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Prisimq MediaServer Support For Linux
martinde writes "The Prismiq Media Player is a networked set top box that can play MP3s, streaming media, browse the web, and do other cool stuff. It runs Debian on the dedicated hardware client, but in the past it has required a Windows server on the backend. It looks like now there is
beta support for Linux in the backend. Anyone tried this device, with or without Linux?" This is a device that I've been playing with/testing - our sister (Yes, Virginia, they are owned by OSDN) site Thinkgeek sells them. Pretty cool device - reminds me of a XBox Media Player in terms of function, but with less soldering, and a keyboard. I'll be trying the Linux backend server - that would solve one of my major complaints, which is that the media server currently is Windows-only.
The xbox media player XBMP, can do everything this can do and more. xbox=$179, chip=$20, media player which is constantly updated=free. Plus you can play some fun games.
This is just another ad for thinkgeek crud.
-eric
buy.com has this on sale for only $189 after $50 mail-in rebate. It's their 'price mistake of the day' item. There is currently a free shipping coupon available at my site. See link below in my signiture to find the coupon.
Looking for any old 8-bit Heathkit/Zenith software/hardware - http://heathkit.garlanger.com
Try http://sourceforge.net/projects/madwifi/ for example, works for me.
XBOX media player does component out. It also does progressive scan. $179 for the xbox + $20-$40 is still cheaper than this prismiq thing, and it plays divx, xvid, and future codecs (it's constantly updated), supports MP3, OGG, AAC, + AC3, and has no region protection for playing DVDs.
I'll one-up you. You don't even have to crack the case. Go to xbox-scene.com and check out the no-mod tutorials.
"Sometimes a woman is a kind of religion, she can save your soul & set you free from all your sins" - Bad Examples
The Audiotron, from Turtle Beach. It can play MP3's up to 320 kbps, uncompressed WAV's and streaming radio stations. It has an optical connection, and a front display and remote. The only thing it doesn't have is native wireless, but that wasn't a problem for me. It's a fantastic device, and fits right at home with modern, black stereo equipment.
Karma: Can only be portioned out by the Cosmos.
This product was actually covered in a previous slashdot story from a couple of months ago, seen here.. The Seattle Wireless group reviews this product, gives a live video demonstration of it, and basically describes how it works. You can see the video here under the July archive. It's the last segment in the video.
I just got a Prismiq, and I have to say that for playing MP3 files, it isn't there yet. In order to run the linux server, you have to install on windows first, import the media files and then copy some control files over to windows. The bad news is that the server on windows is a bit flaky when dealing with large numbers of files. The documentation says that the limit is 50k files, and I am nowhere close to that.
The UI doesn't make it easy to find anything as it all based around a flat list of 'playlists'. I suspect that the model is that you are supposed to construct playlists on the PC and then import those. *WRONG* This is supposed to be a consumer device that is no more complex than a cable box to operate.
By comparison, I also have two Rio Receivers ($99 each) being controlled by jreceiver (runs on Linux). These boxes only do MP3s and have a (small) LCD display builtin. They support hierarchical navigation by album/artist/genre/etc. This actually makes it possible to play all your 'Pink Floyd' (or whatever). With the right firmware, the Rio also supports a jukebox mode where you can add new tracks/playlists to the current queue.
The good news is that the Prismiq people appear to be actively developing the product, so there is hope.
The device doesn't play other video formats internally. The media server software does a 'transcode' of the video from the original format to MPEG1/2 when sending to the device. That's why it puts such hefty requirements on the 'server' computer since it (potentially) does more than just hand out files.
You might want to look at a SliMP3. I have one and adore it. The display is large enough to read across the room and it makes zero noise (unlike a computer). I use its remote, but find that if I am sitting near my laptop that I will just use the browser interface.
You can't grep a dead tree.
First, the theory behind this device is fairly good. There's limited processing on the client device, and the heavy lifting gets done by the server, the way things ought to be.
The actual configuration files are human-readable with a little bit of effort, and I've even hacked mine up with some success to redo playlists to make more sense.
The bad news is that for large collections of audio (and probably also video) the playlist navigation on the client is really unacceptable. There's only a single level of playlists, so you can't do a lot of things that you would normally do with a hierarchial setup that makes navigating easy. The other problem is that scrolling through the playlists is very, very slow, so in reality a old Rio receiver is faster to navigate, which is a real bummer since I got mine in hopes of having a clean replacement for the Rio's lackluster playlist navigation :-(
On the positive side, they have a user site prismiq.org with good forums that a number of users have been using to communicate how to make limited improvements on both the client and server side. I do think it shows a lot of promise, but don't expect it to be an out-of-the-box instant solution to your media problems...
- Mike
This will be out in stores shortly as the Game Shark Media Player...
Supports Linux!!!
Works with your PS/2... GREAT PICTURE on my big screen, lots of features, plays DivX,Xvid,mp3s and still picture slide show...
A STEAL at $50....
I had a Rio Receiver, then moved up to the Audiotron.
Hardware quality- I would rate the hardware quality as pretty high. Optical out is nice, the unit feels sturdy, the LCD Display is excellent (I can read it from about 10-15' away easily), the knobs , buttons , switches and remote are all what you'd expect of a decent consumer device.
Software Stability- I'm not sure what you mean here. The unit itself stays on at my house 24/7. I've never had it lockup, and I've never had it go offline for a reason it had anything to do with (ie power outages). I've made it skip perhaps twice, I suspect some kind of weird combination of high network traffic, and high harddrive use of the computer serving it.
SMB- I've used a samba server, and also a windows share box. Neither has caused me any problems at all. What isn't compatible?
The only downside I have is that it takes a long time to initially grab the list of shared files from different computers. You can save this configuration however, and use it to load from so you don't have to do the complete research when your audiotron gets cut off from power. (It takes about 10-15 minutes at least to initially discover 11,000 mp3s and wavs)
The other plus side is the API for the device is available on the turtle beach site, so you can hack together little scripts, or full featured gui in a pretty short amount of time.
Care to explain what your problem with the audiotron was?
They say the device plays DivX, but since it doesn't have an MPEG4 decoder, it all has to be done in software, and I'm skeptical about the device's ability to play high-bitrate MPEG4 (DivX, XVid, others) streams.
The MPEG4/DivX streams are decoded in software, but on the server PC. I just now tested a decent quality (about 700kb/s) DivX movie on my 1700 Athlon, and the utilization was just under 20%. Sure, that's a lot of CPU cycles on one hand, but on the other hand for anyone who has a relatively recent PC, it's not a burden either.
A dingo ate my sig...