Linux MCE Help

[nickw]

Hi everyone.
My name is Nick and i live in England, im looking to overhaul my home cinema system with a home automated system and im looking to use Linux MCE to do it.  I have been using Ubuntu for the last year i know bits and bobs about linux.

My house has 3 bedrooms
in each room there are ceiling speakers, and an LCD.
in the lounge i have a Sky + box, DVD player and a Samsung R8 37" LCD

Im looking to buying a HP Proliant DL380 G3 server for my storage

Objective
Looking for central control for:
- Lights
- TV
- Films
- Music
- Security

How does Linux MCE integrate with Sky +?
Whats the best gyro remote for Linux?
Whats the best technology for light control? X10, Zwave and recommendations?
Adding additional thin clients to my house do they have to be PXE bootable? Can anyone recommend me any thin clients?


im very new and reading as much as i can on Linux MCE so any other tip, hint or other websites to help me learn some more would be great

thanks
Nick

[totallymaxed]

Hi everyone.
My name is Nick and i live in England, im looking to overhaul my home cinema system with a home automated system and im looking to use Linux MCE to do it.  I have been using Ubuntu for the last year i know bits and bobs about linux.

My house has 3 bedrooms
in each room there are ceiling speakers, and an LCD.
in the lounge i have a Sky + box, DVD player and a Samsung R8 37" LCD

Im looking to buying a HP Proliant DL380 G3 server for my storage

Objective
Looking for central control for:
- Lights
- TV
- Films
- Music
- Security

How does Linux MCE integrate with Sky +?
Whats the best gyro remote for Linux?
Whats the best technology for light control? X10, Zwave and recommendations?
Adding additional thin clients to my house do they have to be PXE bootable? Can anyone recommend me any thin clients?


im very new and reading as much as i can on Linux MCE so any other tip, hint or other websites to help me learn some more would be great

thanks
Nick

Hi Nick,

Take a look at our page on the Wiki http://wiki.linuxmce.org/index.php/Convergenthome#Model:_MM300 for some example hardware that might suit your needs.

We are working on extending vdr to allow for the control and the grabbing of analog video from a Sky digibox we are also integrating Dusky units http://www.dusky-control.com/. Once this update is ready you will be able watch a live 'Sky channel' in vdr and also control the Sky digibox. We then plan to integrate Sky epg data into vdr too in Dianemo professionally installed product.

Gyro remotes - well you can use the Fiire remote, or any of the Gyration mice or remotes. Personally I cant get on with any of those but that is purely a personal thing.

Since your here in the UK I would recommend Z-wave for lighting and device control.

You can see some example MD (thin clients) that we can supply in my link above. MD's can be network booted or Locally booted. We generally prefer to network boot MD's as it means we can have diskless quiet/silent hardware that uses less energy and therefore runs cool.

Your welcome to visit us here in Chelmsford or ask as many questions as you like here or by provate message.

All the best

Andrew

[skeptic]

I'm curious why nobody recommends Insteon whenever x10 comes up?  As I understand it, Insteon PLM is pretty well supported (never tried it), and gives you the option to run the uber cheap x10 or Z-Wave like reliability and cost items where appropriate.  Is there some kind of US vs UK availability difference?

[totallymaxed]

I'm curious why nobody recommends Insteon whenever x10 comes up?  As I understand it, Insteon PLM is pretty well supported (never tried it), and gives you the option to run the uber cheap x10 or Z-Wave like reliability and cost items where appropriate.  Is there some kind of US vs UK availability difference?

As far as I know Insteon don't have a shipping UK/European product. Dan (ddamron) is the expert on all things Insteon so he'd be the best person to comment on this... but thats my understanding.

Andrew