Which Distro for Media Machine?

[floppybootstomp]

As per the title, I have a machine used purely for audio and video, nothing else at all, hooked up to my stereo and TV.

Requirements:

Audio playback from mp3, FLAC, WAV, wma etc
Audio CD playback.
Radio playback
Video files playback
Bluray playback (including mkv files and Bluray disks)
Internet access

And if possible but not essential:

iPod Management
Media file conversion

And that's it, perhaps some burning software as well.

Machine spec:

Asus M4N78 Motherboard
AMD AM2 5050e Twin Core CPU 2.4Ghz
Asus GT 520 Silent 2GB Graphics Card
On Board LAN & Sound
2Gb OCZ DDR2 6400C5 memory
WD Raptor 74Gb HDD for OS
Hitachi SATA II 2Tb Disk for storage
Antec Fusion Remote HTPC Case Black
Hauppage Nova T-500 Twin Digital PCI TV Tuner card
LG BH10LS38 Bluray Drive
Corsair 430 Watt PSU
Logitech Cordless Desktop E110 Keyboard & Mouse
(Display & sound are media centre TV & Hi Fi)

I like Mint KDE, currently using V12 on another machine but open to suggestions.

I made this decision as I'm currently using my paid for version of Win Vista and it is a bit rubbish, it's so slow. It occured to me that I've often said 'I'd use Linux but I can't play games on it'. Well, this machine is not for playing games so no excuse.

Only probs I can think of is it may not see the machine I use to download files with Mint 12 KDE on Network. My network is hard wired so would this be a prob? It may actually be an advantage cos I download using Mint then swap to Windows for file transfer on network to media machine. And it's likely the Fusion case remote control software won't work in Linux but I only use it for switching machine on and off anyway.

I'm actually feeling quite excited about this, try not to put my fires out, lol

 

[exmoor]

Not sure it helps but i've been trying Linux Mint which seems easy even for me to use!
Run direct from a usb stick so easy to use etc.

 

[floppybootstomp]

Thanks exmoor

I already had a version of Mint 13 KDE 64 Bit burnt to DVD so I've installed that, not without problems, had to disconnect 3Tb storage disk for it to install but there now. Have installed XBMC media player, still finding my way around, I'm used to right clicking on an audio folder or video file, right clicking and selecting 'Play with...'.

All works though, audio, video, online access. Power settings & software manager actually work in V.13, they didn't in V.12. Can't get my wireless printer to work though, Mint sees it and installs it but it just won't print.

I took out the small HDD with Vista installed on it, just as a safety net and have installed a 120Gb SATA HDD to take Mint 13. I've also taken out my Hauppage TV Tuner card, no Linux software available for it. Not a problem cos I never used it anyway, I'll put it on bedroom machine (Win XP/Mint 12) in case somebody else wants to watch TV while I'm watching a film.

This motherboard had a function named 'Express gate' which gave quick access to certain functions on boot, that doesn't work anymore now but again, no prob, I never used it anyway.

And the media case has a remote control which worked with some Windows-based software named 'i-Mon' (musta been Rasta influenced ) and now some functions work randomly, sometimes they work, sometimes they don't. All I ever seemed to use it for though was turning machine on and off.

I have a lot of reading, learning and messing about to do before I'll feel comfortable with this, but I'm getting there.

XBMC looks good, albeit difficult to navigate until I get used to it I suppose.

 

[Abarbarian]

I'm using mine as a MythTV HTPC project which is still a work-in-progress so I can't comment on the case in use but there's plenty of info on the internet about getting the remote and VFC display to work with Linux/Myth so I'm not anticipating any problems.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/product-rev...iewpoints=1&sortBy=bySubmissionDateDescending

An some very pertinent info here

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1337815

By gum your trying out some fancy penguin stuff. At this rate Urmas will have to hand over his fish trophy to you.

Only probs I can think of is it may not see the machine I use to download files with Mint 12 KDE on Network. My network is hard wired so would this be a prob? It may actually be an advantage cos I download using Mint then swap to Windows for file transfer on network to media machine. And it's likely the Fusion case remote control software won't work in Linux but I only use it for switching machine on and off anyway.

Not exactly sure what you mean here.

You should be able to download with Mint of the internet and then transfer straight to the media pc.

 

[floppybootstomp]

And today I've tried XBMCbuntu which is basically the media player with only the vital bits of Ubuntu added to make it work as an OS.

So far, I a little confused tbh, but we'll give it time. Time and a chance. There's a lot I like but also lots of Windows aspects I miss.

Patience and perseverance, that's what's needed here. I want an open source distro to work but I'll also be very very honest about outcome.

I won't comment until I've got a handle on this.

And hey, I no clever, no console commands yet, anybody who knows how to navigate Windows could do what I've messed about with so far

 

[Abarbarian]

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1337815

Most of this from above is just doing plain text alterations using a file editor. I'm not a cli guru either but I am having fun playing.
So far me Arch has not let me down.It may be a tad messed up and has some quirkys but it seems to get all I want to do done.