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Used the HomePro module, I think the other module fried after we got surged.

I'll post some pics later, but a huge amount of them are available at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/makerfaireaustin2007/

Thanks guys!

Anyone had any luck with getting an original XBOX to work as a media director?

I use a compaq tablet pc with a 1ghz transmeta processor. If you can find those things, they work great and have the rotate-out keyboard if you need it.

Might be interesting to add a hardware poll to the install, such as they do with the vanilla ubuntu installs.

Most folks tend to search the forum for supported hardware as well. If someone was intrepid enough, they could burn through the posts and add them to the wiki.

Overall, the faire went very well. I think we've got a ton of new converts coming in. Even with UI1, people were blown away by the features and functions built into LinuxMCE.

Thanks to everybody who helped install and man the booth, as well as all the visitors.

Interesting things from the faire:

- We were the only home automation solution on the floor.
- Roughly 25,000 people were estimated to attend the event.
- Met several different target groups who were interested in the project. They fell into the usage categories of home media server, new home install, home renovation in progress, and conversion from legacy system (X10 or otherwise).
- I met up with one guy who's interested in using LinuxMCE and customizing it for use in artistic lighting displays.
- One gentleman with a (unnamed) major home solution provider said they looked at LMCE, and said it wasn't ready for prime time. I think the demo made him possibly reevaluate the position
- Converted one individual on the spot. Went home, installed, and came back the next day asking for advice.

UI1 up and running, due to internet access being awful here. I ran the demo video yesterday until it was active, so no converts lost. We showed off the lighting system manually, and today promises to be better than yesterday.

Dirty power killed me this morning. Three boxes in my booth space went down, and I'm having to install from scratch. I've got everything set up and I'm running the demo video. It fried a few ports, so definitely in recovery mode now.

Wish me luck. There's certain things we couldn't get ironed out, but I'm overall very impressed by how the end product came out, and I think we're going to have a pretty big response out of it.

- All of the media features will be on display
- HDTV works great (thanks SiliconDust!)
- Zwave modules are working (thanks Intermatic!)
- Fiire remote is very cool

Hopefully it'll be enough to show them the power of this system. I'll be playing the demo video in-booth as well. Thanks for all the support from the forums, especially to PeteK and 1audio for their tips and lending of equipment.

Pretty nice, very clean and it looks like something that would be easy to theme off of to create a bunch of different color combinations.

I have to say I've been using the Home Settings line of components, and they work great. Their USB dongle is currently not supported yet, however, so keep that in mind. For the time being, you'll have to try to find one of the HomePro interfaces.

Oh man, I'm sorry. I heard horrible things about that Biostar board....supposedly they rushed it to market to try to beat Abit to the punch, and it's got all sorts of weird problems. One can only hope it's not design-related and that a bios update will iron them out eventually.

I think the 7025 and 7050 are pretty much the same thing, just one has HDMI support and the other has DVI.

Oh good lord, that's just sad. My duplicator guarantees that they're all 100%, but they say that you have +/- 5% overage built in. Basically what happens is they overproduce to guarantee that you get a great batch.

I dealt with one firm out of NY that burned me bad on discs, never again. I found a great house in Dallas that's a one-step away from the main plant, and they do a great job for me.

If in the future you need some discs, I highly recommend Crystal Clear Disc & Tape. They even have expedited services available, but I think no matter what, you're always going to be looking at a few weeks turnaround.

It's sort of like a mechanic's shop, when you walk in the door you're at the mercy of the schedule. At certain times of year, it's hard to get a job in to the plants, as per they're being flooded with requests. This is especially true of the months before thanksgiving and Christmas.

Best of luck to you, and let me know when they're done. I'd love to get a big batch for Maker Faire, if that's possible.

Reboot of router had no affect on the orbiters. Still stuck like Chuck.

No friggin kidding.