Schaeff, I think it would be a waste a time to try to start from scratch. I have been looking around at quite a few projects. Currently there is xawtv (tv viewer), xmltv(tv guide), mplayer(media player), etc. I just wanna have a cool User Interface that interacts with these programs. But we still need coders. Also, In case someone doesnt wanna hook the unit to their tv I think we should have a little lcd on the unit itself to control it (with a remote).
If anyone is interested, the mainboard i'm gonna be using is at http://www.navada.com.au/shop/itemDetail.dbm?id=MBASA7N266VM
It's the ASUS A7N266-VM Video Sound Lan AGP Slot DDR Mainboard and it's cheap (only $138.30AUD). Except my player, when finished will be used in conjunction with a video projector and thus I don't require a tv-out. Also the digital out for the sound will be plugged into a hi-fi reciever, therefor I won't require a 5.1 soundcard either (5.1 soundcards just have kind of an in-built reciever for use with a computer 5.1 speaker system.)
It's the ASUS A7N266-VM Video Sound Lan AGP Slot DDR Mainboard and it's cheap (only $138.30AUD). Except my player, when finished will be used in conjunction with a video projector and thus I don't require a tv-out. Also the digital out for the sound will be plugged into a hi-fi reciever, therefor I won't require a 5.1 soundcard either (5.1 soundcards just have kind of an in-built reciever for use with a computer 5.1 speaker system.)
Morien said:
An excellent choice. Thsi is one great motherboard which offers very good memory performance with excellent graphics and sound capabilities. I have used about 7 of these in computer systems and am completely convinced that it offers giant-killer performance at a show-stopping price...
It is a little large, because it is in micro-ATX format, so you will not be able to go into super-small cases, also you'll have to carefully plan the cooling. Some Athlon coolers can drown out a rock concert...
Smeven said:
This is what I was hoping you would say. I too think it would be a HUGE waste of time to re-write a bunch of stuff that already exists. Just put a pretty wrapper on them so that they can all be controlled from one location.
I also agree that you want to look at an LCD with remote. Most people aren't going to want to go to their mouse to click things. (I would say for the GUI, think along the lines of DVD players)
Are you sure C is the way to go with wrappering a bunch of programs? As much as I hate it, TCL can be used to quickly put a unified GUI on a bunch of scripts. (Or better yet, java shouldn't be too hard to get a pretty GUI and shell commands working with) I just think you'll find doing C with X to be a big pain in the behind. (And just to give you an idea where I'm coming from, I know C like the back of my hand, hate TCL with a passion, and am just discovering java)
P.S. - And I'm a computer programmer in real life as well. (No, I'm not trying to sound big and impressive, just that I'm not talking out my butt)
I have read some of the posts in this thread and I hope I can contribute with some ideas.
About the cpu and cooling requirements, I would suggest to buy a nice cheap AMD Duron 1300 Mhz cpu and use the motherboard bios to underclock it, so it will produce a lot less heat. This way you can get good performance for for you money (this cpu costs only euro 59 in the Netherlands).
Another thing you can do is replace the standard cooler by a Papst fan. These are a bit expensive, but produce only 12 or so DB's with an airflow of 30 m3/h.
About the cpu and cooling requirements, I would suggest to buy a nice cheap AMD Duron 1300 Mhz cpu and use the motherboard bios to underclock it, so it will produce a lot less heat. This way you can get good performance for for you money (this cpu costs only euro 59 in the Netherlands).
Another thing you can do is replace the standard cooler by a Papst fan. These are a bit expensive, but produce only 12 or so DB's with an airflow of 30 m3/h.
Schaef said:One last thing, gigatron, you have repeatedly said the C3 sucks, which one are you talking about? VIA currently has two mini-itx boards with the C3, one at about 500 Mhz and one at around 800Mhz, and the price difference is around $10! I can view DIVXmovies on my Athlon 500 just fine, so the 800Mhz should be able to handle it as well. But it all depends what else you're putting in there as well.
Hi
The C3 doas not do the same amount of work per mhz of your AMD. A C3 700mhz is about the same speed of a celeron 400mhz.
sangram said:
And a P4 costs 2 to 3 times as much as the celeron. (Not even taking the RAM into account)
A couple of things, I just double-checked the mini-itx site, and VIA is getting ready to release a new generation that looks like it will fit the bill of what you guys want. Also, you guys do realize there are two different C3 boards currently available, right? There's the 533Mhz one, and there's an 800Mhz one. The price difference between the two is negligible, so I'd go for the 800Mhz instead of the other one.
Also, the site has a review of a hardware decompression card from RealMagic that might be enough to get what you want from the current generation! I don't know about Linux support for it yet, (I'm just now reading the review) but it looks promising!
Actually I know I was talking about the 800MHz C3, it was pure crap, the DVD playback was jitterish and the divx playback was OK when set to minimum quality :/ I dont think we wont that now :/ I wouldnt mind a little bit of 'noise' with one fan however... I would stay away from the C3 variants, I did see a nice P4 and AMD mini-tx solution (its one of the boards that was reviewed with a gf4 ti4600 inside and a network card)
Heatsink case
I searched the printable version of this thread, but didn't find any mention of the avsforum... I'd guess you're all aware of it, but, if not, it's an excellent resource for this kind of work (www.avsforum.com - look through the home theater computers area). There's also a sub-forum in the htpc area for linux boxes, porting dscaler, etc.
Also, as far as reducing fans, noise, etc. there's a nice little 3RU case coming out soon which is designed specifically for htpc use - http://www.atechfabrication.com/products/HTPC_case.htm with optional IR receiver and VFD module. It accepts full-size ATX, but only uses two 70mm case fans with a P4.
I searched the printable version of this thread, but didn't find any mention of the avsforum... I'd guess you're all aware of it, but, if not, it's an excellent resource for this kind of work (www.avsforum.com - look through the home theater computers area). There's also a sub-forum in the htpc area for linux boxes, porting dscaler, etc.
Also, as far as reducing fans, noise, etc. there's a nice little 3RU case coming out soon which is designed specifically for htpc use - http://www.atechfabrication.com/products/HTPC_case.htm with optional IR receiver and VFD module. It accepts full-size ATX, but only uses two 70mm case fans with a P4.
Well I tryed not to be boastful or anoying however no one seems to be responding on that forum, I am assuming its cause i didnt post in the linux forum I hope to have it moved however... I just posted what my intent is and asked in a sense what hardware i should go with (since it seems alot of the people on there build these systems and they call them home theatre pc projects)
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=178810
They dont seem to be responding :/ I am basicly reiterating what i said in earlier posts but I don't quite want to go too far with things like recording etc... I just wish to build a player for myeslf and share in the future with others how I did it :/
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=178810
They dont seem to be responding :/ I am basicly reiterating what i said in earlier posts but I don't quite want to go too far with things like recording etc... I just wish to build a player for myeslf and share in the future with others how I did it :/
I read your post at avsforum.com. I think no one is responding because, aside from the quick start-up, your project is a little low-tech. HTPC specs, control GUIs (including programmable remotes, like the Pronto and tablet PCs) and software (like media jukebox) already exist which do what you seem to want to do. The fast start-up isn't much of an enticement to most, because most leave their computers running 24/7. Please have a closer look at the Meta FAQ and the Recommended Components threads to understand what that forum is all about.
hey gigatron:
Think any of the software used over at http://www.dashpc.com/ would suit your needs?
Think any of the software used over at http://www.dashpc.com/ would suit your needs?
Hey I went there already, however thanks again, I am still sorta gathering information. When I started I thaught no one even came to the conclusion of building such a device... turns out TOO many people do this Which is I guess a good thing, for now I will snoop around the AVS Forum and see what they are all up to when it comes to these kinda projects. When I get some interesting info I'll jump back in here and post something
Also DC which Meta FAQ do you speak of, I swear that like slipped my mind (maybe I actually read it not sure what you are talking about though). I wana gather all the information I can gather prior to beginning the purchasing process Thats the easy part heh
Which is I guess a good thing, for now I will snoop around the AVS Forum and see what they are all up to when it comes to these kinda projects. When I get some interesting info I'll jump back in here and post something Also DC which Meta FAQ do you speak of, I swear that like slipped my mind (maybe I actually read it not sure what you are talking about though). I wana gather all the information I can gather prior to beginning the purchasing process
Thats the easy part hehI applaud your desire to use Linux, but, for now, for htpc, I think it's hard to escape M$ - there are just too many 3rd party peripherals without Linux drivers.... Hopefully, it won't always be that way.
Here's the FAQ to which I referred: Meta FAQ
Also, if you're interested in audio quality (which it definitely sounds like you are, given the equipment you listed) you might want to have a look at audio cards from M-Audio, LynxTwo, RME Hammerfall and EgoSys. If you can get the DACs out of the box (M-Audio Delta 1010, for example), quality will go up even further, to the point that it would seriously compete with audiophile quality stand-alone DACs. Also, it's my personal opinion that once Windows Media 9 goes public, M-Audio will come out with some new cards (I think the 1010, their flagship card, is about 2-3 years old, now). I also think DVD-A decoding software will be coming along soon, now.
For video, as long as you're making the box, why not look into DScaler, TheaterTek or MyHD?
Happy reading, and best of luck with your project.
brad
Here's the FAQ to which I referred: Meta FAQ
Also, if you're interested in audio quality (which it definitely sounds like you are, given the equipment you listed) you might want to have a look at audio cards from M-Audio, LynxTwo, RME Hammerfall and EgoSys. If you can get the DACs out of the box (M-Audio Delta 1010, for example), quality will go up even further, to the point that it would seriously compete with audiophile quality stand-alone DACs. Also, it's my personal opinion that once Windows Media 9 goes public, M-Audio will come out with some new cards (I think the 1010, their flagship card, is about 2-3 years old, now). I also think DVD-A decoding software will be coming along soon, now.
For video, as long as you're making the box, why not look into DScaler, TheaterTek or MyHD?
Happy reading, and best of luck with your project.
brad
Its really late right now been doing some reading here and there, I just noticed you posted a reply, I will read those links you gave me and look into those cards, thank you very much. I am back from my scavenger hunt and I come back with some very interesting info.
Believe it or not there are projects like this that even use DOS! Yes you hear me right, DOS! I was unable to get it all to function unfortunately, I need more time to fiddle with it and I couldn't fit entirely everything I wanted on a floppy.. so I'll continue that little journey BUT I wish to post my findings:
I was looking through my bookmarks and came upon this http://www.opus.co.tt/dave/index.htm To my great surprise there was a divx player for dos! I was extremely excited of the find, I also noticed mp3/ogg/ac3/etc... players. Very interseting food for the inventive mind, however I was unable to get it to work under DOS nor little emulated windows dos window. I need to make a little partition to fiddle with it some more.
From that site I looked into two distinct projects:
http://www.multimediaware.com/qv/index.html Quickview the audio/video player which I might add is being ported to linux (intersting project to watch).
http://mpxplay.cjb.net/ The interesting little audio player.
Unfortunately I had lack of luck to get it to work
Regarding windows, honestly I really want to push towards Linux however I wish to remain open minded and not scratch out any possibilities, heck I even got excited over using DOS I'll post some more of my little replies tomorrow when I wake up. Thanks again friend
Edit: OMG Meta FAQ = own. I have a lot of reading to do
Wow thats awesome! I better go to sleep *falls on keyboard*
Believe it or not there are projects like this that even use DOS! Yes you hear me right, DOS! I was unable to get it all to function unfortunately, I need more time to fiddle with it and I couldn't fit entirely everything I wanted on a floppy.. so I'll continue that little journey BUT I wish to post my findings:
I was looking through my bookmarks and came upon this http://www.opus.co.tt/dave/index.htm To my great surprise there was a divx player for dos! I was extremely excited of the find, I also noticed mp3/ogg/ac3/etc... players. Very interseting food for the inventive mind, however I was unable to get it to work under DOS nor little emulated windows dos window. I need to make a little partition to fiddle with it some more.
From that site I looked into two distinct projects:
http://www.multimediaware.com/qv/index.html Quickview the audio/video player which I might add is being ported to linux (intersting project to watch).
http://mpxplay.cjb.net/ The interesting little audio player.
Unfortunately I had lack of luck to get it to work
Regarding windows, honestly I really want to push towards Linux however I wish to remain open minded and not scratch out any possibilities, heck I even got excited over using DOS
I'll post some more of my little replies tomorrow when I wake up. Thanks again friendEdit: OMG Meta FAQ = own. I have a lot of reading to do
Wow thats awesome! I better go to sleep *falls on keyboard*- Status
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