Ubuntu for Home Media Server?

linux_0

Splendid
Check out http://www.mythbuntu.org/, http://www.mythdora.com/ http://mysettopbox.tv/knoppmyth.html, ubuntu 8.04 desktop and Fedora 8/9

Try them all and see which one you like best :)

You probably shouldn't use Ubuntu server, it is designed for servers ( not ideal for home theater ).

Make sure all your parts are Linux compatible and supported by your distribution before you commit to a motherboard, CPU and VGA.

The onboard audio, video and LAN can sometimes cause issues regardless of what operating system you pick be it linux, winblows, or whatever ;)

The atom is pretty new and this may cause compatibility issues.

GL :)
 

linux_0

Splendid
You might have a situation where distroA works flawlessly, distroB doesn't even boot, distroC works but several devices are not be recognized and distroD works perfectly but a single yet important device, such as the VGA, has issues.

Fortunately most desktop distributions patch / upgrade quite frequently so something that doesn't work today may work in a few weeks.

Then again if the hardware vendors are not being cooperative it may take a bit longer.

Hey at least you won't be subjected to windoze driver hell ;)
 

amdfangirl

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Ambassador


The atom retains the same integrated graphics, audio, lan and etc. of the 945 series ie. there's a GMA 950 there... I don't think there will be many issues with it...
 

Pyroflea

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Well I'm considering going with Ubuntu, but Fedora 9 is also being considered. I've tried both, so I'm just trying to figure out which I like better. Ubuntu is looking more likely right now though. Is there any reason I should choose one or the other? Or is it down to preference?



How does Mythbuntu/Mythdora/Knoppmyth differ from Ubuntu/Fedora/Knoppix?
 

bmouring

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I imagine looking at the proposed parts, you plan on making a system for serving up media to other machines over the network, correct? If so, what are these machines like (i.e. are they full PC's, set-top media "receivers" like those from ASUS, other)?

Basically, how are you going to be pushing data around (streaming it, sending over SMB/CIFS, sending over NFS, other)? For a traditional media (storage) server, this machine is more than capable and a traditional or server-oriented distro is a fine choice. If you choose to use this as either a HTPC (what I think linux_0 was going with) or as a "streaming" server, this setup will likely need some bolstering to perform how you're expecting it to, but also would favor a "myth" distro. For information on MythTV, check out the MythTV homepage.

And as amdfangirl pointed out, the early releases of the Atom systems will use Intel 945/ICH7 combos (which is kinda odd since they're fairly power-hungry, especially when compared to the consumption of the processor itself, but I guess that's what was needed to get it out there and get mindshare for the product), so Linux support should be fine.
 

Pyroflea

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For now (now being key) I plan on just using it as kinda a PVR for my TV, but eventually (once I move out in a couple years) I'm planning on having all of my (and probably room mate's) computers able to get media (movies, music, etc) as well as use it as a PVR.
 

Pyroflea

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Confirmation?

EDIT: With the MythTV program, can you use it as a PVR also if you were to have a TV Tuner card?
 

Pyroflea

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Okay, some more thought has gone into this, and I'm thinking of just installing Ubuntu (I have a CD for it at home) and then installing MythTV (have the .iso on my flash drive here). With Mythbuntu, can you use it as you can with Ubuntu, or is it just the MythTV part that is usable (sorry if this isn't making sense, worked all day and have a few beer in me :p)? Thanks.
 

linux_0

Splendid
The *myth distributions have myth pre-installed and configured, most regular distributions do not.

MythTV is great but it may be a little tricky to install from scratch if you haven't done it before.

Theoretically all you have to do it "apt-get install mythtv" or find it under Add/Remove Software.

But you may need to do more to get it work the way you want it to.

GL :)
 

Pyroflea

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Alright, few quick questions:

1) What exactly is the "i386" build of Mythbuntu?
1.5) What is the difference between "Direct Desktop Download" and "Direct Desktop md5sum Download"?

*Irrelevant Question Warning*

2) What is the difference between Ubuntu, Xubuntu, and Kubuntu?
 

linux_0

Splendid
<geek>

0.

i386 is the 32bit version

amd64 is the 64bit AMD64 and x86_64 version, amd64 and x86_64 are usually interchangeable.

The 64bit version is faster than the 32bit on all AMD64s and I believe all non-P4 64bit Intel CPUs. On P4s with 64bit support 64bit is actually slower.

The amd64 version can run both 32bit and 64bit software. 64bit will run faster than 32bit, 32bit will run as fast as it normally would on all platforms with proper 64bit support.

If you are going to run on an AMD64 CPU or an Intel Core* then you are better off running 64bit and installing both the 32bit and 64bit libraries.

Some proprietary software only comes in 32bit versions, this includes flash player and most windows codecs so you will need a 32bit firefox and media player software with support for 32bit codecs.


0.5 "Direct Desktop Download" is the ISO CD image that you can burn to CD to install from.

"Direct Desktop md5sum Download" is the md5 checksum used to verify your ISO was not corrupted during the download and that it is the genuine ISO and not an altered one.

The md5sum does not actually contain the ISO just the checksum.

Normally you would download both the ISO and the md5 and sha1 checksums and the accompanying PGP/GPG signature file.

Some distributions make the md5, sha1 checksums available along with the signature for better security.

Checking the sums and the signatures only takes a few seconds on Unix / cygwin and is a very good idea.

To check the md5sum / sha1sum and signature if one is available on Unix systems you would run:

Code:
md5sum filename.iso

sha1sum filename.iso

# missing step download and import the PGP/GPG key following the instructions provided by the distribution

gpg --verify filename.sig filename.iso


On windows http://www.openoffice.org/dev_docs/using_md5sums.html the firefox plugin may not work with the new versions of firefox also you can use cygwin on windows to install the open source md5sum, sha1sum and gpg.


1. If I am not mistaken Ubuntu uses Gnome, Xubuntu XFCE and Kubuntu KDE.

http://www.gnome.org/

http://www.xfce.org/

http://www.kde.org/

These are different GUIs / desktop environments for Linux. Linux is all about choice and there are others as well so you can customize your system to death if you are so inclined. http://xwinman.org/ has some neat examples of what you could use.

On Redhat and Redhat like distributions you can easily install all 3 at the same time and they will coexist peacefully. Ubuntu decided to split them up although you can still run Gnome apps on KDE and KDE apps on Gnome, etc.


GL :)

</geek>
 

Pyroflea

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Wow! You. Are. The. Best. :)

EDIT: (Oops, was too amazed with your vast knowledge to ask yet ANOTHER question:)). So, even though I am running a Core2Duo, it would be more beneficial to run the AMD64 version over the i386 version?
 

linux_0

Splendid
Hehe, thanks :)

Definitely! Core2 has much better 64bit support than previous intel CPUs.

If you had a 64bit P4 the answer would be no, unless the 64bit benefits outweighed the performance penalty which is about 5-10%.

Ubuntu calls their 64bit version "amd64", whereas most other distributions use "x86_64" to identify their 64bit versions, this can lead to some confusion.

As I said earlier amd64 and x86_64 usually mean the exact same thing.

For some historical background, AMD developed the 64bit x86 architecture and called it x86_64 aka amd64. Intel later adopted x86_64 and their marketing department originally called it EM64T and later renamed it Intel 64 in an effort to match AMD.

This is where is gets confusing! Intel also has IA64 which is a completely different architecture and should not be confused with x86_64. IA64 and x86_64 are not compatible.

If you see IA64 downloads avoid them they are for the Intel Itanium CPU.

GL :)
 

Pyroflea

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Thanks for the clarification!:)

Man, I should just write all these questions down and post them at once, I keep getting more!

Since I am currently running Windoze (*sigh*, it's for gaming, as I've been telling myself.), will I be able to download all the codecs I need to play the movies? Because they are the general Windoze formats, so I'm just worried about compatibility with Linux. Thanks again for all your help :)
 

linux_0

Splendid
mplayer, VLC and various other media players support most windows codecs.

If you have videos that will not work you can always re-encode them ( from a bad proprietary format to an open one ), use a windows install on a Virtual Machine ( VMWare, QEMU, Win4Lin etc ), use virtualization ( Xen, KVM, etc ), , try WINE ( WINE is not an emulator, it is the windows API implemented on Linux ), or dual boot.

Obligatory links http://www.mplayerhq.hu/design7/news.html http://www.videolan.org/

mplayer and VLC also run on windows and are quite handy to have.

GL :)
 

linux_0

Splendid
I forgot to mention VLC supports video streaming over LAN and the internet so you could stream video back and forth between a Linux machine and a windows machine or any other supported OS like all the BSDs, Solaris, Mac OS X ( sorry Zorak :) ), etc.

On a gigabit LAN you can stream like crazy!

GL :)
 

linux_0

Splendid
It would make more sense to run gigabit to gigabit NIC to NIC so that you would get gigabit speeds. If you go through your switch it will throttle you down to 10/100.

Just setup a private LAN between the two gigabit NICs so that you can stream audio and video faster and move data back and forth at higher speeds.

You can use your onboard 10/100 NIC on your media server for internet access.


for example

10/100 NIC on the media server 10.0.0.2 ---------- switch ------------- gigabit NIC on your pc 10.0.0.3 gateway 10.0.0.1 ( your router )

gigabit NIC on the media server 10.0.1.1 ----------------cable----------- gigabit NIC on your pc 10.0.1.2


you'd use 10.0.0.0 for internet access and 10.0.1.1 as athe private LAN.


GL :)
 

linux_0

Splendid
You're right on, that's perfect :)

What kind of card did you order?

Some cards don't work together too well, other cards have driver issues on windows and Linux.

Also many cards cannot do anywhere near gigabit ( 125MB/sec theoretical max without overhead ) but on average you can usually get 20-40MB/sec.

An alternative configuration might be to invest 25-50 bucks in a 5-8 port gigabit switch.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2002810030 115010988 1150210242&bop=And&Order=PRICE

They have the LINKSYS EG005W 10/100/1000Mbps Gigabit Workgroup Switch - Retail on sale for 25 bucks with free shipping which is pretty dang good.

Newegg doesn't ship to Canada but you should be able to find one as cheap in your area.

GL :)