media center distro
 

Hi


Im looking for a Linux distro for my Living Room PC or
Media Center PCIve seen those XP Media Center PC's.http://www.winsupersite.com/images/r...review_013.gif
Normally they might do the job but
1 They cost 2 grand.
2 The os has a high sysreq.
3 You can't buy the os you need a new pc.

So I thought if my 64mb ram 700mhz pc plays dvds mp3s etc in windows xp
god knows how, But then surely thers a media center Distro
That has

1 A desktop like this
http://www.winsupersite.com/images/r...review_013.gif
Ie no Windows (no pun intended), No dialog boxes, No start menu, etc
2 Be able to Boot on 64mb 700mhz and play dvd's,mp3's,avi's etc.
3 Fast booting
4 Some way to remove the cartoony penguin ie change wallpaper...
its in the living room remember)

I'm sure some people will say Any distro will play mp3s
But im using a Virtual Pointer (A mouse that when moved in the air moves the cursor)
So clicking on any start button or X button is fiddly and nearly impossible.
Compability isn't a problem it shows up as a mouse.

I don't need to type up reports, play games or surf the net on this pc.
The best way to describe it is I would like a Linux version of
Windows media player 10 when full screened
That boots without windows to play audio and video.

Surely a distro like this exists if so send it to the slightly penguin
Friendly Pc Format
(Who gave a suse and knoppix iso)
Because EVERY windows user is looking for a way to play a DVD without waiting
5 minutes for XP to boot.

I'm not really looking for a live on cd solution which im using now (knoppix)
They seem to be noisy and slow, But if like knoppix they could be zapped
To the hard disk I could be persuaded.

Don't worry about the pc's spec, If it can run xp and play play dvd's,mp3's,avi's
etc smoothly in the most bloated os ever then im sure itll be fine in linux.

If by some miracle something like this exists and installing is anymore
Complicated than burn the iso and boot from it can I please have instructions.
Apart from Windows XP Media Center the only other solution would be
"Longhorn" which im sure would not run on a 64mb pc..........And trust me ive tried it.

Didn't have time to read all that you wrote. Anyway, maybe you would be interested in MythTV.

Yves.

You would be interested in KnoppMyth. It's a variant of Knoppix designed to install MythTV onto a system with minimum pain. Basically, it's designed to do exactly what you want--turn your PC into a media settop box.

Here is KnoppMyth's homepage: http://mysettopbox.tv/

To clarify--KnoppMyth is a bootable LiveCD, but it's purpose is to INSTALL MythTV onto your system in a normal hard drive based manner. Once you install, the system boots off of the hard drive, and the CD/DVD drive is free for playing DVD videos and such.

Thanks a million IsaacKuo

I was looking for a software like KnoppMyth

Geexbox is very good. Or alternatively if you could find another use for your old box and had money to spend a Mac Mini might be good, I'm looking at buying one for that reason but first I'm looking around for an old box I could pick up super cheap instead.