[CmdrRaven]

Just after some OS advice for the HTPC I’m building. The goal is to run XBMC as a start-up program that automatically loads when the machine is booted. It will obviously need internet access and the ability to talk to several Windows 7 based devices already existing on my network.

I was thinking about going down the Ubuntu path and installing XBMCbuntu, but I don’t have a lot of experience with it in general, and I’m guessing it could be a bit tricky for a novice such as myself.

For example:
• Is it easy to set up things such as latest hardware drivers, sound, video, network interaction, etc.?
• If I were to install a FAT32 based HDD into the machine, would it be readable by the OS?
• Will there be some kind of GUI to set everything up or will I need to run commands, etc.?

Admittedly I haven’t properly read the guide for XBMCbuntu, so it may be a lot more straight-forward than I currently realize.

The other alternative path is obviously to stick with Windows but it will cost money to do so, if I decide to buy a new copy. Otherwise I’d be sacrificing the key of another machine I have lying around.

So the pros and cons of Ubuntu –
Pros:
• Free, packaged OS with XBMC
• Good support
Cons:
• Learning curve
• Fiddly, getting everything to work (correct me if I’m wrong)

If someone who has done all this before would advise me, that would be great. The whole Ubuntu system has a vast amount of unknowns but I’d be interested in giving it a go if it’s feasible.

[teeedubb]

I recommend you give openelec a whirl - it can be installed to a USB drive so its easy to test out. I find it real easy to setup and it gives a really polished set top box feel and for me everything worked out of the box.

There is a menu for setting up networking, but for other aspects such as sharing from the machine are enabled via a menu too, although you may require some editing of config files to set it up just how you want it - and openelec makes this easy to do from another machine by sharing the config files via windows file sharing (samba)

Fat32 isn't a problem and disks are automatically mounted in the directory /media/

Openelec contains drivers but some more exotic hardware may need manual intervention.

[CmdrRaven]

Thanks for the recommendation; in reading about OpenELEC (which I'd previously never heard of) it appears to be exactly what I'd need. I'll give it a go. The beauty is, if the version doesn't work I can try other versions fairly easily.

Speaking of which, which build would I need for an AMD A6 5400K ? I'm guesing the Fusion build (for AMD APU processors) but I'm not sure.

[teeedubb]

Yep

[cpmiller22]

+1 for openelec

It's really a great build. For me it was a quicker install than even windows to get it installed and the drivers working.

[Rick P.]

While Linux will read a Fat32 drive just fine using it is kind of like loading Windows 95 on your new i7 machine with gobs of RAM. Go ahead and use it to access existing stuff already on the drive but don't cripple your new install by using it on your boot drive. Ubuntu's default ext4 file system is more robust, faster and you won't have to deal with Fat32's 4 GB file size limit. Unless you plan on storing data on your HTPC a small SSD would be perfect. 10 GB would be plenty with XBMCUbuntu but you'll probably find a 32 or 50 GB SSD on sale for about the same price.

If you're building something new keep in mind too that while ATI graphics will work nVidia is a much better choice with linux. Others can comment on how well the AMD A-series GPUs work but I intentionally skipped this and went with a separate video card even though my FM motherboard supports the APU chips. A $25 610 card is all you'll need for a HTPC. As already noted unless you've got some exotic hardware XBMCUbuntu's kernel likely supports your hardware already and you won't have to worry about drivers.

[BrooksyX]

+1 for xbmcbuntu!

I have installed on my rig and used XBMC Frodo as the frontend but on the backend its a full blown server with apache, samba, nxserver, transmission, etc..

So much you can do with a debian (ubuntu) box.

[protocol77]

+1 For openelec best if you want an appliance feel to xbmc without anything else running behind it

[CmdrRaven]

Question regarding OpenELEC:

I won't be able to install any external software, will I? Things such as AnyDVD or MakeMKV... I want to be able to use those on this HTPC. I might have to consider another solution.

What about file sharing? Through OpenELEC am I able to give full read/write permission for my directories to other networked devices?

EDIT:
Sorry about all the noob questions. I am a self-aware noob.

My HTPC will have a BD drive to play straight from disk. I've read a guide at Life Hacker that involves MakeMKV being installed first.

Can I install software such as this, if using XBMCbuntu? Or should I install Ubuntu from scratch, install whatever software I need, then install XBMC on top? Or is there even a difference? Bit confused...

[teeedubb]

Make mkv is included in the openelec addons. Anydvdhd doesn't run on Linux, although you can run it in a virtual machine that is starting to get complicated.

For another method of playing BR's Google 'vlc bluray'

And yes openelec will share folders with read/write permissions and this config can be edited through a config file.