Black screen on netbooted MD

[Silverskull]

Alright, so I'm trying to netboot my desktop PC as a Media Director just to test it out.  I have successfully gotten it to run as a Core in the past, but this time around it gets to the screen where it shows my IP, MAC, etc. and the screen goes black.  I can get it to return to that screen by playing around with the number keys (pressing 2 gives me a "signal not supported" message on my monitor so I figure it's gotten to the setup wizard).  I'm using a DVI monitor.  Athlon 64x2 processor, GeForce 8500GT, 4 GB RAM, don't know the motherboard since I built this thing years ago (though I can try to figure that out if necessary).  So, uhm, if anyone could possibly help, that would be great.

On a related note, does anyone know what the ideal parts to build a MD with are at the moment?  So I don't run into too many problems...

[tkmedia]

http://wiki.linuxmce.org/index.php/AVWizard

check the wiki for your correct key for your connector

for what ever reason most of my tv's seem to work for me by pressing 3 regardless of the connector being used

HTH

Tim

[Silverskull]

It's DVI, it's 1, and I mentioned I tried that in my post.  Though I suppose I was a bit unclear about that.

(Also my computer doesn't beep when I do that, which it should... but it's not beeping at all so I think I screwed something up on the hardware side. XD)

Oh, right, I should add that it doesn't work through either DVI or VGA.  I had a TV with a VGA input lying around, so I tested that and it didn't work.  And the card doesn't have component or composite outputs so I can't test those...

[rperre]

instead of 1 did you "try" 3 ??

Just try a few and wait for a full minute or so before pressing anything else.

For me 3 normally works too.

Richard

[purps]

On a related note, does anyone know what the ideal parts to build a MD with are at the moment?  So I don't run into too many problems...

What are your requirements? Hidden? Quiet? Cheap? HD? Obviously all of those things are desirable, but what is your preference?

[Silverskull]

Tried all the keys... on multiple monitors and a TV (found a component adapter for my graphics card).  I can try again, I suppose... though if I can't get it working it's no big deal as I wasn't planning on using this PC as a permanent MD anyway.  It was more of a test to see if it would work before I go spending money on MDs.  I think I could probably get it running on a system built for LinuxMCE... and I've never actually gotten a netboot to even get this far before, so I'm getting there. XD

On a related note, does anyone know what the ideal parts to build a MD with are at the moment?  So I don't run into too many problems...

What are your requirements? Hidden? Quiet? Cheap? HD? Obviously all of those things are desirable, but what is your preference?

Hmm, well... hidden is not an issue, really, though it has to be an HTPC style... noise isn't my biggest concern either, loud machines don't seem to bother anyone in the family.  It does have to be relatively cheap, and it does have to have an HDMI port.

[purps]

Hmm, well... hidden is not an issue, really, though it has to be an HTPC style... noise isn't my biggest concern either, loud machines don't seem to bother anyone in the family.  It does have to be relatively cheap, and it does have to have an HDMI port.

Personally I would build either a miniITX HTPC or a microATX HTPC. The microATX one would be a bit larger, although you might be able to build it cheaper, if only because the case might be cheaper. To be honest I don't think there is a lot in it cost wise.

If buying miniITX, make sure you get a board with nVidia onboard (should have HDMI, or at least DVI). With a microATX HTPC, you'll be able to fit an nVidia graphics card (providing the case is large enough), or just get a mobo that has nVidia onboard.

What bits do you have laying around? That's usually a good place to start for a cheaper machine!