[ale] Any Media PC Experience

[James Sumners]

On Sun, Jan 24, 2010 at 11:28 AM, Marc Ferguson <marcferguson at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi All,
> My wife and I are considering to build a media PC. We're really excited
> about it and I'd like to see if you all have any experience with it. So far
> this is what we're considering.
> - No cable

I have the ability to record OTA via a pcHDTV 5500[1], but I don't. I
have too many trees in the way for a reliable signal year round. Most
of my stuff comes from the network that shall be unnamed.

> - some sort of homebrew machine (looking for parts on Newegg.com)

My parts list:
* 350W Sparkle PSU
* MSI NX8500-GT passively cooled video card (tends to over heat every
couple months)
* Silverstone LC17-B case
* AVS Gear GP-IR02BK remote (solely for a cheap IR receiver)
* 20x DVD+/-RW
* 4GB RAM
* Athlon 64 X2 4000+ 65W (maybe 45W)
* GIGABYTE GA-MA69G-S3H motherboard
* 1x1TB + 1x250GB HDs (Western Digital)
* Logitech Harmony 550 remote

> - Ubuntu

I prefer Arch Linux for this scenario. The base system doesn't have
all overhead that most other distros have. It doesn't start with a
ridiculous number of daemons, and the only packages installed are the
ones needed to boot and get started. It lets you install _only_ the
packages you need for the system you are building.

If you decide to go with Arch, and a 64-bit system, I have a fairly
up-to-date repository located at [2].

Also, I have a very basic X login program at [3]. It's currently named
"mythlogin" since I use MythTV. If I ever get around to writing my own
media manager so I can drop MythTV, this will likely get renamed.
Anyway, it merely launches whatever X app you tell it to launch with
the appropriate user privileges. So if the user has access to the
/dev/rtc device then he will actually be able to use it. Also, MythTV
can only elevate itself to a "real time" process if the user is
properly authenticated. See [4] for a bit more information.

> - Boxee or XMBC or MyTV (not sure, but I think we're liking Boxee the most)

I use MythTV because it is very configurable. Since the videos I watch
are all x264 MKVs, I have Myth configured to use MPlayer as the video
player. I then have a rather sweet MPlayer conf that has OSD support,
audio/video sync operations, and sane skip forward/backward settings.

I also have VLC Player for DVD playing, but I don't use it that often.
Mostly when I want to watch a PAL disc.

> - HD Homerun (http://www.silicondust.com/products/hdhomerun_atsc)
> - Playstation 3 (don't have it yet, but soon)

If the machine you are building is meant to be a backend, this could
be a good frontend. I have a PS3 Slim which doesn't support Linux. So
I can't test that theory. I just have a MythTV box that is both a
backend and a frontend.

> - 46+" HDTV (don't have it yet, but soon)

The nice thing about my video card is that it support HDMI out.
However, I have never been able to get audio to send through the HDMI
cable even though the most recent nVidia drivers are supposed to
support it. So I use the TOSLink out on my motherboard for sound.


[1] -- http://www.pchdtv.com/hd_5500.html
[2] -- http://archlinux.roomfullofmirrors.com/
[3] -- http://jrfom.com/code.php
[4] -- http://jrfom.com/326



-- 
James Sumners
http://james.roomfullofmirrors.com/

"All governments suffer a recurring problem: Power attracts
pathological personalities. It is not that power corrupts but that it
is magnetic to the corruptible. Such people have a tendency to become
drunk on violence, a condition to which they are quickly addicted."

Missionaria Protectiva, Text QIV (decto)
CH:D 59