Tuesday 18 December 2018

Mi Box 3


MDZ-16-AB
  • Dimensions: 101mm x 101mm x 19.5mm
  • Weight: 176.5g
  • Processor: Amlogic S905X SoC =  Quad-core Cortex-A53 2.0GHz
  • GPU: Mali 450 750MHz
  • RAM: 2GB DDR3
  • Storage 8GB eMMC
  • Power: 5V/2A, 4mm x 1.7mm
  • Connectivity out
    • 1 x HDMI 2.0a (HDCP 2.2)
    • 1 x SPDIF Out / 3.5mm audio output (DTS 2.0+, Dolby Digital Plus, up to 7.1 pass through)
  • Connectivity in
    • 802.11a/b/g/n/ac Dual-band Wi-Fi 2.4GHz/5GHz
    • Bluetooth 4.0/3.0
    • 1 x USB 2.0 (many users get a 3 port USB 3.0 Gigabit Ethernet adapter, but we find the wireless is fine)
  • Remote: Bluetooth voice remote control (2xAAA batteries), but suggest to get a keyboard at least for initial setup

We will post about software separately...

Further Info:
Odroid XU4Q
Kodi settings
NEW RIG

Sunday 11 November 2018

Google Wifi Mesh Router(s) GA00158-AU

Say hello to Google Wifi
The NBN-supplied router is 802.11n at up to 300Mbps. The NBN box is in a metal cabinet behind a wooden door with a long wall between it and the bedroom.

  • Ezzy's Macbook Air is mainly used in the living room;
  • The study and media centre have wired ethernet connections; and
  • The living room Sonos Play 3's has a wired ethernet connection and meshes with the other unit in the bedroom.

So far so good, BUT, there are now 5-10 regular SSID's in our area competing at 2.4GHz, and, combined with the apartment architecture, large parts of the bedroom were a dead spot no matter what.

Solution was to buy a 3-pack of these units, and sell 2 on eBay to reduce the per unit cost. We now have Wifi WAF and I arbitraged Google's nudge pricing.

Further Info:
[Solved] Wi-Fi Extender
[Unsolved] Connect Mini HTPC to TV

Saturday 27 October 2018

New Monitor(s)

Currently we are using 2xDell G2410T (refurbished)

  • 24" HD (1920x1080 at 60Hz) TN panel with 5ms response
  • Power consumption 20W operating / 0.15W standby


Dell G2410T

But work is moving to QHD monitors so remoting in with downscaling will be bad. And I'm going to repurpose the Lorne media centre into a midi controller.

So the next choice is:

Dell U2718Q

  • 27" 4K (3840x2160 at 60Hz) IPS panelwith 5-8ms response
  • Power consumption 30W operating / 0.3W standby

Further Info:

Saturday 18 August 2018

After installing Ubuntu Linux 18.04

Update system
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade

Restricted drivers
Software & Update -> Additional Drivers

VLC
sudo apt-get install vlc -y

GIMP
sudo apt-get install gimp -y

Multimedia support
sudo apt-get install ubuntu-restricted-extras

System clean
sudo apt-get autoclean
sudo apt-get clean
sudo apt-get autoremove

Further Info:
Odroid XU4Q

Monday 11 June 2018

More greenery in the home!

Long Planter (00 x 600 x 700(H)mm external, 180 x 580 x 190(H)mm internal)

Further Info:
Greenery in the home!