newbie core questions

[stso]

Hello,

I want to try out the Linux MCE. I want to use it mainly as a media center. Smart home control might come at a later point. I know it's a long way especially since my knowledge of Linux is very limited. But I'm willing to learn and if it takes months, so be it.

I already have a PC which I want to use as a media director. Right now I'm trying to decide, which PC to buy for the core. Since the hardware guide in the Wiki does not seem to be up to date, I was thinking of getting the following:

CPU : Intel Core i5 650 (3,2GHz)
Board : MSI P55A-G55
graphics card: NVIDIA Geforce GT430

This should be sufficient also for HDTV since it faster than the hardware in the hardware guide, or not? Are there any known problems with these components?

Now I'm not quiet sure what TV card to use. I'm from Germany and I'm using DVB-S2 (HDTV). Is here anyone from Europe who has already tried out a DBV-S2 card for HDTV? Which card would you recommend?

If I get MCE to work, I want to have more than one media director. If another person watches a different program on the second media director or if I want to record one program and watch another program, I guess I have to have 2 TV cards. Is that correct or is there something like a "multi card" which combines these functions into one card?

I also have a satellite receiver, which receives an encrypted program (no CI slot, the decoding is build in to the receiver). Is it possible to make this program available on the media director(s), maybe through a video capture card in the core? If so, which card would you recommend (the signal is NTSC, not PAL). Or is there another (better) way to do this?

Right now I have a LAMP server running on Ubuntu. Is it possible, that the MCE core also runs as a LAMP server so I only have to use 1 PC?

It would be great, if some of the questions could be answered.

Stephan

[Marie.O]

1) You need to have as many tuner cards as you would like to have programs on different transponders be watched/recorded simultaneously.

2) I am using 2x CineS2 DVB-S2 cards (PCIx1) to have a total of four tuners.

3) If you choose MythTV there is support for capture cards, and you can utilize that stream throughout the house. You would need some device to remote control your settop box. If it is controlled via Infrared, get a USB_UIRT.

4) The LinuxMCE core already has Apache(2), MySQL and PHP installed, so there is no problem utilizing it for other things.

[stso]

thank you for the answers.

Does the CineS2 DVB-S2 work "out if the box" with mce or does it need a lot of configuring. Do you use LinuxMCE Version 0710 (RC2) or a later version?

When starting new, is it better to use LinuxMCE Version 0710 (RC2) or the newer beta version of LinuxMCE-0810?

[bongowongo]

The snapshots of 0810 are very usable, or if you like a risk...........1004, but not all featues will work.
0710 is just.........no, do not use it.