Questions on which version to use (solved, but new question asked)

[w00dr0w]

I have a few questions on which version I should download

#1 I read somewhere in the forums only the i386 DL iso has HD playback, is this true? What other features does the DL iso contain? (not much info regarding the differences between the SL and DL iso's)
#2 Can I use the AMD64 install disk (and if so, does it have HD playback capabilities)?
#3 If I download the SL disk, can i install the rest of the stuff off the DL disk via apt-get or some other means?

Id prefer not to download the DL iso as I have no DL disks, but if it's the only one with HD playback then I guess I'll have to purchase some...

*EDIT* I got the right version, everything installed, so thanks to those who helped. A new question has been asked at the beginning of the 2nd page so if you guys could check that out and give me your opinions It would be greatly appreciated once again.

[Marie.O]

#1 I read somewhere in the forums only the i386 DL iso has HD playback, is this true? What other features does the DL iso contain? (not much info regarding the differences between the SL and DL iso's)

no

#2 Can I use the AMD64 install disk (and if so, does it have HD playback capabilities)?

yes, on any machine that has amd64 command set in the CPU.

#3 If I download the SL disk, can i install the rest of the stuff off the DL disk via apt-get or some other means?

not via apt-get. And there are only additional promotional videos on those DL ISOs anyhow (which you can copy someplace by mounting the ISO image manually).

rgds
Oliver

[colinjones]

To clarify - all versions of LMCE can handle HD content, its your video hardware and display that you need to ensure are capable. The area of HD that there is limited support is HDDVD and BluRay disks - but HD itself if just fine.

The DL just contains demo videos and an in place upgrade option. The feature sets of all versions are the same.

[w00dr0w]

I'm fairly certain my hardware is capable, It's a C2d 2gb ram (soon to be 4 cause I'm pulling matching sticks from another rig) and an 8800GTS.
No BLUray or HD-DVD players so I dont think that will be an issue

What is the "in place upgrade option"?

[colinjones]

Just get the SL DVD image. You don't have an existing setup so the other "options" are not options for you. Make sure you check out the motherboard, sound and network chipset compatibility on the wiki. For video nVidia is the best option, with the 8800 (huge overkill, but will work!) you will need to install the latest drivers - instructions in the wiki under Display Drivers. Also, read the article on AV Wizard and FAQ before starting.

[w00dr0w]

Well I don't see most of my hardware listed
My current rig is
C2D E6300
gigabyte 965p-ds3 mobo (onboard audio to be used and possibly the NIC if the next item listed doesnt work)
airlink+ 802.11 b/g usb dongle (just says IEEE 802.11g wireless LAN in device manager, IIRC it worked in knoppix & ubuntu though if it won't work I have a netgear dongle I'll try)
8800gts 320
Some bluetooth USB dongle (shows up as an ISSC bluetooth dongle)

I'm just using this for testing purposes till I can build an HTPC rig that's more suited to MCE
If I get it to run I'll be sure to add to the wiki any working hardware

[w00dr0w]

Had a slight problem durring install, everything went fine till it tried copying files over to the HDD (I/O errors)
Gonna try a USB burner to see if that doesn't resolve the issue (as the one i'm using is sata and maybe it has problems with the sata controller on this board)

[colinjones]

IO errors mean you have a corrupted burn (or possibly download if you didn't use the torrent) - re-burn using the slowest possible speed your drive allows. This is a common problem...

[w00dr0w]

I downloaded the AMD64 torrent (faster then an http/ftp mirror)
I burned @ 8x on a 16x disk and I verified the burn against the .iso (and just forced a recheck in utorrent to make sure a bad piece didn't slip through)
I was using some generic dvd-r's but I'll try and burn @ 4x (disks lowest rated speed reported via imgburn, might even give 1x a try and wait the ~1hr). If that fails I'll use one of my verbatim lightscribes and see if that doesn't fix the issue

If that doesn't work, should I try the i386 install or would that not make a difference?
If all else fails is it possible to install kbuntu and then install MCE over that (and is it a PITA to do it this way?)

sorry for asking so many questions, MCE just looks like the perfect HTPC OS for my needs and I'd really like to give it a trial before dropping the $$$ for an HTPC right now just to find out I don't like the OS for some reason or another

[colinjones]

I would go with the i386 anyway - won't make any difference to your current issue, but anecdotally it is more stable. Seriously, do a search for IO errors on the forums - you will see that 99/100 it is a bad burn due to too high speed. Go as low as you can... background: the reason is, the content is in a single very large tar archive file, so one byte error completely screws the entire thing. Many other software installs will use individually compressed files and so there is a far higher statistical likelihood that any error will fall in an area that doesn't actually matter! You'd be surprised how often a CD/DVD burner makes an error in burning but often it doesn't matter because you are burning video or audio, whose players often just ignore the error (frequently, silently) so yo never end up realising.

[w00dr0w]

Seriously, do a search for IO errors on the forums - you will see that 99/100 it is a bad burn due to too high speed.

I thought verifying the burned medium against the .iso (using imgburn) would have detected any anomalies in the burned copy...
as I said though, I'll give burning @ 1x a try and see how it goes (and if that doesnt work I'll use better [more expensive] medium and burn @ slowest speed)

Do some disks have a minimum burn speed (the generic ones I've been using say 4x/8x in imgburn though their rated @ 16x on the label)

Gonna d/l the i386 iso tonight and burn it in the morning so I can give it another go. Only reason I wanted the 64bit version was I was going to upgrade to 4gb ram, but it's really not needed right now as I don't have any other 64bit OS's

Thanks for your continued help colinjones, is there a way I can rep you for your awesomeness (don't see a button to do so anywhere)

[colinjones]

No problem - yes disks do have a max speed, and this is detected by the drive, sometimes they don't match. Sometimes DVD+R or -R can make a difference as well. You are right that a verify should confirm, I suppose that it is possible that verifying it on one drive (that burned it) could potentially borderline pick up the data correctly, but on the other drive get a corruption...

The 64 bit really isn't going to help you - and it doesn't directly refer to 4GB of physical RAM anyway, it is more about what individual processes can access. Either way you definitely will not need anything like that even for a core. Most installations will not need more than 1GB, 2GB is oodles!

[Zaerc]

Sometimes it's the drive (or even cable) in the machine that you are installing on that is a bit flaky.

[colinjones]

Sometimes it's the drive (or even cable) in the machine that you are installing on that is a bit flaky.

Good thought, Zaerc, wasn't thinking! Yes, I've seen this mentioned a few times on the forums as well. But 99 times out of 100 its a bad burn, try a slow burn first.

[w00dr0w]

Well I'm starting the burn now.
BTW: i asked if disks have a minimum burn speed (i know they have a max)
The reason I asked was because When i put my disk in the burner it show up as

And I guess disks do have a minimum write speed. I started the burn with a 1x setting but it's burning @ 4x...
The machine I'm installing on is the same one I'm burning it on (my "main rig") hence the over-the-top components