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Linux Media Jukebox on the Cheap

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the duct-tape-and-beer dept.

tsetem writes "Over on ExtremeTech, they have a write-up on building your own Linux Media Jukebox for a little over $500 and a bit of elbow-grease. This is probably the PC we were hoping that the Lindows Media PC would've been." This particular project uses Freevo which has matured significantly since I last looked at it.

9 of 204 comments (clear)

  1. Or even less thanks to Microsoft... by iainl · · Score: 5, Informative

    I've been labouring under the impression that one of the reasons why chipping XBoxes (list price £129 as of last Friday) with a mod chip (~£50) or even less thanks to yesterday's /. story is so great is because they do an excellent job as media jukeboxes themselves.

    The only part missing is that they don't have the inputs to record your own stuff, unlike these tv-tuner equipped boxes. If you just want to use playback (either from the internal drive or over the local network) then a chipped XBox is much cheaper.

    --
    "I Know You Are But What Am I?"
  2. Small but more than just an MP3 player by robslimo · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I'd like a media play that is a nice compromise between portable and full-featured.

    Features:

    1) tablet form with about a10" screen with a foldable or removable stand
    2) support solid state media (smart cards, etc) along with a replaceable/ugradable hard drive for (somewhat limited) data storage.
    3) WiFi capability (to network to a media server in your home) and wired network capability.
    4) runs from battery or wall wart
    5) robust. don't want to break the display the first time I accidentally knock it off my desk.
    6) affordable!

    So, any entrepeneurs out there with a load of ready to design and tool up to build this thing for me?

  3. Cases by minaguib · · Score: 5, Informative
    I've been researching this myself for a while and one of the problems I faces was actually finding a case that resembles a VCR in dimensions rather than the traditional TOWER-pc. Here are a few links to interesting cases/systems that you might find interesting:

    http://www.littlepc.com/
    http://www.msi.com.tw/program/products/slim_pc/slm /pro_slm_detail.php?UID=335&MODEL=MS-6243
    http://www.partshelf.com/giggmaxmodgb.html
    http://www.storever.com/
    http://www.linux-works.com/browser/html/our_produc ts.html
    http://www.evalue-tech.com/evalueweb/products/spec ifications/model.cfm?mn=EEC-5000

    For the ones that come with a mobo/any hardware I cannot vouch for how well they work under linux (or windows for that matter).. These are just bookmarks from some initial research I did.

  4. Re:Freevo, MythTV by AKnightCowboy · · Score: 5, Insightful
    The problem I had with Freevo is I could never get the XMLtv stuff to work right without tons of fscking around. Maybe I was just doing it wrong, but it seemed like you had to enter all the channels you want it to pick up into the config file. Seems like too much work. :-) With MythTV on the other hand I grabbed a handful of Debian packages with apt-get, configured the mysql setup via the dialog prompts and had a PVR up and running on a prototype server in no time at all.

    Now all I need is the $1500-$2000 to build this project ($1000-$1500 for a backend server with between 500 and 800 gigs of space, $500 for a nice quiet living room system). Maybe I'm way too into this "free software" stuff. I could just buy a ReplayTV if they don't go out of business for much cheaper, but I'd have less functionality. Hmph. My goals are at least 500 hours of recording time, two tuners, enough horsepower to do DivX encoding from two tuners at once, and a nice quiet set top box for TV output in my living room.

  5. But how quiet is it? by elwinc · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Sounds interesting, but how quietly does it run? The article never mentions noise/quiet. The case comes with 2 6cm fans; are they needed? The PSU is a 200W microATX that comes with the case; is it quiet? The AthlonXP 1.47GHz runs pretty hot; what kind of CPU cooler does it need, and how quiet is that? A noisy media PC is not much fun...

    --
    --- Often in error; never in doubt!
  6. What I want from a media PC by WIAKywbfatw · · Score: 5, Interesting

    1. Small form factor, similar to VCR/DVD player.

    Hey, it's a media PC. I want to put it in the front room with my TV.

    2. Near silent operation.

    See above. No use being in my front room if it sounds like a jet engine.

    3. Ability to play, rip and stream (to other PCs) a variety of music file formats now and effortlessly accept more codecs in the future.

    Right now my collection is in MP3 format. When I have time, I will probably rip to Ogg from scratch. In two years time, who knows what new super-duper format will be king?

    4. Ability to play DVDs (of all regions) effortlessly.

    Region encoding is ridiculous. If I bought it then I want to be able to play it. It shouldn't matter if I live in London, New York or Tokyo. 'Nuff said.

    5. Ability to watch and record TV, PVR-style.

    Hey, it's not that difficult.

    6. Ability to do more than one of the above at once.

    If I want to stream music to elsewhere in the house, I still want to be able to watch a DVD without it skipping frames. It's not that much to ask.

    7. Ability to burn CD-RWs and/or DVDs

    It would be really nice if this DVD+/DVD- format war would just resolve itself. Multi-format players, like the ones from Sony, are nice but we shouldn't have to pay a premium just to avoid the risk of buying a turkey.

    8. Automatic update option.

    Some people like to have complete control of their box but the mass market demands simplicity. The Average Joe doesn't want something he's going to have to tinker with every two weeks. Let the AJs have their automatic updates and let the power users do what they want too.

    I'm sure I've left something off this list but these are the bare minimums that I'd look for in my ideal media PC.

    --

    "Accept that some days you are the pigeon, and some days you are the statue." - David Brent, Wernham Hogg
  7. A swing and a miss by stratjakt · · Score: 5, Informative

    This is all fine and good. A guy built a PC and put linux on it and hooked it up to his TV. It's no great feat, but it's linux so it's on slashdot.

    Anyways, here's what's missing or could have been improved..

    TV Tuner Card Hauppauge WinTV PCI $60

    Does the Hauppage WinPVR card not work? This costs only a few more beans, but provides vastly superior captures and onboard MPEG2 compression, IIRC.

    Keyboard Silitek SK-7551 $20

    A keyboard and mouse? This is the main stumbling block. A true MediaPC needs to be controlled through a simple interface with a remote control.

    Also, stick an LCD display on the front with a few buttons so it can be used without the remote.

    Of course that requires a bunch of coding work to make sure everything fits together seamlessly, and there's no trace of being a "PC" left in there.

    The new Radeon AIW Pro cards fit the bill for both video capture, playback, remote capabilities, and firewire transfer. Of course, they cost as much as this whole project.

    (In a nutshell I just spelled out the Media PC I'm working on putting together)

    In the end, this guy built a PC and installed Red Hat on it. Whoopty do. He can call it a MediaPC, he can call it a Star Trek supercomputer. It's still just a midrange PC with Red Hat installed.

    --
    I don't need no instructions to know how to rock!!!!
  8. Re:Freevo, MythTV by Silwenae · · Score: 5, Informative

    I would disagree that Snapstream is a fair comparison to MythTV, especially when you include the weather, music and game modules available, though setup is the biggest differentiator.

    In addition, with MythTV having the ability to do frontend and backend - record on one box and play on another, so you can have the noisy machine in a closet somewhere and the quiet one by the TV, is one of the best things Myth has going for it.

    That, and it has an extremely active community on the mailing list.

  9. Freevo vs. MythTV by staini · · Score: 5, Insightful

    MythTV really is better when it comes to features around TV. However Freevo plays any format that MPlayer does. It works on any Video-Out that SDL works on (fbdev, dxr3, x11, ...) and has some nice addons, too. GPhoto2 integration, imdb a web recording interface just to name a few.
    From my experience it is much easier to make it look the way you like it and to make it do what you like...