Suppose I make it easy for all the newbies and budget folks? - Page 18

If we collectively wanted to agree to wait, I could go along with that. What concerns me though is how often promised release dates are pushed back time and time again.

How long would we really have to wait if there's something that holds up the next set of boards? It's not impossible that there could be something that holds them all up. (Not even counting the lg drive.)

One of our goals was to have a working system as long before x-mas as possible. If things are pushed back to november/december we could miss having anything concrete this year completely.


This board may not be for everyone, but it may be ideal for many and a good place to start.

Are you sure on that 16x slot not working at 16x? Please post a link to proof if you can. I have a hard time believing this, as the onboard video is disabled when an add in card is put in, from what I can tell, so they aren't sharing. Or there must be a way to disable onboard video.

Sjorma, yes I have looked them all up. But there was supposed to be one that had all the same features, not just vga or some of them. I think that was a myth and they must have been referring to the one that's just vga.

Troy

How do I get this signature to display properly?


Troy

Because many people need a small solution, and a uATX fits in anything just about. It can work for both full size and tiny cases. Those that want a tiny pc could run a board like this with no add in cards and an external power supply (if one exists that's powerful enough) and it would be as small as a book. I'm thinking like the pico power supply/wall wort solutions. Even in just a slimline case with a normal or smaller standard supply it would be just the size of a common dvd player. There are many attractive small cases it could fit. These days uATX boards are just as capable as full, except they have fewer slots, but everything has a usb and external solution these days and there's so much built into these boards that the number of slots aren't as important as they used to be. Please chime in with all your opinions. This isn't just about what I think or want.

We surely do want to offer a full size alternative as well.

Yes there is a lot we can still work on. However testing takes a lot of time too for the final platform, and for bluepill to be adapted and for linux to be configured for the board we select. So unless we get something selected in plenty of time and get going soon we risk missing xmas, the biggest buying opportunity of the season and our best chance at getting widespread attention and adoption.

I'm still open to waiting. This could be our fallback option and we could set a cut off date for waiting. I wouldn't call it problematic really. Once you get the right drivers working it's reportedly stable as a dream and does in fact work in powedvd now just as well as any other board does. This just gives the possibility of more features down the line whereas other boards have no possibility to do this audio unless you replace the sound card. I also am very curious what kind of quality is has audio wise just for lossless audio etc via analog since many people do want to run analog.

Thanks Greeniguana, I'll try that in a sec.

I could always start testing with one unofficially... And just sell it on ebay if something better comes along to get most of the money back to put into other things we need. (Like a motherboard of the same type for each of the core members to test and develop on.)

Troy

Well that worked perfectly, thanks G.

When we have a proper FAQ I'll update the sig, this is just temporary.

If any of you (non core members) are good writers and have followed the project enough to know all our goals we could use a well written faq. I think I can do ok, but clearly writing is not my strong suit. Everything has been spelled out perfectly clearly I think, but it's scattered among many posts and pages of this thread and has grown more and more as time went by.

If nobody steps up I'll just do the best I can and this will be one of the things I'll work on while we are in a holding pattern.

We also need to select a suitable common VFD. Kapone says the imon is wonderful... Any other opinions? We had already planned to have the actual MS brand remote/receiver which may be best for the broadest support but if the imon is truly compatible and well supported enough we could change that plan. We must have ir emitters and broad support of the whole thing.

It will be critically important down the line.

Troy

Greeniguana

What kind of setup is needed in LinuxMCE to support standard USB keyboards and mice as the main controller vs ps2 vs wireless vs bluetooth vs the gyration mouse and keyboard vs a ms type remote? Does it even support the ms remote and emitters? Is it like windows where it will just install the drivers and use what it detects as long as we bundle all the drivers in?

Sorry I just don't have time to look into this. The goal being to load up on options here rather than being stuck to just one solution. People have their own strong preferences in this area.

Troy

Cool. We can give options.
I think I want to set up windows for the gyration too, but I've never had my hands on one to know how good it actually works and feels. It sure looks great on the linuxMCE videos.

Troy

Hmm I have a couple Asrock 775dualVSTA's that also limit the x16 to x4 or something, but in use it only dropped benchmarks by a very small margin when compared to the same card on better boards.
(because todays stuff doesn't utilize all that bandwith anyway)
But this is sure disappointing. Why would they do such a thing?

Thank you for that Renethx that was very nice of you to find and post that block diagram.

I'm open to reconsider going full atx and no onboard video if enough people would prefer that, my case will fit full size boards and I wanted the gaming power of a real add in card myself anyway.

I just wanted more options to keep cost down (as well as size) for others just for the sake of the ultimate flexibility of our build to be used in any form.

Should we vote on it?

I don't know the numbers but some wanted full and some wanted micro.

Voting could help ensure we meet the needs of the most users possible with the first build.

Personally I prefer a big case and the most upgrade ability but I do like as many onboard features as possible.

I really wouldn't use on board video myself at this time other than to test it for you all.

My case is 4u sized rackmount but short depth like a standard desktop.

I have not been looking at full size motherboard options, but I'd want all that's been discussed so far plus if we could find something with the same new audio chip that would be nice. We're pretty well comitted to 45nm support, I think that's best for us all so the system remains viable longer.
I guess we'd be looking at the g35 chipsets?

Maybe we should look at more block diagrams for those upcoming boards to see their shortcomings too if those details are out yet.


I am willing to start on the p33 board and I could have that all done before the g35 and do the g35 as well if you guys are willing to expand the effort to both systems. I would just tear down the first system when done with it and move on to the same testing with the second board and same hardware if we don't have enough money to build two complete systems right away.

bluepill and linux setup would have to be expanded to support both platforms.

If it's a month wait that could be enough time to do both and once we have something concrete I imagine we would get enough donors and supporters to have both systems built to continue tuning both as time goes by.

There is around $600 in the bank for this now... With the 360 drive paid for already and we have an offer for a loaner hdhomerun so we don't have to buy one. Also GreenIguana says he doesn't need a motherboard for his work, and Binary64 may not either so it would only be the added cost of one additional motherboard for right now.

I am also willing to sell my current htpc's and wrap that money into completing the second and just use both of those for my daily drivers so refinements can continue to come out for both platforms. They can share optical drives so it's just the base systems needing to be built.

Troy

You'll have to give me time to go over them all in depth but once again great work by Renethx.

Do you know off the top of your head if any of those have the same audio chipset as the p33? I guess that's not so important on full size since there is one more slot to add even a high end sound card.

If we do go full atx we would not be looking for any on board video, this would be a switch to a more high end capable board and video would be just expected to be the 8600gt minimum.

I must say the p5b plus seems to have it all. I still like to see a serial port and parallel port plus little things like the spdif on the back panel are just nice...How about 45nm support? Please tell us all about it Joseph. How about power management, WOL, speedstep, fan control, temp sensors working right in 3rd party apps, anything you can think of good or bad.

I will keep doing more research and think about things a bit while more people have a chance to voice their opinions.

Troy

On a completely unrelated topic.

I don't know how much work you have going on GreenIguana but I have noticed XBMC for linux is nearing it's first release. How hard would it be to include that in the LinuxMCE build as an optional front end once it's stable?
(If you have your hands full already forget it.)
There's no telling when it will actually be ready for prime time but it's looks like they are really close.

Also what can you tell us about the fate of guide data for MythTV? I keep hearing it'll be cut off, and may be a pay service, which goes against the entire point of linux in my mind.

Troy

Just to clarify We don't require parallel and serial connections, it's just a nice feature to have for some gear like crestron and other hardware like my beloved CRT projectors which all used serial control. Some VFD/LCD's of a certain age all used parallel and serial also though now there are USB versions.

Both of those things can be added with cheap USB converters so we don't want to stay all hung up on that.

Joseph Clark has professional writing skills and has stepped up to create a well written FAQ for us. Thank you Joseph!

We now also have an offer for a loaner BR drive if it turns out we can't afford one. Thank you Mikegnds.

It's nice to see we're picking up more and more support. It's very much appreciated, we couldn't do anything without all the volunteers and supporters making this possible.

Troy