[mythtv-users] Advice for a frontend build using EPIA hardware

Justin Hornsby justin.hornsby at gmail.com
Wed Jan 17 23:01:06 UTC 2007


I use an EPIA M-10000 as my frontend and, neglecting a playback
problem I had with minimyth 0.20-19 & 0.20-20, its performance has
been exemplary.  I'm using minimyth 0.20-21 now & playback is once
again flawless.  Between minimyth 0.19 and 0.20-21 I ran Ubuntu Dapper
& found it to 'just work' out of the box, even with the default X
install.  The only issue I had with Ubuntu was the blind booting
(bootsplash didn't work over the TV out) and the comparitively long
boot time.

Flawless mpeg2 playback depends on xvmc, I've found - but cpu usage is
very low (25% or less).

The stock heatsink & fan were a little too noisy for my deathly quiet
livingroom but I (carefully) removed them and fitted a Zalman
Northbridge cooler in their place.  The result.. a silent frontend -
apart from a quick whirr of the slimline DVD drive when a disc is
first inserted.

I love it to little bits (with the emphasis on little).

I plan to replace it with a Mac Mini when funds allow, but then
probably only if I find it's capable of playing 1080i HD content
encoded in h.264

Regards,
Justin

-- 
Justin Hornsby
Moderator of www.mythtvtalk.com
email: justin(dot)hornsby(at)gmail.com
web: http://www.juski.co.uk


More information about the mythtv-users mailing list