Good Evening,
I have been trolling the forums and the wiki for some time now while shopping around and preparing to set up my system. I wanted to introduce myself to the community and to thank everyone for the information I have already come across.
I am 31 and I stumbled onto LinuxMCE doing some Google searches for easier ways to manage my media. I have toyed with different Linux distros over the years but still rely on a lot of reading every time I tackle something new. For now while I am still working on getting a solid core up and running I find myself in the user_setup section of the wiki copy-pasting hardware into my own build list. Hopefully once my basics are up and running I will be able to contribute and test out some hardware of my own to try and help other people like I have been helped.
My System (half in boxes, half plans)
Since I am remodeling my house anyways right now I decided to run 1.25" schedule 40 pvc under my crawlspace and up into the walls of the rooms I plan to have MDs or other wired devices. I live in a single story building so this is a pretty simple task. I am taking photos of this process and can link them after its finished.
Lowe's carries some and has access to products from OnQ who I will be finishing my wiring with. I don't know if they have been mentioned here on the forums but it's priced reasonable and they make some slick items for clean installations like plug covers and mini-service panels to mount patch panels and other connections inside walls.
green = have it now, black is planned
Core / Hybrid ?Black 4U ATX case
MSI p45 Neo3-FR moboCore 2 ?? (watching prices currently, I may go duo and later move up to quad)
2g RAM
**EDIT_00 below**HDD ?? (I need to weigh the benefits of having my media stored here verses on NAS)
**Edit_01 below**Tuner Card(s) ?? (after I have my core and first MD up I will add this along with Satellite HD service)
Video Card ?? (probably cheapo as this will basically be headless, it will KVM to a monitor on my desk normally running games off a windows box)
Secondary External Network Windows PC ( KVM share with core )Black 4U ATX Case in a custom cabinet with core
Primary External Network Windows PC Vertical Desktop Tower
ASDL Modem + Router Combo (provided by ISP, wireless G only and 10/100 ports)NetGear RangeMax WNR3500 (with gigabit wired ports, this will have dhcp turned off and act as my switch to begin with)
?? Port 10/100/1000 Rackmount switch
WebDT 366 (didnt get the charging base so will make one to semipermanently install in the Living Room as primary remote control of that MD)
iPhone 3G (web orbiter control and point of contact for future IP cameras)
Fiire Chief / 3 button gyro remote ( would love to find fiire but any working gyro remote to run my bedroom MD )
HP R1500 XR UPS (rackmounted under my core, it will be backing up the external network for sure and the core if it can handle the VA)
Nucool 1.7 cu. ft. Compact Fridge Black (17 inches wide so will install in my rack on the very bottom, this will chill the resivour for my liquid cooling and store beer)
Living Room MD (first MD project)
- No hardware decided yet, only a list of what I want to do with it -
Bedroom MD (will not see alot of use, would settle for standard def video setup here and may go with a pre-configured box hidden out of site)
Future Plans-
Cisco 7970 (for my office so I can use it as an orbiter while gaming on both windows PC without hitting the KVM)
Multi-zone audio controlable with iphone web orbiter in the backyard
z-wave?/IP? controlable thermostat
IP cameras and sensors to replace an archaic security system
Remote Lights in at least the living room
Remote Window Treatments in the living room and bedroom
Voice Recognition and Control, everything I have read says forget it. If I get serious about adding this I may have to run it through my windows (external) network. If I can't make it work with LinuxMCE I hope to at least find a way to 'share' control of some of these devices with windows equipment.
If you took the time to read through all of that thanks and I will be more concise and specific in future posts. Nice to meet everyone and hope to see everyone here as often as I am able.
EDIT_00 Some good info on the forums about this, 2gig seems to be plenty, I will save the $ and put it elsewhere
EDIT_01 I will be putting my media on a ubuntu9.10 based NAS.
http://forum.linuxmce.org/index.php?topic=6798.0 answered my question about the path of media on the network. If I understand this correctly the only task the core would play here would be dhcp traffic cop and would not have to compress/compile/send the media itself.
