[Ninety-9 SE-L]

Hey gang. Hope I'm not beating an old subject into the ground, but I could use some input.

I've been running an HTPC for about 6-7 years now, starting with MCE (for about 5 minutes) then BeyondTV. Over time, I've tried other media players out there, for example MediaPortal, then eventually XBMC, as of this year. I've been running on top of XP for 7 years solid, now on some ghettofied hardware that's starting to crap out on me.

I'm thinking of cutting WinXP straight out of the deal and booting directly into XBMC. I'm almost completely sold on the new Zotac Zbox demoed on the front page, but I still have questions.

First off, XBMC seems to have its own live CD. Is this on top of Linux or is this its own OS? I want to be able to boot straight into XBMC, but not a live CD/USB, I want to be able to save files and settings. How are most of you accomplishing this?

Second, XBMC has been great for me, mainly because of it's excellent application switching, I can seemlessly go from my PVR (BeyondTV) and back. My first issue is, cutting Windows out of the deal cuts out my HD PVR, running off a Hauppauge WinTV HVR-1950. How will I handle TV Tuning, scheduling and recording?

On the live CD, how does it handle file storage and networking? Does it work over Windows/Samba?

[fshagan]

Hey gang. Hope I'm not beating an old subject into the ground, but I could use some input.

I've been running an HTPC for about 6-7 years now, starting with MCE (for about 5 minutes) then BeyondTV. Over time, I've tried other media players out there, for example MediaPortal, then eventually XBMC, as of this year. I've been running on top of XP for 7 years solid, now on some ghettofied hardware that's starting to crap out on me.

I'm thinking of cutting WinXP straight out of the deal and booting directly into XBMC. I'm almost completely sold on the new Zotac Zbox demoed on the front page, but I still have questions.

First off, XBMC seems to have its own live CD. Is this on top of Linux or is this its own OS? I want to be able to boot straight into XBMC, but not a live CD/USB, I want to be able to save files and settings. How are most of you accomplishing this?

Second, XBMC has been great for me, mainly because of it's excellent application switching, I can seemlessly go from my PVR (BeyondTV) and back. My first issue is, cutting Windows out of the deal cuts out my HD PVR, running off a Hauppauge WinTV HVR-1950. How will I handle TV Tuning, scheduling and recording?

On the live CD, how does it handle file storage and networking? Does it work over Windows/Samba?

You can install the Live version to a USB thumbdrive (2GB or larger) or harddrive, and it makes xbmc act like "an appliance". It saves settings and the like that way. Live is actually built on top of a minimal install of Ubuntu. There's more information in the wiki, including the install instructions for either that 2GB or larger USB drive or a harddrive.

For TV shows, etc., check the threads here regarding getting that to work with "Live" or "minimal Ubuntu". I haven't investigated that aspect of it but what I have read make it look complicated.

[Ninety-9 SE-L]

You can install the Live version to a USB thumbdrive (2GB or larger) or harddrive, and it makes xbmc act like "an appliance". It saves settings and the like that way. Live is actually built on top of a minimal install of Ubuntu. There's more information in the wiki, including the install instructions for either that 2GB or larger USB drive or a harddrive.

For TV shows, etc., check the threads here regarding getting that to work with "Live" or "minimal Ubuntu". I haven't investigated that aspect of it but what I have read make it look complicated.

OK, that helps. I wonder if Ubuntu supports the Gyration Keyboard/remote combo. Obviously, all the drivers are dependent on what Ubuntu supports. Considering this isn't a GUI Linux, I assume any additional drivers will have to be installed through the Terminal.

[fshagan]

OK, that helps. I wonder if Ubuntu supports the Gyration Keyboard/remote combo. Obviously, all the drivers are dependent on what Ubuntu supports. Considering this isn't a GUI Linux, I assume any additional drivers will have to be installed through the Terminal.

Looks like it does (except for "mouse functions"):

http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=72978

Install instructions are in that thread as well. Looks a bit complicated to me ... I love the way the Lenovo was literally "plug and play" with all functions working from the get-go (including the trackball-mouse functions).