Xubuntu 17.04, Kodi 17.1

Well the bedroom pc (AMD E350) had to be reinstalled because it needed more disk space for storing videos etc and I had assigned the larger disk entirely to Linux (500 GB) and only left a 320 GB partition for my stuff which was almost full. I reinstalled completely with the latest release of Xubuntu after having ensured all the stuff on the computer was backed up, and this time I gave Linux  50 GB partition on the 320 GB disk and ensured all of the 500 GB disk was assigned to /home. There is still the option of the unused part of the 320 GB disk being partitioned at a later date and used if necessary.

As this computer is wirelessly connected to the other computers on my home network, I have mapped a network share to mediapc and have set up grsync to sync in both directions so that whenever new content is added onto mediapc's /home/patrick/Media folder (which contains the Music and Video folders), it can be downlinked automatically to the E350 by running the appropriate Grsync session. And for those times when I have downloaded content from the Internet onto the E350 (which has happened various times), it can be uplinked to MediaPC by running another Grsync session. This provides for the backup of content on the E350 as well as ensuring I have access to all the content on MediaPC for local playback as the wireless network is a bit slow.

Kodi 17.1 has been installed as 16.x is not available for Zesty. However, I have experienced some issues with video playback stuttering and stalling with the Kodi 17 / Xubuntu 17 combination. Kodi 17 also introduces a new GUI and I have seen some navigational issues with an edition of it that I tested earlier this year. It will be interesting to see how I get along with Kodi 17 on this computer, as in the earlier installation of the E350 I deliberately installed Kodi 16 instead of 17 which had been released at that stage. So far it looks good. The stuttering was happening earlier and doesn't seem to be an issue at the moment and it may have well been because the system was busy rsyncing content down from mediapc at the time. A good thing about the new Kodi is that it can update its file lists in real time when you paste new stuff into a folder. This is relevant for me as I always use the Files areas rather than the library to find content to play.

UPDATE: I decided that 17.1 (which has fixed the navigational issues) was good enough to put onto the media PC so as a result I am now using it all the time. The overall interface is in some respects better than 16, and in some respects much the same. One of the nice features is that clicking the right mouse button instantly takes you to the home screen, and you can also customise the subareas of this screen to a minimum of just Music, Pictures and Videos. At the moment one of the main questions I have is that having chosen to configure Music just for files, I want it to be like Videos and just give me the subfolders straight away instead of showing a Files button and telling me my library is empty and that I need to populate it. I have not seen the video stuttering issues with 17.1 on the media PC that have occurred on the E350 so probably the later edition of Xubuntu is where the problems lie.

More Linux utilities: Pinta, Teamviewer, Spotify

Pinta is a basic graphics editor which is inspired by the Windows software Paint.net. It is simpler and easier to use than Gimp, and runs under Mono. 

Teamviewer has a Linux client available that I have used on Xubuntu.

Spotify also has a Linux client available that works well under Xubuntu. However, there are currently some bugs and issues with it, and development is not continuing at present due to a lack of resources and priorities, the key issue being lack of demand for the Linux edition.

Capturing video in Linux / Video resizing / DVR recording

Simple Screen Recorder is a great Linux software package that can be used to capture video from the screen. I set up my media PC to use it after connecting a second screen to use as the control screen for all applications (in other words, the application itself runs on the control screen while the video to be captured is playing on the main screen). I tested it out by capturing a Vimeo video clip and a clip from iTBN which has all the Hillsong Channel previous content available for playing. Both of these worked quite well. The iTBN clip included a Christine Caine message from Colour Conference 2016. As the videos for this conference are no longer available from Hillsong I may look to capture more of them from iTBN if anyone I know wants them for any particular purpose. This particular one was played on Colour Conference Main Stage on Hillsong Channel earlier this week, but for some reason these Mainstage clips aren't being repeated throughout the week so I was pleased to be able to find it on iTBN.

DVR recording is something I have begun to do with my satellite box. It has 16 GB of internal memory available for recording programs and I used it this week to record part of "The Story" broadcast on Hillsong Channel. I prefer to use a USB stick plugged into the front USB port of the box to record onto. The resultant .ts file can simply be renamed as .mpeg and then imported into an editing program like AviDemux. The main issue then is that the aspect ratio of the source video needs to be fixed.

In AviDemux the file from the DVR turned out to be too high vertically (rather common to see with video playback but not at all desirable) so configuring it to resize to 840x484 as I found on a tutorial on Youtube fixed the problem and put the aspect ratio back correctly for when I play the clip in Kodi. The "Story" clip had a 6 1/2 minute segment from when Hillsong United visited a Syrian refugee camp in Lebanon as part of their "Of Dirt And Grace" project in the Middle East in April 2016.

I am now getting the maximum usage out of my satellite box by connecting it to a second TV and speakers in the bedroom. I first experimented with having a fourth computer in there with the same TV as a display. This was OK playing the Hillsong Channel from iTBN except for the video being slow and the computer generally challenged because of its slow speed (it is one of the AMD E350s). As I had already put a network cable through the wall I decided a better option was to have a analogue video cable and sound cable through from the satellite box making the most of the multiple outlets on the box. This also meant making use of the second discrete audio output and running it through the CYP digital to analogue sound converter that I purchased last year. So the box has the maximum number of cables connected to it to drive all the different devices. The picture on the TV in the bedroom, while made with an analogue composite cable, is still way better than with a computer playing iTBN in a web browser because it is good quality and doesn't have jerky video or problems when the network speed is slow. The sound is also better quality. So I have dispensed with the fourth computer and now just back to three computers in the lounge.

For social media I now have the Vodem that I plug into my Windows 10 PC when I want to access Instagram etc with my tablet share SIM. This computer is really being annoying because unlike the other Windows 10 computer I tried the Vodem on, it won't redetect the Vodem when it comes back up from hibernation, so I have to keep unplugging and replugging the Vodem to use it.

UPDATE:

• The Vodem is being detected as a Remote NDIS thingy when the computer comes back from hibernation/restart, all you have to do is to enable and disable it.
• Since writing the original post about using captures I have discovered that the incredible youtube-dl software will work with both the Vimeo and iTBN sites. So both of the above mentioned videos could be downloaded from their respective sites and no screen capture was necessary. (Since about the fourth week in April however iTBN has a new site format that does not work with youtube-dl)
• Computer 4 (the AMD E350 in the Antec mini chassis) has gone back into the bedroom not to play iTBN over the internet, but to enable videos to be played there. Instead of using a network cable connection it is using wireless.
• I have found out how to save Instagram stories with a Chrome app. How to save Instagram videos is a mystery - youtube-dl allegedly supports them but I can't make it work. Fortunately I can play them in a web browser, which means I can use SimpleScreenRecorder on a VM running Xubuntu on the computer that has the Vodem plugged into it.