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Jack3d

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 13, 2013
20
0
Hello everybody. I don't know if I post in the right section, but I want to know if its possible to play some avi file with the iPad mini. I have downloaded a avi files and once I start it, I only got the sound. How can I play my video?
 

thadoggfather

macrumors P6
Oct 1, 2007
15,537
16,249
XBMC.

repo is: mirrors.xbmc.org/apt/ios

Grab it, find the folder your video file is in and direct XBMC to it, and voila.

XBMC handles pretty much anything.

<3 it
 

Han Solo 1

macrumors 6502
Mar 12, 2013
495
11
Hello everybody. I don't know if I post in the right section, but I want to know if its possible to play some avi file with the iPad mini. I have downloaded a avi files and once I start it, I only got the sound. How can I play my video?

1. Why would you want to? AVI is generally crappy quality.

2. If you must do it, use rushplayer+. It's available in Cydia for free and plays pretty much anything very smoothly.

I'm assuming you're jailbroken since this is the jailbreak part of the forums.
 

thadoggfather

macrumors P6
Oct 1, 2007
15,537
16,249
I keep hearing you mention rushplayer+

Have you tried XBMC and does it offer any benefits over this?

I'm curious :D
 

noiceT

macrumors 6502a
Jul 7, 2008
549
70
Catalina Wine Mixer
1. Why would you want to? AVI is generally crappy quality.

2. If you must do it, use rushplayer+. It's available in Cydia for free and plays pretty much anything very smoothly.

I'm assuming you're jailbroken since this is the jailbreak part of the forums.

I think a lot of people still have a lot of old .avi video files from the past that they want to watch.
 

Han Solo 1

macrumors 6502
Mar 12, 2013
495
11
I keep hearing you mention rushplayer+

Have you tried XBMC and does it offer any benefits over this?

I'm curious :D

Lol I know, but I'm not the developer, I promise.

I like it because it has been able to handle anything I've thrown at it without a hiccup. I've only tried XMBC on my Mac and wasn't too impressed. I don't remember what the problem was, if it crashed or something, I really can't recall. But that experience turned me off to trying it on my iPad.

Out if curiosity, why do you recommend it?
 

thadoggfather

macrumors P6
Oct 1, 2007
15,537
16,249
I am definitely biased but I've been with Xbmc since the start.

Xbox 1 soft mod days, Apple tv2 jailbreak, iPad3 with a specific alpha build that actually natively outputs at 2048x1536 so 1080p content looks like a complex painting, and iPhone 5 as well.

Just a fanboy :D But it's also something that's been worked on for an incredibly long time now.

I'm tempted to get a Raspberry Pi for Raspbmc so I can have a 1080p outputtable dedicated XBMC box since ATV3 never got JB treatment and quite possibly never will.
 

Han Solo 1

macrumors 6502
Mar 12, 2013
495
11
I am definitely biased but I've been with Xbmc since the start.

Xbox 1 soft mod days, Apple tv2 jailbreak, iPad3 with a specific alpha build that actually natively outputs at 2048x1536 so 1080p content looks like a complex painting, and iPhone 5 as well.

Just a fanboy :D But it's also something that's been worked on for an incredibly long time now.

I'm tempted to get a Raspberry Pi for Raspbmc so I can have a 1080p outputtable dedicated XBMC box since ATV3 never got JB treatment and quite possibly never will.

I've heard great things about it. I'll give the iPad version a whirl, if only out if curiosity.
 

thadoggfather

macrumors P6
Oct 1, 2007
15,537
16,249
Awesome, get the official one from the repo I posted above

Then uninstall it and get this:
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/30371861/org.xbmc.xbmc-ios_12.0-0~alpha7_iphoneos-arm-gpu2gpu.deb

(I say install, uninstall, then do this because I had issues when I just tried installing this in the past, it's an alpha nightly build but one from a few months ago that's been working perfect)

download via Safari Download Manager or SSH it to a folder of your choosing, then in iFile, copy and paste it to the home directory and rename it to xbmc.deb so it's easy to type out, open MobileTerminal, type "su" "alpine" "dpkg -i xbmc.deb" and then you're set, without quotes, each one a different command.

You'll have a retina-build version of XBMC. You'll be in awe.

If you only go with the official build, afaik, it's still only going to output at 1024x768 so even though it looks much better than same app on iPad 2, it's not taking full advantage of dat screen.

On iPhone 5, official build is more than fine imo.
 

jaeguyoon

macrumors regular
Apr 20, 2010
129
0
Awesome, get the official one from the repo I posted above

Then uninstall it and get this:
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/30371861/org.xbmc.xbmc-ios_12.0-0~alpha7_iphoneos-arm-gpu2gpu.deb

(I say install, uninstall, then do this because I had issues when I just tried installing this in the past, it's an alpha nightly build but one from a few months ago that's been working perfect)

download via Safari Download Manager or SSH it to a folder of your choosing, then in iFile, copy and paste it to the home directory and rename it to xbmc.deb so it's easy to type out, open MobileTerminal, type "su" "alpine" "dpkg -i xbmc.deb" and then you're set, without quotes, each one a different command.

You'll have a retina-build version of XBMC. You'll be in awe.

If you only go with the official build, afaik, it's still only going to output at 1024x768 so even though it looks much better than same app on iPad 2, it's not taking full advantage of dat screen.

On iPhone 5, official build is more than fine imo.

tried ur method but when I unpack the .deb file and it finishes there's no xbmc icon in my screen.
 

thadoggfather

macrumors P6
Oct 1, 2007
15,537
16,249
Might want to respring and if that doesn't work, reboot.

It should show up then. Whenever you install stuff with MobileTerminal, you need to manually make sure it gets the next step.
 

Han Solo 1

macrumors 6502
Mar 12, 2013
495
11
Awesome, get the official one from the repo I posted above

Then uninstall it and get this:
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/30371861/org.xbmc.xbmc-ios_12.0-0~alpha7_iphoneos-arm-gpu2gpu.deb

(I say install, uninstall, then do this because I had issues when I just tried installing this in the past, it's an alpha nightly build but one from a few months ago that's been working perfect)

download via Safari Download Manager or SSH it to a folder of your choosing, then in iFile, copy and paste it to the home directory and rename it to xbmc.deb so it's easy to type out, open MobileTerminal, type "su" "alpine" "dpkg -i xbmc.deb" and then you're set, without quotes, each one a different command.

You'll have a retina-build version of XBMC. You'll be in awe.

If you only go with the official build, afaik, it's still only going to output at 1024x768 so even though it looks much better than same app on iPad 2, it's not taking full advantage of dat screen.

On iPhone 5, official build is more than fine imo.

Doing it now. When you say "uninstall" do you mean just delete from homescreen, or actually remove it in Cydia?


EDIT:

I did the commands exactly as you said, and it doesn't appear on my homescreen either, even after rebooting.
 
Last edited:

thadoggfather

macrumors P6
Oct 1, 2007
15,537
16,249
Awesome! Easy enough right?

I uninstalled official xbmc through cydia never tried just deleting from home screen but it prolly works similarly.

Get ps3 media server for Mac or windows, go to "transcode settings" and exempt avi,mkv,mp4 (and another formats you may play, separate them with a comma and no space iirc) so it's not kicking up your source computers fans and diluting quality.

Then direct it to the folder you want, go to xbmc and select "UPnP" and ps3 media server source should show up.

Or load up Sd cards, feed your iPad them with the camera connection kit and I believe direct xbmc to var/mnt (or if you store the files locally on the pad, direct it to wherever they are)

It's a game changer :)
 

Han Solo 1

macrumors 6502
Mar 12, 2013
495
11
Awesome! Easy enough right?

I uninstalled official xbmc through cydia never tried just deleting from home screen but it prolly works similarly.

Get ps3 media server, go to "transcode settings" and exempt avi,mkv,mp4 so it's not kicking up your source computers fans and diluting quality.

Then direct it to the folder you want, go to xbmc and select "UPnP" and ps3 media server source should show up.

Yeah, I ran into a problem. Not installing correctly from the .deb package. I tried it again, and MobileTerminal gives me an error

it says: Errors were encountered while processing:
xbmc.deb

I know, it's not very telling.
 

Han Solo 1

macrumors 6502
Mar 12, 2013
495
11
Did you install and uninstall the official xbmc first?

Yeah, I can try it again, but I think the first Mobile Terminal go around installed it, and it just didn't appear. Now it won't let me reinstall the .deb package.

But I will try again and see what happens
 

thadoggfather

macrumors P6
Oct 1, 2007
15,537
16,249
Maybe if all else fails, reboot and give the process a try again

dpkg -i Filename.deb <---- it is case sensitive
 

Menneisyys2

macrumors 603
Jun 7, 2011
5,997
1,101

Please don't recommend VLC Player, it's far inferior to most other, contemporary players with VASTLY enhanced decoders. Even if you don't notice this during playback of standard-res videos, your battery will ;)

----------

Yeah, I ran into a problem. Not installing correctly from the .deb package. I tried it again, and MobileTerminal gives me an error

it says: Errors were encountered while processing:
xbmc.deb

I know, it's not very telling.

Did you install the official XBMC version from the http://mirrors.xbmc.org/apt/ios/* repository, as is explained HERE http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?titl..._iPad/iPhone/iPod_touch#Installing_from_Cydia , in section "1 Installing from Cydia"?

You do NOT need to manually install DEB files unless you need high-res TV or AirPlay output. (With the Mini, it's the only two cases you'll want to use non-official / stable builds.)

----------

Or load up Sd cards, feed your iPad them with the camera connection kit and I believe direct xbmc to var/mnt (or if you store the files locally on the pad, direct it to wherever they are)

BTW, you can do the same to almost all AppStore players if you use symlinks (more info: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1464236/ )

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tried ur method but when I unpack the .deb file and it finishes there's no xbmc icon in my screen.

After installing DEB files directly (ANY of them), you will always need to respring. (As opposed to some other advice in this #, you do NOT need a complete restart).

----------

I keep hearing you mention rushplayer+

Have you tried XBMC and does it offer any benefits over this?

I'm curious :D

RP+ is definitely better at hi-res (e.g., 1080p) MKV playback on such a constrained, slow(ish) iDevice like the iPad Mini. (On the much faster iPhone 5 / iPad 4, the difference isn't that big.)

Also see my dedicated articles and benchmarks (I've published tons of them here at MR.)

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Hello everybody. I don't know if I post in the right section, but I want to know if its possible to play some avi file with the iPad mini. I have downloaded a avi files and once I start it, I only got the sound. How can I play my video?

In addition to XBMC / RP+, you may also want to give a try to AppStore players. Some players are WAY better than XBMC at, say, regular hi-res MKV playback.

Consider following my multimedia-related articles here at MR - you'll learn a lot from them.

----------

If you only go with the official build, afaik, it's still only going to output at 1024x768 so even though it looks much better than same app on iPad 2, it's not taking full advantage of dat screen.

On iPhone 5, official build is more than fine imo.

You only need this Alpha7 version on an iPad mini if and only if you output the video to an external monitor via either AirPlay or the Lightning-VGA / HDMI adapter. On the built-in screen, there's no difference from the official build - as opposed to Retina-screen iPads.
 

Han Solo 1

macrumors 6502
Mar 12, 2013
495
11
Maybe if all else fails, reboot and give the process a try again

dpkg -i Filename.deb <---- it is case sensitive

Maybe I'm not placing the deb file in the right directory? I'm simply going to the home directory in iFile, where media, library, etc. are, and just placing it there. Is that right?

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You only need this Alpha7 version on an iPad mini if and only if you output the video to an external monitor via either AirPlay or the Lightning-VGA / HDMI adapter. On the built-in screen, there's no difference from the official build - as opposed to Retina-screen iPads.

So you're saying that there is a difference in quality on the retina iPad going from stock XBMC to the nightly build?

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still no dice. It's just not working.

when I type in the commands, it unpacks it, then at the "short read in buffer_copy" step it says:

(failed to write to pipe in copy)

Then:

dpkg-deb: subprocess paste returned error exit status 2
 

thadoggfather

macrumors P6
Oct 1, 2007
15,537
16,249
Yeah there is a difference between official and this build in my experience.

Unless the newest updated official version addresses it but I somehow doubt it
 
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