LinuxMCE

I came across this tonight and FINALLY a Media Center solution that is what I have been looking for. If your into media center/htpc stuff, I highly recommend you check it out.

The website is... http://linuxmce.com/ or http://linuxmce.org/

Here is a demo video that is 24+ minutes long and really goes thru the setup, options, and usage.

Here is a link to Google Video for the impatient ;)
http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...05109829&hl=en

But I recommend watching the HiRes version located here..
ftp://ftp.fiire.com/pub/linuxmce (420MB)

A company called Fiire has started selling hardware tailored to it and can be seen here.. http://www.fiire.com/index.php

Apparently its still pretty new so the hardware list is still a bit limited but thats just a matter of time.

Finally a solution where you can share a TV tuner across your network that has a usable interface is exactly what I have been waiting for. Or at least an interface that the wife and kids can actually use, vs something like VLC etc.

Well I won't give it all away.. thats half the fun of watching the video.

Enjoy

sounds interesting. I'm downloading the ISO and the video now.

:eek:
Holy crap.. gonna be playing with this for sure.

Too bad the interface is so ugly..

*edit* I take that back.. the web-pad functionality kicks my ass.

*edit 2* OK, I totally take all that back. Downloading now! This is unreal! Now... I wonder if I can use my Xbox as a thin client for this... hmmmm.....

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Luke122

:eek:
Holy crap.. gonna be playing with this for sure.

Too bad the interface is so ugly..

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I was just thinking the same thing...

With a face lift it could be really nice! Feature wise, it's pretty awesome though.

The home integration stuff blows my mind.. plus the ability to be notified on the cell phone if the alarm goes off (motion detector + Camera) is unreal.

If you havent watched the video, I highly recommend you watch it. It starts off pretty dull, but watch and see what this system is capable of!! I'm so impressed that I'm pricing out hardware to build the thin client boxes now!

Replying to myself, but oh well......

As it turns out, the LinuxMCE install on the "server" machine includes a DHCP/PXE server. Which means...?

Zero additional configuration to add thin client (diskless) workstations to the network. Set them to boot from network, plug them in, enjoy.

I'm downloading this software now, and collecting parts to build it. I've got the old compaq "picture frame" computer stripped down to a board and power supply. That's right, completely diskless.

Added a bluetooth dongle (to control it with the cell phone or pda) but all the rest of the gear is onboard. Sound, tvout, etc. HOPEFULLY the on-board video will work for this. I guess I'll find out as soon as the install happens.. which according to bittorrent is 22h 13m from now.

Hopefully sooner. I'm so stoked on this that I cant wait.

22 hours?? Ouch!

I just did a straight download and it took 6 hours.

Where did you d/l it from? I didnt have any luck with any of the north american links...

I just clicked on the link overide put up ( ftp://ftp.fiire.com/pub/linuxmce ) and then right clicked and save as on the ISO with the video.

Sweet! Thanks man, that's MUCH faster!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by OvRiDe

Finally a solution where you can share a TV tuner across your network that has a usable interface is exactly what I have been waiting for. Or at least an interface that the wife and kids can actually use, vs something like VLC etc.

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There is something for windows that's been out for a few years:
http://www.smcmobile.ro/index.php?lg=en

I need more computers! Great find man. +rep once I spread it around first.

EDIT - you have been repped.

WOOOOT!!!!!!one!!! <-- always wanted to do that.. I'm done now.

Anyways, I've got it up and running! Core box (server) is a Dell Precision 370, running a Prescott p4 with 2gb ram, and 80gb hdd. Added a FireGL ATI video card (yes overkill, only spare pci-ex card I had around..) and a Realtek 8139 nic (yes, two nics total).

Install was smooth, with only minor troubles with the monitor attached to it.. some out of range errors initially, but sorted that out quickly.

Quick tip 1: If you are using anything other than a 6xxx series Nvidia card, select UI option 1: "No overlay", or you will get OpenGL initialization errors.. and they are a pain.

Select the 800x600 @ 60hz option first, just to make sure you can get it to run. You can always choose a higher resolution later.

Just follow the prompts for the install, and you'll be running in no time.

The reason for the two nics is: one nic accesses the rest of your network, and the other feeds the client boxes. You MUST do it this way, or the built in DHCP/PXE server will fight with your DHCP server on your router/server/whatever. You basically end up with a separate network just for the client boxes to make this work right. Which is fine, as they need LOADS of bandwidth to make this work. If you have a spare gigabit switch and nic's kicking around, this project should use them.

"But wait.. pxe server?" Yes, adding a diskless client is as easy as plugging it into the "internal" (linuxmce only) network, and setting it to boot from the network. I'm using the remains of my Compaq laptop with no drives attached at all, and set to boot from the network. I added a keyboard and mouse to it, speakers, a monitor, and a usb bluetooth dongle (I'll explain that in a bit). It fired up, and is currently doing the client setup (which will be stored on the server to allow faster startups in the future.

Quick tip 2: If you are sitting waiting for something for a really long time, and you think it's frozen, go get a drink and wait longer. The PXE client setup is taking 10-15 mins so far.. really slow for the first setup. SHould be quicker after this, but I'll post again on that when I get there.

The subsequent boots on the PXE clients are MUCH faster.. almost as quick as a decent desktop machine booting XP.

The USB bluetooth dongle is automatically configured, and allows the use of the Fiire remotes (as seen in the Linuxmce video), bluetooth input devices (keyboards,mice), and the communication with bluetooth cell phones.

I revamped my server setup also.

Intel D820 CPU
asus p5ld-vm mobo
2gb Kingston DDR2
80gb sata hdd
dvdrw sata
7200gs
realtek 8139 nic

During the initial setup, choose UI1, no overlay, and continue the install. Once it's completed, go into the Kubuntu desktop, and edit the xorg.conf to use the nv driver, rather than the nvidia driver.

Once this is done, reboot, and run the config wizard again, then select UI3, alpha blending. Yay! Looks like the one in the demo video now!