Linux network questions

carvegio

carvegio

carvegio

Associate
Joined
23 Jun 2004
Posts
1,098
Location
London
Hi Guys,

I am thinking of moving from Vista to Linux (Ubuntu) for my HTPC.

But I had a couple of questions on what is possible with network drives.

1. I have a couple of large ntfs drives with my dvd collection on them, can this drive be mounted in linux ubuntu and be used as a normal drive?

2. Does it matter that these drives are ntfs partitioned and not linux drive partitioned?

3. Can I share these drives on the network so my other pc with vista on it can pick them up, like they do currently without much hassle vista to vista?

Can anyone see any trouble with the above?

I think it is possible to do all of these things but just wanted to double check before I moved.
 
As a HTPC or server?
Linux is better at serving, usually. For media playback to the screen I'd think it through carefully.
In most instances Windows just works better if you like glitch free media playback.
 
Hi,

Thanks for the replies. Can linux read/write to ntfs drives also? And will the network share with vista be able to read write just fine too?

I read some posts saying they might be read only, but I think these might be outdated as I have read some which say it is possible.

Also, I am going to be using it for a HTPC with a lot of storage attached... so kinda like a server too.

I will be running XBMC, I am currently running it on windows and it is great - but under linux it has gpu offloading via vdpau. It uses FFmpeg for playback and this supports most formats I use fine.

I have tried the linux version out and it does have some bugs, same with windows, but is still very useable and very good.
 
I have been using the Samba Server (which implements the CIFS/SMB file sharing protocols used by Windows) in Ubuntu. To be honest it has been easier for me to automate the setting up of shares in Ubuntu (via the samba conf file) than arsing about with AutoIt Scripts in Windows XP!! In Windows XP I also had to mess about with the Local Security policies a bit and Windows ACL security is a real pain at times.

The latest Linux kernels have full (native) NTFS read/write support. In fact has been native for a while now (2 years I think - previously you had to use a captured Windows NTFS driver). With the (G)parted tool you can even move around Vista, XP and Ubuntu partitions from a live boot GNU/Linux CD!! (Which I recently did.)

As for Vista accessing Ubuntu Samba shares - no worries there! In fact one thing a like about Vista is the snappy networking it has... I am was impressed with how fast it can access file shares over a LAN (even better than GNU/Linux I must confess!)

Ubuntu can playback HD x264 video if you have a good CPU (there appears to be less GPU offload than Windows - even in the Nvidia/ATI propriatery drivers) - it won't be able to do anything else though!! Like yashiro said GNU/Linux is better at serving than playback.

Good luck!!

Bob
 
Hi Bob Wya Jnr,

Answered everything I wanted, thanks!

XBMC has gpu offloading capabilities with the latest nvidia drivers, in fact people are actually underclocking their cpu's as a result of vdpau.

It is still a little buggy but getting better daily.
 
carvegio said:
...

XBMC has gpu offloading capabilities with the latest nvidia drivers, in fact people are actually underclocking their cpu's as a result of vdpau.

...
Click to expand...

Glad I could be of service!!

Depends what you want to play back as well. I tried a full HD x264 rip on a laptop (for my sister) and Ubuntu could just cope with that and no more (like moving the cursor was a bad idea!!) Windows XP x64 and Vista x64 can playback the same file without glitches on the laptop. That is with a Nvidia Geforce 9500M, Core 2 (dual-core) @2.0Ghz and 4Gb of RAM. All are 64-bit versions of the OS with the latest drivers.

If you don't care about 1080p HD playback of x264 then you are probably fine!! (720p x264 playback appears to be fine with Ubuntu even with older ATI X1950 series cards)


Bob
 
I will def be playing 720p/1080p files.

What did you use in linux to try and play the file?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VDPAU

Have you tried it with mplayer or vlc? or anything else listed?

I am trying the killa sample and many other 1080p files with a q6600, in windows it has 40-60% cpu usage, and in linux with one of those players under 10% usage.

I think the 9500m supports vdpau also.
 
Hi carvegio thanks for the info!!

WTF no support for the 8800GTX??!! I am just building a box round that card... Hopefully it will still have better gaming support under Wine...

With the Nvidia 9500M laptop I was trying to use Totem player on Ubuntu (thats the default player - right??) to playback the 1080p x264 file. I'll try mplayer and vlc as well now!!

Thanks
Bob
 
yashiro said:
Totem is garbage. You need to use Mplayer, VLC or Xbmc to use Vdpau.
Click to expand...

Actually I don't really like any of the GNU media players I have tried (VLC=s***, Mplayer=OK, Xine - haven't tried Xbmc). It's a real gap for GNU as it so desperately needs the equivalent of Zoom Player for Windows (configurable to the nth degree and a decent skinable GUI). I might try Zoom Player under Wine again to see how things are progressing there...

Bob
 
Bob Wya Jnr said:
Actually I don't really like any of the GNU media players I have tried (VLC=s***, Mplayer=OK, Xine - haven't tried Xbmc). It's a real gap for GNU as it so desperately needs the equivalent of Zoom Player for Windows (configurable to the nth degree and a decent skinable GUI). I might try Zoom Player under Wine again to see how things are progressing there...

Bob
Click to expand...

Try smplayer instead - it's essentially mplayer, but nice.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom