Has anyone tried Solaris?

I'm only in my 1st month of attempting HTPC using *nix and am not yet attached to any particular distro and would be willing to try any if it accomplishes the job.. given the miserable full-screen Flash performance under linux (for hulu and The Daily Show), I noticed that there are distinct drivers for both Flash and nVidia.. which opens the possibility that they perform at better levels?

I don't need Myth... just mplayer or VLC, a music player, and Flash.

I'm hoping folks consider Solaris to live under the linux section of AVS....

I've considered OpenSolaris off and on over the past few years, but there is just absolutely nothing to run on it. Yeah, run Big Iron apps like database, but it's not really suitable for run-of-the-mill user stuff. I don't want any limitations in what I can do, whether I want to strip DRM, control X25, crack passwords, or watch TV.

I also tried Free and OpenBSD a couple times, but they are primitive compared with Linux.

Your flash performance is not a Linux problem. Runs perfectly fine for me on 64bit, although this is Hardy.

solaris has like 0 drivers. only reason to run it is to get the native zfs filesystem support and run a file server off it.

Your flash performance is not a Linux problem. Runs perfectly fine for me on 64bit, although this is Hardy.

You are the only report I have seen after 2 weeks of searching that has full-screen flash running well (you can do full HD from hulu in HD?)... all the other reports are describing the same abysmal behavior I am seeing from Full screen flash. Unless you are running something other than nvidia, the nvidia folks all point the finger (I'm pretty sure its the middle one too) at Adobe. (I think I saw some reports that the Intel IGPs may do ok in this area), so please share your secret with us.

Given that my same hardware runs the same flash video at lightning speed under Windows, and reports are that one can run Wine inside Ubuntu, and get BETTER Flash performance under the virtualized Windows, then yes, I have to say the problem is linux specific.. whether it is the linux kernel, something specific to Intrepid (vs. your Hardy install), X11, Flash, or the nvidia drivers, is rather immaterial as there are no way to substitute any of them out with anything better other than virtualizing one's browsing experience (at which point I lose my ability to set up a cron job and pull up my favorite shows when I want)

Your not alone, flash + linux - not the best, but throw in nvidia drivers and it makes it quite a bit worse, however!

You may want to try the new 180.18 beta nvidia drivers, ever since I upgraded to them, my flash performance has increased, and the amount of issues with flash has decreased quite a bit!

You are the only report I have seen after 2 weeks of searching that has full-screen flash running well
Nope, haven't tried full-screen.

What's the point? I don't consider flash a primary viewing mode like TV.

What's the point? I don't consider flash a primary viewing mode like TV.

That's fine for you, but others do. On an OS platform where Flash performance has entered this decade, it allows you to cut the cord to some or even all of the cable channels... it gives me access to the 1-2 shows on channels outside my cable package that I'd like to view. Running from my 3 year old Mac Mini (which this box is attempting to replace), or my 6 year old Powermac, or from Windows (dual-boot on this new box), gives very good results (especially for saving $10-$20/month).. under Linux this is not the case.

There is all the basic freeware available for Solaris (stuff like gcc, gmake, libraries, etc) on:

http://www.sunfreeware.com/indexintel10.html

With those packages installed it's relatively straightforward to compile all the multimedia freeware like mplayer, xine, etc, therefore it could be possible to make a Solaris (x86) HTPC, but it will be long hours and a lot of manual work...

Personally I prefer Mandriva Linux which is more user-friendly, robust and 'slick' than Ubuntu, I have experienced several times Ubuntu installs that failed to recognize all hardware automatically while the same PC worked perfectly with Mandriva without any manual config work necessary.

Due to the lack of drivers for a lot of hardware, Solaris x86 would probably be useless.

Now you begin to see the importance of Linux- it's the only widely used alternative to Win and OSX with reasonable hardware driver support for a breadth of hardware...

Due to the lack of drivers for a lot of hardware, Solaris x86 would probably be useless.

Now you begin to see the importance of Linux- it's the only widely used alternative to Win and OSX with reasonable hardware driver support for a breadth of hardware...

As it is I have to install/update drivers for graphics, audio, and wireless (with an OS that was released only 2 months ago).. I have a 200-300 line install script I run every time I botch up one the nvidia drier installs and fubar my system.... can solaris be that much worse? :) (LOL, is CDE still the graphics front end? :) its the 1st thing I always change.. I use Solaris a lot in my work environments...)

I look at it this way.. Ubuntu _isn't_ cutting it for me.. Solaris would offer different drivers from both nvidia and Adobe, meaning things have a chance at being better... but it would be quite a bit ore work on my part.. (And probably no simply Wubi-like install that leaves my Windows section intact as a fall-back)

I would only consider OpenSolaris for a backend role. Actually, if it's ever possible to run a Mythtv back-end on OpenSolaris, I would definitely do that if only for ZFS.

I've been playing with their latest release, 2008.11, and it's a definite improvement over 2008.05 in terms of driver support and features like time slider, which is a slick system to track snapshots visually, in nautilus. They also added a repository for non-free things like flash.

Your flash performance is not a Linux problem. Runs perfectly fine for me on 64bit, although this is Hardy.

I can now categorically state its an nvidia driver problem..instead of upgrading to 180 (from 177)... rolling back to 173 does the trick.. for full-screen Flash.. .I can almost watch hulu HD with that.. .alas I then lose all sound (out HDMI audio)... so this isn't so much a solution as it is a root cause determination.

173 = real-time flash performance at full screen.. no sound
177, 180 = sound and crappy video

this is with the nvidia 8200

Which releases of 180 have you tried? .11? .18?

Which releases of 180 have you tried? .11? .18?

.11 and .16.

I have been unable to get .18 to install (which seems to be a rather widespread problem based on mutliple reports).

hmmmm... you have a problem that some others don't.... you can't install a driver that some others can... sounds like there might be a problem in your system that connects the two... no?

:cool:

this is with the nvidia 8200
I've seen many horror stories with that one...

I would only consider OpenSolaris for a backend role. Actually, if it's ever possible to run a Mythtv back-end on OpenSolaris, I would definitely do that if only for ZFS.

I've been playing with their latest release, 2008.11, and it's a definite improvement over 2008.05 in terms of driver support and features like time slider, which is a slick system to track snapshots visually, in nautilus. They also added a repository for non-free things like flash.

As long as your backend hardware is supported, you could run anything you want in a vm if you don't want to compile everything. Looking at the snapshot (and other) capabilities of zfs, this doesn't seem like a bad idea at all.

http://opensolaris.org/os/community/xen/
http://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads

hmmmm... you have a problem that some others don't.... you can't install a driver that some others can... sounds like there might be a problem in your system that connects the two... no?

:cool:

No.

I've only seen one report of someone with an 8200 getting 180.18.. in general I've seen lots of reports from many folks with many GPUs having trouble getting 180.18 installed, so I see nothing special there. I was very able to get 180.11 and 180.16 installed just fine. Logic says there is a change in the needed install process for 180.18.

As for the 1st problem, I don't know of anyone with an 8200 that doesn't have Flash problems... only folks with other cards that do not.

As long as your backend hardware is supported, you could run anything you want in a vm if you don't want to compile everything. Looking at the snapshot (and other) capabilities of zfs, this doesn't seem like a bad idea at all.

http://opensolaris.org/os/community/xen/
http://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads

Thanks, I have considered that. Actually, although not all tuners are able to be properly seen in a VM, since my tuner is an HDHomerun, it would work. I'll likely do that when my current desktop gets relegated to server duties.

Very interesting, indeed! Nexenta --> http://www.nexenta.org/os

Will discussions about running mythtv and xbmc, etc. with an opensolaris kernel be considered off-topic here? I'm about ready to have a go at it if my chipset is supported.

Very interesting, indeed! Nexenta --> http://www.nexenta.org/os

Will discussions about running mythtv and xbmc, etc. with an opensolaris kernel be considered off-topic here? I'm about ready to have a go at it if my chipset is supported.

I certainly have a knack for straining the bounds of the forum definitions, but I would have to imagine solaris falls inside the imagined boundaries... ie. top group for Windows, the Mac subgroup, and the unix subgroup...

But as I said, I find that I tend to gives the mods anxiety attacks (or at least I did in the Mac subgroup) :)

and yes, Nexenta does look interesting...

If this is based on Hardy, wouldn't that mean there would be a lot of upgrades needed after install beyond what is available in the Hardy repo's? (or is that only for us saps with the bleeding edge hardware that is only barely supported in Intrepid)

Ah, we Linux hippies don't care if you note your Solaris experience... in fact I welcome it.

I predict heartache though with application and hardware support, unless you have a very narrow goal.

If this is based on Hardy, wouldn't that mean there would be a lot of upgrades needed after install beyond what is available in the Hardy repo's? (or is that only for us saps with the bleeding edge hardware that is only barely supported in Intrepid)

I think the key here is "Ubuntu ported software and repositories". Your hardware would depend on solaris kernel support.

Ah, we Linux hippies don't care if you note your Solaris experience... in fact I welcome it.

I predict heartache though with application and hardware support, unless you have a very narrow goal.

Well, my mobo is reported working, and I have no qualms about compiling stuff. I expect that tuner support is pretty much non-existent, though. I don't know how well (if, at all) a usb-connected tuner would work from inside a linux vm. I use firewire, and I'm not even sure if that will work natively (haven't really looked around on that).

But, for straight-up use as a media server, zfs is quite appealing.

I have always used windows but over the past several months have ventured into the opensolaris and linux as I want to get rid of windows at my home. My main uses are HTPC, File Server, some light home user activity photos, internet, kids homework etc...

I haven't been able to move away from windows as I have had mixed results with everything so far but in case anyone cares my thoughts are below.

Please keep in mind that I had zero unix/linux experience prior to these recent few months so this is from someone who is completely new to everything including what most linux guys would consider basics like building packages and patching things etc... However, I am not a computer newbie by any means and have built many systems and tweaked lots of things.

MythBuntu - not nearly as user friendly to install and figure out as I was expecting. Mediacenter for windows sucks but for a basic user is really simple.

I am trying to use myth with my dvb tuner which is one of the main reasons that my experience has sucked. However even many of the other things that I have used it for have not been all that simple.

OpenSolaris - 2008.05 was not as good as mythbuntu, however it wasn't much more complicated and there are numerous applications available in various repositories.
2011.05 however is a substantial improvement as far as being user friendly and support for various hardware and software. Installation was extremely easy.

For HTPC if you don't care about myth then opensolaris is a no-brainer due to zfs and I had no issues with video playback (I don't know about flash as I haven't tried it).
The only reason I am still trying to get myth setup but only because I want to use my dvb tuner.

If you run any of the following google searches:
solaris mythtv
opensolaris mythtv
zfs file server
solaris HTPC
etc...
you will find a lot of good articles.

solaris is still pretty far behind linux when it comes to hardware driver support though so you should definitely check out your setup to make sure.

this is probably the best place to get started from a file server standpoint and is extremely helpful if you are considering opensolaris.
http://breden.org.uk/2008/03/02/a-home-fileserver-using-zfs/

I've loaded both Nexenta NCP2 Beta and OpenSolaris 2008.11 into virtualbox to get a feel for them. They both boot to zfs by default, and the main differences I've seen after first glance are:

* Nexenta uses a text installer and does not have a desktop environment (yet) whereas OpenSolaris has a nice gui installer and boots into gnome.
* Nexenta has ported the ubuntu "apt" package manager and packages / repositories (although this is far from complete).

I like the direction that Nexenta is headed, and if you're setting up a file / database / network server, are comfortable with the command line, and prefer to use apt, then this is a good alternative. I expect desktop support and apps to follow.

One thing I like about the OpenSolaris installer is that it's actually a live cd (the installer is an app you run from the desktop) and there is a device management program you launch from the desktop that will show you if drivers are available for the devices it detects (network, sound, sata, etc.).

Here's a snapshot of the OpenSolaris desktop after first boot with the "Start Here" app running:

http://www.freeimagehosting.net/uploads/f0b51ddf18.jpg (http://www.freeimagehosting.net/)

yes, the sad, sad examples of solaris packaging are evident with the lack of mplayer or VLC for playing media back (their current 3rd party package sources LWS/blastwave just don't work). especially so soon after the opensolaris 2008.11 release, it's a major disappointment really, and there's little that sun can do without ditching their commitment to licensing (as dumb as that is)

i was partially interested in NexentaCore, the free version of nexenta, until i saw the repository itself. while it's still stuck in ubuntu 8.04, and that's OK, it's hamstrung by re-packaging ubuntu ports on their side of the line, so all those ubuntu mirrors are dead weight, which is disappointing.

i don't know if anyone's been able to use nexenta as a basis for mythtv, as there's a 2nd issue, kernel drivers and hardware, which linux has, and solaris doesn't/can't.

the other alternative, and likely much better for MythTV and XBMC, is gentoo portage for solaris, you bootstrap the entire GNU code from scratch, i.e. it compiles everything from the gentoo portage mirrors, and uses the source files and patches from the gentoo developers which may or may not be solaris tuned.

the initial 6-8 hours of compiling GCC and all the linux core apps/libraries, etc. is a bit wasteful, but afterwards, everything should be far more compatible than the ubuntu releases. but since the nexenta repository also has recompiled their apps for solaris, it's probably a dubious distinction between the two.

still, once the 'base profile is up and running, you'd also have to recompile everything that mythtv-frontend or xbmc requires, including mplayer and all those libraries. i figure that's gotta take 2 days of compiling and fixing up errors, so it's not an easy install either.

the other alternative, and likely much better for MythTV and XBMC, is gentoo portage for solaris, you bootstrap the entire GNU code from scratch, i.e. it compiles everything from the gentoo portage mirrors, and uses the source files and patches from the gentoo developers which may or may not be solaris tuned.

Thank you for posting this! I'm a huge fan of Gentoo, and, as such, have absolutely no reservations at all about spending a week or so compiling stuff. I wasn't aware that portage could be used with Solaris, but now I know exactly what I'm going to be doing next month after I move and get back online --> http://www.gentoo.org/proj/en/gentoo-alt/prefix/bootstrap-solaris.xml

Mythtv on native zfs sounds pretty good to me. :)

or wait for linux 2.6.29 when btrfsdev will be available.... and maybe a couple of releases after that it will be stable....

[btrfs is the linux equivalent of zfs]

or wait for linux 2.6.29 when btrfsdev will be available.... and maybe a couple of releases after that it will be stable....

[btrfs is the linux equivalent of zfs]

Just started looking into that, thanks! :) --> http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Njk4Mw

Prolly easier than building everything from scratch (much as I love to do it ;)).

Nope, haven't tried full-screen.

What's the point? I don't consider flash a primary viewing mode like TV.

Thought of your question when I saw this article pop up.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/02/06/internet.tv/index.html

Your question was as odd to me as if I had asked you "what does Myth have to do with Linux?" :D (which I realize now is a major goal of many/most others here, just not me).. I want to use linux to enjoy all my music/video functions from my computer via my HTPC.

Its certainly not perfect, and quality isn't full HD (altho Hulu HD is pretty decent), BUT.. if you were to raise my monthly Dish bill ($45 for 45 HD channels on Dish's no-longer-available HD Absolute pkg) to $60 or more ($90 for TWC equivalent), I'd very much consider cutting the cord completely and trying this route for a few months. Most shows available within a few days of original airing. As it is I catch 2 shows this way (1 that I don't get at all, and 1 that my local channel only broadcasts in SD.. %$^$@% Sinclair Media...)

well I have tried hulu.com/hd, in full screen mode now, and it works very well on my rig. I watched the full White City Serial Murderer video. There is occasional jerkiness on full-screen pans, but that's a CPU limitation (E8400) as Flash is not amenable to VDPAU. And the image will hang if your internet connexion can't keep up.

well I have tried hulu.com/hd, in full screen mode now, and it works very well on my rig. I watched the full White City Serial Murderer video. There is occasional jerkiness on full-screen pans, but that's a CPU limitation (E8400) as Flash is not amenable to VDPAU. And the image will hang if your internet connexion can't keep up. I've recommended and recommended my hardware until I'm blue in the face, but nobody listens, and I am tired of helping in the face of unbased skepticism and ignorant suspicion that I'm selling something. No, I am in the real estate business and have no need for this, and I was here to help.

Glad to hear it works well.

If I was in the market for new hardware, or convinced what I had was
so broken I needed to start over, I'd happily try to clone your setup. I never thought you had any hidden agenda, I just don't think I could sell mine and clone yours without needing to invest an additional $100-$200 in the process. Happily (maybe) I think I finally found a way to make mine work, altho for the pain (and time invested) it was not worthwhile.

Having not build a PC myself before, I have the notion that it would be hard to resell? (ie. Joe-craigslist would be skeptical of buying a system that didn't say Dell/HP/etc) ? That's another reason that made me hesitant to homebrew (and would lead me to stay cheap if I did).. unfounded?