Edit: This thread was originally called "Proposal: Reference Design -- A Complete Description of a Working System".
Hello all,
I am currently building my first LinuxMCE system from scratch. I think I can contribute something meaningful by completely documenting my design for others (especially newbies) to copy, adapt, and learn from. I am currently keeping details of my design on my user page here:
http://wiki.linuxmce.org/index.php/User:Alx9r
I have created a proposal to move it to the wiki once it is mature. The proposal is here:
http://wiki.linuxmce.org/index.php/LinuxMCE_wiki:Community_Portal:Reference_Design_Proposal
Please respond with your thoughts so I can gauge the level of interest in this.
Regards,
Alex
I think that is a good idea and I was planning on doing the same thing when I installed mine from scratch. Right now there is a lack of info on how to setup things like security systems/HVAC controllers/Cameras and I know I have questions that havn't been answered. That would save some time for people I am sure.
I am interested in building a system also and will probably try it soon. I agree a list of "these parts work nice together" would help. Have you considered the parts recommended in the Newbie Packs? http://wiki.linuxmce.org/index.php/Category:Newbie_Packs
Hi Todd,
I definitely consulted the Newbie Packs pages and learned what I could from them in designing my own system. Informative as they were, the Newbie packs still left a gap in the knowledge I needed to reliably construct a working system. The main drawbacks of the Newbie Packs for me were as follows:
1. The basis upon which the author(s) who is/are suggesting the Newbie Packs components is not apparent. I'm not saying that the suggested hardware is good or bad, just that there is no way for me to know based on what is written on the pages.
2. There is no indication of whether anyone has tried the suggested hardware in the Newbie Packs with LinuxMCE. Without some confirmation that the suggested hardware works, it isn't really any more useful than shopping for hardware from scratch.
I was planning to actually build my system and report the results. That way others can rely on my experience with the hardware without having to be confident in my ability to pick good hardware. They need only have confidence in my reliability in reporting the results.
If I can show that my setup works and give clear instructions on how to recreate it for yourself, I think we're a whole lot further ahead than we were with just the newbie packs.
Alex
Edit: It looks like hari did report that the MD Newbie Pack Slim is confirmed working in the wiki, which is great to know.
Quote from: blackoper on May 12, 2008, 08:41:26 PM
I think that is a good idea and I was planning on doing the same thing when I installed mine from scratch.
Thanks for the vote of support. :)
hi there !
I think it is a great idea that someone starting off knows the setup he has bought "could" work!
I love Linux and Lmce! but for someone that has just left their cosy windows home to start this project... it is a minefield!
and it would be great if these newbes where spurred on by their successes rather than sulking and shouting about their failures!
gets my vote!
Gazzzman
Quote from: gazzzman on May 13, 2008, 03:07:15 AM
hi there !
I think it is a great idea that someone starting off knows the setup he has bought "could" work!
I love Linux and Lmce! but for someone that has just left their cosy windows home to start this project... it is a minefield!
and it would be great if these newbes where spurred on by their successes rather than sulking and shouting about their failures!
gets my vote!
Gazzzman
Thanks for the vote of support gazzzman. I agree. I think with the right information in the right places, a lot less grief would be encountered by newbies. Hopefully this reference design provides some of that information.
Alex
isnt your proposal of giving an example of working hardware, by using the hardware utilized to make the video, the same as this...
http://wiki.linuxmce.org/index.php/Video#Equipment_used_in_the_demo (http://wiki.linuxmce.org/index.php/Video#Equipment_used_in_the_demo)
QuoteNowhere is there a complete description of an actual working useful LinuxMCE system.
but....isnt there? isnt that where you got your "design" from? how do you propose to make it better? you even say you are using whats in the video. are you going to use things that do not work "out of the box" and include simple instructions for getting these other parts to work also? i get a sense of what you are trying to do. if you just use the hardware from the video, theres not much setup required, other than personalization and the basic custom settings. i am not in any way knocking your hard work. its just that something very similar is out there already but you say it isnt. there are already instructions for settin up everything included in the video.
3.1 PC Preparation
3.2 [0:00] Install LinuxMCE
3.3 [0:22] Run the Video Resolution/Audio Setup Wizard
3.4 [0:27] The setup wizard
3.5 [0:30] Watch a DVD
3.6 [0:33] Connect the Gyro Remote
3.7 [0:35] Navigate the media
3.8 [0:38] Rip the disc
3.9 [1:08] Install the TV Tuner
3.10 [1:13] Wait for the guide data
3.11 [1:28] Wait for OrbiterGen
3.12 [1:31] Start MythTV
3.13 [1:36] Schedule shows to record
3.14 [1:38] Wait for MythTV to record some TV shows
3.15 [1:38] Connect a NAS
3.16 [1:40] Browse the media on the NAS
3.17 [2:00] Connect the TV and Receiver
3.18 [2:03] Add my cable box
3.19 [2:06] Use the cable box
3.20 [2:08] Connect the Jukebox
3.21 [2:17] Connect the ZWave Lighting Control
3.22 [2:25] Using scenarios and floorplans explained
3.23 [2:26] Connect the thin client in the kitchen
3.24 [3:05] Connect the thin client in the bedroom
3.25 still typing the rest
also, the bill of materials part.....its relative. people may find things cheaper or not want the same materials as you. they arent held fast to purchase hardware from only a few vendors. so they can search for what they need and prefer. 40 dollars for a fanless cpu cooler? what if someone finds a perfectly good heat sink with a fan? thats just one part. many people will want atsc tv cards also, which that 150 wont do. youve got the board on there from the video which isnt in production anymore....as you even say yourself. so, how do you propose people follow your design with equipment that is either very difficult to find or soon impossible to get at all? anyway, its a good idea. i think you should be a little more dangerous though if you really are that into it. try some things from the forums that people get to work well. maybe even ask other people to help you contribute what they have that works. a single system built on specs that are obsolete, hard to get, or not practical for certain people wont be of much use to many at all. anyway. i think its a good idea, but it could use a little work still.
QuoteI think that is a good idea and I was planning on doing the same thing when I installed mine from scratch. Right now there is a lack of info on how to setup things like security systems/HVAC controllers/Cameras and I know I have questions that havn't been answered. That would save some time for people I am sure.
thats what we need. things that are extremely lacking in testing and documentation. try some of those out and make reference designs for those pieces to work next. after you get your basic system set up and stable. that would be extremely helpful.
teedge,
You certainly raise some valid points. This is exactly why I put this proposal forth for feedback -- I'd rather not invest time in something that isn't of value to others.
As with any writing, I think it's important to figure out who the audience for this reference design is. I was assuming it would be most useful for complete newbies. By complete newbie, I mean someone who has only watched the video and not invested much time reading the wiki and forums. I was a complete newbie about 3 weeks ago, so my experience is still fresh in my mind.
After watching the video I was so excited I wanted to get a LinuxMCE system set up right away. When I entered the world of the wiki and the forum I was confronted with page after page of discussion about what hardware doesn't work, what tweaks have to be made to get certain components to do certain things, etc. For a few days after I first ventured into the forums and wiki I honestly didn't believe the video was real. All I really wanted was sufficient details about the system in the video to be able to replicate at least part of what I saw.
Quote from: teedge77 on May 13, 2008, 04:51:21 AM
isnt your proposal of giving an example of working hardware, by using the hardware utilized to make the video, the same as this...
http://wiki.linuxmce.org/index.php/Video#Equipment_used_in_the_demo (http://wiki.linuxmce.org/index.php/Video#Equipment_used_in_the_demo)
QuoteNowhere is there a complete description of an actual working useful LinuxMCE system.
but....isnt there? isnt that where you got your "design" from? how do you propose to make it better? you even say you are using whats in the video. are you going to use things that do not work "out of the box" and include simple instructions for getting these other parts to work also?
That's a valid point. For me, the Equipment_used_in_the_demo section was a starting point. I guess I was looking for more detail to give me confidence that I would be able to hook everything up without encountering problems that I couldn't justify spending the time to fix. Perhaps this is just semantics, but for me a the list of hardware in the Equipment_used_in_the_demo is not what I call a complete description.
For me a complete description includes at least the following:
1. Complete bills of materials: Cables, heatsinks, power supplies, remotes, etc. Every last part that went into the system and their model numbers. Whenever I have encountered unfamiliar systems, it has always been helpful to understand the parts make up the system.
2. A diagram showing how the components are connected. This should include ethernet, serial, infrared, and rf connections. Some of the system's interconnections could be deduced from the video, but many could not. For example, how exactly is the cable box connected?
3. Setup instructions describing any tweaks and workarounds. I had to take extra steps to get the PVR-150 working. I had to install dvd css manually despite that it was reported as installed already. These steps are necessary to get the system working but are definitely not shown in the video.
I would guess that the three items above are probably irrelevant to most initiated LinuxMCE users, but I personally would have found them extremely useful when I was first starting out.
Quote
also, the bill of materials part.....its relative. people may find things cheaper or not want the same materials as you. they arent held fast to purchase hardware from only a few vendors. so they can search for what they need and prefer. 40 dollars for a fanless cpu cooler? what if someone finds a perfectly good heat sink with a fan? thats just one part. many people will want atsc tv cards also, which that 150 wont do.
I don't understand the point you are trying to make here. I'm certainly not the right person to be dictating what parts users should obtain to build their system. Maybe there is a misunderstanding here: The bill-of-materials doesn't dictate what parts people have to use (we are still in the free world right?), but rather describes exactly what parts were used in a working system.
Quote
youve got the board on there from the video which isnt in production anymore....as you even say yourself. so, how do you propose people follow your design with equipment that is either very difficult to find or soon impossible to get at all?
A valid point. That mobo became near impossible to obtain about a week after I ordered mine. I'll probably get a more readily available mobo to include in this design. I suspect that the availability of fully compatible will be an ongoing issue for LinuxMCE for some time to come. A current example is the availability of suitable DVD jukeboxes.
Quote
anyway, its a good idea. i think you should be a little more dangerous though if you really are that into it. try some things from the forums that people get to work well. maybe even ask other people to help you contribute what they have that works. a single system built on specs that are obsolete, hard to get, or not practical for certain people wont be of much use to many at all. anyway.
Point well taken, in the future I will push the envelope with respect to the hardware I use for the reference design.
Quote
i think its a good idea, but it could use a little work still.
Thanks. This is just the beginning of this effort. Hopefully it will turn into something truly useful.
Quote
QuoteI think that is a good idea and I was planning on doing the same thing when I installed mine from scratch. Right now there is a lack of info on how to setup things like security systems/HVAC controllers/Cameras and I know I have questions that havn't been answered. That would save some time for people I am sure.
thats what we need. things that are extremely lacking in testing and documentation. try some of those out and make reference designs for those pieces to work next. after you get your basic system set up and stable. that would be extremely helpful.
Since I am a newbie, having sufficient documentation to get a basic system set up and stable is my priority. Personally I would rather support newbies to get their systems up and running with a minimum of frustration than to refine the more advanced features of the system.
Thanks for the feedback teedge77, I'm interested in your input. I suspect, however, that you are probably a much more advanced user than would find the reference design useful.
Cheers,
Alex
newbie advocate
i thnk what you are doing is a great idea. i hope i didnt come off in a way that was contradictive to that. as far as the bill of materials part, i just didnt want someone to see it and think its too expensive when they might be able to slide with some cheaper parts...or think it was cheap only to find out they had to buy more expensive stuff to get what they want. as a reference i think its a good idea though. so people can see an average parts cost. im really not that advanced of a user. my system works fine but i used everything thats recommended and havent had a lto of time to add new stuff. i havent gotten my TDM400P to work at all yet. i am terrible with linux also. id love to see some reference designs for some low power mds or whatever you get around to making "MD wise", if you get to that kind of stage. i really dont see myself using any soon. i do see lots of questions about specs for them though. so if you do build one i hope youll put in as much work as you have for youre core. im sure everyone, noob and pro, is thankful for your effort. hopefully youre reference work will help keep the basic questions down some and get people going faster.
Alx9r, I see the wiki shows your system is setup. How is it working? Does it handle high def tv fine? Anything you are having problems with? Thanks for taking the time to post your system.
Todd
Hi Todd,
Thanks for your interest. The parts of the system that I have built are working great. I'm very happy with the hardware I selected.
Quote
Does it handle high def tv fine?
I'm not sure what exactly you are asking, but hopefully this helps. I have a couple of 1080p files that I have been playing using the system: Monsters Inc. and a trailer for the new Indiana Jones (both 1080p). They play mostly flawlessly. Very occasionally while playing Monsters, playback freezes for about 1/4 second. It could be the rip -- I haven't tracked it down yet. The Indiana Jones trailer is flawless. There was quite a bit of tearing with alpha-blending enabled, I run in overlay mode now.
Quote
Anything you are having problems with?
I've been spending quite a bit of time setting up hardware: It seems that despite my careful hardware selection, almost every piece of hardware I add needs a few small tweaks to get them working. I've been keeping careful notes on my user page so that I can reproduce the tweaks whenever I start with a fresh install again. I'm on about my 8th fresh install already. Now that I know what has to happen, I can apply all the tweaks in about an hour after a fresh install. The tweaks seem to be quite small, however, they sometimes take quite a bit of time to track down.
My current challenge looks similar to the problem in this thread:
http://forum.linuxmce.org/index.php?topic=3006.0
If you or anyone has any more questions about the progress on my system, feel free to ask. You can also watch my user page as I update it.
Cheers,
Alex
Quote from: perspectoff on May 20, 2008, 04:27:29 AM
I set up a category on the Wiki: Sample User setups.
Please add your setup to the category!
Cheers.
Perspectoff
Thanks Perspectoff. I think it's still a bit premature to put my setup in the wiki. When I finally do, I'll categorize it accordingly.
Alex
Quote from: Todd on May 19, 2008, 11:36:21 PM
Alx9r, I see the wiki shows your system is setup.
Todd,
I think the system diagram on my user page implied that I am further along than I actually am. I updated it so that you can see what's actually part of my setup right now.
Cheers.
Hello,
I have finished the first complete incarnation of my LinuxMCE system. Check it out in the wiki here:
http://wiki.linuxmce.org/index.php/Alx9r%27s_Sample_Setup
Hopefully someone finds that documentation useful. I am still adding to my system and will keep the wiki up-to-date as I add things, so keep watching if you're interested.
Enjoy,
Alex
I find your wiki documentation very helpful. Have you got the SPDIF-OUT/OPT working? Do you have 5.1 surround sound?
Hi Todd,
I'm glad it's helping you. I don't have 5.1 working yet because I haven't received my receiver yet. I've got a Marantz sr7500 5.1 and 7.1 capable receiver on order. It should arrive in about a week. I don't expect it to be any more difficult to set up than the TV and remote. Once I have it set up I'll post the setup and tweaks I made to get it working.
If you look at my system diagram (if you haven't already checked it out) you can see how I'm intending to connect the receiver and speakers. I'm hoping that configuration is going to work. I'm planning to use SPDIF to output audio to the receiver. I do have the SPDIF-OUT/OPT breakout already, but won't have any component that accepts SPDIF input to test whether that it's working until I get my sr7500.
Cheers,
Alex
Quote from: Todd on June 01, 2008, 03:27:03 PM
I find your wiki documentation very helpful. Have you got the SPDIF-OUT/OPT working? Do you have 5.1 surround sound?
Hi Todd,
I do have the SPDIF-OUT/OPT working now. I can hear the surround sound and the display on the SR7500 confirms that 5.1 surround is arriving digitally and in either DTS or dolby surround depending on the content.
One oddity that I have found is that the audio of some stereo-only media (i.e. media that doesn't have any surround sound encoding) seems to be routed through analog line-out instead of SPDIF. Gladly the SR7500 auto-detects the source and switches accordingly, so it is not a big deal in practice.
HTH,
Alex
Hi,
I'd love to read more about how you setup torrents and podcasts to be usable under LMCE.
Thanks in advance,
regards,
Bulek.
Hi Bulek,
I'd say both the way I'm handling torrents and podcasts is at the experimental stage. Both schemes work, but they're rather haywire so I didn't really want to post the schemes as "solutions" yet.
Really what this applicaiton needs is headless daemons running on the core for managing torrent and http downloads both manually added and using rss feeds. I haven't found such a thing for http downloads (which could handle podcasts) but Deluge seems to be promising for torrents. From what i've read Deluge's rss plugin is still under construction and doesn't work at all in the headless configuration right now.
So what am I using in the meantime?
* Podcasts - using my windows laptop (I'm using WinAmp as the podcast downloader right now) with the podcast download destination mapped to the samba shares on the core. It works fine until I take my laptop away from the house with me.
* Torrents - uTorrent running under wine with the WebUI. I can manage torrents from the WebUI, but rss feeds still have to be administered from the KDE desktop.
Hopefully that helps a bit. Once I get good solutions working I'll post them in detail.
Regards,
Alex
Quote from: alx9r on November 04, 2008, 03:21:13 PM
Hi Bulek,
I'd say both the way I'm handling torrents and podcasts is at the experimental stage. Both schemes work, but they're rather haywire so I didn't really want to post the schemes as "solutions" yet.
Really what this applicaiton needs is headless daemons running on the core for managing torrent and http downloads both manually added and using rss feeds. I haven't found such a thing for http downloads (which could handle podcasts) but Deluge seems to be promising for torrents. From what i've read Deluge's rss plugin is still under construction and doesn't work at all in the headless configuration right now.
So what am I using in the meantime?
* Podcasts - using my windows laptop (I'm using WinAmp as the podcast downloader right now) with the podcast download destination mapped to the samba shares on the core. It works fine until I take my laptop away from the house with me.
* Torrents - uTorrent running under wine with the WebUI. I can manage torrents from the WebUI, but rss feeds still have to be administered from the KDE desktop.
Hopefully that helps a bit. Once I get good solutions working I'll post them in detail.
Regards,
Alex
Thanks for info. I think we could manage podcasts with simple Perl scripts or other that exists on Internet. The trick is how to enter proper metadata into LMCE media database...
Any ideas ? Do we have some templates already that would be useful for running app in background ?
Regards,
Bulek.
Quote from: bulek on November 04, 2008, 04:28:10 PM
The trick is how to enter proper metadata into LMCE media database...
I've found this to be more of an issue with torrents than with podcasts. I've noticed that most (perhaps all) podcasts that I've downloaded include an adequate amount of meta tag data to keep the media library from getting too messy.
Rips of TV shows that I download from torrents on the other hand don't come packaged with any meta data. It would be nice to have some way of automatically tagging, say The Simpsons, with the appropriate genre and thumbnail automatically when it gets downloaded every sunday night. I was planning eventually to write a script that creates appropriate .id3 files for each torrent that is downloaded.
Quote from: alx9r on November 05, 2008, 05:27:14 AM
Quote from: bulek on November 04, 2008, 04:28:10 PM
The trick is how to enter proper metadata into LMCE media database...
I've found this to be more of an issue with torrents than with podcasts. I've noticed that most (perhaps all) podcasts that I've downloaded include an adequate amount of meta tag data to keep the media library from getting too messy.
Rips of TV shows that I download from torrents on the other hand don't come packaged with any meta data. It would be nice to have some way of automatically tagging, say The Simpsons, with the appropriate genre and thumbnail automatically when it gets downloaded every sunday night. I was planning eventually to write a script that creates appropriate .id3 files for each torrent that is downloaded.
Very nice,
I was looking into doing some scripts aswell, wanted to automaticaly import downloaded TV Shows and Music videos into the database - and kept putting it off coz i thought i had to import it into the SQL database too, but after reading your post Alex, its going to be simpler.
I had a whole bunch of media nicely cataloged in XBMC and Boxee, and want to write some scripts that will export the metadata into id3 files - this should also be quite easily possible.
Question is on cover-art. Any ideas? How were you looking at dealing with that. I could easily search and download cover-art for various media - but if i want to go the id3 route, how do i store the cover art so LMCE will pick it up?
Thanks
alx9r,
Have you looked at mldonkey http://mldonkey.sourceforge.net/Main_Page (http://mldonkey.sourceforge.net/Main_Page) ? It's been a while since I looked at it, but I think it supports downloading bittorrent and http downloads. Don't think it can handle RSS though...
It uses a remote protocol to allow the client to communicate with the daemon (it's headless). It also has a telnet interface...
There exist many different clients http://mldonkey.sourceforge.net/Gui (http://mldonkey.sourceforge.net/Gui). I suppose the protocol or the telnet interface could be used from within LMCE to start downloads of different kinds.
It can also run a command when a file download is done (i.e. LMCE sql insert)
Regards,
sambucs
Quote from: samuelmukoti on November 05, 2008, 08:56:57 AM
I was looking into doing some scripts aswell, wanted to automaticaly import downloaded TV Shows and Music videos into the database - and kept putting it off coz i thought i had to import it into the SQL database too, but after reading your post Alex, its going to be simpler.
The concept of the script I had envisioned is quite simple:
* create a .id3 file with appropriate metatags and name it accordingly for the newly file. (i.e. for a file called The.Simpsons.S20E04.PDTV.XviD-LOL.avi create The.Simpsons.S20E04.PDTV.XviD-LOL.avi.id3)
* run UpdateMedia for the folder in which the new file resides (e.g. sudo -u root /usr/pluto/bin/UpdateMedia -d \"/home/public/data/videos/Hitachi_HDP72505 (sda2)-CORE [33]/The Simpsons\")
Quote from: samuelmukoti on November 05, 2008, 08:56:57 AM
Question is on cover-art. Any ideas? How were you looking at dealing with that. I could easily search and download cover-art for various media - but if i want to go the id3 route, how do i store the cover art so LMCE will pick it up?
In my experience LinuxMCE picks up id3 tag cover art from the .id3 files the same as it would if it were an embedded id3 tag in an MP3 file.
Quote from: sambuca on November 05, 2008, 10:27:22 AM
Have you looked at mldonkey http://mldonkey.sourceforge.net/Main_Page (http://mldonkey.sourceforge.net/Main_Page) ? It's been a while since I looked at it, but I think it supports downloading bittorrent and http downloads. Don't think it can handle RSS though...
I haven't. I'll take a look at it though. RSS support is critical. Otherwise someone has to manually add a torrent for each new episode.
My curiosity got the best of me, and I did some googling ;)
I found a script which will receive RSS and submit the torrents for download to mldonkey. http://xyzabc.xy.ohost.de/ (http://xyzabc.xy.ohost.de/)
Most likey someone can create a similar script to do the same for podcasts.
I haven't tried this setup, and have not tried deluge either. Just wanted to let you know of a possible alternative. And I think from what I have seen of mldonkey, that it allows for easy integration into lmce, it having a command line interface, a remote protocol and more. Then again, don't know what Deluge is capable of..
regards,
sambuca
Thanks for posting your sample set up.
I want to build a LinuxMCE hybrid core machine. The problem is that many of the components you used are no longer available. That is also the case with what I find on the Wiki.
How do I know which components to use? Also, should I use 710, or wait until 810 is out?
Thanks for your help.
Quote from: Dave89 on May 06, 2009, 11:13:24 PM
Thanks for posting your sample set up.
I want to build a LinuxMCE hybrid core machine. The problem is that many of the components you used are no longer available. That is also the case with what I find on the Wiki.
How do I know which components to use? Also, should I use 710, or wait until 810 is out?
Hi Dave,
The problem you describe is, I think, common to most new users -- it certainly was a challenge for me when I was getting into LinuxMCE. I am currently working on a hardware selection guide to hopefully get newbies going in the right direction. It would be great if you would be able to test the guide out with your fresh mind once it is ready and provide some feedback. I've got part of the mainboard selection guide complete already. I'll post it once the first draft is complete.
Regards,
Alex
Alex,
That sounds great! I would be more than happy to use your guide and provide feedback. I am well versed in WindowsXP and am using the latest Ubuntu version of Linux on a laptop and can navigate around pretty well with that. While I am no tech genius, I do know my way around a computer.
I saw that there were some complete systems except for the AMD processor and RAM recommended on the Wiki. Those were manufactured by MSI and available at NewEgg. However, they have been discontinued.
Do you recommend a system like that, or building one from the bottom up?
I would like to begin working with LinuxMCE soon, so let me know when you get your guide completed.
Dave
Quote from: Dave89 on May 07, 2009, 09:16:35 PM
I saw that there were some complete systems except for the AMD processor and RAM recommended on the Wiki. Those were manufactured by MSI and available at NewEgg. However, they have been discontinued.
Do you recommend a system like that, or building one from the bottom up?
Hi Dave,
I completed a guide for what I think is the most pivotal part of hardware selection for LinuxMCE - selecting mainboards. You can find the guide here:
http://wiki.linuxmce.org/index.php/How_to_Select_Mainboards_for_Your_LinuxMCE_System
I'd appreciate hearing how useful it is to you.
To answer your question: I always build from scratch. Doing so seems to result in a better value machine once you are done. You also get to control every last component that goes into your system. This is a good thing when building a LinuxMCE box because its purpose is so particular and different in many ways from a regular PC.
Alex
Alex,
Thanks for your work in setting up the steps to consider in selecting a motherboard for LinuxMCE. I can tell that you spent a lot of time compiling the information and thought that it was most helpful. You did a nice job explaining terms which are familiar to veteran users, but not to those that are new to LinuxMCE, such as PXE and GPU.
Listed below are a few suggestions which may make it easier for a new user or someone doing research:
1. Three different sections for motherboard selection based upon core, hybrid/core, and client. This would make it even easier to focus on the specific needs of the system being built.
2. Some more detail about the case for the motherboard.
3. Information about things like Bluetooth, and remote control receiver.
4. You have done a nice job detailing your personal hybrid. You might want to make those references links to that page (such as under Video Decoding Requirements)
5. Under video decoding, it would be nice to have some more options listed if possible. Or, at least a link to a list of others.
6. Also under video decoding, it would be helpful to have some explanations as to what the different playback results mean. I want to make sure when I select the components for my hybrid that I have a processor capable not only of working with my current TV, but something that will work with TV's I may purchase in the future.
Well, that is the list of things I thought might enhance the page. Please do not take this as critical, rather my first impression.
Feel free to post back your thoughts. If I come up with some other items, I will include them as well.
Overall, I felt like a learned a huge amount from reading the page and it was very insightful.
Thanks!
Dave
after reading through it, you might want to consider "how to select hardware for a LMCE system" instead of mainboards. You are touching on a lot more then simply mainboards. This will be especially true if you include some of dave89's suggestions. This is a great guide!
I see on your guide, in the video section that the nVidia Geforce 8400GS is not listed. Was this done because it is not compatable? Or you just never tested it?
I'm just curious because this is the card that currently have.
Thanks.
Quote from: ytuxedo002 on May 13, 2009, 03:26:31 PM
I see on your guide, in the video section that the nVidia Geforce 8400GS is not listed. Was this done because it is not compatable? Or you just never tested it?
I'm just curious because this is the card that currently have.
Thanks.
If you currently have it, have you tested it?
Yea..just been having trouble with it. Actually spent some time with it last night and finally got it to PXE boot. But resolution is waayy off. And i couldn't get back to the video wizard.
Dave and Pnuts,
Thanks for the feedback. I chose the title to restrict the scope of the topic to mainboards as much as possible. I intend to create a broader topic to cover hardware other than mainboards (the topics will surely refer to one another). It will probably be a handful of topics actually as there is a lot of ground to cover.
Quote from: Dave89 on May 12, 2009, 11:16:40 PM
You did a nice job explaining terms which are familiar to veteran users, but not to those that are new to LinuxMCE, such as PXE and GPU.
I think hyperlinking the first mention of these words to a wikipedia or LinuxMCE wiki page should help here. That's on the TODO list.
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1. Three different sections for motherboard selection based upon core, hybrid/core, and client. This would make it even easier to focus on the specific needs of the system being built.
*wrinkles nose*...that would be messy. Some factors aren't split nicely between those three categories (like form factor). There are also criteria that apply to 2 of the 3.
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2. Some more detail about the case for the motherboard.
3. Information about things like Bluetooth, and remote control receiver.
Case selection, bluetooth, and remote control stuff should go in other topics. I'm curious what details about cases you are looking for here.
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4. You have done a nice job detailing your personal hybrid. You might want to make those references links to that page (such as under Video Decoding Requirements)
Thanks. Good point, done.
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5. Under video decoding, it would be nice to have some more options listed if possible. Or, at least a link to a list of others.
I think it would be nice too. ;) That will depend on others contributing them as I only had the hardware listed there to test. Perhaps a properly initiated survey would help this along.
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6. Also under video decoding, it would be helpful to have some explanations as to what the different playback results mean. I want to make sure when I select the components for my hybrid that I have a processor capable not only of working with my current TV, but something that will work with TV's I may purchase in the future.
Hmm...the processing power required to decode a video doesn't depend on the TV. AFAIK wrt video decoding processing demands there is no (or at least negligible) dependence on the final display resolution.
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Overall, I felt like a learned a huge amount from reading the page and it was very insightful.
Thanks!
Dave
Well then the goal is largely accomplished. :) You're welcome and thanks for the feedback.
Cheers,
Alex
Quote from: ytuxedo002 on May 13, 2009, 03:26:31 PM
I see on your guide, in the video section that the nVidia Geforce 8400GS is not listed. Was this done because it is not compatable? Or you just never tested it?
The data in that table came mostly from a forum survey (see the notes at the bottom of the table). The data was contributed by other forum readers like yourself.
Quote from: ytuxedo002 on May 13, 2009, 03:36:18 PM
Yea..just been having trouble with it. Actually spent some time with it last night and finally got it to PXE boot. But resolution is waayy off. And i couldn't get back to the video wizard.
Once you have gotten to the bottom of it, please post your results on the forum survey thread. This information is like gold for new users. You can find the thread here:
http://forum.linuxmce.org/index.php?topic=5313.msg31056#msg31056
Cheers,
Alex
Alex,
Thanks for the response. In regards to the case suggestion, it seems like there are three different types of cases. One would be for the core which would look more like a regular computer tower case. One for a hybrid which looks more like a component for a home audio system. And one for the media directors/client. I thought it would be informative to know which cases were documented to work well and offer flexibility with certain motherboards and system set ups. Just a thought. Perhaps this will be covered in other sections. In my thinking, once I decide on a motherboard, I will be looking for a case to house everything. I want to be sure to get a case which is flexible and will allow me to use all the features of LMCE to the fullest.
I was not certain whether bluetooth and the remote control receivers had to be compatible with the motherboard. If not, then that can be covered in the other guides which you are going to have.
As for the suggestion about specific sections for requirement based upon the type of component being constructed. It was my thought that even if the information was duplicated, the reader would not have to sift through a number of descriptions and considerations for equipment which they were not going to be building at that time. I understand what you are saying about how it may be messy, but I just was offering some initial impressions.
In regards to the video decoding and TV's, I was under the impression that the screen resolution and size of my TV would determine what type of playback result I achieved from the processor. Perhaps I was wrong in my understanding. If so, it might be helpful to clarify this a bit. On a side note, are there any processors which work with LMCE which produce flawless results for all of the eight samples?
Just some thoughts.
Dave
Quote from: Dave89 on May 13, 2009, 07:55:12 PM
In regards to the video decoding and TV's, I was under the impression that the screen resolution and size of my TV would determine what type of playback result I achieved from the processor. Perhaps I was wrong in my understanding. If so, it might be helpful to clarify this a bit.
Oh now I see where the confusion is coming from, good point. I have added a section called "Two Distinct Resolution Capabilities" to clarify this. Let me know what you think.
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On a side note, are there any processors which work with LinuxMCE which produce flawless results for all of the eight samples?
I don't know the answer to that. I have plans to build a media director around the fastest processor I can ju$tify.
One section I would still recommend an update alx9r is the resolution output one. Dave89 is correct that the TV does play a huge part in what resolution you can use. There is a technology called EDID that allows your video card to query the display (TV/CRT/LCD/projector) and determine the max resolution it supports, this is what actually limits your output options on the video card. The setting is in the card software, so it appears its a card restriction, but it actually stems from your display. The rest of it you are spot on, without a fast processor or a video card with VDPAU your ability to actually DECODE HD content is severely limited, and it doesn't matter what resolution your TV is, you might only be able to output 480p, which hopefully then your TV can scale up to 720p or 1080i/p.
Quote from: dragon_788 on May 17, 2009, 04:32:49 PM
One section I would still recommend an update alx9r is the resolution output one. Dave89 is correct that the TV does play a huge part in what resolution you can use.
Agreed. The resolution that you can use in your completely assembled system depends on the capabilities of your display. I do have plans to cover that aspect of hardware selection in another topic. I've added a short note about display resolution capability to the resolutions section on the mainboards page. Once the full discussion of display selection is in the wiki, I'll link to it from there.
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There is a technology called EDID that allows your video card to query the display (TV/CRT/LCD/projector) and determine the max resolution it supports, this is what actually limits your output options on the video card. The setting is in the card software, so it appears its a card restriction, but it actually stems from your display.
hmm...LinuxMCE disables EDID by default. see the following:
http://wiki.linuxmce.org/index.php/EDID
http://forum.linuxmce.org/index.php?topic=1185.0
As far as I can tell that information is valid. In 0710 the template that LinuxMCE uses to generate xorg.conf includes the line
Option "UseEDID" "false"
Regards,
Alex