[amcfarla]

If you are having difficulties locating the .iso file for this verison of xbmc here is a torrent I created of the image, enjoy.

http://www.********.org/get/3099456

do a search at minin*va.org for for "xbmc-live" or go to lifehacker's article on it "Build a Silent, Standalone XBMC Media Center On the Cheap" which should have the file also there, the forum board would not let me do a shortcut to the torrent link location.

[amcfarla]

If you are having difficulties locating the .iso file for this verison of xbmc here is a torrent I created of the image, enjoy.

http://www.********.org/get/3099456

if you replace the ******** with minin*va(* being a o) that will take you to the directlink.

[raygan]

I'm putting together my shopping list on NewEgg as we speak! Very excited about the possibilities of this configuration. Previously I'd been running XBMC or Plex on my Macbook, it'll be great to have a dedicated device for it.

I have a couple of questions I hope someone here can answer. First, I notice that this nettop has no WiFi. My living room arrangements would make it difficult to run cat5 to my TV; does anyone know if there are any USB wifi dongles that would work out of the box on this nettop/linux installation?

Second, I've read that linux can read and even in most cases write to HFS and HFS+ (Mac) formatted HDDs. Can anyone vouch for that with the XBMC Live CD?

Thanks for the awesome tutorial, and to everyone who chimed in with questions before me!

[nick999]

Thanks for the info. What sort of IR receiver should you get to enable the computer to be put to sleep / woken up on demand?
Any idea how long it takes to wake up once you press the button?

[slyk2203]

If you would like to Setup your remote control or get the menu sounds working you will need to edit a couple of files.
These files can be accessed by an FTP client. I used WinSCP on a windows PC.. You enter your IP and username and password (I set a secure root password) and then browse the files.
So setup the menu sounds create a blank notepad file and enter into it:

pcm.!default {
type plug
slave {
pcm "hdmi"
}
}

save it as asoundrc.txt
Then FTP it over to you revo, into USER / XBMC folder. Once its in there rename it to .asoundrc

Good Luck [/quote]

Hi,
many thanks for the greate thread, it saved me a lot of sleeptime...
could you please explain the exactly root to save the .asoundrc file.
I looged in to xbmc with winscp and can´t find the right direction... :-(
many thanks

[Qooop]

At the Lifehacker GUIDE site they recommend THIS REMOTE as working out of the box. It does not say if it wakes from suspend.

Has anyone tried upgrading the Hard Drive? In the service manual it looks like a laptop drive. There are some pretty big laptop drives available now, I think the sweet spot price is for the 640GB WD Blue.

My Revo will come Tuesday. I am hoping it will function exactly like XBMC did on original XBox as I have used that for years with extreme satisfaction. Also, I was wondering if anyone who has an external BR drive hooked up has complete functionality of BR disks and/or would it work better to rip to BR iso and would it have menu functions?

Thanks.

[nick999]

Shame this doesn't have an optical sound output - will the live install allow an external USB sound card to be used?

[giovanisp]

sorry about the silly question but... which are the advantages of using the thumb install against installing it on the hard-drive and auto executing it on OS startup? is it much faster? any other?

[akumajo]

hello

great guide, tested and approved

btw i have 2 questions :

1) how do you change keyboard layout (we are using Azerty keyboard in my country and when i type A it's a Q , because default configuration is Qwerty in Xbmc Live)
2) is it possible to install MAME (sdlmame) and how to use it within Xbmc ?

thanks

[ZooMigo]

oops

[Agro]

sorry about the silly question but... which are the advantages of using the thumb install against installing it on the hard-drive and auto executing it on OS startup? is it much faster? any other?

Good question. Got my Revo AR3610 today, havent turned it on, but this was one of the questions I have. I am a strong Linux user (Redhat Certified Engineer actually). I thought about formatting and installing a Linux distro on it and then XBMC (never installed it, but I'm sure I can figure it out). BUT, I think it is kind of convenient to be able to use it as a Windows desktop on my plasma. It could be nice to go online on my TV. I could also install an X server in Linux and I hope this Revo could run that too? Maybe XBMC Live is the way ot go then I could dual boot. Really all I need is a browser, so I know X can do everything I need, just need to know for sure if the Acer Revo w/ 330 atom 2gb, etc. can handle that, then I will just blow it all away and never look back on using Windows.

[Qooop]

Shame this doesn't have an optical sound output - will the live install allow an external USB sound card to be used?

I just bought an HDMI switch from Monoprice that separates out the audio from the HDMI and sends it to an optical and coax output. I have yet to hook it up but the reviews on Monoprice seem favorable and they are reporting it does pass 5.1.

FYI, they don't have many of these in stock and I waited a few months for the one I got so it may not last long.

OTOH, I had a laptop that didn't have optical out and I bought a usb dongle that would work. Not sure about using it with HDMI simultaneously but research may answer.

[akumajo]

when playing some mpeg or mp3 i noticed that Revo play too fast

edit your default output device to "plug:hdmi" and not just "hdmi"

[schneidz]

...
4) Installing XBMC Live on the Revo:
As the revo has no optical drive, you will have to buy/borrow a USB Drive. Burn your ISO to a CDR using Imgburn (http://www.imgburn.com/ and then load into the USB drive.
Turn on the Revo and when it is booting press F12 to load the boot menu. Choose your USB Drive.
When XBMC Live boots you will see options to either run it from the CDR or install to the HARD DRIVE or a USB device.

I choose to install to hard drive as there was nothing else worth keeping on the revo drive. Choose your Hard drive, and then Yes to confirm.

** You are confirming that EVERYTHING will be erased from the hard drive / USB stick you have choosen!

After it has installed, your revo will turn off, unplug the USB drive and reboot to XBMC (fingers crossed)
...

hi, what if you do have something worth keeping on the harddrive; can xbmc copy itself to an empty partition ? (there doesnt seem to be a boot menu option for that)
how does one dual-boot/ tri-boot off the same harddrive.

[Scott R]

You can't install XBMC-Live onto the hard disk and keep an existing partition (e.g., Win XP). I tried out XBMC-Live initially and it worked pretty well (a test of a Blu-ray rip wasn't perfectly smooth and 5.1 audio over HDMI wasn't working for me), but I wasn't ready to wipe out my Acer Revo's Win XP install, so I then tried out installing Ubuntu Desktop on a separate partition. I had the same problems with judder and lack of 5.1 audio there, so then I tried XBMC for Windows coupled with launching MPC-HC as an external player, and I've been very happy with that. Judder-free and 5.1 audio works fine. All on my 1GB RAM $200 Acer Revo.