is my system suitable

[fredzebu]

hi all,
i have been running a mediaportal system for some time, and want to upgrade to linuxmce. i have ordered both the 64 and 32 bit dvd installers.

my system is:
asus p5vd2-mx mb
core 2 duo 1.86 ghz cpu
2 gbyte ram
geforce 7300 gs pcie graphics card
dvi-hdmi to acer lcd tv at3220b
tv@nywhere a/d analog/DVB-T pci tv tuner card
mb onboard sound o/p to hifi stereo amp
lg super-multi combo dvd drive
microsoft mce remote

this system is NOT connected to my lan or the internet. i presently use it as a digital tv/hard disc recorder/dvd player/music player.

if i want to start with just this minimum functionality, will my hardware be compatible, and will i have any issues during install? this may sound like how long is a piece of string, but i really just want a heads up on major issues. i'm going to dive in as soon as my disks arrive.

thanks,
kerry.

[tkmedia]

Your system should be ok for SD not sure on the tuner though. Be sure to have internet access when installing. Best to have on internet after install for cover art lookup etc. In addition a second nic makes the install easier as well.

[fredzebu]

thanks for the reply. i appreciate your advice.

i'm concerned about having the lan connected during install. i don't want another dhcp server to start up offering its own ip range. is there some way to tell it to just be a dhcp client and get its ip, gateway and dns from the adsl modem/router's dhcp server.

also i prefer not to run a lan cable to the tv room. will the install work with a wireless lan card? and will it work with wireless kb and mouse?

cheers, kerry.

[tschak909]

LinuxMCE is intended to be the center of your entire house. As such, it provides DHCP and gateway/firewall functions at its lowest level. These are used to both find devices that appear on the internal network, such as file servers, IP phones/adaptors, or other periphreals.

If you turn off our DHCP server, all of this functionality will be completely eliminated, and 90% of what you would use LinuxMCE for, would also be eliminated as a result..

Therefore, if all you need is just a media server..I think you would be happier with one of the media distributions like MythBuntu etc... because it's not worth it fighting the appliance nature of the software stack. It was designed for one major use case, and the effectiveness of the software decreses markedly the farther away you stray from this use case.

Note that I am saying this from a user's perspective, if you are a developer, or if other interested developers wish to add additional use cases for our software, we would be more than happy to accept patches for said functionality.

-Thom

[fredzebu]

LinuxMCE is intended to be the center of your entire house. As such, it provides DHCP and gateway/firewall functions at its lowest level. These are used to both find devices that appear on the internal network, such as file servers, IP phones/adaptors, or other periphreals.

If you turn off our DHCP server, all of this functionality will be completely eliminated, and 90% of what you would use LinuxMCE for, would also be eliminated as a result..

Therefore, if all you need is just a media server..I think you would be happier with one of the media distributions like MythBuntu etc... because it's not worth it fighting the appliance nature of the software stack. It was designed for one major use case, and the effectiveness of the software decreses markedly the farther away you stray from this use case.

Note that I am saying this from a user's perspective, if you are a developer, or if other interested developers wish to add additional use cases for our software, we would be more than happy to accept patches for said functionality.

-Thom

Thanks Thom,
That's all very fine, but I have an existing network consisting of a netcomm adsl modem/router/firewall/dhcp server; centos5 samba primary domain controller, fileserver, webserver, mailserver, ftp server/centralised tape backup; wireless nap; several winxp desktops/notebooks. I want to crawl before I walk and I don't want to bring down a perfectly fine network. My port forwarding is all setup. I run my business from home so I have to proceed/play with caution.

Therefore I would like to start with trial and error installs of LinuxMCE, on the assumption that turning off 90% of the functionality will still deliver a damn fine media centre, ie linux, 64 bit processing, a nice UI, 3 button gyro remote etc. And I'm hoping that this combo with my hardware will deliver, amongst other things, superior HDTV live/record/playback/timeshift performance, superior to the winxp/mediaportal bloat.

Mythbuntu and the others look a bit clunky/techo to me, but I may try that as well.

So tell me I'm dreaming here in Oz, or wish me luck.
Cheers from Kerry downunder.