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LinuxMCE development team decided to pass version 0804 and release 0810 to synchronize with Kubuntu releases. A few days ago was announced a 0810-alpha0. It can be installed on the Kubuntu 8.10 using installation script. That approach is good if you already setup Kubuntu Intrepid and fast Internet connection.

The brief instructions show to install 0810-alpha0 can be found in the wiki. You can ask help or post bug-report on that topic on the LinuxMCE forum.

I already installed LinuxMCE 0810-alpha0 on the VMWare to play a bit. The installation passed fine from the first try. I didn’t have a time to play with it. Will do it tomorrow.

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I decided to build a new LinuxMCE hybrid core for my home installation. I spent a lot of time to find a right hardware for it. The most difficult thing was a case. It isn’t so easy to find something nice looking, not so big, with reasonable price and possibility to ship on Cyprus.

Finally I found Nmedia HTPC 500 BA for €149.95. I like its design, size, price. Everything. But I couldn’t see any information about shipping to Cyprus (bad luck). The rest parts are following:
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Today a final version of LinuxMCE-VDR integration was officially announced. Main achievement of that release is possibility to watch different channels on the different media directors (before it was possible to watch one channel to all MDs). Additionally the stability of VDR and support of remote controls (especially MCE remote) were improved.

Pre-compiled binaries for 32- and 64-bit are available here. Inside archive you can find README file explained the process of installation of packages.

UPDATED: According to information from the LinuxMCE forum developers cleaned VDR sources. So, now original VDR source can be used to build its plug-ins.

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UI2 with overlay and resolution 1080p

Yesterday I made a few shots of ASUS P2-M2A690G. It’s really great. I found that there are actually two sound cards. One uses analog and digital outputs and another - HDMI. That means it’s possible to send audio and video via one HDMI cable!

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Yesterday I got barebone ASUS P2-M2A690G for testing as media director for LinuxMCE. That box is priced just in €100. But it’s really good: integrated ATI RadeonTM 1250 with HDMI output, S/PDIF-out (Optical) audio, slim form-factor and nice looking design.

Additionally I had Desktop Athlon 64 X2 5400+ and 2GB RAM. Installation of processor and memory took about 15 minutes (thanks to well thought-out internal design). By the way I like the quality of P2-M2A690G assembling. All wires are tied up into braid and placed around case. So, internal space looks very clear.

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