Messages

1

Users / Re: Seriously..

« on: August 30, 2007, 02:40:46 pm »

Anyone still know about if the Via Motherboard with the S3 Unichrome Graphics card can do UI2? I've seen a couple of people on the forums  who have said that they have the GFX card.. anyone?

Any of the Via motherboards based on the C7/CX700M chipset (like Fiire's Fiirestation) can potentially run UI2 excellently... problem is you need Unichrome Pro II drivers and currently they have to be licensed from Via. The Fiirestation has these drivers bundled with it.

They are Unichrome Pro II

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Users / Re: Seriously..

« on: August 28, 2007, 12:45:47 am »

Anyone still know about if the Via Motherboard with the S3 Unichrome Graphics card can do UI2? I've seen a couple of people on the forums  who have said that they have the GFX card.. anyone?

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Users / Re: New Budget System for Poor geek.

« on: August 27, 2007, 11:12:39 pm »

You should really try E-bay. My Newegg setup for a media director cost about $250, but I was able to bring it down to $100 (except ram for some reason.. 512 MB) on E-bay. Of course I've now taken a different approach to the MD..

I know you're trying to build a hybrid, but hey I've I can take away $150 from my cost, you can probably take off $100..

Your setup looks fine but the only thing I would upgrade would be the Hard Drive.. but it really depends if you're going to record a lot of shows, have a lot of music, rip DVDs, etc...

Any Geforce 6, 7, 8 card should support Alpha Blending. Some cards may have driver problems, but you can get that fixed in no time =).

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Users / Re: Seriously..

« on: August 27, 2007, 11:08:20 pm »

Just a quick question,

Will 256 mb of ram will be ok for an MD? or should I splurge on a 512 mb? Thanks!

I use thin clients at work on Kubuntu/LTSP (http://wiki.ltsp.org/twiki/bin/view/Ltsp/WebHome).   I think that LinuxMCE is using the same technology.  The memory requirements of the CORE/Server is 500meg to 1 gig if you are running around 10 thin clients.  The thin client memory requirements are VERY low... on the order of 32 meg to 128 meg.  I have booted up 64 meg thin clients and the response is almost the same as a full blown computer.

Note that in the thin client / Core setup , all the computer processing is being done on the SERVER... not on the client.    I have not tested out thin clients with LinuxMCE , yet, but I will post the results after I do.  I would suggest that you try a thin client with 256 mb of ram before purchasing more ram. 

Mike

I'll try and and do 64 - 128 megs. Webhome looks pretty interesting and so does Powerline! Wow! I never knew such a thing existed!! I'm thinking of buying that instead of networking my house since its a BIG P.I.N.A. with forwarding ports, changing ips, disabling the DCHP server blah blah the list goes on =/... and even some companies have proprietary hardware, so you have to buy their router & your adapters for it to work.. so hmm thanks =)!

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Users / Re: Seriously..

« on: August 25, 2007, 08:55:32 pm »

Oh thats perfect since this has a NVidia GeForce 6100 on board so it should have UI2 awesome!

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Users / Re: Seriously..

« on: August 25, 2007, 07:51:54 pm »

I was looking around New Egg and found a perfect motherboard for my MD (I found a good one but I want it to be small) but than I remember reading a thread that AMD processors don't work well with LinuxMCE.. Or was that ATI graphics? I get them both confused since it's now one company.

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Users / Re: Seriously..

« on: August 25, 2007, 06:46:53 pm »

Wow thanks! You really did help!

Wow a Celeron M Core handled 4 MDs while ripping a DVD?! I thought I need something powerful like a Core 2 Duo and If needed a Quad Core, But If a Celeron M can do that then I guess the cost should go down a bit .

I think I'm going to go with NAS so my media can be safe and secure.  The core can write to the NAS right?

Anyways this thread really has helped me and I hope this can help other people too !

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Users / Re: Seriously..

« on: August 25, 2007, 05:17:16 am »

Just a quick question,

Will 256 mb of ram will be ok for an MD? or should I splurge on a 512 mb? Thanks!

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Users / Re: Seriously..

« on: August 25, 2007, 03:08:52 am »

Thanks! I'll try the second option since I have a Linksys router and a modem =).

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Users / Re: Seriously..

« on: August 25, 2007, 01:59:37 am »

If that's the case then actually a wired solution is your best bet. The further apart your rooms are, the more likely wireless won't work...

If you disable DHCP on the core it won't allow you to boot diskless, which seems to not be what you want.

You can easily see if your motherboard/network card supports network boot by looking in the bios (you'll likely need to go in there anyhow to tell it to boot via network). Make sure that your integrated network card has the boot rom option enabled (usually in the Integrated Peripherals menu) and then change the boot priority to allow network boot (usually in the Advanced menu). Also some motherboards allow you to press a button (usually F8, but could be F10 or even ESC) on the POST screen (the very first screen on boot) to give you a menu to select how you want to boot (hard disk, network, etc.).

I mean disable DHCP on my router, not my core. Thanks for the network boot tip =).

11

Users / Re: Seriously..

« on: August 24, 2007, 11:06:40 pm »

Alright thanks. Someone should really write a step by step on making a core (and install av equipment too..) & a MD, installing plugins, a plugin section on the forums, give minimum requirements for hardware, options for networking and such, and how to go into PXE (Unless it's pretty easy). It would really help people like me who don't know a lot about Linux and don't have experience in setting up a Linux HTPC.

Thanks for everything guys. Still need that "disabling the router's DHCP" thing answered and that should be my last question for a while.

Thanks you guys =).

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Users / Re: Seriously..

« on: August 24, 2007, 10:47:22 pm »

In reality, Wires are a PITA =/.. My rooms are very far apart and it would take a lot of time and wires for the house to be fully connected.

I'll either buy that adapter or I'm just going to buy a small hard drive, install Kubuntu, and buy a compatible wireless adapter.. But wait.. The DHCP server uuuuuuuuughhhhhh stupid DCHP & routerssss. Couldn't I just disable my router's DHCP & Firewall so my MD to connect to the core =/?

Btw, how do you know if your computer supports Diskless boot?

Thx

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Users / Re: Seriously..

« on: August 24, 2007, 10:12:05 pm »

Thanks to both of you guys.

another option....if you want wireless....it may take up some more space...but....put in a regular network card....then get an adapter that would send that wirelessly to whatever you have....

something like this

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833124126

as long as you have a pxe boot enabled network card that should work for you and youd still be wireless....hope this helps some.

I thought that too, but will it give me Wifi on PXE start up so I can connect to the core? If that's true, why can't I use the PCI adapter for Wifi? Maybe it has to do with the fact USB starts on boot up? I'm just guessing..

I think, in his own charming way, he meant this:

modem <---> [router] <---> (old nic) CORE (gb nic) <---> gb switch <===> rest of your network

the [router] is optional (some modems have them built in as well) they can avoid hassle with ppp etc.

But If I use Wifi for my MD, won't that conflict with the Router's DHCP server? Or was this setup made for a wired connection?


Once again, Thank you =).

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Users / Re: Seriously..

« on: August 24, 2007, 09:42:03 pm »

Thanks GoMantud. I'll try that and see what happens =).

One last question (Hopefully), I was looking through the forums and saw this

Instead of using that shitty router, throw in a Gigabit network card in your LinuxMCE Core. Connect the old network card to your modem and use the Gigabit card for LAN. Get yourself a Gigabit switch for your lan. The Core is a Firewall/Router/DHCP server, and if you use it like this, everything will be a lot easier

For this I need:
A router
LAN switcher
Gigabit Network card

I connect the modem to my router, my router to the LAN switch, and the LAN switch to my Core? Sorry I got confused with this guy's the instructions..

Thanks =).

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Users / Re: Seriously..

« on: August 24, 2007, 09:13:52 pm »

Hm Wow.. Thank you for helping me!! So for Diskless MD, I have to use a Ethernet to connect to the network?

Hm.. If I have to connect it via Ethernet, I'd rather buy a cheap Hard Drive, Install LinuxMCE, and use a compatible Wireless adapter.. I want this to be wire free as possible =/ or find a mother board with Wifi built in.

Or.. any other suggestions?

Thanks to everyone who helped me out! I think thats all the questions I have for now.. But I will have more