Would you buy EEEbox for MD (199€)?

[alx9r]

P.S. thanks alx9r for your run though of the eee box.  I'm sold!  Let's hear it for $300 25watt computers!  And another for the upcoming 204 with HDMI and Discrete Graphics card.

No problem.

[alx9r]

With respect to how easily the eee box can be set up as a media director here's how I see it:
  (1) The messiest problem is the mis-detetected NIC -- jondecker76 has reported this fixed in 0810 alpha2 (http://forum.linuxmce.org/index.php?topic=7368.msg46763#msg46763)
  (2) A custom/upgraded/updated xorg.conf needs to be used to get acceptable performance.
  (3) The photo screen saver to "static" mode to prevent lockups.

0810 will fix (1), so that's just a matter of waiting.  If device templates and scripts accomplishes (2) and (3) out-of-the-box I'd be happy to implement them myself -- especially if thom or other developers are able to assist.

I think that it is worth the effort to out-of-the-box support for the eee box.

Alex

[krys]

apologies if I missed it, but can the 202 run UI2 overlay or UI2 alpha?
Thanks,
-Krys

[krys]

also, would you mind going to hulu.com and try playing any of the videos in full screen mode to see if they can play without tearing or stuttering.
I would really appreciate is so I know before I purchase.
-Krys

[alx9r]

apologies if I missed it, but can the 202 run UI2 overlay or UI2 alpha?

It runs UI2 overlay well.  I did not attempt UI2 alpha.

also, would you mind going to hulu.com and try playing any of the videos in full screen mode to see if they can play without tearing or stuttering.

Unfortunately hulu blocks playback from Canada so I couldn't test it.  I can confirm that google video plays fine in full screen mode.  I'd be happy to test a site similar to hulu that does work in canada.

[Itsik]

It runs UI2 overlay well.  I did not attempt UI2 alpha.

Where you able to figure out the PSS issue ?

Itsik

[krys]

Unfortunately hulu blocks playback from Canada so I couldn't test it.  I can confirm that google video plays fine in full screen mode.  I'd be happy to test a site similar to hulu that does work in canada.

I would really like someone to test with Hulu as it has its own type of encryption and that combined with flash is buggy in full screen mode and as of now there is no fix other than being lucky enough to own hardware that is unaffected.
-Krys

[alx9r]

Where you able to figure out the PSS issue ?

I have disabled the PSS device on the eee box as having it enabled at all caused lockups.

As far as I can tell, 0810 allows upgrading (or includes) newer graphics drivers.  If someone is running an 0810 alpha on an eeebox (jondecker76?) perhaps they could comment on whether they've tried the latest graphics drivers on the eeebox.

Alex

[phenigma]

Where you able to figure out the PSS issue ?

I have disabled the PSS device on the eee box as having it enabled at all caused lockups.

As far as I can tell, 0810 allows upgrading (or includes) newer graphics drivers.  If someone is running an 0810 alpha on an eeebox (jondecker76?) perhaps they could comment on whether they've tried the latest graphics drivers on the eeebox.

Alex

I tested my EeeBox202 with 0810 alpha 2.4.

Under 0810 the freezing does not occur with UI2 + mask, however the overlay is not occurring properly.  The menus work great until the PSS comes on and then the graphics become garbled as the PSS and menu try to co-exist together.  The system does not lock up, it does not freeze but it is still un-usable.  At the time I was going to upgrade to the latest intel drivers (2.6.x something at the time) but xv acceleration has been disabled in the 2.6.x versions of the intel driver.

Checking now the 2.7.0 driver is out.  Xv has been re-enabled but there are tearing issues when using it (according to http://intellinuxgraphics.org/).

Gutsy (0710) uses v2.1.1 of the intel driver <-- freezing
Intrepid (0810) uses v2.4.1 of the intel driver <-- no freezing but garbled menus/pics in UI2 + overlay
Jauny (0904) uses v2.6.3 of the intel driver <-- would have tried but xv is disabled so didn't bother

Looks like the 'freezing' was fixed between 2.1.1 and 2.4.1 but incorrect overlay is garbling the menus and graphics.

[alx9r]

phenigma,
thanks for the rundown.  seems like there's hope for the PSS on the eeebox yet.  Did you happen to notice any performance difference between 2.1.1 and 2.4.1 other than those related to the PSS?

Alex

[phenigma]

phenigma,
thanks for the rundown.  seems like there's hope for the PSS on the eeebox yet.  Did you happen to notice any performance difference between 2.1.1 and 2.4.1 other than those related to the PSS?

Alex

No I did not notice any other differences in performance.  I *think* that media playback worked fine with the menus but I don't remember.  I am planning on investigating further but havn't had the time yet.

J

[totallymaxed]

also, would you mind going to hulu.com and try playing any of the videos in full screen mode to see if they can play without tearing or stuttering.
I would really appreciate is so I know before I purchase.
-Krys

Well you'll need someone who is in the US to test this for you as the Hulu service is not available outside the US currently. I visited the site and it looked like it would perform fine to me...but I could not actually watch any content.

We have a service here in the UK called iPlayer that is provided by the BBC (its also restricted and can only be accessed from inside the UK) and this uses streamed flash flv movies and Adobe AIR for its offline download service. Both of thse performa excellently on the B202 at full screen... so my estimate is that Hulu should perform in a similar fashion.

Andrew

[bongowongo]

[/quote]

Well we update to the current fglrx driver and thats about it...

I cant access the Core that our ATI MD's are booted currently from home tonight...but on Monday i will post the xorg.conf from one of our HD3450 based MD's and also the version of the ATI driver we are using.

All the best

Andrew

PS remind me on Monday if i have not posted anything here ;-)
[/quote]

I am working now on an Asus EEE-Pc 206, but I cannot get it really to work.
Netbooting works, but after a while I just get a black screen and nothing happens.
The Xorg.conf file with ATI configs could really help.

[tschak909]

I regularly watch media on Hulu.com in 0810.

-Thom

[seth]

Not to hijack this post, but has any development gone into integrating hulu as a media device on 810?

I only ask because when I watch google videos, and youtube stuff at home, after a certain amount of time firefox window disappears, and I am left with a black screen.

But having a hulu media device, now that would be pretty sweet.

Regards,

Seth