Yet another set of pre-purchase questions

[Loki008]

i have a few questions that i have come up with since browsing the wiki and these forums.

1)First is in terms of live TV. I have seen a few things here and there about the quality and ability to stream live TV. Is this a common issue, or can it be easily prevented with picking the correct hardware upfront?

2) Core hardware recomendations. I am currently attempting to install onto a dell precision P4 based workstation and am having no luck what so ever, When i put the DVD in i cant even get the video guide to play, and for some reason when i select the audio out option if i chose anything other than none, it starts over again at the video selection screen. What i am looking for is a motherboard sugestion that has been tested and confirmed working good. I checked out the Wiki, but the mainboards section does not seem well maintained.

3) X10 use. This is another thing that the Wiki is lacking, X10 support. I am looking to get a cm11a module controled via the serial interface (if so included on the above suggested motherboard). Also i am looking to primarly control lighting, but i would like to expand out to the motion sensors, are these supported?

As i come up with more questions ill add them, but those are my main ones as i plan out my system at this moment.

Thanks

[totallymaxed]

i have a few questions that i have come up with since browsing the wiki and these forums.

1)First is in terms of live TV. I have seen a few things here and there about the quality and ability to stream live TV. Is this a common issue, or can it be easily prevented with picking the correct hardware upfront?

2) Core hardware recomendations. I am currently attempting to install onto a dell precision P4 based workstation and am having no luck what so ever, When i put the DVD in i cant even get the video guide to play, and for some reason when i select the audio out option if i chose anything other than none, it starts over again at the video selection screen. What i am looking for is a motherboard sugestion that has been tested and confirmed working good. I checked out the Wiki, but the mainboards section does not seem well maintained.

3) X10 use. This is another thing that the Wiki is lacking, X10 support. I am looking to get a cm11a module controled via the serial interface (if so included on the above suggested motherboard). Also i am looking to primarly control lighting, but i would like to expand out to the motion sensors, are these supported?

As i come up with more questions ill add them, but those are my main ones as i plan out my system at this moment.

Thanks

I agree the Wiki is a little light on X10 info... but the question about which MB choose is now quite well served on the Wiki ; http://wiki.linuxmce.com/index.php/Category:Mainboards
Same goes for live TV question... search the Forum first then come back ask more specific questions. People here want to be helpful but we need your help by making sure you do some groundwork first ;-) (there is plenty of good advice here related to TV... just dig a little)

[Loki008]

i have a few questions that i have come up with since browsing the wiki and these forums.

1)First is in terms of live TV. I have seen a few things here and there about the quality and ability to stream live TV. Is this a common issue, or can it be easily prevented with picking the correct hardware upfront?

2) Core hardware recomendations. I am currently attempting to install onto a dell precision P4 based workstation and am having no luck what so ever, When i put the DVD in i cant even get the video guide to play, and for some reason when i select the audio out option if i chose anything other than none, it starts over again at the video selection screen. What i am looking for is a motherboard sugestion that has been tested and confirmed working good. I checked out the Wiki, but the mainboards section does not seem well maintained.

3) X10 use. This is another thing that the Wiki is lacking, X10 support. I am looking to get a cm11a module controled via the serial interface (if so included on the above suggested motherboard). Also i am looking to primarly control lighting, but i would like to expand out to the motion sensors, are these supported?

As i come up with more questions ill add them, but those are my main ones as i plan out my system at this moment.

Thanks

I agree the Wiki is a little light on X10 info... but the question about which MB choose is now quite well served on the Wiki ; http://wiki.linuxmce.com/index.php/Category:Mainboards
Same goes for live TV question... search the Forum first then come back ask more specific questions. People here want to be helpful but we need your help by making sure you do some groundwork first ;-) (there is plenty of good advice here related to TV... just dig a little)

I disagree with your response in terms of the mainboard suggestion, there are a total of 9 motherboards listed. the only one of which has any real comment on its performance is the MSI board which is only sold as a barebones kit which would not work well as a core system and is more suited as a media director. Most of the 9 either only list specs with no comment on their usability, and many are out of date socket A boards.

As for the TV out, i have been browsing the forum quite a bit, and like i said i have seen several issues and my specific question was along the lines of can these issues be avoided with specific hardware recomendations.

[Zaerc]

i have a few questions that i have come up with since browsing the wiki and these forums.

1)First is in terms of live TV. I have seen a few things here and there about the quality and ability to stream live TV. Is this a common issue, or can it be easily prevented with picking the correct hardware upfront?

2) Core hardware recomendations. I am currently attempting to install onto a dell precision P4 based workstation and am having no luck what so ever, When i put the DVD in i cant even get the video guide to play, and for some reason when i select the audio out option if i chose anything other than none, it starts over again at the video selection screen. What i am looking for is a motherboard sugestion that has been tested and confirmed working good. I checked out the Wiki, but the mainboards section does not seem well maintained.

3) X10 use. This is another thing that the Wiki is lacking, X10 support. I am looking to get a cm11a module controled via the serial interface (if so included on the above suggested motherboard). Also i am looking to primarly control lighting, but i would like to expand out to the motion sensors, are these supported?

As i come up with more questions ill add them, but those are my main ones as i plan out my system at this moment.

Thanks

I agree the Wiki is a little light on X10 info... but the question about which MB choose is now quite well served on the Wiki ; http://wiki.linuxmce.com/index.php/Category:Mainboards
Same goes for live TV question... search the Forum first then come back ask more specific questions. People here want to be helpful but we need your help by making sure you do some groundwork first ;-) (there is plenty of good advice here related to TV... just dig a little)

I disagree with your response in terms of the mainboard suggestion, there are a total of 9 motherboards listed. the only one of which has any real comment on its performance is the MSI board which is only sold as a barebones kit which would not work well as a core system and is more suited as a media director. Most of the 9 either only list specs with no comment on their usability, and many are out of date socket A boards.

As for the TV out, i have been browsing the forum quite a bit, and like i said i have seen several issues and my specific question was along the lines of can these issues be avoided with specific hardware recomendations.

Funny how you like to complain about the lack of information in the wiki, yet I don't see any of your experience with that dell system in there.  And if criticism is all you have to offer, then please don't bother, nobody is interested.

[Loki008]

i have a few questions that i have come up with since browsing the wiki and these forums.

1)First is in terms of live TV. I have seen a few things here and there about the quality and ability to stream live TV. Is this a common issue, or can it be easily prevented with picking the correct hardware upfront?

2) Core hardware recomendations. I am currently attempting to install onto a dell precision P4 based workstation and am having no luck what so ever, When i put the DVD in i cant even get the video guide to play, and for some reason when i select the audio out option if i chose anything other than none, it starts over again at the video selection screen. What i am looking for is a motherboard sugestion that has been tested and confirmed working good. I checked out the Wiki, but the mainboards section does not seem well maintained.

3) X10 use. This is another thing that the Wiki is lacking, X10 support. I am looking to get a cm11a module controled via the serial interface (if so included on the above suggested motherboard). Also i am looking to primarly control lighting, but i would like to expand out to the motion sensors, are these supported?

As i come up with more questions ill add them, but those are my main ones as i plan out my system at this moment.

Thanks

I agree the Wiki is a little light on X10 info... but the question about which MB choose is now quite well served on the Wiki ; http://wiki.linuxmce.com/index.php/Category:Mainboards
Same goes for live TV question... search the Forum first then come back ask more specific questions. People here want to be helpful but we need your help by making sure you do some groundwork first ;-) (there is plenty of good advice here related to TV... just dig a little)

I disagree with your response in terms of the mainboard suggestion, there are a total of 9 motherboards listed. the only one of which has any real comment on its performance is the MSI board which is only sold as a barebones kit which would not work well as a core system and is more suited as a media director. Most of the 9 either only list specs with no comment on their usability, and many are out of date socket A boards.

As for the TV out, i have been browsing the forum quite a bit, and like i said i have seen several issues and my specific question was along the lines of can these issues be avoided with specific hardware recomendations.

Funny how you like to complain about the lack of information in the wiki, yet I don't see any of your experience with that dell system in there.  And if criticism is all you have to offer, then please don't bother, nobody is interested.

I'm still tinkering with the system, as soon as i get it working, or i give up i'll gladly add something. Im not trying to act like a jerk, im just saying that i have checked the wiki and browsed the forum some. If you were really interested in avoiding keep hearing about this question it would make sense to post a "recomended" build thread and sticky it and maybe open a "tested good / tested bad" thread and sticky that as well. it would make things alot easier for someone who is new to linuxmce. I know i am not alone when i say i dont want to go out there and buy a new motherboard / cpu / ram / capture cards just to find out they dont work.

[andy90]

Im being dense but I added an entry to
http://wiki.linuxmce.com/index.php/HCL
for the ASROCK K7S41GX (not seeing that thread was marked for deletion) and am not sure how to move it to
http://wiki.linuxmce.com/index.php/Category:Mainboards

Am i being daft or is it for mods/admins only to create new pages?

Also I added an entry for the Nvidia chipset MX440 SE, can this be moved also please.

Thnks

[Zaerc]

Im being dense but I added an entry to
http://wiki.linuxmce.com/index.php/HCL
for the ASROCK K7S41GX (not seeing that thread was marked for deletion) and am not sure how to move it to
http://wiki.linuxmce.com/index.php/Category:Mainboards

Am i being daft or is it for mods/admins only to create new pages?

Also I added an entry for the Nvidia chipset MX440 SE, can this be moved also please.

Thnks

Everybody can add pages to the wiki, a short introduction on how to do so can be found here: http://wiki.linuxmce.org/index.php/Adding_your_own_hardware.


Loki008: There is no recommended hardware other then Paul's setup as seen in the video, you can find that here: http://wiki.linuxmce.org/index.php/Video#Equipment_used_in_the_demo.  And we have been over the "tested good" and "tested bad" hardware quite a few times now, that approach simply does not work.  If you want a sure bet you can buy equipment from Fiire.

[andy90]

Many thanks Zaerc, first time I've edited a wiki.

Mainboard added, brill.

Am I being dense again or is there no cat for graphics adapters? I can see displays and TV cards but not graphics cards.

[Zaerc]

Thanks for helping out andy90, and you're right there is no category for graphics adapters, since none have been added to the wiki yet.  So far they have all been integrated on the mainboards.

If you want to add a graphics card you can put it in the "Graphic Cards" category by using this: [[Category: Graphic Cards]] (which can then be made a subcategory of hardware, don't worry, I'll take care of that).

[andy90]

Nope Ive balls-ed it up.

Created the page for the graphics card, put the cat at the top but the graphics card cat doesnt appear in the hardware, I will let you do the honours :s

Feels wierd writing a page for 5-6 words, but nothing to say really, works fantastic !

Thanks

[Zaerc]

Well, even a few words are always better then nothing.  I have put it in the right category now and made that a subcategory of "hardware" and "video".  Thank you for adding it.

[totallymaxed]

I disagree with your response in terms of the mainboard suggestion, there are a total of 9 motherboards listed. the only one of which has any real comment on its performance is the MSI board which is only sold as a barebones kit which would not work well as a core system and is more suited as a media director. Most of the 9 either only list specs with no comment on their usability, and many are out of date socket A boards.

As for the TV out, i have been browsing the forum quite a bit, and like i said i have seen several issues and my specific question was along the lines of can these issues be avoided with specific hardware recomendations.

Well I added the MSI MS-7329 is a MB I added to the Wiki... and we only use it in Core/Hybrids. You could use it in an MD but it is an excellent under TV Hybrid core which easily support 4-5 MD's concurrently streaming DVD's or TV. The MS-7329 is available as both an MB and at the heart of the MSI Media Live. Many of the other MB are less detailed as to there specs... but the never the less all the MB's listed will deliver a usable working system. Yes it would be great if more were up there and Zaerc in particular is always encouraging people to put working hardware up on the Wiki.

Your TV question can still be answered by looking at the various threads here over recent months...