Fiire Station

2009-04-04T17:19:54Z

Pcdlab: /* Status */

[[Category: Hardware]]
[[Category: Media Directors]]
[[Category: Supported]]

[[Image:Fiire_Station.jpg|right]]

== Status ==

Will be supported by [[Fiire]] (LMCE support).

There are now 3 options to choose from when selecting a Fiire station:

1. Fiire Invisible (2" VESA wall mount)

2. Fiire Prestige (More expensive / Front Panel LED)

3. Fiire Prestige Lite (Less Expensive / No Front Panel LED)

== Features ==

Fiire Invisible:

The Invisible is designed to mount behind a standard VESA mount equipped flat panel Plasma or LCD TV set. This means for the first time ever, you can have a full HD PVR and media player solution without any visible set top box or exposed cables.

• Software: LinuxMCE 0710 with licensed video decoders and drivers to enable video-phile quality HD decoding and de-interlacing with alpha blending and all the OpenGL effects. Will self-upgrade as new releases come out.

• User Interface: UI2 with alpha blending

• Processor: AMD BE 2400 (quiet and low-heat/power model)

• RAM: 1GB

• Internal Hard drive for operating system: 120 GB (only if "MD as Core" option is checked)

• Network: Gigabit Ethernet

• Audio: 7.1 HD audio, with analog and SPDIF coax/RCA fro digital audio, line in, mic connectors

• Video: nVidia 7050 graphics with HDMI, VGA, Component and S-video connectors

• Connectors: 7xUSB 2.0 ports, 1xIEEE-1394, 3xeSata

• Optical Drive: external DVD RW (optional)

• TV: Analog PVR-500 Dual Tuner card

• Works on 110 and 240 voltage

• VESA and WALL mounting kit included

Fiire Prestige:

The Prestige and Prestige Lite, versions have more room for expansion cards.

• Software: LinuxMCE 0710 with licensed video decoders and drivers to enable video-phile quality HD decoding and de-interlacing with alpha blending and all the OpenGL effects. Will self-upgrade as new releases come out.

• User Interface: UI2 with alpha blending

• Processor:ntel® Core 2 Duo E4600 2.4 GHz, 2 MB L2 Cache, 65W, 65 nm. (quiet and low-heat/power model)

• RAM: 1GB

• Internal Hard drive for operating system: 120 GB (only if "MD as Core" option is checked)

• Network: Gigabit Ethernet

• Audio: 7.1 HD audio, with analog and SPDIF coax/RCA fro digital audio, line in, mic connectors

• Video: nVidia 7150 graphics with HDMI and VGA connectors

• I/O: 6xUSB 2.0 ports, 1xIEEE-1394, IR receiver

• Optical Drive: DVD RW

• TV: Analog PVR-150 Tuner card (optional)

• Works on 110 and 240 voltage

== Sales Pitch ==

The [[Fiire Station]] runs [[LinuxMCE]] and can be used as a standard medium-performance PC. However, it also has specialized video decoding hardware to provide the best video quality, and offload all video processing, including sophisticated 1080i de-interlacing, OpenGL 3D effects, and alpha blending, all in the video hardware. The end result is you get better video quality than the massive, high end Windows Vista MCE systems, which require very expensive, power-hungry, hot processors to do the 3D alpha blended effects in Aero and video playback in MCE. The FiireStation offers even better video and a smoother UI experience while drawing as little as 9 watts of power, about 1/20th what a Windows Vista Media Center PC draws. That translates to a couple hundred dollars a year in energy savings if you leave your Media PC on all the time.

The [[Fiire Station]] is available in 3 versions: A 2” thin vertical mount designed to hide behind a plasma TV, and a standard set top box (2 versions).

The vertical mount version means for the first time ever, you can have a full HD PVR and media player solution without any visible set top box or exposed cables. It comes with VESA mount holes. Most flat panel TV’s have VESA holes in the back for attaching them to a wall mount. So if your flat panel TV sits on a base, and not a wall mount, the [[Fiire Station]] attaches directly to the back of the TV using the VESA holes. If your flat panel TV is mounted to a wall, the [[Fiire Station]] is thin and narrow enough to fit inside a typical wall mount and can be attached to the wall, the mounting bracket, or the back of the TV. The vertical mount version costs more because it uses specialized precision components with ultra-lower power consumption so that it is only 2” thick, has no fans or vents, and can be tucked away in the small space between a TV and the wall.

The standard set top box version has more room in it and extra connections, including component video and SPDIF for digital audio. The vertical mount version does not provide SPDIF connectors because flat panel TV’s do not have SPDIF inputs. If you are using this in an equipment rack and have a receiver with SPDIF, the standard set top box version is better. Plus, you can have a local DVD/CD player in the standard set top box version. For the vertical mount version, you can leave your CD’s or DVD’s in a jukebox attached to the [[Fiire Engine]].

== Where to buy ==

Invisible:

http://www.fiire.com/fiire-invisible.php

Prestige:

http://www.fiire.com/fiire-prestige.php

== COM Ports ==

As of May 1, 2008 only the 1" version had a serial port built-in. According to fiire customer service the set-top box version has an available serial port header and a DB-9 punch out. However, Polywell (the manufacturer of the fiire boxes) does not populate the DB-9.

According to customer service, the case of the 2" Fiire Station does not have a spot for a DB-9.

== Versions ==

A new generation of the Fiire Station and Engine have been released to coincide with the release of LinuxMCE 07.10.

Fiire Engine

2009-04-04T17:16:29Z

Pcdlab: /* Status */

[[Category: Hardware]]
[[Category: Cores]]
[[Category: Supported]]

[[Image:Fiire_Engine.jpg|right]]

== Status ==

Will be supported by [[Fiire]] (LMCE support).

== Features ==

• Fits in a standard A/V rack, on an existing shelf or with a custom sliding rack-mount shelf for easy access in standard 19" rack systems.

• Software: LinuxMCE 0710. Will self-upgrade as new releases come out.

• User Interface: UI2 with masking or alpha blending

• Processor: Intel E8400 Core 2 Duo 3.0 GHz, 65W, 45 nm. 6 MB L2 cache. (quiet and low-heat/power model)

• RAM: 2GB

• Internal Hard drive for operating system: 500 GB

• RAID storage for media: 12port sata controller + 12 sata bays (hard drives aren’t included).

• Network: Dual Ethernet ports. Gigabit speed.

• Audio: 7.1 HD Audio with analog, SPDIF optical and coax/RCA, line in, mic connectors

• Video: nVidia 7150 graphics with HDMI and VGA connectors

• Optical Drive: DVD RW

• TV: PVR-150 Analog Tuner Card (optional)

• Connectors: 6xUSB 2.0, 2xIEEE1394

• Works on 110 and 240 voltage

== Sales Pitch ==

LinuxMCE supports 3 variations of the user interface, as shown [http://wiki.linuxmce.com/index.php/Main_Page#Screenshots here]. The [[Fiire Station]]s are designed to be LinuxMCE media stations, and use special graphics processors and video decoders to provide the highest quality video playback, and provide alpha blending done in the hardware. However, the video subsystem in the [[Fiire Station]] is not available for use in a standard PC platform. The [[Fiire Engine]], however, uses standard PC parts.

The [[Fiire Engine]] is intended to be primarily the back-end server, while the [[Fiire Station]]s are dedicated for media playback. Therefore the [[Fiire Station]]s have more a/v connections, including component video, and SPDIF coax and optical for digital audio and surround sound.

The FiireEngine 12 TB is the main brain of our LinuxMCE solution. This is what runs all the back-end software, provides diskless boot images to the FiireStations, runs your RAID storage, phone system, home control, and so on. You need one and only one FiireEngine for the whole house. In every other room where you want LinuxMCE you add the FiireStation thin clients. The FiireEngine is built with PC components and the latest generation INTEL core 2 duo CPU. This gives the FiireEngine the processing power it needs to handle all the back-end tasks. The FiireEngine can be connected to a TV and used as a home theater PC. But, generally speaking we find most people don't want a PC connected to the TV because even with high-end fanless systems the hard drives are still audible, the PC's are big and require a shelf or rack to put them on, sa, we designed Fiire with the intention that in higher-end installations the FiireEngine would be put in a central closet out of the way and the FiireStations would be connected to the TV's. Since all devices throughout the home are shared, and every FiireStation has access to all the media and devices connected to the FiireEngine or to other FiireStations using a standard home network, there is no reason why you need to put the FiireEngine in close proximity to a TV. The FiireStations boot off the network using the FiireEngine's hard drives. The FiireStations are quiet, use very little power and generate little heat. They have specialized video processors to deliver video-phile quality high-def playback and de-interlacing of 1080i. To get started you can buy a FiireEngine by itself, which you conect to a TV and use as a HTPC, and then add FiireStations later when you want to add extra media directors.

== Where to buy ==

http://www.fiire.com/fiire-engine.php

LinuxMCE - User contributions [en]

Fiire Station

Fiire Engine