Archive for the 'Entertainment Area' Category

Building new LinuxMCE core/hybrid

GMC AVC M1

I already wrote about building a new LinuxMCE core/hybrid. But it was just plans. Now all parts (except new motherboard) are bought. Moreover yesterday I tried to assemble and test them. But without luck. The PC started: funs whirled and optical drive initialized. But there was not video signal. Even keyboard leads were not blinking. I connected speaker to understand what was the problem. But it kept silence. I decided to check how processor was installed. I removed cooler and when I tried to open socket it cracked. I assembled at least 5 - 7 PCs before but such situation happened the first time.

Well maybe I press to strongly when I installed cooler. But I suspect that the material of the socket was very weak. The motherboard - ASROCK ALIVENF7G-FULLHD R3.0 is not expensive. It’s just €42. So, the material is also not so good. I chose it because it has HDM_SPDIF header which allows to pass audio though HDMI out of external video card and offers possibility to get audio on the embedded DVI. But unfortunately the quality of that board very bad. I replaced it by Asus M3N78-EM AM2 GF8300 mATX. It should be delivered on Monday only. So, will idle during weekend.

Read more »

Inexpensive 3 Way Full-HD HDMI Switcher

Marmitek 3 Way Remote HDMI Switcher

Marmitek, well-known producer European X10 and Z-Wave devices, announced its new 3 WayFull-HD HDMI Switcher Connect310. It provides three HDMI 1.3 inputs and one output with supported resolutions: 480p, 576i, 576p, 720p, 1080i, 1080p. Switching between inputs is done either automatically (by signal level, I guess) or using remote control.

The 40EUR Marmitek’s HDMI switcher Connect310 is an inexpensive way to connect more HD devices to your TV. So, if your TV doesn’t have enough HDMI inputs or you have a big number of HD devices Connect310 might really help you to enjoy HD content on your TV.

[via AutomatedHome]

Build XBMC/Boxee under Fedora 9

XBMC

I left the LinuxMCE core/hybrid and didn’t assemble the new one yet. So, I use my laptop or old desktop to watch movies. With desktop is everything fine. It run Kubuntu 0804 and I installed there Boxee - nice looking, social media center software. But there is Fedora 9 on my laptop and Boxee doesn’t offer binaries for it. There is an only one way to install Boxee from the source.

I found nice tutorial which explains how to install XBMC on Fedora 9. Since Boxee is based on XBMC I tried to use it to build Boxee. But without luck. By some reason the xbmc.bin wasn’t created.

Then I tried to build XBMC using recommendations from that tutorial. Finally I did it. XBMC is run under Fedora 9 without any problems. Will try to build Boxee again as well. Maybe the second time will be successful.

UPDATE: Finally I built Boxee under Fedora 10 (for 9 should be the same). The trick is that. Instead of running make install after make finishes the script make-boxee.sh should be run. I didn’t adjust it for Fedora 10 and it gave me a lot of warnings. But as result I was able run Boxee successfully.

UPDATE2: There is a problem with Boxee under Fedora 10. Instead of playback I see the fast-forward. Also Boxee crashes with Segmentation Fault very often. Will try to build with the fresh sources tonight.

Mythbuntu 8.10

Mythbuntu logo

A few days after Ubunru 8.10 was released the Mythbunru 8.10 came out. The main features of that release are following:

  • Mythbuntu-log-grabber - This app grabs specific log files into a single area and can upload them to pastebin for easy troubleshooting
  • Auto Partitioner now creates a XFS filesystem for recordings
  • Mousepad, a GUI editor is now installed by default (similar to gedit)
  • Wubi now supports Mythbuntu
  • Apple trailer plugin is now packaged and available
  • Website now has link to Mythbuntu in the news
  • New Mythbuntu-testing PPA at https://launchpad.net/~mythbuntu-testing/+archive (contains some packages for gutsy, hardy, and intrepid)

The full release note for the Mythbuntu 8.10 is available here, download instructions here, bugs can be reported here.

Personally I don’t use MythTV (my favourite PVR software is VDR). But I see that it’ll have at least two competitors in the nearest future: XBMC and Boxee. Both look very attractive. The only one important missed feature is PVR. But it’s gonna be implemented soon.

[via MythTV News]

Sonos Controller for iPhone

Sonos iPhone

Sonos, a producer of will-known multi-room wireless music system, just announced its controller for iPhone/iPod Touch. That controller offers a full control over the system. So, you can avoid buying of expensive Sonos Controller CR100 or use iPhone as additional controller.

The Sonos Controller for iPhone can be downloaded from the iTune store without any charges.

[via AutomatedHome]

« Previous PageNext Page »

Close
E-mail It