Why I prefer OBH (now): just my personal view

AlexWilMac

Moderator
Everything is subjective, this is the first premise I want to do. As many users ask what are the differences between BH and OBH or why one should prefer one of them to the other, I decided to summarize the reasons why I decided to switch to OBH after having been only a BH user since I bought my first VU+ (I've never used any other images, only tried some of them just to know how they were and I haven't found any other image I could prefer to BH).

But I use OBH as my main image already since its 0.6 version (and this already says something…), when I decided to move BH from flash to OMB and, viceversa, OBH from OMB to flash.

Before this, I had been using also OBH 0.4 but only occasionally.


The second premise is that I can't consider none of them "perfect" or, if you like, none of them two has got everything I like. Actually, at this point OBH has got or does almost everything like I want. I'd take only a couple of aspects from BH to add to OBH.


So, here is why, in my personal experience, makes me prefer OBH, now and I decided to share my experience. So, this is not an absolute judgement about BH and OBH but just my personal impressions. The following point ARE NOT ordered by relevance.


1 MANAGEMENT OF RECORDINGS FOLDERS and, in general, of every folders: it's absolutely much more comfortable and similar to a computer O.S.

This is because it shows also the subfolders and so it allows to browse whatever folder you see.

In BH, instead, browsing folders is very complicated (not really impossible) unless you use the plugin EMC (Enhanced Movie Center). Anyway, I find the built-in OBH management of folders even easier than EMC itself because, for instance, of its sorting options, that are better and more comfortable than the EMC ones.


2 DELETING FILES and TRASH: just by the red k_ey you quickly delete (actually: you move to trash) a file; and the trash (not present in BH) makes possible to recover them. Then the trash can be emptied just by clicking RED on it and confirming the operation.


3 INSTALLING OF PLUGINS WITHOUT REBOOTING, at least with the OPEN plugins, (funnily enough, they are the ones in the section BlackHole addons whilst the ones in the section OpenBlackHole addons are the ones also present in BH!).


4 Easy and quick mounting of NAS and network servers. BH always drives me nuts and, anyway, you must restart the system (not just the GUI) to be sure the mounting has been successful. By OBH you immediately know if the mount is working and no restart of any kind is needed.


5 EASY CONFIGURABILITY of any k_eys and not just of some of them like you do by the plugin Setup Quickbutton where only a fey k_eys are configurable. OBH does not need any plugins for this customization and you have availability of 100% of the remote k_eys.


6 A LIGHTER IMAGE. The last BHs are almost impossible to run by old boxes. OBH is manageable also by them. Personally, I can't notice this by the Solo4K, whilst already with the Duo2 I can notice it works smoothly with it.


7 A DRIVER SECTION. The previous point is (also) due to the fact OBH does not have every possible drivers built-in, 99% of whom you don't need! In OBH you install only what you want and to do that there's no need of terminal commands or complicated procedures: you just go to the Driver sections.


8 FREE CONFIGURATION of many GUI aspects, as it happens, for instance, in the channels list. You decide how many lines you want and how big are to be the fonts. This is, in my opinion, an indispensable feature.


9 STARTUP CONFIGURATION WIZARD more clever and automatized: it's able to recognise the right satellites connected to your DiseqC switches (as it happens also in other "open" images, actually).


10 MORE FREEDOM in configuring various parts of the image. For instance, every functions associated to coloured buttons in the recording list can be completely reconfigured as you like, either the ones associated to short pressing or the ones associated to a long press. You enter the recording list and press MENU and that's all.


11 MORE VERSATILITY and configurations' options in many sections (it's difficult to remember them all): for instance, again talking about the recording list, pressing MENU you can choose a lot of functions (move, copy, etc…) and whatever ordering option you like. In BH you need EMC and, anyway, is not as comfortable and complete as OBH.


12 LAST BUT ABSOLUTELY NOT LEAST… I'm leaving it as the last point, but it's the most important point as far as the technical aspect are concerned, I think, particularly considering what's been happening in the last months about BH issues and bugs (some of whom are not solved, yet). When and if they are caused by the Vuplus code, as BH is totally based on it, they affects also BH. Not enough, BH coders can't do anything about them and users have to wait for Vuplus to fix the bug or the issue. And this takes a lot of time.

On the contrary, OBH is an open project, independent from Vuplus original code. This does not mean OBH is not affected by any bugs; but if they occur it's up to OBH coders to solve them, at least the large majority of them. And this means a quicker response by OBH coders.



As I said, there are also some lacks in OBH compared to BH or, viceversa, some aspects and features of BH I'd like to bring to OBH.


1 FCC (fast channel change) not yet implemented (which is the same for all other open images, actually): it must be said that FCC is not as useful as it could be if you don't have a Unicable LNB or multiple DTT tuners because it essentially works much better with multiple tuners.

And, at least in my opinion, it is true that FCC is a nice feature but also a little bit for zap-aholics ;) Nonetheless, if OBH got it, I'd use it for sure, but I don't leave OBH just for it.


2 The recording list does not show, along with the titles of recordings, also the channel they were recorded from. You can read it (but only for the currently selected item) elsewhere in the skin. In BH, instead, each recording shows the channel of the recording itself.

It's also true that you have more lines for the titles just because of the lack of these extra infos.


3 There is no info about the FF/REW speed while in timeshift.


but, as you see, these lacks are really not so important. So, that's why I'm now using only OBH.
 

Gold_66

Vu+ User
Another precious addition to your series of detailed and useful "observation and guidance" posts. :)
A few minor things could be added to the list, like the ease of navigation in channel list by pressing k_ey corresponding to the first letter of desired channel name, "Predefined transponder" search option in manual scan, the possibility of scanning directly from signal finder screen, etc.
 

AlexWilMac

Moderator
Yes, you are perfectly right! Actually, I've been finding so many useful aspects, so far, that was almost impossible to remember them all. So, as it's impossible to edit and update my original post, I think it's useful to add here your comments, numbering them progressively ;)

PROs
13 Ease of navigation in channel list by pressing k_ey corresponding to the first letter of desired channel name (this is a really comfy feature!).
14 "Predefined transponder" search option in manual scan
15 The possibility of scanning directly from signal finder screen
 

AlexWilMac

Moderator
Thanks to another post, I remembered another very useful function that, before OBH 1.0 and following, needed the plugin AutomaticFullBackup. SO...

16 A more powerful FullBackup section, where you can also schedule a daily backup. They will be saved reporting also (in their filename itself) the exact version of the image and the date of backup.
You'll be able to reflash the box without any flash drives but directly from it, just choosing the file of the backup you want for the re-flash. Very, very comfortable.
 

Slothery

Vu+ Newbie
Are the two operative system developed by different teams? I do not get why OBH (open black hole) would be more open than BH (black hole). Aren't both free software (free to use, copy and modify)? What is the history behind the softwares? Do they have a common ancestor (software) that was split up into these two forks at some time point?
 

Slothery

Vu+ Newbie
There is an openvuplus operative system also. It that project community driven, or is it driven by the Vu+ hardware manufacturer?
Code:
http://code.vuplus.com
http://vuplus.com
 

Slothery

Vu+ Newbie
It is all very confusing. There are for example the following operative systems for Vu+
OpenPLi
Code:
http://www.openpli.org
VTi
Code:
http://www.vuplus-support.org
And the site LINK REMOVED DUE TO SUPPORTING CLONE RECEIVERS seems to house or link to several different versions of operative systems (firmware) for Vu+

PLEASE DO NOT POST LINKS ON THIS BOARD THAT LINK TO CLONE SUPPORTER SITES
 
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AlexWilMac

Moderator
You can read what you ask in this same forum, under the various sections. They are two different projects based on different "cores". I don't know the two teams' composition, but they'll probably have many people in common. This is absolutely not important to me: I rely on these teams and I like both images. Simply, I switched from BH to OBH because I personally now prefer the second for the reasons I explained.
 

Slothery

Vu+ Newbie
OK. It is good to know your opinion about OBH and BH. It is only me, that is very curious to understand the different variants. I have searched the internet, but find very few articles about the different operating systems (firmwares) for Vu+; comparisons, reviews, history, manuals, etc. I now found the manual of OpenPLI and I think it actually can bring some light to me about things that I have wondered about (such as for example mounting)

Code:
http://wiki.openpli.org
 
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AlexWilMac

Moderator
There also a "fake" openblackhole around. But what it matters is that if you download BH and OBH from here, you'll know you'll get the genuine BH and OBH. Because THIS is the place and the forum created by its developers themselves. The other one are only normal discussion's forums.
 

AlexWilMac

Moderator
Which open images support FCC ?

Sorry, I wasn't clear in my message. By "as it is (not having FCC) for". So, I meant: "the same happens for other open images, actually" and it's not only OBH not having implemented FCC but also every other open images, too ;)

As this might lead to some misunderstanding, please edit my original post accordingly, changing the words "as it is" by "the same happens also for"
 
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Slothery

Vu+ Newbie
There also a "fake" openblackhole around. But what it matters is that if you download BH and OBH from here, you'll know you'll get the genuine BH and OBH. Because THIS is the place and the forum created by its developers themselves. The other one are only normal discussion's forums.
Yes, one reason why it is confusing to navigate in this landscape of different operative systems (firmware) is that there can be "fake" distributions with the aim to harm the user.
I have looked quite a lot after the OBH image on this forum, but I have not found the repository.
 

AlexWilMac

Moderator
Yes, one reason why it is confusing to navigate in this landscape of different operative systems (firmware) is that there can be "fake" distributions with the aim to harm the user.
I have looked quite a lot after the OBH image on this forum, but I have not found the repository.

This is not the appropriate thread for this because it was created just to talk about the differences (I found) in the two images... Anyway: where are you looking for it? In the home page of the forum there are the sections for HD IMAGES and for 4K ones, either for BH or for OBH.
So, depending of your receiver, enter there and choose your model.
If you've got, as it seems, a VU+Zero (not 4K) the OBH it's here:
http://www.vuplus-community.net/board/forums/openbh-vu-zero-images.71/
 

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Platoon

Vu+ Newbie
Vu+ base coding is so obsolete these days, that I am really surprised that many still use original or images based on original.
No wonder that you prefer OBH. I am not 100% if its based on OpenPLi or OE-Alliance. I prefer PLi and they have been doing some really nice work in the past months. Image really improved.
 

fredkimby

Vu+ Newbie
dear Alexwilmac
can you explain me step by step and by image, how to do a fullbackup on an image of my usb either in OBH or HB on a vu + uno because I tried but in vain and thank you.

Regards!
 

AlexWilMac

Moderator
In OBH there's the submenu Backup immediately within the main menu: very simple.
You go there and choose Full Backup: where's the problem you had?
You the choose (again by menu, within this submenu) the device you like to use.
In OBH you have also the chance of scheduling the FullBackup, always in this same configuration menu.

I had already posted about it a few days ago, here:

https://www.vuplus-community.net/bo...nal-backup-and-full-backup.40511/#post-267822

post #2
 
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