[selma]

Hello everone.

Bear with me, I'm new here. So I hope I post this in the right forum. If not, maybe a moderator can be nice to move this thread.


Okay. I just got my new htpc. I know nothing about Linux or XBMC. What to do? I just wanna play my hd-movies and maybe watch some pictures. Is the XBMC Live all I need? I'm not an expert user, and I don't need all the fancy functions as long as the before mentioned stuff works.

I found this guide:
[LINUX] HOW-TO make a standard Ubuntu installation into 'XBMCbuntu' set-top-box style

But this seems to be for experienced users. And since I'm a total newbie I hope there must be a more simple guide somewhere out there.

So - what to do? Please help.
Thanks in advance.

[Clumsy]

You should definately try xbmc live then, it will setup your htpc to autoboot xbmc and hopefully you will not have to bother with anything linux related at all

[vikjon0]

The other official guide is a little bit more simple.
http://wiki.xbmc.org/?title=HOW-TO_insta...ep-by-step

However, to play HD on that box you need VDPAU and to get that you need to upgrade the graphical drivers so it will not be completly out of the box for the moment.
EDIT: It will not work with HD on Live out of box either.

This is my guide for the nettop ION 330.
http://www.xbmc.org/forum/showthread.php?t=54705
It is step by step but it requires you to copy/paste the commands into the terminal.

an idea could be to skip HD to start with and just getting it to run in the desktop with the offical guide above. You can then continue with my guide later,

[Asure]

Selma: I strongly suggest to invest that little time into learning a bit of linux.
It's worth it in the long run, as a linux-xbmc box can run much leaner and faster than
one running a full install of Vista or Windows 7 in the background.

[selma]

Thanks for all the quick replies!

vikjon0: Are you suggesting that I should'nt install the Live version of XBMC? The high-definition is the only reason why I wanna do this, and also why I bought the Asrock. So if the Live version doesn't support that very well, maybe the full version is a better option.

Asure: You're recommending Ubuntu+XBMC instead of the live version?

[vikjon0]

Well you CAN get HD on LIVE but you need upgrade the drivers in Live and the developers seem to recommend upgrading to the latest svn build.

There are plenty of guides for this so it is not a huge problem. But it kind of defeats the purpose of a LiveCD. You can just as well follow the XBMCbuntu guide instead, the end result will be the same.

What I am saying is that if you want to have a soft start with linux as oppose to typing a lot of commands in the terminal you should start with a full ubuntu desktop as a base.

[vikjon0]

BTW, I am right now testing an easy way to add the desktop on top of the LiveCD. Maybe usefull for all the newbies hellbent on using the LiveCD as a base.

[Asure]

Thanks for all the quick replies!
Asure: You're recommending Ubuntu+XBMC instead of the live version?

Yep, just follow the guides, it's easy. Besides, you have a 320gb harddisk in it to install to as well. (After install, you can easily enjoy Ubuntu on the tv as a 40" monitor.)

Then it's just a matter of editing the sources for apt, and 'apt-get install' on the command line to get the packages you need. Both are explained in the guides.

[selma]

Thank you all for the detailed answers that even a newbie understands.

I'll try to install the Ubuntu (should I go for the Desktop edition?) and then get the xbmc to work.

[vikjon0]

If you want the full ubuntu it is the desktop cd you need (32 bit is recommended for xbmc)
http://www.ubuntu.com/GetUbuntu/download

The only thing to consider is that if you want to save a lot of media on the internal disk you may want to create a separarate partition for media instead of using the entire disk for ubuntu....this way you can re-install the system if you need to without wiping the media. (this is not possible with live but with all other methods)
This is a common problem...I think I will add how to mount a partition to my guide later.

As soon as you have manage to install ubuntu and get xbmc running the next step is to config it to handle HD by enabling VDPAU....but one thing at the time.

[blittan]

As soon as I recive my ASRock (this week hopefully) I will write up a nice and simple guide/helpscripts for installation of it.

[selma]

As soon as I recive my ASRock (this week hopefully) I will write up a nice and simple guide/helpscripts for installation of it.

You ordered from Inet as well? Hopefully I get mine tomorrow. How about a guide in Swedish?

[vikjon0]

My installation log cover most basic things for the asrock ION 330.
I just added how to add a separate partition for media as promised.

By the way selma.
You need to flash the BIOS and setup the shared memory for the graphical processor before you do anything else. See the beginning of my guide.
http://www.xbmc.org/forum/showthread.php?t=54705

[butchjr]

If you need help in swedish, you can send me a private message and I will help you. I have the same machine, and I am a pretty experienced linux user with a couple of htpc with XBMC for linux.

[vikjon0]

and you have this guide (på svenska since we all seem to speak it)

http://www.xbmc.nu/index.php?option=com_...&Itemid=40

Havent tried it though...