Revision as of 06:29, 28 August 2008

Company

Fiire Ltd. is an online retailer of computer equipment specifically tailored for Linux MCE. The unique products offered by Fiire Ltd. are purchased from OEM manufacture Polywell Computers.

Address

The official address for Fiire Ltd. according to invoices is:

10573 W. Pico Blvd #42

Los Angeles CA 90064

UNITED STATES

+1 (213) 325-2667

However, dealings with support staff indicates that most Fiire employees live in San Jose, California and that Fiire may not occupy an actual office.

Issues

Many Linux MCE users have experienced poor transactions with Fiire Ltd., for a plethora of reasons ranging from faulty hardware, poor support, and outright dishonesty by Fiire employees. Many customers have reported that support requests by e-mail often go unanswered, and that it is near impossible to reach a real person by phone.

Some customers have reported being overcharged on shipping in excess of $200.00. Despite this obvious oversight, no efforts by Fiire were made to correct these issues.

According to customer reports, products usually take a minimum of two weeks to ship and may take longer for certain items.

Many Fiire products have known issues that have not been addressed and are still being sold to new customers with no indication of the defect or when a fix might be available. One particular issue, where the pointer will drift on Fiire Chief remotes has caused Convergent Home Technologies to stop offering this product.

Forum references: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]

Products

You are URGED to read the issues section before making any purchases with Fiire! Additionally check the main Wiki article for the product you are looking at purchasing. Many Fiire products have seen compatability regression between Linux MCE 0704 and 0710. The Wiki articles may not have been updated to reflect this. The forums are a good source of information on current supported hardware.

Fiire 12TB

(Main article: Fiire 12TB) This is the Fiire offering for a Linux MCE Core. It is expandable up to 12,000 GB of storage in a RAID configuration.

• Supported in LinuxMCE 0710
• Supports UI2 with alpha blending (website claim, untested in real life)
• Intel E8400 Core2 Duo 3.0 GHz
• 2GB RAM
• Dual gigabit
• 7.1 HD Audio with analog, SPDIF coaxial and optical outputs

Fiire Invisible

(Main article: Fiire Invisible) Fiire offers three possible units for use as media director. The Invisible is a 2" unit with VESA mounting provisions designed to be attacked to the back of any VESA compliant display.

• Supports LinuxMCE 0710
• 1080i hardware accelerated de-interlacing
• UI2 with alpha blending (website claim, untested in real life)
• AMD BE 2400
• 1GB RAM
• 7.1 audio with SPDIF coax and digital outputs

Fiire Prestige

(Main article: Fiire Prestige) This model is available in two flavors, the base model and a "lite" model. The only difference between the two is the chassis. The lite model does not include the brushed aluminum case, the VFD display or the infrared receiver.

• Supports LinuxMCE 0710
• UI2 with alpha blending (website claim, untested in real life)
• Intel Core2 Duo E4600 2.4GHz
• 1GB RAM
• 7.1 audio with SPDIF coax and digital outputs

Fiire Chief

(Main article: Fiire Chief) The Fiire Chief is a remote specifically designed for LinuxMCE. It contains a gyroscope which allows the user to move an on-screen pointer by gesturing with the remote, similar to a Nintendo Wii controller. The Fiire Chief is based on the Gyration HTPC remote, except it contains unique firmware and labeling to perform special LinuxMCE functions (such as "Follow Me"). The Chief operates on the unlicensed 2.4 GHz frequency spectrum and does not require line of sight to control devices.

Miscellaneous

Fiire Ltd. also carries a select range of accessories and interface devices (such as Z-Wave dimmers and HDMI cables). Some of these devices require special drivers which are only available in binary form. To support the open source movement, it is recommended you purchase alternative components with open source drivers.

Discontinued Products

Fiire Engine

(Main article: Fiire Engine) This unit has been replaced with the Fiire 12TB.

• Software: LinuxMCE 1.1 (KU0704)
• User Interface: UI2 with masking
• Processor: AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+
• RAM: 1GB
• Internal Hard drive for operating system: 160 GB
• RAID storage for media: 6 external e-sata ports for external drives, or external drive cage. Drives and cage not included. Largest e-sata drive at this moment is 1,000 GB, for a total capacity of 6,000 GB or 6TB.
• Network: Dual Ethernet ports. Gigabit speed.
• Audio: Standard stereo audio
• Video: Via 890 chipset

Fiire Station

(Main article: Fiire Station) This unit is no longer sold by Fiire. The unit was based on a Via embedded system which has no OpenGL support with open source drivers. During the LinuxMCE 0704 phase, Fiire licensed binary drivers from Via that contained the necessary OpenGL implementation. In LinuxMCE 0710 the binary driver developed a computability issue that was unable to be resolved. As a result Fiire dropped this product and began offering its new line of thin media directors, the Fiire Invisible.