Hi all,

This was hard to search for, so hence started a new thread

Whats a recommended OS for a system that will be used to just play movies (DVD,XviD etc) out a TV out video card ??

Some files will be sent through the network ,so thats needed too.

in sumation it needs:

• Movie file playback (DVD, XviD etc)
  Network capable
  TV out capable for an ATI VGA, most likely a 9200.
  Run on old hardware well (doesnt all Linux)

Links would be much appreciated

Try checking out MythTV, this is excactly what it is. Sort of like a TiVo on steroids.


Håkan

cheers for that

i'll check it out when i get back from class

thanx

I would second the recommendation for MythTV, it is pretty much the best software you can get for a media computer.

looks awesome!!
But seems geared towards TV viewing. I assume it works well for DVD and A/V file playback too ??

Thanx alot guys, i will give it a tet drive

Yes, couple it up with MPlayer and you're all set.


Håkan

Finally got back some hardware i had out on loan and ready to give this a whirl.

Any particular flavour of Linux it runs on best ??

I see my distro (Mandrake) has RPM's for it.

Also, any light to be shed on the Video Out of it all ??
I got an Nvidia card to make life that little bit easier.

any tips??

thanx guys.

Mythtv Is a Great Opensource program with a helpfull community

There are other choices like freevo but don't offer as much.


For distros I use Gentoo and I'm liking it, For linux newbies check out Knoppmyth

Also lots of people have it working on Mandrake, Fedora, Suse, Debian

Heres a list of distros and how to get them working with myth tv
http://mythtv.info/moin.cgi/LinuxDistros

This feels like deja vu

Thanx for that additional link. Found a Mandrake guide there cheers.

I did try Knoppmyth but it seemed to have trouble installing smoothly on my hardware and having never used Debian before i felt at sea trying to check out the setup. So i am installing Mandrake 101 OE as we speak and see if i have any more luck.

With Knoppmyth, TV-out seemed to just work right out of the box. TV Picture stayed on right through boot up and OS start to where i could play a DVD (manually on command line [mplayer]) on the TV.

This is a top project that i look forward getting more involved with anyway i can.

PS: i would rather use Knoppmyth as i dont want waste services/programs installed/runing that are not needed for such a specific duty type system.