Difference between revisions of "User:PaulColby"

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(→‎Laputa (MD))
(→‎Unnamed 2 (MD))
 
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Here are some links to pages within this wiki that I like to refer to often, and/or have trouble re-locating when I do want to refer to them.
 
Here are some links to pages within this wiki that I like to refer to often, and/or have trouble re-locating when I do want to refer to them.
 
* [[Display Drivers]]
 
* [[Display Drivers]]
 +
* [[DVD Install And Custom Partitions]]
  
 
== Hardware ==
 
== Hardware ==
Line 17: Line 18:
 
| [[Gigabyte GA-622-32C]]
 
| [[Gigabyte GA-622-32C]]
 
| nVidia TNT2 32MB - supports UI2 (medium)
 
| nVidia TNT2 32MB - supports UI2 (medium)
 +
|-
 +
| TV Tuner 1
 +
| [[LifeView FlyVideo 98FM]]
 +
| Works, except for FM tuner.
 +
|-
 +
| TV Tuner 2
 +
| [[MachSpeed MachTV]]
 +
| Works, except for FM tuner.
 
|}
 
|}
  
−
== Laputa (MD) ==
+
=== Laputa (MD) ===
 
Laputa is my wife's desktop PC, but by disabling the harddrives (via the BIOS), and enabling [[Automatic diskless boot of media directors|LAN booting]], it makes a decent temporary [[Media Directors|media director]] to play with.
 
Laputa is my wife's desktop PC, but by disabling the harddrives (via the BIOS), and enabling [[Automatic diskless boot of media directors|LAN booting]], it makes a decent temporary [[Media Directors|media director]] to play with.
 
{|border="1"
 
{|border="1"
Line 30: Line 39:
 
| Graphics Card
 
| Graphics Card
 
| [[Asus V8440]]
 
| [[Asus V8440]]
−
| ''n''Vidia GeForce4 Ti 4400
+
| ''n''Vidia GeForce4 Ti 4400 - so far, have been unable to get UI2 working
 
|}
 
|}
 +
 +
=== Unnamed 1 (MD) ===
 +
A [[Media Directors|media director]] currently in the process of being build out of spare parts.  So far, this MD is not capable of faultless playback... it has some obvious frame-drop when streaming DVD ISO's from the server.
 +
{|border="1"
 +
! Component !! Model !! Notes
 +
|-
 +
| Motherboard
 +
| [[Compaq UWAVE]]
 +
| A Compaq OEM version of the [[FIC AZ31]] motherboard.
 +
|-
 +
| CPU
 +
| [[AMD Athlon]] 1800+ [http://www.cpu-world.com/CPUs/K7/AMD-Athlon%20XP%201800+%20-%20AXDA1800DLT3C.html AXDA1800DLT3C]
 +
| A 1.53GHz processor, underclocked to 1.15GHz (because the motherboard does not support 133MHz FSB).
 +
|-
 +
| Graphics Card
 +
| [[Asus TNT2-Vanta]] rev 1.00
 +
| ''n''Vidia TNT2 Vanta
 +
|-
 +
| Network
 +
| [[3Com 3c905c-tx-m]]
 +
| Managed 10/100 NIC with PXE LAN boot BIOS
 +
|-
 +
| Audio
 +
| [[Terratec DMX|Terratec DMX 1.1]], with optional Digital Xtension
 +
| Has coaxial and optical in and out... analog works fine out of the box, but I've been unable to get either coaxial or optical out to work - possibly due to a faulty daughter-card though?
 +
|-
 +
| DVD Drive
 +
| [[Pioneer DVD-115]]
 +
| 16x
 +
|}
 +
 +
=== Unnamed 2 (MD) ===
 +
A new [[Media Directors|media director]], destined to be my main home theatre machine.
 +
{|border="1"
 +
! Component !! Model !! Notes
 +
|-
 +
| Motherboard
 +
| [[MSI MS-7411|MSI Media Live DIVA (MS-7411)]]
 +
| AM2.
 +
|-
 +
| CPU
 +
| [[AMD Athlon]] X2 3800+ [http://products.amd.com/en-us/DesktopCPUDetail.aspx?id=65 ADD3800IAA5CU]
 +
| A special low-power (35W) dual-core Athlon 64.
 +
|-
 +
| CPU Cooler
 +
| [http://www.noiselimit.com/sw/frontend/show.asp?parent=168346&layout=0 SILENTFLUX Media]
 +
|
 +
|-
 +
| Graphics Card
 +
| [http://www.cluboc.net/reviews/video/sapphire/hd4550/page1.asp Sapphire Radeon HD 4550]?
 +
| With component (YPbPr) output.
 +
|-
 +
| Network
 +
|
 +
| Gigabit.
 +
|-
 +
| Audio
 +
|
 +
| S/PDIF
 +
|-
 +
| DVD Drive
 +
|
 +
|
 +
|-
 +
| Case
 +
| Silver [http://www.lian-li.com/v2/en/product/product06.php?pr_index=220&cl_index=1&sc_index=25&ss_index=64 Lian Li PC-C37]
 +
| Available late July, 2008?
 +
|}
 +
 +
=== mini-ITX MD (future) ===
 +
Like many others, I'd love to use a [[mini-ITX]] [[Media Director|MD]]... possibly VIA EPIA based.  But searching around the net (and this site), there seems to be no definitive answer to the question of performance.  So, I've decided to just go ahead and build one as parts become available... fingers crossed ;)
 +
 +
==== Motherboard ====
 +
For a mini-ITX [[Media Director|MD]], the choice of motherboard is perhaps even more crucial than it is for other [[Media Director|MD]] platforms - mainly because all (or very nearly all) hardware should be built into the motherboard itself.
 +
 +
So, with that in mind, here is a list of things that the mini-ITX motherboard should support (feel free to add suggestions, and/or make comments):
 +
* a CPU - obviously!  See the following [[#CPU|CPU section below]] for more details.
 +
* a graphics card with OpenGL support.
 +
* video output - ideally HDMI, or component video, though S-Video at the very least.
 +
* S/PDIF audio output.
 +
* LAN - at least 100MB/s, but 1GB/s would be ideal.
 +
* at least one RS232 communications port to connect to my Onkyo receiver.
 +
 +
Well, that list may well be a pretty tall order for such a tiny board... we shall see.
 +
 +
==== CPU ====
 +
The CPU should be very low power - ideally fanless.  So, perhaps one the higher VIA Eden processors?
 +
 +
== Scratchpad ==
 +
Just for testing wiki-formatting...
 +
{{Test3
 +
| brand = with model
 +
| model = test2
 +
}}
 +
{{Test3
 +
| brand = without model
 +
}}

Latest revision as of 01:09, 21 November 2008

Having been very impressed by the LinuxMCE Video, I have begun playing with my own LinuxMCE system... I will record my rough thoughts and findings here, and move the relevant ones into the appropriate main pages as they become more than just random notes ;)

My LinuxMCE Wiki Bookmarks

Here are some links to pages within this wiki that I like to refer to often, and/or have trouble re-locating when I do want to refer to them.

Hardware

Core / Hybrid Server

Component Model Notes
Motherboard Gigabyte GA-K8U-939
Graphics Card Gigabyte GA-622-32C nVidia TNT2 32MB - supports UI2 (medium)
TV Tuner 1 LifeView FlyVideo 98FM Works, except for FM tuner.
TV Tuner 2 MachSpeed MachTV Works, except for FM tuner.

Laputa (MD)

Laputa is my wife's desktop PC, but by disabling the harddrives (via the BIOS), and enabling LAN booting, it makes a decent temporary media director to play with.

Component Model Notes
Motherboard MSI MS-7061 Supports LAN booting
Graphics Card Asus V8440 nVidia GeForce4 Ti 4400 - so far, have been unable to get UI2 working

Unnamed 1 (MD)

A media director currently in the process of being build out of spare parts. So far, this MD is not capable of faultless playback... it has some obvious frame-drop when streaming DVD ISO's from the server.

Component Model Notes
Motherboard Compaq UWAVE A Compaq OEM version of the FIC AZ31 motherboard.
CPU AMD Athlon 1800+ AXDA1800DLT3C A 1.53GHz processor, underclocked to 1.15GHz (because the motherboard does not support 133MHz FSB).
Graphics Card Asus TNT2-Vanta rev 1.00 nVidia TNT2 Vanta
Network 3Com 3c905c-tx-m Managed 10/100 NIC with PXE LAN boot BIOS
Audio Terratec DMX 1.1, with optional Digital Xtension Has coaxial and optical in and out... analog works fine out of the box, but I've been unable to get either coaxial or optical out to work - possibly due to a faulty daughter-card though?
DVD Drive Pioneer DVD-115 16x

Unnamed 2 (MD)

A new media director, destined to be my main home theatre machine.

Component Model Notes
Motherboard MSI Media Live DIVA (MS-7411) AM2.
CPU AMD Athlon X2 3800+ ADD3800IAA5CU A special low-power (35W) dual-core Athlon 64.
CPU Cooler SILENTFLUX Media
Graphics Card Sapphire Radeon HD 4550? With component (YPbPr) output.
Network Gigabit.
Audio S/PDIF
DVD Drive
Case Silver Lian Li PC-C37 Available late July, 2008?

mini-ITX MD (future)

Like many others, I'd love to use a mini-ITX MD... possibly VIA EPIA based. But searching around the net (and this site), there seems to be no definitive answer to the question of performance. So, I've decided to just go ahead and build one as parts become available... fingers crossed ;)

Motherboard

For a mini-ITX MD, the choice of motherboard is perhaps even more crucial than it is for other MD platforms - mainly because all (or very nearly all) hardware should be built into the motherboard itself.

So, with that in mind, here is a list of things that the mini-ITX motherboard should support (feel free to add suggestions, and/or make comments):

  • a CPU - obviously! See the following CPU section below for more details.
  • a graphics card with OpenGL support.
  • video output - ideally HDMI, or component video, though S-Video at the very least.
  • S/PDIF audio output.
  • LAN - at least 100MB/s, but 1GB/s would be ideal.
  • at least one RS232 communications port to connect to my Onkyo receiver.

Well, that list may well be a pretty tall order for such a tiny board... we shall see.

CPU

The CPU should be very low power - ideally fanless. So, perhaps one the higher VIA Eden processors?

Scratchpad

Just for testing wiki-formatting...

{{{name}}}
[[Image:|225px| ]]
Brand with model
Model test2|no model}}
Artist {{{artist}}}

{{#if:|<tr><th>Born</th><td>{{{born}}}</td></tr> }}{{#if:|<tr><th>Died</th><td>{{{died}}}</td></tr> }}

{{{name}}}
[[Image:|225px| ]]
Brand without model
Model [[{{{model}}}]]|no model}}
Artist {{{artist}}}

{{#if:|<tr><th>Born</th><td>{{{born}}}</td></tr> }}{{#if:|<tr><th>Died</th><td>{{{died}}}</td></tr> }}

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