about $10 + shipping). Since this is a community project, any new fans will be charged to the project and the cost will be shared by all. its the luck of the draw, to who gets a NUC with a new fan) - Example if we buy 3 new fans, maybe $40 total with shipping, that adds $40 divided by 50 users = to your final cost, under a buck (R1s that means to you, shipping price increases since you have paid for your NUC already). Sorry but neither Paul or I can absorb that cost.

Also, one batch of NUCs would not recognise Pauls USB keyboard, he needed to buy a new one, it was cheap but that goes on the bill too. It will be less than 50c each but Paul should not be expected to pay for anything. He's already put in a weeks work on this Project.

Anyone that's doesn't like this increase: PM me for a full refund. (I'm sure everyone here is OK with this, but I have to offer you are way out if anyone doesn't like this)

(Paul just reported he has run about 30 now, still only one bad fan)

What size is the remote control:

It will arrive in its box (right) with your NUC:

 

[jefe1]

Thank you Gary and Paul for your hard work on this project.
Everybody here appreciates what you are doing.

 

[LuvMyQuad]

NUCs on parade. Bios updated on all of these. One noisy fan, but for the most part, these are silent. Most look like new.

 

[skindzier]

Thanks again guys!

 

[Mark Anderson]

Very Nice, thanks Paul & Gary

 

[roundhousequad]

I can tell you what i do. An example would be,

Dark Side of the Moon
Dark Side of the Moon (2.0 BRD)
Dark Side of the Moon (5.1 BRD)
Dark Side of the Moon (5.1 SACD)
Dark Side of the Moon (4.0 Parsons mix)
Dark Side of the Moon (5.1 Pentio UM)
Dark Side of the Moon (Atmos)

What this means in luvmyquad land is:

CD rip
Stereo rip from bluray disc
5.1 rip from bluray disc
5.1 rip from SACD
Quad Alan Parsons mix
An upmix
Atmos rip

I tag the album with exactly the same names as the folder names. So when i choose to play Pink Floyd they all come up and i make my choise.

Unconventually, i dont include the artist name in the album folder name. So i dont have. Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon (Atmos)
But most users do include the artists name

This layout might change based on some of the more advanced stuff kodi can do that will be in @HomerJAU build, but thats my current filing system.

Thank you. I'm starting from scratch on this. so it is all new to me.

 

[roundhousequad]

I need a legend with all the abbreviations on it. don't know what they mean as yo use them. I'ok with ssd bd USB. but most of the ones you guys are using I'm lost on. And I used to be a damn good computer tech Bach in my days of IBM punch cards an iron core memory.

 

[barfle]

I have high confidence I’ll be amazed with my new toy, and I appreciate both the opportunity to get in on the cheap and all the work that’s been going into this project.

Now, getting that NAS up and running…

 

[LuvMyQuad]

I need a legend with all the abbreviations on it. don't know what they mean as yo use them. I'ok with ssd bd USB. but most of the ones you guys are using I'm lost on. And I used to be a damn good computer tech Bach in my days of IBM punch cards an iron core memory.

What abreveations are you talking about?

 

[humprof]

All's quiet while @LuvMyQuad is busy at his workbench.

Coupla questions as I (slowly, slowly) tag and organize:

• Can Kodi “decode” (legacy) Dolby Surround? (foobar2000 has a Dolby Surround plugin)
• Will it only play MKV files (e.g., those downloaded from IAA) as videos, or can you tag them and have Kodi play & display them like any other audio file? Or do you have to strip out the audio, save it as MKA, and then tag?

One more:

• I have a lot of "classical" albums in my library (a huge tagging headache, as no one has come up with a completely satisfactory approach to classical metadata). Can you configure Kodi to search and sort by "Composer" as well as "Artist" and/or "AlbumArtist"? (BTW: mp3tag offers a "Composer" tag by default, but I haven't found it--or figured out how to add it--in MMH yet.)

 

[LuvMyQuad]

All's quiet while @LuvMyQuad is busy at his workbench.

Coupla questions as I (slowly, slowly) tag and organize:

• Can Kodi “decode” (legacy) Dolby Surround? (foobar2000 has a Dolby Surround plugin)
• Will it only play MKV files (e.g., those downloaded from IAA) as videos, or can you tag them and have Kodi play & display them like any other audio file? Or do you have to strip out the audio, save it as MKA, and then tag?

1. i always just pass the signal through and let the AVR handle it, but i think it can do some decoding. Ill have to look.

2. An mkv is easily turned into an mka (audio only ). Then yes tag and display like any other mus8c disc

 

[humprof]

1. i always just pass the signal through and let the AVR handle it, but i think it can do some decoding. Ill have to look.

Thanks! With Dolby Surround, it's just that the newer AVRs no longer have PL or PLII (and the new Dolby Surround is nothing like the old), which is why I currently use the foobar plugin for playing the dozen or so discs I have.

I also went back and added a third question--probably as you were typing answers to the first two :

• I have a lot of "classical" albums in my library (a huge tagging headache, as no one has come up with a completely satisfactory approach to classical metadata). Can you configure Kodi to search and sort by "Composer" as well as by "Artist" and/or "AlbumArtist"? (BTW: mp3tag offers a "Composer" tag by default, but I haven't found it--or figured out how to add it--in MMH yet.)

 

[HomerJAU]

@humprof

Question 1: Yes
Question 2: Any MKV file. A Matroska container can hold audio and video. MKV and MKA files are identical but usually MKV extension means the file contains audio and video, mka is audio only.

Currently (Kodi 21.2) on these NUCs only reads tags in MKA files.

If your MKV file is only audio from a BDA etc, just rename it from .mkv to .mka. Tag it. Kodi reads the tags, Simple

If you want Music with video and audio (concerts) in the Music Library, you need to use MMH’s Chapter Editor tool to create a CUE file for your MKV file. Then it gets imported into the Music library using the limited ‘tags’ in the CUE file.

In both those scenarios the Matroska files should have chapters if the mkv/mkv has multiple songs.

MMH gets the song titles and tags from its automated Get Tags from Musbrainz feature, so very little data entry, just the Artist and Albun title, the rest is automated.

Question 3:
I will post about classic albums in a new post. The short version: A Kodi Developer was a classical music junkie, he added extensive support for all things classical, the metadata gets there automatically when you tag as it’s all based on the MusicBrainz IDs. It’s not difficult. You won’t have to enter ‘composer’ it comes for free when you select the release in the tagging UI from the MBZ database.