Messages

the fglrx driver still has nasty bugs when combining openGL and Composite with ARGB visuals. ATI has promised a fix for this, for a very long time.

-Thom

Ok, so what about the integrated graphics chipset and UI2, yes, no, maybe?

So what's the issue with the ATI, driver limitation?  Also, I've read that UI2 requires a minimum 128MB of video memory to work.  The onboard graphics chipset shares with main memory (or so I believe) so would that be OK or not?

Matt

.....

i've answered this again, and again...but here goes....

on Linux, the GPU does NOT do any accelleration for HD. So a faster CPU is needed.

and NO, the 6200 is not weak.. it's the right size for this system, and the drivers that come with even the current release of 0704 will work out of the box with it. AND you'll get UI2 with Alpha composited blending of the UI..something the commercial ATI drivers STILL can't do correctly...

as I said before... swap out the ATI card for an NVIDIA one, preferrably a 6200.

-Thom

I know hardware acceleration isn't enabled in the current linux drivers but that doesn't mean that the linux drivers for my card won't work.  I have a 2.8GHz dual-core processor which (at least in Windows HP) could not handle 1080p VC-1 smoothly, much less 1080p H.264.  I guess basically what I'm asking is, will the instructions found in the above wikis work for getting the ATI drivers into LinuxMCE and will UI2 work with it since the drivers support OpenGL (the Radeon has 256MB of video memory)?

Also, if the ATI would not work, is it possible to use the integrated graphics chipset in my board, the NVIDIA 7050PV?  If that card doesn't work, then neither will my HDMI audio.  I have a SPDIF bracket on there that I was using before I got that card so I may have to resort to using it, but will it work?

replace the ATI graphics card with an NVIDIA 6200, and you'll be set.

-Thom

From what I gathered from the Display Drivers page on the Wiki http://wiki.linuxmce.com/index.php/Display_Drivers), ATI drivers should work so long as they are supported by Ubuntu (I'm assuming since this runs over Kubuntu).  The Ubuntu installation guide for Feisty (http://wiki.cchtml.com/index.php/Ubuntu_Feisty_Installation_Guide) says that the Radeon 2600 series chipset is compatible so is it a safe assumption (is there such a thing with Linux?) that it will work providing I get the drivers installed?  Also, isn't an NVIDIA 6200 a little weak, as I'm intending to test the supposed HD-DVD/Blu-Ray compatibility of 710 and I don't think that card will cut it.

I suppose there's only one way to find out, I'm making this my weekend project.  I will be making a small partition on my one 500GB hard drive for this install.  What size partition would you recommend, or do I need to dedicate an entire drive to it?  Also, is it safe to dual-boot this and Vista HP?

Here's my setup:

HTPC:
BIOSTAR TForce TF7050-M2 AM2 NVIDIA GeForce 7050PV HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard
AMD Athlon 64 X2 5600+ Windsor 2.8GHz Socket AM2 89W Dual-Core Processor Model ADA5600CZBOX
Hauppauge WinTV-PVR 500 MCE Personal Video Recorder
Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 2600XT
XBOX 360 HD-DVD Drive
2GB RAM
1TB HDD (2x500GB)

Home Theater:
Samsung HL-S5087W 50" DLP
Onkyo HT-S780 7.1 Surround Sound System

All other components would likely be built around the box itself since I'm only in an apartment right now and have little need for home automation.  I like my systems to be as expandable as possible and from what I've seen this has some good potential.

My main concern is with HD Content.  My Radeon HD 2600 allows me to fully offload the decoding of VC-1 and H.264 to the hardware cutting down CPU cost by a ton.  From what I've seen so far, ATI doesn't offer this hardware support to Linux users (at least not yet).  Will I still be able to playback my HD-DVD and Blu-ray content (I'm planning on purchasing LG's combo drive as soon as I'm not poor, aka. not in college) or will I have tons of issues?

Thanks ahead of time.

I read that 'niz23' encountered issues when attempting to install the hd-dvd/blu-ray ripping utilities but has anyone tested the playback functionality yet?  I just started looking into this I'd be completely sold if Blu-ray/HD-DVD worked in 0710.  I'm looking to get an LG GGC-H20L dual format reader for my current Vista Home Premium media center (I have the XBOX 360 HD-DVD drive now) and I'd really like to be able to use it if I move to LMCE.  Also, how much will the requirements for the thin-clients change in order to allow HD-DVD and Blu-ray playback?