ezhtpc - The Software?

Before ordering my hardware, I looked into the options for the media centre front end. As a long time admirer of all my friends with XBox consoles and the recent announcement of the Linux port, XBMC was the way I was headed.

Upon talking to another friend of mine, Troy, who as 2 Xbox's and a XP Media Centre PC he suggested I look into Linux MCE. Well, I checked the site and remembered being sent the info on Linux MCE months ago and feeling the urge to just go out and buy it immediately. I was sceptical at the time but there seems is now a considerable amount of information and discussion on the various internet discussion boards and Wikis.

The question really remains - Which one will I go for? ..... Well, why not both? :)

Given I have will have a blank handware slate shortly, I will test both frontends and see how they go!

• LinuxMCE Demo Video

My First HTPC - The Hardware

Being both a industry professional and PC hardware enthusiast, I set about creating myself a HTPC that would both allow me to tinker while also keeping costs low. I already run 4 PC's at home, the last thing I needed was another one .... right? :)

Below is the hardware I have purchased.

Case - $125
- Antec NSK2480B Solution Series MicroATX Desktop Case Black (Review)

Motherboard (Sound, Video, Expansion) - $108
- XFX N630-7159 nForce 630i - 1333Mhz FSB DDR2 Intel Socket 775 MicroATX (Product Page)

CPU & Ram - $289 & $89
- Intel E6600 - Core 2 Duo 2.4Ghz
- DDR2 2048MB(2x1G)PC6400 800Mhz Green Heatspreader G.Skill

Hard Disks - $124 each
- 2x Samsung 500G 7200RPM SATAII

Optical Drives - $37
- Pioneer DVR-215BK 20x Dual Black OEM - SATA

Wireless Adaptor - $39
- Linksys WUSB54GC Wireless Compact USB Network key 802.11g(54Mbps)

Remote Control - $49
- Microsoft Media Centre Remote





Total Price: $1013.00 Australian Dollars

All parts were sourced from my local PC Store, U-Mart.

My First Blog and the Beginning of EZHTPC

For years and years I have always wanted to create for myself a little embedded Linux based network firewall device. I had previously done this before for a 'Global' wireless initiative making use of uClinux and the Snapgear hardware. This was obviously a network focused device making use of some key internet protocols for authentication and a number of linux based tools. The hardware was faultless, but the business never really flew.

I moved overseas to undertake a position in Ireland and for my 'home broadband' I purchased myself a Netgear WGT634U wireless router to use with my NTL: Cable broadband connection. The router worked ok for a while, but it's DNS processes would crash every now and then. I went about upgrading the firmware from Netgear's site. Much to my disappointment, nothing was fixed so I took the next step. Putting on my development hat I broke my way in, removed the DNS tool that was causing the issues. This made me think about these devices a little more, especially with the USB option.

2 years later after moving back to Australia and with the recent purchase of a Australian 3G Wireless Broadband account which makes use of the Huawai E220 USB 3G/HSDPA modem my interest in this little project was reborn. I got the WGT634u out of the cupboard again and tried to get the modem working with the OpenWRT distribution and additional packages. It didn't work due to the nature of the USB modem having a Serial and USB Mass storage mode. I set about recompiling the operating system to include tools to better manage the device, but I ended up cooking the little router. I am now awaiting the shipping of a serial cable to fix it.

Having nothing to work on all of a sudden while I waiting for special cabling to arrive from the USA and China from Ebay I thought about some other hardware that might have been better suited. I found some of the emebedded Mini-ITX boxes that I was after and looking at the price tag of $700 i thought to myself, well I probably won't use this device all that often, so maybe I will get one with TV OUT and let it double as a media PC.

After digging around I could have put one together but it just wouldn't have the kick required for a HTPC displaying HD Content. Given the fact these devices are quite expensive, I priced up an alternative using more consumer based electronics and found myself leaning towards a proper PC.

After convincing myself I needed to spend the money I bought myself the hardware and I sit now awaiting its availibility for pickup!

This is my first blog ever and I hope that one day it becomes useful for someone.