[jschatte]

Hey guys,

I have come to the conclusion that I am going to install Ubuntu with XBMC, after much experimenting. I initially had XBMC on XP, and I loved it. So, I upgraded my video card and installed XMBC live. However, I want to do some customization, and XBMC live isn't extremely user friendly to upgrade.

So, My question is, what version of Ubuntu should I install? I want to have as much system resources free as possable for XBMC, but I also want a decent graphical o/s interface.

Any input would be great. Thanks alot!

[BORIStheBLADE]

Bookmark this manual and check it out. You can get a lot of info if you take the time to look.

http://wiki.xbmc.org/?title=XBMC_Online_Manual


If you click on the right where it says install on Linux it will help with some of your answers.

[barrygordon]

I ran into the same XBMC Live unfriedliness (for a non command line afficianado) but solved it a different way. I have unbuntu installed in one partition of a Hdd and XBMClive in another. Since I installed XBMCLive last, its grub loader setup found the ubuntu partition and put it in the menu as an alternate choice. It also found a windows XP partition that was there and set it up in Grubs' menu but that is not germane here.

If I boot the box and choose ubuntu instead of XBMClive I can modify the XBMClive stuff in a nice friendly manner. I told Ubunto to allow root login and set up what I wanted as root's password. If I go to "places" I see the XBMClive partition. I can view and modify (remember I am root on ubuntu) any part of the xbmc installation using the standard Ubuntu GUI. No sudo required. I generally save things from XBMClive into Ubuntu before I change them so I have a valid backup. Even if I blow a change so XBMClive won't boot, I can resolve it fairly easily and quickly.

[Hannes The Hun]

btw the "ideal" solution is to do this via SSH from another PC no need to have another dedicated ubuntu desktop partition

[jschatte]

Thanks for the replys guys. I will thouroughly check that wiki page out. And I was actually connecting to the box using PuTTY, but still i was having no luck. Probably becasue of my lack of Linux knowledge. But barrugordon's idea is pretty good. Ill have to give that a try as I have Ubuntu 10.04 running on my laptop.

[Flomaster]

I was having trouble installing XP, and WIn7 on an old desktop I had, Xp was hanging up where it needed to reboot after it installed and Win7 was not seeing my sata hard drive due to driver issues with my MOBO.

I donwloaded Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid desktop 32x and it installed just fine i then I downloaded XBMC and its running like a champion.

-=Jason=-

[a7n9]

I bought a new AsRock 330HT-BD. It should be with me within a day or two. I am also wondering what the best option would be. Now, that the HD is fresh, I want the set-up to be right.

I would like to watch all my media stored in the local drive(s), browse the internet, stream media from internet (in case there is no suitable plugin/script in xbmc). I also would like a faster boot time.

I am thinking of installing ubuntu and xbmc live as partitions, or ubuntu and xbmc app. I would like to keep a partition for the media.

I would like to know opinions and thoughts of other users and their set-ups.

EDIT: I read that I can install Xbmc on USB drive, and if the USB drive is plugged-in, Xbmc could auto-boot. I think that is a fantastic option. Would I be able to add the local drives as a source though?