Linux Mint as SageTV server?

[ONLYinHD]

Anyone try using Linux Mint for their SageTV Server?

I am dying to try Mint (currently on XP) but the lack of trial software makes me think twice about it. I've installed Mint on a couple of machines and it works great out of the box.

Has anyone tried Mint already? Any comments or suggestions?

[bcjenkins]

Mint should work fine. Your 2250 will only do digital though and you'll need to pull in the latest drivers for it to work.

B

[davephan]

I'd like to try SageTV with Linux too. Maybe I would end up purchasing a Linux license in addition to the Windows license I already own. Without a Linux trial, why should I bother risking an $80 investment on software that might or might not work out for me. I don't understand the logic of no Linux trial version. They could put an annoying 'trial' bug in the middle of the screen to discourage people from trying to use the Linux trial software long term.

So, I'll just stick with Windows until SageTV offers a Linux trial version...


Dave

[evilpenguin]

I wonder if this will change soon when they release the "Server on a stick" USB thumb drive Narflex mentioned in his interview with Brent. If they're serious about getting people using a standard server image they'll need a way people with window's licenses can move over to it without buying an additional license.

[ONLYinHD]

A standard install/image would be a wonderful idea. Once all the bugs are worked out it would make upgrading to latest version or switching to Linux completely painless. Linux is my preference for all my future computing needs.

Will they include drivers for all the capture cards we want to use? All the popular video cards? Etc.

[loonsailor]

Originally Posted by ONLYinHD

Will they include drivers for all the capture cards we want to use? All the popular video cards? Etc.

Only time will tell.

BTW, I'd never heard of mint before, but it looks great! If I was starting fresh today, I think I'd give it a go. Thanks for the pointer.

[ONLYinHD]

Originally Posted by loonsailor

Thanks for the pointer.

You're quite welcome. I'm just glad I can contribute something to the discussion and (hopefully) save someone the hours upon hours of downloading and installs I've done over the past few months.

I wish I'd heard of Mint first as well. But on a positive note nothing was wasted; I understand Linux better now because of all it all.

[hingepin]

Mint looks good, I have to say. Installed it and now have a dual boot system and playing with it. looks to be a perfect solution. I'm still learning about Linux. Just wish the wife could take to it.

[bastafidli]

I converted our whole family almost a year ago, when I setup multi seat system (1 computer, multiple monitors/keyboards/mice) using Ubuntu. We have never looked back a wife liked we didnt have to buy and setup extra PCs for us and kids.

[ONLYinHD]

Originally Posted by bastafidli

I converted our whole family almost a year ago, when I setup multi seat system (1 computer, multiple monitors/keyboards/mice) using Ubuntu. We have never looked back a wife liked we didnt have to buy and setup extra PCs for us and kids.

I just saw this from ages ago. Hope nobody minds the resurrection. What is a multi seat system and how do the monitors and keyboards/mice connect back to the 1 computer?

So many questions. What kind of cables? Do you need converters? Cost? (did you save money versus just buying a pc at each location?)

[bastafidli]

Multiseat = 1 computers + multiple seats where each seat is defined as keyboard + mouse + monitor + sound.

You can find the setup description here
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/MultiseatX
even though it is little bit out of date for 9.10 (it works just fine with gdm by downgrading gdm).

I chose multiseat because our kids like to hang out with us in the office and they always want to be on the computer at the same time as we are and I don't want to buy/build/manage multiple computers.

My setup is suprisingly simple.
- I build the computer with micro atx mb, Core2Duo 4300, 2GB memory, 6TB HDD, 400W power, spare DVD to total cost for me was around $300 o the spot + later $250 for 4TB HDD
- I already had one AGP NVidia GeForge 2MX and I bought 2 more PCI versions of the same card for $6 each on ebay (very old, very simple card, works beautifully for office work)
- I am using onboard sound for one seat, I have PCI Soundblaster Audigy for second and I am still short of one sound card for the third seat.
- On black friday I got 3 x 23" Dell LCDs 1900x1080 + wireless keyboard + wireless mouse + soundbar for $150 each.
- I got regular VGA cables paired with audio cable for around $5 each at monoprice.com
Total cost is about $1000

I am running on it Ubuntu 9.10 and even with just 2GB memory and 3 year old processor we have regularly 4 sessions running, my wife + my kids using the three seats and I am running NX session on this same box.

I am currently planning upgrade and I have been eyeing some MSI and Gigabyte AMD boards with 790FX and 890FX chipsets. There are few which have 4PCIe with 3 PCI or 3PCIe with 3PCI which is ideal for multiseat setup where you can have 3 PCIe graphics cards and 3PCI sound cards.

I like this setup because i have only one desktop computer running and only one to maintain. My wife uses it for office work and browsing and I can for office + browsing + development. My kids play lots of flash games (pbs.org) for which I have created shortcuts for them with Prism and educational Linux games. I paid $0 for software.