LinuxMCE Forums
General => Installation issues => Topic started by: igno on August 03, 2009, 05:55:26 pm
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Hi,
Could somebody please advise on recommended PC specs for having linuxMCE properly installed from the first try?
It really looks nice in demo video that everything works in just <1h, however in practice it doesn't seem to happen. I got basic UI1 working, but then there are issues with some divx files disapearing and stuff like that.
So, what kind of magical config did you use on demo video?
Thanks in advance,
Alex.
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keep in mind that that is an old release using hardware that is no longer on the market. it worked great then, but finding linux-friendly hardware is always a moving target.
Things are much better with the 0810 pre-releases, but the installation process is currently quite lengthy (should have a dvd available soon). your best bet is to research what people have been using for hardware with 0810 and target that. In particular the motherboard and video chipset. There are quite a few motherboards nowadays that have embedded nvidia video adapters on them that work great. I myself use the Asus M3N78-EM.
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Well, I mean, after that "nice" comparison with Windows MCE in demo video and clearly trying to show that Linux MCE is much better, easier and whatsoeverelse, wereas WindowsSUX, stating that hardware is not usually linux-friendly ... Well, I have quite long experience with Linux in general and I must say that hardware used is perhaps 100% compatibe (at least no probs with other Linux based MCEs), however LinuxMCE both DVD and this 0810 pre-alfa-beta-gamma work only in basic UI and "disapearing files" is not a GPU issue ...
As for the no longer on the market hardware, it is not a big deal to find anything here, so please, state what was used ...
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...state what was used ...
has been stated...http://wiki.linuxmce.org/index.php/Video#Equipment_used_in_the_demo (http://wiki.linuxmce.org/index.php/Video#Equipment_used_in_the_demo)
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Basically, the graphics requirements for UI2 are fairly specific - so pick a modern nVidia GPU (something in the 7/8/9xxx range) and remember to update to one of the later nVidia drivers after installing. Don't use the UI2 Blended, use UI2 masking, so as to avoid any potential video tearing issues. Pretty much any sound hardware that is compatible with recent ALSA drivers, and most NICs that are compatible with recent Linux kernels and you should be fine. LMCE does not require huge CPU or RAM. Finally, setting up your core using the correct dual-NIC topology is important.
As for media files "disappearing", that is nothing to do with your hardware. Its probably just a lack of meta-tags and/or not using the LMCE folder structure and/or not choosing Filename sort mode, but without an exact description of your problem I cannot help any further.
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disapearing media could also be down to:
http://forum.linuxmce.org/index.php?topic=7636.0 (http://forum.linuxmce.org/index.php?topic=7636.0)
it has affected me in 0710, not sure about 0810 haven't made the switch yet. My wife uses the system daily and I would be sleeping outside if the system goes down for more than I few hours while I upgrade
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Would this make a nice config:
having separately a core:
Dual Core 1.6Ghz + 3GB Ram + Some sh##ty ATI Radeon Mobility (whatever it is)
and a MD like this:
Packard Bell Imax Mini
CPU: 1,60Ghz (512KB Cache)
RAM: 2GB DDR2
HDD: 250GB (5400RPM S-ATA)
VIDEO: NVIDIA ion (256MB shared + HDMI)
Sound: Realtek ALC 662
I mean it looks nice and cheap, but would it make a proper MD (without any special hacks and stuff like that)?
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Would this make a nice config:
having separately a core:
Dual Core 1.6Ghz + 3GB Ram + Some sh##ty ATI Radeon Mobility (whatever it is)
and a MD like this:
Packard Bell Imax Mini
CPU: 1,60Ghz (512KB Cache)
RAM: 2GB DDR2
HDD: 250GB (5400RPM S-ATA)
VIDEO: NVIDIA ion (256MB shared + HDMI)
Sound: Realtek ALC 662
I mean it looks nice and cheap, but would it make a proper MD (without any special hacks and stuff like that)?
The Core will probably be ok...but with ATI I would suggest sticking to UI1 to avoid any headaches.
The Packard Bell is a rebadged Acer Revo so will be fine...but search the Forums here for the steps needed to add a Revo to a 710 installation. 0810should not have those issues.
All the best
Andrew
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Well, I was assuming that Core will not show any media and will be hidden somewhere ...
The only thing that makes me worried a bit is that this Packard Bell thing has no DVD/CD/etc, so it will perhaps have to be booted from network or something. Is there any USB-boot installation method?
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Another thing that worries me is that 1.6Ghz ... Would it be enough for MD?
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MDs always boot from network, so no worries there.
And yeah, you will not be able to play very high bitrate videos with that cpu. You can however put in a 8xxx-9xxx series nvidia card and install the vdpau accelerated mythtv stuff at least.
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hmm ... would this one make a better MD:
CPU: AMD Athlon X2 Dual-Core (2.7Gz)
RAM: 2GB (DDR2)
VIDEO: NVIDIA GF 9200 (895MB shared + HDMI)
etc ...
( http://www.gigantti.fi/product/tietokoneet/poytatietokoneet/IMEDIA2530NCD/packard-bell-poytatietokone?Selected=Specifications#tProductTabcontent )
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MDs always boot from network, so no worries there.
And yeah, you will not be able to play very high bitrate videos with that cpu. You can however put in a 8xxx-9xxx series nvidia card and install the vdpau accelerated mythtv stuff at least.
If the unit is a rebadged Revo, then it already has an nVidia 9400M in it which is more than sufficient for .264 and high bit rate video
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Well, that first one has this ION thing, whatever it is. NVIDIA claims that it is quite a cool piece, however it clearly states that 9200 sux ...
I believe that I should just try ... It seems that linuxMCE is such a project, that nobody really knows what will work and what will not, which brings to the idea of non-stable thing ... I'll give it a try and if any of those beasts will work as it is stated in the demo, I will let you know. If not, I will just use some other MCE thing for linux. (Surprisingly, my current one works even with ATI Radeon Mobility shit, even though it is Linux based ... I will not name it here, of cause, but it just means that there is a long way to go for LinuxMCE project)
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I don't know where you get the 9200 from, the ION platform is a 9400M. If the GPU is not a 9400M then it isn't an ION platform. Its that simple - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NVIDIA_ION
However, the 9200M GS is actually faster than the 9400M - _neither_ could be described as "sux" you seem to be just regurgitating unsubstantiated rumour! Both will provide a video platform that will admirably run the UI2 Masking interface for LMCE, and both are compatible with the VDPAU API that will give LMCE full HD 1080p video acceleration for the 264 codec even with high bit rates.
If you read any of the forum commentary and articles on the wiki, you will find that any nVidia GPU in the 6xxx, 7xxx, 8xxx and 9xxx range works fine with LMCE, and nVidia is the brand of choice. If you choose something else, then that is your own look out, and that can hardly be associated with LMCE!
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Well, 9200 is the one that is installed in the "second option". As for the comparison, it was somewhere deep in www.nvidia.com (there were some graphs that show that 9200 is really not the best option).
Frankly, I'm not blaming LinuxMCE for anything, just saying that HW support could have been better, especially, when you literally compare it with other products like e.g. WinMCE and claim that it is much better. I just mean that it is not so nice promotional step, thats it.
PS!
I'm not representing Microsoft in any way and whatever I say here can _NOT_ be counted as any kind of official Microsoft opinion! Everything I say is just MHO.
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Hardware support can always be better, naturally!
That being said, we need to be clear here - it is not a matter of LMCE supporting hardware, it is more a matter of hardware supporting LMCE (or more specifically Linux and certain OpenGL requirements). LMCE will work with any GPU hardware as long as the manufacturer has decent support of the Linux platform and a reasonable OpenGL implementation.
Unfortuantely, only nVidia has bothered with this so far. Their driver is pretty good, but still has big holes - but most importantly it is not open source, nor is the "API" for accessing their hardware... so when there is a bug or a new feature required, we have to wait for nVidia to fix/implement it. This is very poor form, but still light years ahead of most of the other manufacturers. That being said, Intel and ATI seem to be moving towards a more supported and open model, so this may change in the medium term.
But for now, you have the selection of pretty much any GPU from probably the biggest GPU manufacturer. That's hardly a limitation :) And you can get Via, Intel and ATI hardware to work as long as you use UI1.
As for the 9200 - clearly it isn't as fast as higher models in their range, and that is the point, really. However, it is vastly faster at OpenGL manipulation and rendering than anything that LMCE is likely to need, and I believe that the video decode acceleration is probably more than fast enough for 1080p - 264, so it really doesn't matter all that much... maybe even save you money!
If you have the link to the comparison (particularly video decode acceleration) please post it so that we can determine where the chip stands in performance.
As far as Microsoft is concerned, the corollary of the above is true too.... it isn't that Microsoft supports more hardware, it is that more hardware supports Microsoft, for the obvious reasons. An academic point, maybe, but it is important to realise that support says nothing about the relative qualities of either Windows or Linux MCE.
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Another thing that worries me is that 1.6Ghz ... Would it be enough for MD?
The Packard Bell is an Acer Revo rebadged. The Revo has a single core Atom 1.6Ghz processor & uses the nVidia Ion. It will be fine for playing back any media including HD material at 1080p.
All the best
Andrew
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Well, as said, the link to comparison got lost (my bad), but I'm working hard on finding it. I do agree, though that it is the matter of HW supporting Linux (not even only MCE, but in general), rather than vice versa.
As for the "feeling hurt about MS Windows", I must say that what I meant was a comparison in demo. But that is in any way the matter of PR. I'm an IT person and I'm not in any way interested in promotions/commercials/etc, but that really hurts my ears to listen that something is better than something. Whatever ...