Broadcom/CrystalHD Info

[jiordan]

Really dumb question I'm hoping someone can answer..is the Crystal HD card necessary for older Apple TVs, or for ALL Apple TVs? I just bought one in January (and supposedly it can render 1080), but have been unable to get high res video to run in XBMC/Boxee. It crashes every time and before I purchase a card, I wanted to be sure that I actually needed one. Everything I can find online is from 2008 and early 2009 and mostly people talking about upgrading old units.

I don't have an issue with hacking the machine, but I did want to be sure I understood correctly that its necessary before going shopping. Thanks for indulging me.

[YinZhe]

Yinzhe it seems as though you're the only one having that issue. With 3 pages of issues on this thread I would suggest trying out another card, it would be less time than messing with this one anymore. good luck!

I afraid that you have right...

[odinb]

is the Crystal HD card necessary for older Apple TVs, or for ALL Apple TVs?

The CPU on all AppleTVs is the Intel Pentium M 1.0 GHz "Crofton" Processor. This CPU is not powerful enough to decode most 720p and all 1080p H.264 video. Therefor it is needed for all AppleTVs.

[odinb]

I really hope that they push out 9.12 or whatever stable version will contain crystal support soon.

XBMC follows the Ubuntu release cycles these days, so the next version will most likely be 10.04 or something. The reason for 9.11 was due to a delay in the release pending some issues they had.

[odinb]

Got my Crystal HD card Saturday, and popped it in Sunday.

Followed the guide here: viewtopic.php?f=19&t=2469#p10223 with the addition of changing the rendering in XBMC to Crystal HD.
XBMC: svn r27758

My 720p videos that previously would not play now does, and they look just excellent.

My problem though is that later last night I watched a regular SD movie, and the video is now lagging. It did not used to be this way. And it is not just that movie, it is all the SD ones I tried with.

Tried rebooting due to the known memory leak, but to no avail.
http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?t= ... emory+leak

Anyone else seen this? Anyone know how to fix it, even temporarily?

[odinb]

Got home today and updated to SVN 27831. The "Broadcom Crystal HD" option under System --> Video --> Playback --> Render method disappeared.
Restarted the AppleTV, launched XBMC and changed the following settings under System --> Video --> Playback
a) --> Render Method. Changed "Auto" to "Broadcom Crystal HD".
b) --> Use Pixelbuffer Objects. Turn "on".
c) --> Adjust Display Refresh Rate to match Video. Turn "on".
d) --> SyncPlayback to Display. Turn "on".
e) --> A/V Sync Method: "Audio Clock"or "Drop Dupe" (Drop Dupe uses less CPU.)

Now the issue seems to be gone.

[bloom]

Yinzhe it seems as though you're the only one having that issue. With 3 pages of issues on this thread I would suggest trying out another card, it would be less time than messing with this one anymore. good luck!

I afraid that you have right...

YinZhe, you might try this http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?t=69321, I had exactly the same problem, tried every single solution mentioned above and nothing. I was very close to purchasing a new card. Fortunatelly a simple copy paste (see first thread in the link) did the job.

[mjgainuk]

Hi,
I don't seem able to get to step 3 in the guide. I am on latest version of ATV flash, have latest of XBMC and Nito. But for some reason, under Maintenance --> Install Extras, I do not get the option to install the Crystal drivers. Any pointers as to what I am doing wrong? Anyone else has had this problem?

Thanks!

MGA

ps: I have a working crystal card (I know it's working as I managed to get it running on a Linux installation on a different Apple TV).

EDIT: SORTED, I WAS RUNNING AN OLD VERSION OF APPLE TV. UPDATED TO LATEST VERSION AND THE OPTION TO INSTALL CRYSTAL HD IS THERE.

[thekidwenthxc]

Got mine in the mail yesterday, Installed. All is GREAT!! watching 8gb mkv files in hi def with no skipping, looks great as ever!!

Thanks ATV Flash.

[raforbes]

Question - All my files are ISO. STD DVD.Will this card help with SD playback? I realize ATV plays in 720P does that mean everything is 720P and if I get this card I can play anything in 1080? I apologize for what may seem to be stupid questions but if I dont ask I'll never learn anything..

Thanks in advance