Messages

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Compatible Products & Services / Re: LinuxMCE on Wal-mart's $200 gPC, is it possible??? it really is affordable

« on: January 05, 2008, 05:39:36 pm »

So, I found some other Unichrome Pro drivers available at http://www.openchrome.org, they include CN700 (VIA PC2500 chipset) among their supported chipsets
I would like to know if anybody has heard of those before, and how good are they compared to Viaarena's drivers, I'm talking about LinuxMCE here, I would really appreciate your opinion

Thank you 

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Compatible Products & Services / Re: What about LinuxMCE as a carputer with a 7'' lilliput display?

« on: January 04, 2008, 08:30:26 pm »

I think that the time for booting up, each time the car starts is to long!

This wiki entry shows you how to suspend your MD, it might well be a start for solving this problem

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Compatible Products & Services / What about LinuxMCE as a carputer with a 7'' lilliput display?

« on: January 04, 2008, 04:02:04 pm »

Has any of you tried LMCE as a carputer (this one uses mac mini) on a Car PC Monitor like 7'' lilliput??
It seems like an interesting application of LMCE, I've seen videos of very light Windows XP machines running RoadRunner and mac minis, but no Linux front end indeed.

I searched for "lilliput" in this forum and found no matches

Thanks for your kind replies 

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Compatible Products & Services / Re: LinuxMCE Hardware packs for newbies

« on: December 23, 2007, 05:01:30 pm »

I want to build a modest system based on this:

Motherboard: VIA PC-1 PC2500e (from $60) which comes with integrated processor, video and audio (not proven to work yet but closely, still getting feedback)
Video capture card: Hauppauge WinTV-PVR-150 MCE (from $49.99)
Remote control: Microsoft Remote Control ( from $31.00)

These are the most problematic hardware pieces I think, the rest like RAM, hard drive, case, etc I think is up to you and your pocket

You must be kidding.

Regarding the other things on your list: Do some homework and use the http://wiki.linuxmce.org. Search for hardware and you should get a long list of things for you to pick and choose.

Regarding fiire at the beginning of this discussion: You have two choices. Build your own and do the research, or go to fiire and get a mostly ready made solution.

[/b]Fiire is not really an option, because then you wouldn't really be building anything, would you? 
...
What I really think LinuxMCE lacks (and please correct me if I'm wrong) is a very basic, affordable and specific hardware configuration recommendation (2 or 3 kits, combos, packs or whatever you want to call them, with brands and models, stores with best prices or something like that) maybe in the form of a step-by-step installation guide, put whit a link on the very first page of it's website, and I don't mean a Minimum Requirements sheet or a Compatible Products forum full of interesting threads which I know it already has, but a very basic known-working unexpensive list of hardware that wouldn't lead us (newbies) to confusion or frustration, if you are like me you don't want to read a lot of pages about working hardware.

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Compatible Products & Services / Re: LinuxMCE Hardware packs for newbies

« on: December 21, 2007, 08:42:18 pm »

I think it's a great idea to have at least of list of recommended hardware.  I've just discovered linuxMCE and just started researching what it will take to set one up.  I don't want to spend $800+ for a pre-built Fiire system.  I have the ability to do it for much less, plus it's much more rewarding to tell people that "I built this".

I've already spent hours trying to determine what I will need browsing through the Wiki's and message boards.  It would be nice if there was a list of some possible combinations to use describing the differences in using the cheapest from to the most expensive.

That's my whole point

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Compatible Products & Services / Re: LinuxMCE on Wal-mart's $200 gPC, is it possible??? it really is affordable

« on: December 19, 2007, 05:14:02 am »

Thanks a lot totallymaxed, those comments did clear up my way indeed

We have built the standard Via Unichrome Pro drivers using the standard sources available from the Viaarena site (search this forum for my numerous other posts about this and how to build the sources ;-) )

This is the post totallymaxed is talking about: Adding the Via Unichrome Pro drivers

Another important thread about the topic: Via Integraded Unichrome Pro Graphics pc-1 2500 anyone tried?

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Compatible Products & Services / Re: LinuxMCE on Wal-mart's $200 gPC, is it possible??? it really is affordable

« on: December 18, 2007, 09:33:09 pm »

From my research this is info I think may be useful for the topic:

we are testing a number of fanless Via based clients using the C7/CN700 or CX700M chipsets at 1Ghz to 1.5Ghz. We just add a stick of memory, and optical drive if needed and thats it. Out of the box currently Kubuntu 7.04 and lmce-0704 do not have the Via driver support so you would need to build the Unichrome or Openchrome drivers to get the best graphics performance. These are low cost, energy efficient (as low as 9W) motherboards with excellent graphics.

I just got this back from VIA.

Dear Blair,
 
The source code to the CX700M/2 drivers for Linux can be downloaded here:
http://www.viaarena.com/default.aspx?PageID=420&OSID=25&CatID=2580&SubCatID=184

Those are useful with the CN700 UniChrome Pro integrated graphics too (that's wath says in the page).

From the linuxMCE Wiki I got the info below:

Convergent Home Technologies - LinuxMCE Systems ... Model: MM400 The MM400 is a totally fanless, silent design that is compact enough to be located almost anywhere. Its discreet black finish, range of features and affordable price make it a very popular choice for many of our customers. Price £225.00 (Excluding 17.5% VAT & Shipping)     * Includes Installer CD with Via Unichrome Pro Video drivers for LinuxMCE-0704 / LinuxMCE-0710 Features     * Software: LinuxMCE 0704 or 0710     * User Interface: UI1     * Processor: Via C7 1Ghz Fanless. Low power under 25W     * RAM: 512MB     * Internal Optical drive: None     * Network: 10/100 Ethernet     * Video: Embedded Via CN700 - External via VGA port ; 85Hz Refresh Rate:1600x1200 pixels, up to 32bit Colors     * IO: 1 x keyboard - generic - 6 pin mini-DIN (PS/2 style), 1 x mouse - generic - 6 pin mini-DIN (PS/2 style), 1 x display / video - VGA - 15 pin HD D-Sub (HD-15), 1 x serial - RS-232 - 9 pin D-Sub (DB-9), 1 x parallel - IEEE 1284 (EPP/ECP) - 25 pin D-Sub (DB-25), 6 x Hi-Speed USB - 4 PIN USB Type A ( 2 in front ), 1 x network - Ethernet 10Base-T/100Base-TX - RJ-45, 2 x audio - line-out - mini-phone 3.5mm ( 1 in front ), 1 x audio - line-In - mini-phone 3.5mm, 2 x microphone - input - mini-phone 3.5mm ( 1 in front )     * Power: External 65W power supply     * Dimensions: 234 (h) x 64 (w) x 213 (d) (all dimensions in mm)     * Weight: 1300g Product Details The MM400's compact, low energy fanless design coupled with its affordable price make it perfect for many situations where cost or low-noise solutions are essential. While not as sleek or stylish as some other Media Directors in our range the MM400 is still compact and discreet and due to its silent operation can be located in locations like bedrooms where its silent operation is ideal.

This system kind of looks like gPC, and it says its video drivers are for LinuxMCE-0704 / LinuxMCE-0710

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Compatible Products & Services / Re: Pricing components in FiireStation Cube Set-Top

« on: December 17, 2007, 06:58:14 am »

This post I already published it on another thread (http://forum.linuxmce.org/index.php?topic=3326.0), but I think it may be useful here too

$200 Wal-mart's gPC vs $500 Fiire Station (set top box)

(http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=7754614 VS http://fiire.com/fiire-station.php)

This might seem to some of you like comparing apples with pears but well, here it goes anyway

Processor: Via 1.5 Ghz RAM: 512 MB Audio: VIA Vinyl Audio 6-channel AC’97 surround sound Video: VIA UniChrome Pro IGP graphics core integrates a 128-bit graphics engine, hardware MPEG-2 decode acceleration and an AGP8X interface. Network: 10/100 Mbps Ethernet USB connectors: 2 DVD-ROM/CD-RW drive 80 GB hard disk drive	Processor: Via 1.5 Ghz RAM: 512MB Audio: Via Vinyl 6 channel audio.  SPDIF coas and tos-link for digital audio Video: Via UniChrome Pro II PC graphics plus hardware-accelerated alpha blended open gl and MPEG 2 decoder using licensed drivers and codecs Network: Gigabit Ethernet USB connectors: 4

Please, if you see I'm missing something feel free to say so

From some posts I've read gPC comes with keyboard and mouse too (I see some speakers on the picture also), but I'm not sure about that

Update: Confirmed, keyboard, mouse and speakers do come with the gPC

References:
fiire station:
http://fiire.com/fiire-station.php
gPC:
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=7754614
http://www.via.com.tw/en/initiatives/empowered/pc2500_platform/index.jsp
http://healthysystem.blogspot.com/2007/11/200-gos-gnulinux-photo-review.html

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Compatible Products & Services / Re: LinuxMCE on Wal-mart's $200 gPC, is it possible??? it really is affordable

« on: December 14, 2007, 05:44:17 pm »

This is Everex Forum for gPC: http://www.everexforum.com/forum/index.php?a=forum&f=40 just for you to know

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Compatible Products & Services / Re: LinuxMCE on Wal-mart's $200 gPC, is it possible??? it really is affordable

« on: December 14, 2007, 05:39:02 pm »

Don't kill me for saying this, bu I was just wondering if a KDE installation on gOS (gOS is a distro based on Ubuntu) would be enough for LinuxMCE installation instead of installing Kubuntu from scratch.

I've since installed the KDE based kubuntu-desktop (sudo apt-get install kubuntu-desktop) just to see how it works - works great

That quote was about kubuntu-desktop installation on gOS from http://healthysystem.blogspot.com/2007/11/200-gos-gnulinux-photo-review.html

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Compatible Products & Services / Re: LinuxMCE on Wal-mart's $200 gPC, is it possible??? it really is affordable

« on: December 14, 2007, 05:12:59 pm »

From this post I read someone has been able to install Ubuntu on gPC:
10 Minute Review Of The Everex Green gPC TC2502
http://smert.net/2007/11/27/10-minute-review-of-the-everex-green-gpc-tc2502/#comment-1426
And I quote from this post:

Since then I’ve reformatted and put the latest version of Ubuntu on it.

The most complete set of pictures about the gPC I've seen so far:
$200 Green PC (gOS GNU/Linux) - What's inside the case?
http://healthysystem.blogspot.com/2007/11/200-gos-gnulinux-photo-review.html

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Compatible Products & Services / Re: LinuxMCE on Wal-mart's $200 gPC, is it possible??? it really is affordable

« on: December 13, 2007, 09:12:23 pm »

Please, I encourage you all guys to keep up the work with gPC's mainboard wiki entry http://wiki.linuxmce.org/index.php/Via_PC2500e-gOS started by blackoper, I think it's really worth it, this mainboard seems like a very viable choice and could be the core for a low-cost entry for LinuxMCE newbies (like me  )

First - useful direct comparison, and nice formatting .

The main difference for $300 extra for Fiire is that LMCE is preinstalled and supported, including upgrades. But I'd like to see the specifics of the two different support models. Eg. Ubuntu support costs $275 for a year from Ubuntu.com . IDK whether Fiire's support includes any KDE Desktop support, or just what support it does offer - and they're supporting mostly appliance users.

Thank you for commenting it

if only:
The gPC would come in a smaller set top box
it would ship to Europe

As you can see in the picture below, the gPC mainboard is really small (Micro-ATX 225mm x 190mm), they put it in such a big case because people  relate size with capabilities when buying it in Wal-Mart

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Compatible Products & Services / Re: LinuxMCE on Wal-mart's $200 gPC, is it possible??? it really is affordable

« on: December 13, 2007, 04:48:36 pm »

$200 Wal-mart's gPC vs $500 Fiire Station (set top box)

(http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=7754614 VS http://fiire.com/fiire-station.php)

This might seem to some of you like comparing apples with pears but well, here it goes anyway

Processor: Via 1.5 Ghz RAM: 512 MB Audio: VIA Vinyl Audio 6-channel AC’97 surround sound Video: VIA UniChrome Pro IGP graphics core integrates a 128-bit graphics engine, hardware MPEG-2 decode acceleration and an AGP8X interface. Network: 10/100 Mbps Ethernet USB connectors: 2 DVD-ROM/CD-RW drive 80 GB hard disk drive	Processor: Via 1.5 Ghz RAM: 512MB Audio: Via Vinyl 6 channel audio.  SPDIF coas and tos-link for digital audio Video: Via UniChrome Pro II PC graphics plus hardware-accelerated alpha blended open gl and MPEG 2 decoder using licensed drivers and codecs Network: Gigabit Ethernet USB connectors: 4

Please, if you see I'm missing something feel free to say so

From some posts I've read gPC comes with keyboard and mouse too (I see some speakers on the picture also), but I'm not sure about that
Sources:
fiire station:
http://fiire.com/fiire-station.php
gPC:
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=7754614
http://www.via.com.tw/en/initiatives/empowered/pc2500_platform/index.jsp

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Compatible Products & Services / Re: LinuxMCE on Wal-mart's $200 gPC, is it possible??? it really is affordable

« on: December 12, 2007, 03:09:58 am »

I can't find a way to get one of these mainboards (Via_PC2500e) in my country (Ecuador) here in South America   , if someone knows about a web store (anyway to get it will do) that does send their products here please I'm all ears   

Thanks a lot in advance

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Compatible Products & Services / Re: LinuxMCE on Wal-mart's $200 gPC, is it possible??? it really is affordable

« on: December 11, 2007, 04:18:03 pm »

Thanks blackoper for all your interest about the topic

May this help you?:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=609034

complete specs of the motherboard from via's website:
http://www.via.com.tw/en/initiatives/empowered/pc2500_platform/index.jsp

Sorry I didn't find much to help but I'm really busy right now