i have an older computer - 1ghz processor, 1 gig of ram, older sound and video cards... and a ps3
i have been using my laptop as a media server, but the external hdd gets annoying to carry around the house with my laptop, so i'd rather use the older pc as nothing but a media server for my ps3.

I installed ubuntu 8.10 and used mediatomb to be my media server, but apparently i don't have enough processing power from the ubuntu desktop with the background applications running as well.

can anybody suggest an extremely lightweight operating system that will have a bi******** client and an extremely lightweight media server running at the same time? i do not need the media server to do anything but make the media files accessible, i am completely against transcoding and i'd rather convert the files if they're not in the right format anyways... oh yeah, and be able to mount an NTFS external usb hdd to access these files??

thanks, guys

Have you checked out FreeNAS? Works awesome for me on an old system (Athlon XP2800+, 512mbs ram, 1TB drive)

Minimum specs are :

* Motherboard with x86 processor
* 128 MB RAM
* 32 MB free disk space
* Network card
* BIOS that supports bootable CD-ROMs
* Another workstation with a modern web browser and access to the network FreeNAS is on

For the initial installation, you will need to have access to the above system requirements plus the following:

* Monitor (for text mode console)
* Keyboard
* CD-ROM drive
* Another workstation with Internet access, CD burner, and CD burner software that can burn an ISO


I just upgraded to the latest build and before I shut it down my uptime was 150+ days.

They have added transcoding as an option as well with PS3 support but I haven't need that as I'm using it with a TViX M4000.

"Windows Fundamentals" is supposed to be made to run on older machines like that. If you're only really doing two processes like the ones you mentioned then you should be okay. I've seen much worse specs do a lot.

I've been using Vortexbox (www.vortexbox.org).

It has Squeezecenter built in and runs the squeeze client. You can control it from any web-enabled device on your network.
It also automatically rips CDs when you put them in.

Use it as a music server, NAS, and video server...

glad to see someone is asking something i've had on my mind recently. have an old epia800 board i just got a case for. now for a similar question, any chance of having it work as its own mp3 player? i'd like to have something like this to serve the network, but also play music as well. i know i've got a couple of old 16x2 lcds to show file info, trying to find something that will go that route too.....

I have a 6 yr old laptop w/1gig ram I'm using. I put a fresh copy of XP on it along with a big usb drive and it seems to work fine for me to stream to my Squeezebox with flac files. I am using it only for music and not video.

Okay... tried freenas and the ps3 didn't pick it up as a media server... or a server at all...

installed xubuntu which is a lightweight version of linux... the reason i need a lightweight OS is so that the majority of the processor can be used to transcode to hd; the only thing is that i'm having difficulties with is finding an easy-to-use media server... i found mediatomb, but the video runs REALLY SH!%%7... any suggesetions for xubuntu media servers? i've tried fuppes, but it appears to be WAY over my head in terms of ease of use... i'm gonna try that windows and see if i can't just use tversity with it... any more suggestions would be much appreciated...

thanks a lot, guys

Okay... tried freenas and the ps3 didn't pick it up as a media server... or a server at all...

installed xubuntu which is a lightweight version of linux... the reason i need a lightweight OS is so that the majority of the processor can be used to transcode to hd; the only thing is that i'm having difficulties with is finding an easy-to-use media server... i found mediatomb, but the video runs REALLY SH!%%7... any suggesetions for xubuntu media servers? i've tried fuppes, but it appears to be WAY over my head in terms of ease of use... i'm gonna try that windows and see if i can't just use tversity with it... any more suggestions would be much appreciated...

thanks a lot, guys
1 GB processor for HD ( 720/1080 ) is going to be little uphill. Look for some decent 2 core CPU. With i7 in the market, the socket 775 is really gettign cheap. Regular Avi's/xvids should work fine.

IB