i want to set up a media server and i was wondering if anyone has done anything similiar to what i want. if so could you tell me some software to get and point me in the right direction of setting it up. I would like to be able to hook it up to my tv and be able to play videos from the hard drive. it would be nice if i could control it from my laptop. i would also like to be able to play mp3s on it, playing these trhough the TVs sound would be fine so i wouldnt have to hook it up to extra devices. what i basically want is one of those windows media server thjat you can buy i just want to be able to do the same with m y linux server.

Do you already have a Linux distro installed on your server? In which case, MythTV would be worth a look at it. Once loaded up, gives you similar menu system as Windows Media Centre Edition allowing you play music, movies, view photos and watch / record TV. If you need a Linux distro on top, I haven't tried KnoppMyth, but it's basically Knoppix with MythTV built into it.

ive got gentoo installed on it right now and i was thinking about that before but i dont feel like buying a tv tuner card unless you can use it to still play videos and songs if you are not watching tv.