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| First, a brief history:
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| Hello. My name is Gerald Freymann and I live in Ontario, Canada.
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| I first attempted a LinuxMCE installation in March 2008, using 7.10 B4. My core machine worked like crap, one media director was OK but had a bad PVR card and the second media director caused me grief with the video card and I gave up, rather frustrated, confused and extremely disappointed.
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| Afterwards, I set up a 3 station MythBuntu system in a day, and have been tinkering with it and learning more about MythTV since then. I'm happy to say that I was able to get my MCE Transceivers working under MythBuntu. See: [http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=4527005#post4527005]
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| I then tinkered with the X10 equipment I bought but never got to use with LinuxMCE, and quite happily, did very well integrating X10 under MythBuntu both through on-screen menus and remote buttons. See: [http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=4733977#post4733977]
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| From MythBuntu 7.10 to 8.04, I've enjoyed the system and I've learned a heck of lot more! but have been keeping tabs on LinuxMCE, as it was my system of choice in the first place, I just needed another way to play with it without pressure or time constraints.
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| So, in mid-May I purchased yet another system that I figured would replace the MythBuntu core, but before I did that, I wanted to load LinuxMCE 7.10 RC2 on it, just to see how things have progressed since the 7.10 B4. I was very fortunate this time around, as things just worked! I freely goofed around, not caring if the system came crashing down, and other than tinkering with network cards that caused a fresh reload, this version just seems to work.
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| Now I'm thinking the new box will become my new LinuxMCE Hybrid/Core and I'll change the other two stations over to LinuxMCE, and be where I wanted to be a few months ago. Kewl!
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| I thought I would take this opportunity to document what equipment I am using, and what worked, and what didn't.
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| Prices are in CDN Funds and most don't include shipping, taxes or mail-in rebates.
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| '''Hybrid/Core -- June 2008 -- WORKS!''' (Still Testing today)
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| $279.99 -> AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 4600+ Socket AM2
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| -> AMD Original AM2 CPU Fan (a little noisy, not too bad)
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| -> ECS nVidia GeForce6100SM-M Motherboard
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| -> 2GB DDR II 667 Memory 240 Pin (Kingston?)
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| -> Western Digital 160GB 7200RPM 8MB Cache Serial ATA II (this was replaced by the Hitachi 500GB)
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| -> LG 20X IDE DVD RW + Dual Layer optical drive
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| -> disabled on-board nVidia GeForce 6100 as I couldn't use VGA output
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| -> Realtek ALC660 6-channel HD Audio
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| -> Onboard 10/100 Network Card (connected to my main wired/wireless Linksys Router, which is connected to DSL modem)
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| -> 6 USB 2.0 Port, 1 Parallel, 1 Serial
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| -> 1285 Deluxe Black Tower Case
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| -> 450 Watt Power Supply
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| $ 99.99 -> Hitachi 500GB Serial ATA HD, 7200/16MB/SATA-3G
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| $ 24.99 -> D-Link DGE-530T 10/100/1000 Mbps PCI Network Adapter (for the inside Network)
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| $ 48.99 -> EVGA GeForce 7200 GS 256MB (will take up to 512MB) PCIe Video card
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| $ 45.00 -> TP-Link TL-SG1008D 8-Port Gigabit Ethernet Switch (connected to internal nic in Core, rest of the internal LAN connects here)
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| '''-> various additional network cabling'''
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| $17.99 -> 2 x 25 FT CAT5e 5e Computer Ethernet Network Internet Cable
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| $ 6.99 -> 50 FT CAT5e CAT 5e Computer Ethernet PS3 Internet Cable
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| $ 6.99 -> 25 FT 8M CAT 6 Network Patch Cable
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| $ 3.99 -> 10 FT CAT5e 5e Computer Ethernet Network Internet Cable
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| '''-> various X10 equipment'''
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| $46.09
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| ->RCA X10 ActiveHome PC Interface (CM11A)
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| ->6 dimmable lamp modules (LM465)
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| ->2-way transceriver module (RR501)
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| $42.70 -> KR22A, LM15A, AM466, WS12A
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| '''-> Newly ordered, but not yet here'''
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| $117.66 -> 2 x USB-UIRTS (sold my original 2, had to buy 2 more)
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| $139.18 -> 2 x Gyration Motion Sensing Remote Control
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| '''MEDIA DIRECTOR -- March 2008 -- WORKS! (Still Testing today)'''
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| $169.99 -> AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 4200+ Socket AM2
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| -> AMD Original AM2 CPU Fan
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| -> ECS nVidia GeForce6100-SM-M Motherboard
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| -> 1GB DDR II 667 Memory 240 Pin (Kingston)
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| -> nVidia GeForce 6100 2D/3D Graphic Engine, up to 256MB Memory (disabled in favour on PCIe Video card)
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| -> Realtek ALC660 6-channel HD Audio
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| -> Onboard 10/100 Network Card (connected to Gigabit Ethernet Switch)
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| -> 6 USB 2.0 Port, 1 Parallel, 1 Serial
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| -> 1285 Delux Black Tower Case
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| -> 450 Watt Power Supply
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| $121.99 -> Hauppauge WINTV-PVR-150 MCE BNDL MPEG2 w/REMOTE
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| $39.99 -> Logitech Cordless Desktop EX110 (keyboard/mouse)
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| $54.99 -> EVGA GeForce 72000 GS 256MB (will take up to 512MB) PCIe
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| '''Hybrid/Core -- March 2008 -- FAILED TERRIBLY!'''
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| $34.91 -> Diablo X-Man Silver Gamer Case, Coolmax 400W V2.01 Power Supply
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| $360.06 -> EVGA nForce 650i Ultra Socket 775 Motherboard
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| -> EVGA GeForce 8400 GS, 512MB RAM, PCIe w/DVI-TV-OUT
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| -> Samsung 18x DVD RW SH-S183L SATA LS OEM
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| -> Seagate 250GB Serial ATA w/NCQ 7200/8MB/SATA-3G
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| -> Crucial 1024MB PC5400 DDR2 667 MHZ (2 pieces, for 2GB RAM)
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| -> Intel Pentium D 925 3Ghz DT 800FSB Socket 775
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| $102.02 -> Hauppauge WINTV-PVR-150 MCE BNDL MPEG2 w/REMOTE
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| $79.99 -> WD Caviar 500GB Serial ATA HD 7200/16MB/SATA-3G (will be moved to new core)
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| $29.99 -> Sony DRU190A 20X DVD Burner EIDE
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| $39.99 -> Logitech Cordless Desktop LX310 (keyboard/mouse)
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| $48.99 -> Gyration GO 2.4 Air Mouse, Refurbished (now on new core)
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| $30.99 -> Linksys Etherfast 10/100 5-port Switch
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| ''Items that didn't work:''
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| $ 9.99 -> Trendware 32 Bit 10/100/1000 Copper Gigabit PCI Network Card.
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| '''MINI ITX Media Center PC/Car PC FULLY LOADED -- March 2008 -- Didn't Work with 7.10 B4'''
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| I will be trying this again shortly under 7.10 RC2
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| $210.00
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| * Complete system with power adapter
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| * Via EPIA-SP 1GHZ with TV output
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| * 512MB DDR Memory
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| * 80GB Western Digital Scorpio HD
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| * LG DVD-ROM Slim
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| * 2 additional USB 2.0 ports (4 total)
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| * Dimensions: 12” x 10 ½” x 2”
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| Motherboard Specs:
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| Model Name • VIA EPIA SP13000G
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| VIA EPIA SP8000EG
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| Processor • VIA C3™/ VIA Eden™ EBGA processor
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| Chipset • VIA CN400 North Bridge
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| • VIA VT8237R-Series South Bridge
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| System Memory • 1 DDR266/333/400 DIMM socket
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| • Up to 1GB memory size
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| VGA • Integrated VIA UniChrome™ Pro AGP graphics with MPEG-2 decoder /MPEG-4 Accelerator
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| Expansion Slots • 1 PCI
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| Onboard IDE • 2 X UltraDMA 133/100 Connector
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| Onboard Serial ATA • 2 SATA Connectors
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| Onboard LAN • VIA VT6103 10/100 Base-T Ethernet PHY
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| Onboard Audio • VIA VT1617A 6channel AC'97 codec
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| Onboard TV Out • VIA VT1623M TV Encoder
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| Onboard 1394 • VIA VT6307S IEEE 1394 Firewire
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| Back Panel I/O • 1 PS2 mouse port
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| • 1 PS2 keyboard port
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| • 1 RJ-45 LAN port
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| • 1 Serial port
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| • 2 USB 2.0 ports
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| • 1 VGA port
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| • 1 PCA port (SPDIF or TV out)
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| • 1 S-video port
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| • 3 Audio jacks: line-out, line-in and mic-in (Smart 5.1 Support)
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| Onboard I/O Connectors • 3 USB connector for 6additional USB 2.0 ports
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| • 1 1394 connector for 1 1394 port
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| • 1 Serial port connector for a second com port
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| • 1 VIP connector
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| • 1 Front-panel audio connector (Mic-in and Line-out)
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| • 1 CD audio-in connector
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| • 1 FIR connector
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| • 1 CIR connector (Switchable for KB/MS)
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| • 1 LPT port connector
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| • 1 Wake-on-LAN connector
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| • 2 Fan connectors: CPU/Sys FAN
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| • 1 I2C connector
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| • 1 LVDS/TTL module connector (Optional)
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| • 1 +12V power connector
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| • ATX power connector
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| BIOS • Award BIOS
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| • 4/8Mbit flash memory
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| System Monitoring & Management • CPU voltage monitoring
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| • Wake-on-LAN, Keyboard Power-on, Timer Power-on
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| • System power management
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| • AC power failure recover
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| Operating Temperature • 0~50°C
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| Operating Humidity • 0% ~ 93% (relative humidity; non-condensing)
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| Form Factor • Mini-ITX (6 layers)
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| • 17 cm x 17 cm
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| So, that's about $2,214.00 CDN not including shipping, taxes, import fees, and mail-in rebates.
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| I purchase a lot of my equipment from:
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| -tigerdirect, See [http://www.tigerdirect.ca/indexca.asp?]
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| -future shop, See [http://www.futureshop.ca/home.asp?newlang=EN&logon=&langid=EN&dept=0&WLBS=fs-web1]
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| -ebay stores like:
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| X10 Warehouse, See [http://stores.ebay.ca/X10-WAREHOUSE]
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| LU Computers, See [http://stores.ebay.ca/LU-COMPUTERS-INC]
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| Mayco Estore, See [http://stores.ebay.ca/Mayco-Computer-Electronics-eStore_CAT-5e-CAT6-Network-Cables_W0QQcolZ4QQdirZ1QQfsubZ3QQftidZ2QQtZkm]
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| BTE Computers, See [http://stores.ebay.ca/BTEcomputer]
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| Once I do move the new core into place and set up the two media directors, I'll include details on each of the setups with pictures, describing the TV and A/V equipment used.
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