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Thread ID: 86067	2008-01-02 08:44:00	Show me the Linux....	Metla (12)	Press F1

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
626694	2008-01-02 08:44:00	Right, Time to shine Linux fans. I'm ready to convert a PC, If, Linux is up to the task. The PC that runs my home theater died right in the middle of New Years celebrations, Granted it was about 3am and we had some pretty terrible music cranked to well beyond healthy limits....so the neighbours were probably quite happy. anyhow, Motherboard and CPU is up for replacement, and seeing as I can't find the same model mobo, shes going to need a format and reload. And I just can't be funked with installing XP for the eleventy hundredth billionth time, so....Show me the Linux that can do the following. 1.Recognise the latest 2 or 3 generations of motherboard chipsets, including the onboard audio and all ports and have the ability to make use of all their functions. This is important, audio will be read off the DVD and then run through an optical cable into the amp, The full Dolby Digital/DTS signal must be passed on to ensure I'm getting my surround sound goodness. No compromises in regards to this. 2.PC will be used to play nearly every sort of currently used media/formats that are available, I relise Linux is kneecapped in regards to codecs/media when first installed, But I will need to be able to quickly and easily install the required tools for playback of all media, Especially the highest possible quality playback of DVD's. 3.I don't believe for a second that my current TV card will have any support, So, I'm willing to look at a new TV card, The suggested Linux will need to support at least one of the currently available TV cards that are capable of picking up the freeview/digital signal. Not one of the suck ones either. 4.More media tools, Ripping, encoding,Burning, Editing. Have to be available, and again, not suck. Any (real) suggestions? Be aware that I will ask why a particular distro is recommended. Thanks in advance.	Metla (12)
626695	2008-01-02 10:12:00	I am not aware myself of any Linux based or Windows system that actually does Digital or Analogue Audio processing software justice . I operate a business dedicated to ensuring peoples homes are kitted out with both PC based and dedicated proprietary distributed audio systems of both Analogue and Digital A/V . Personally Audio has been my passion for thirty plus years . I am not aware of anything that''l meet your specific requirements, at audiophile standards	ChrisW (13236)
626696	2008-01-02 10:20:00	In a nutshell, I have no idea what you just said.... I'm no audiophile, Don't follow the science of it, Though I had presumed that the complete lack of ability to alter the volume of digital media via the computer indicated the digital signal was being passed directly to the amp to deal with. Either way, To my ears, The quality of the audio was stunning, I don't want to end up with something worse then what I had.	Metla (12)
626697	2008-01-02 17:06:00	I will watch this thread with interest.I am sure a linux OS will be available.Not being audio orientated I hesitate to offer advice but PCLinuxOS Gnome is one of the latest releases and is available as a live CD so you could sus it out.If you are interested see my other thread for the link.Good luck	kjaada (253)
626698	2008-01-02 18:59:00	A mate's mate in IRC, set up some version of Linux (Dont think it was Ubuntu). I'll ask him today, when I go in. He set it up, so it was controlled by remote control too I think. And it was streaming music right through his house.	Speedy Gonzales (78)
626699	2008-01-02 20:03:00	1.Recognise the latest 2 or 3 generations of motherboard chipsets...Any recent distro will do this quite happily. Drivers generally live in the kernel, not in userspace - so if you find you are missing something just upgrade to a more recent kernel and your problem (if any) should vanish. One thing you should bear in mind is that the latest & greatest may not work out of the box, as it takes a bit of time (usually a few weeks) for the drivers to be added and filter down into the distribution kernels. ...including the onboard audio and all ports and have the ability to make use of all their functions.This will probably work just fine, but it depends on your chipset - Linux is most probably capable of utilising your soundcard, but some very advanced (read: not commonly used) features may not be available, depending on the driver and whether the manufacturer has released specs. This is important, audio will be read off the DVD and then run through an optical cable into the amp, The full Dolby Digital/DTS signal must be passed on to ensure I'm getting my surround sound goodness.This is possible, but very dependant on your setup - it will default to standard 2 channel. I use a similar setup myself, but have never tried running 5.1 through it - I know it can be done though. 2.PC will be used to play nearly every sort of currently used media/formats that are available...This can definitely and easily be done. The main engines (xine, gstreamer etc) will play any format you've ever heard of. Some players also bundle their own support for additional features (such as vlc's excellent ability at playing broken files). One very important thing to note is that you will not be able to play DRM music - no players currently support this, and I don't believe there are any plans to add this support anytime soon. If you care about this, then you'd be better off sticking to Windows. I relise Linux is kneecapped in regards to codecs/media when first installed, But I will need to be able to quickly and easily install the required tools for playback of all media..Depends on the distro. Some ship with all major codecs already installed, some will automatically add them, some require manual (but very easy) installation of codecs via the package manager. I strongly recommend Debian for this - simply add the debian-multimedia repository to the package manager and all the restricted formats will then be available with next to no effort (for example to add restricted format support to xine, simply install the 'libxine1-ffmpeg' package. End of story.) ...especially the highest possible quality playback of DVD's.Provided you have libdvdcss2 (the dvd decryption library) installed you will be able to play anything you can shove in the drive. This library is just as easy to add as the restricted audio codecs. 3.I don't believe for a second that my current TV card will have any support..You may be surprised. Give it a shot before shelling out the big bucks for a new card, you'd be surprised how many are already supported. One thing to note is you may need to download runtime firmware for the card before it will work - this is usually integrated into the Windows drivers for the card, but isn't usually open source. It's easy enough to add, but just remember to watch out for it! ...so, I'm willing to look at a new TV card, The suggested Linux will need to support at least one of the currently available TV cards that are capable of picking up the freeview/digital signal. Not one of the suck ones either.I don't have any experience with these (my card is a Hauppauge PVR-150, an analogue card) but the topic has come up on the forums recently - there should be a reasonable amount of data floating around. Also have a look at MythTV user forums / wikis; there is usually lots of info about the various cards available. 4.More media tools...There are tons of these available, and you can do almost anything you're likely to want to do with your media. Note that often the application is a CLI one, and a GUI interface for it is supplied in a separate package (e.g. ffmpeg, mencoder, gpac etc). Ripping - k3b for CDs, HandBrake for DVDs. Encoding - ffmpeg & mencoder (and a few other utilities that work with them) will handle almost anything you throw at them, both audio & video. Burning - k3b. The Nero equivalent for Linux. Editing - Editing what? There are plenty of tools for editing sound files (e.g. Audacity), but note that at present there are no decent video editors that don't suck in at least some aspects. You'll need to have a play and see if these do enough for what you need. Be aware that I will ask why a particular distro is recommended.I strongly recommend Debian, provided you don't want your hand held the entire way. It's not a noobs' distro, but it is capable of almost anything you ask of it, and will stay the hell out of your way and let you work. The amount of software available through the official repositories is unmatched by any other distro, and there are plenty of unofficial ones too. I recommend Lenny (testing) rather than Etch (stable) as the packages are usually much more up-to-date. Lenny also gets new packages, while Etch usually just gets security patches. Both are extremely stable. Steer well clear of Sid (unstable) unless you know exactly what you are doing! I highly recommend MythTV as a PVR frontend, I find it absolutely brilliant. It's also designed to be used with a remote control (or keyboard if you don't have a remote). Configuration can be a little finicky, but once set up it's excellent :thumbs:.	Erayd (23)
626700	2008-01-02 20:21:00	Righto, I'll have a stab at it, Though it will have to wait untill I replace the parts that failed in my PC.....	Metla (12)
626701	2008-01-02 20:26:00	Bletch, What a great reply,if that does not lead to a convert nothing will. Well done.	kjaada (253)
626702	2008-01-02 21:43:00	Bletch, in what way do you reckon Ubuntu would fall short, compared with Debian?	rumpty (2863)
626703	2008-01-03 03:41:00	Bletch, in what way do you reckon Ubuntu would fall short, compared with Debian? I have to agree here;Why Debian now,when there are heaps of debian based distros that a newbie would get to grips with and feel comfortable.As I see it nothing Debian is lost by going Ubuntu or PClinuxOS or a few other distros but if a newbie is plunged in to Debian I think they could be put off.I have been a Linux user for a long time,going back to Red Hat and today on looking at the debian site I was lost.It appears to be for geeks.I am not a dummy but would consider myself "average" and that is my two penny worth.	kjaada (253)
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