LinuxMCE

[jgriffin]

Yes, i know this is a Windows forum but hell, it's still a media center! I thought i'd spend the day having a play and seeing if it was anything like the video and screenshots on their website.

Firstly though, i need to point out that i HATE linux. I really dislike it, i won't go into the reasons here, but they are based on my prior experience with it.

So i downloaded the stuff, followed their guides, and the install broke, badly. Typical I thought, so i did some more reading, and the install assumes you have two nics in the box and will become the network router. Which i don't want, but for the test i slammed a second NIC in, and started the install again.

OK, the install takes quite a while. Like half a day. The Ubuntu install took like 30 mins, but then there was an hour of updates (over my 1500k link) to get it ready.
Then you install the LinuxMCE, which has a CD full of packages, and also downloads heaps of stuff as well, so it takes like 90 mins to install.

So I reboot, cross fingers, and am dissapointed with the black screen after reboot. The instructions do mention a long first boot, but neglect to tell you that the screen will be blank. So i was rather suprised when after 10 mins, the wizard appeared. Here it goes through the Video, and Audio setup, which all went well, except you can't define a custom res, so I ended up using a monitor as none of them worked on my TV.

Once you get into LinuxMCE, you are presented with a rather plain looking screen. Keep following the instructions though, and go through and define the rooms, media sources etc, and once you get a picture on the screen, the menu system actually looks really good.

So what's it like? Very different. I think calling this "MCE" is a misgnomer, it's a complete home automation system that also handles media distrubution.

Things i didn't like
*I used a US media guide to test, and sorry but the layout sucks. May be great when you have 300 channels, but for our lowly list here, i prefer the MS layout
* It doesn't support my DNTV dual card

The really good
*It's fully distributed, and supports network boot workstations. So all you need is a diskless workstation, boot off the main PC, and you can start watching media, or doing anything else
* The ability to control devices sheets over any addon i have seen for the MS world. I haven't had time to play with it, but want to see later if it can plug into the Clipsal system, or my M1 Gold alarm system
* The way you can have it "follow" you around the house is brilliant, your own media set follows you room to room
* Although i haven't tried it yet, the way you can use your bluetooth mobile as a "track me" device and remote control sounds great
* All media indexes are stored in a central DB that can be accessed from any device

Basically, it does everything I expected MCE to do - have a single central server with all the tuners, VCR's, IP Camera's etc and send it all over the house. The fact it just works with tuners, capture cards, IP cams etc is great. It makes MediaCenter look like a very narrow, boxed product that doesn't really do much.

However, this is a very early release, and it certainly wasn't smooth sailing. I had real troubly with MythTV for example, and you can just tell it's very rough around the edges. In 6-12 months though, i will be looking very seriously at it. I reverted for the moment as Myth kept crashing on me, and the missus wanted the TV, but i can see myself spending some more time on it.
If only it ran on Windows!

[FredZ]

Originally Posted by jgriffin

However, this is a very early release, and it certainly wasn't smooth sailing. I had real troubly with MythTV for example, and you can just tell it's very rough around the edges. In 6-12 months though, i will be looking very seriously at it. I reverted for the moment as Myth kept crashing on me, and the missus wanted the TV, but i can see myself spending some more time on it.
If only it ran on Windows!

Come on- the thing is a disaster. I played with it today and the installation was just too flaky for me. Indeed, I get angry with this sort of stuff because the idiot author does Linux a great disservice when he claims as bold as you like:

LinuxMCE is a free, open source add-on to Ubuntu including a 10' UI, complete whole-house media solution with pvr + distributed media, and the most advanced smarthome solution available. It is stable, easy to use, and requires no knowledge of Linux and only basic computer skills.

Yea, right! Look at the forums there.

I though MythTV was bad enough but LinuxMCE ought to be lined up against the wall. I'll administer the coup de grace.

PS I am a long time Linux user. This is being typed on a Kubuntu box.

regards

[redcat]

Hi there,

Just wanted to say i spend my whole week off work playing with it (Linuxmce)

3 reinstalls, lots of quota gone ;`( and it finally is working (OK).

Problem is i can't get it to work with my DTV card (dvico plus), and the massive amounts of media i have have filled the partition that the database is on.

But i gotta say its pretty sweet. Did a Network boot onto my laptop and after a few back and forward from main computer to laptop clicking buttons (yes, yes, next, next you know the drill) I had a fully working player on my laptop.

You can also setup media to play throughout your house so you can listen to music as loud as you want from every computer in the house.

I would wait a little for this one to mature, but it is working! but you have to be careful not to break it like i did. Also i do think somethings are a little heavy.. And it broke my Vista computer so bad! No network!

[FredZ]

Originally Posted by redcat

Hi there,

Just wanted to say i spend my whole week off work playing with it (Linuxmce)

( and it finally is working (OK).

I DON'T believe it, as Victor Meldrew would say

I tried installing it on my late MCE box (AM2 dual core, M2N-VM-DH mobo, nvidia 7300gt GPU.

I had ubuntu up and running, nvidia drivers and all. All linuxMCE did was trash the nvidia install and I finished up with a nice, grey, blank screen. Incidentally the forum over at linuxmce is full of such threads.

My views about linuxMCE are elsewhere, not so much about the effort of attempting the project but the way the idiot author has gone about promoting it.

But I am now starting to have some real success with mythTV. It continues to amaze what I can do when I concentrate (you listening, Lester?)

[arkay]

Gotta say I was very disappointed with LinuxMCE too. Not necessarily at the product but the manner in which it is pushed out to the public. Sure, if it did everything that it says it does it would be a winner. The work that has gone into it and the level of automation in the installer is impressive. But it just isn't there. It's fine to fully automate something but if that automation breaks on all but your own system then it's of no use to anyone. The complexity of it alone means the automation cannot fail. A techno could spend month diagnosing problems on that beasty...

As a unix admin, big fan of Linux (typing this is Suse 10.2), and HTPC user I'd love nothing more that to have a distributed Linux alternative. At present. This aint it.

Cheers,

Arkay.