media pc

[NoobieOCer]

hi i wana build a pc for my living room to watch movies and cds, i got a old pc from my aunty a pentium 3 1ghz.

i was wondering how do you configure the os to behave like a dvd machine XD just as soon as it loads up i can play movies from hdd or cd drive using a remote.

is it possible on a linux as they are free and i find it runs faster.

 

[BillytheImpaler]

It's not only possible, it's great. Check out MythTV.

 

[NoobieOCer]

It's not only possible, it's great. Check out MythTV.

erm do i just search MythTV on ocuk? or google?>

 

[BillytheImpaler]

Google.

Though there's some threads about it on here. You might also look into LinuxMCE, a complete media distro. I prefer Myth myself though, due to its extensible nature. People have written all sorts of neat plugins for it. There are guides galore for it. I've used this one:
http://www.mythtv.org/wiki/index.php/Ubuntu_Dapper_Installation

 

[NoobieOCer]

say if i had a usb with avi files on it can myth tv save that on hdd and play it or will i have to wait a long time for the file to be converted and stuff?

oooo mythe tv is a ubuntu application? i thought it was an completely diff os

 

[Psyk]

MythTV is pretty good. It was fairly simple to set up on Ubuntu, even for a linux noob like me.

MythTV should work on any distro. Although I believe there are some distros specifically designed for using MythTV.

 

[GarethDW]

oooo mythe tv is a ubuntu application? i thought it was an completely diff os

It's not just an Ubuntu app, it's distro-agnostic.

There are specific distros that have MythTV built-in, such as Knoppmyth (based on Knoppix) or Mythbuntu (based on.... er, Ubuntu) but it's originally just an appplication that can be installed on almost any distro.

 

[brummie]

LinuxMCE is really good too
http://wiki.linuxmce.org/index.php/Screenshots

 

[NoobieOCer]

does myth tv starts up as soon as i start up the computer? or will i have to add a mouse and double click it

 

[BillytheImpaler]

You can set it to do whatever you want. You can have it run like any other program, or you can make a stripped-down box with little else installed where it uatomatically logs in as you and starts the program. It's designed to be used with an IR remote and nothing else.

 

[Psyk]

You can set it to do whatever you want. You can have it run like any other program, or you can make a stripped-down box with little else installed where it uatomatically logs in as you and starts the program. It's designed to be used with an IR remote and nothing else.

But it being a linux program, setting up an IR remote is a pain

Anyone know how to change the font size in the record TV screen? I'm using a standard def TV and everything else is readable but for some reason this screen uses a tiny font that's impossible to read.

 

[NoobieOCer]

god damit i dont understand how to install it 0.0

 

[BillytheImpaler]

Ok, we can help. Are you following a guide? If so which one? What are you doing that you're having trouble with?