Hey guys!
I have just ordered all parts for my new Atom 330 based (HT)PC:
Antec New Solution NSK1380, 350W SFX
Zotac ION ITX D GeForce 9400, Mini-ITX (DDR2)
WD Caviar Green 2000GB SATAII 32MB 5400rpm
Corsair XMS2 KIT 4096MB PC2-6400U CL5 DDR2-800
I want this to function as my new "normal" PC running Windows 7 as well as HTPC running XBMC. But I can't really find a satisfying answer to the following question: HOW?
I want Windows 7 to be installed on a seperate 32 or 64 GB partition of the harddrive, which will be NTFS formatted. But how should I run XBMC? Linux based? Windows (XP?) based? XBMC Live (Ubuntu) booting from an USB stick would be great, but I assume that I won't be able to read any files from the NTFS drive?
run xbmc from a minimal ubuntu, then set up dual booting with windows. Use ntfs-4g for accessing NTFS partition from within xbmc.
Thanks for the fast reply, blittan!
So it IS possible to access NTFS under Linux. That's great news for me!
Which Boot Loader would be best? I want Windows 7 to boot by default, or Ubuntu when I hold a button when booting or something like that. Will the Windows 7 Boot Loader be alright, when I add Ubuntu with EasyBCD?
Should I run XBMC Live from an USB drive or install it on the harddrive? I hear that it boots faster from USB.
Mityama Wrote:Thanks for the fast reply, blittan!
So it IS possible to access NTFS under Linux. That's great news for me!
Which Boot Loader would be best? I want Windows 7 to boot by default, or Ubuntu when I hold a button when booting or something like that. Will the Windows 7 Boot Loader be alright, when I add Ubuntu with EasyBCD?
Should I run XBMC Live from an USB drive or install it on the harddrive? I hear that it boots faster from USB.
Install Windows 7 first on whatever partition layout you desire, then install your preferred Ubuntu/XBMC combo with Grub as the bootloader onto the HD in another partition (10Gb would be ample for anything less than a `Kitchen Sink` linux package list).
Grub will maintain a list of the OSes/kernels on the current disk setup - just alter it's config so that Windows 7 boot is the default selected if no buttons pressed.
Grub is definitely the way to go with mixed Windows/*nix setups - it's a lot simpler and more flexible than BCD based methods.
will do it that way, thank you!
As a person that has some XBMC's on XBOX and a few XBMC on windows platform, I have to say that I'd...
1) suggest bulding a server to store your media and making it also your primary computer
2) build a box that you will dedicate to XBMC.
Too much happens on a primary PC.
If you want XBMC stable and available on your TV and reciever, build a small box with no hard drive. This allows you to keep background processes running to a minimum.
Your server in a bigger case will allow you to add more hard drives for storage. Trust me... You will tear up 2000 GB before you know it. (I am up to 9 TB raided now).
In the long run, you will be much happier.