Home server: media center
Because a file archive is stored on the home server (video, music, photos), I wanted to
implement a media center for viewing content using a TV / monitor directly from the
server.
a media center written in Python, which makes it easy to extend it with plugins. There are plugins
for watching videos from YouTube, photos from flickr, Picasa, listening to streaming
SHOUTcast radio . Pretty nice design, something similar to the Apple FrontRow. Because It is based on
GStreamer, that is, support for most popular media formats, but for example, for some reason I
didn’t want to read VOB files from DVD, although it showed a preview. Management is possible both from the keyboard
and from the mouse (very convenient in the case of a wireless mouse), there is also integration with LIRC to
control the remote control, you can configure and use the touchscreen. The configuration takes place mainly in the
configuration file, through the menu you can
just change topics. For the initial setup, you just need to add the directory addresses in
which the media files are stored in the [xmlmenu: locations_builder] section , the locations variable
should take the form of a python array with the paths: ['file: /// stuff',
'file: /// home / ftp / incoming '] , the
configuration file is created in ~ / .elisa / elisa.conf after the first run. This
media center has a huge number of settings, but all of them are in the configuration file.
For example, there is such an interesting feature as synchronization with F-Spot.
A very interesting media center, originally written for xbox, but later ported to Linux,
Mac OS X, Windows. It has many beautiful themes, and a large number of ready-made scripts. The scripts
are Python code and WindowXML (a framework for creating
an XML-based GUI ). Among the scripts there are both simple plugins for services, and rather complicated
applications, for example, an email client, a variety of games. There is support for DVD, including something
like a menu. Keyboard, mouse control (because the cursor is your own and quite
large, using the mouse is quite convenient), you can also use LIRC. All settings
are in the menu, and there are quite a lot of them, except for the settings through the standard menu there is a web interface,
but I could not use it. There is support for subtitles, beautiful visualization of the current
song, there is synchronization with Last.fm. In general, this media center left a very pleasant
impression of the completed product, but sometimes there are stability problems.
Attention: in the current build under ubuntu problems with screen resolution, you need to
use the SVN build.
Probably the most famous media center for linux. Quite a heavyweight decision, because ubuntu
pulls a lot of dependencies. Able to work with a TV tuner, record transmissions.
A MySQL database is required. Keyboard and LIRC control, no mouse control.
It is quite difficult to configure, but it has support for DVB cards (satellite TV, cable,
etc.). Supports distribution to multiple servers, video encoding. In fact, a
rather redundant solution, as it seems to me, because Video recording / encoding is easily adjustable
by crown. It has a large number of plugins.
Initially, we need an X.org server, as initially in ubuntu-server it is not:
Next, install the media center you like:
note: for XBMC you need to use a
third-party repository , preferably with
SVN builds, as in the usual assembly there is a problem with the screen resolution.
We create a
.xinitrc file in the user's home directory from which the media center will be launched and write to it:
Now you need to configure the X to automatically start from under the user, without asking for a
password, for this we add a line in /etc/rc.local to exit 0 :
If an X error occurs : user not authorized to run the X server, aborting. when
loading, then you need to change the X11 settings:
And let anyone run the X11 server.
Attention: since Since this is a potential security hole, you need to prohibit remote
connections to the X11 server.
That's all, now the media center starts automatically after a reboot.
Other articles in this series: Xen-based virtualization , proxy for SIP
cross-post from my blog
implement a media center for viewing content using a TV / monitor directly from the
server.
Linux Media Center Software Solutions
Elisa
a media center written in Python, which makes it easy to extend it with plugins. There are plugins
for watching videos from YouTube, photos from flickr, Picasa, listening to streaming
SHOUTcast radio . Pretty nice design, something similar to the Apple FrontRow. Because It is based on
GStreamer, that is, support for most popular media formats, but for example, for some reason I
didn’t want to read VOB files from DVD, although it showed a preview. Management is possible both from the keyboard
and from the mouse (very convenient in the case of a wireless mouse), there is also integration with LIRC to
control the remote control, you can configure and use the touchscreen. The configuration takes place mainly in the
configuration file, through the menu you can
just change topics. For the initial setup, you just need to add the directory addresses in
which the media files are stored in the [xmlmenu: locations_builder] section , the locations variable
should take the form of a python array with the paths: ['file: /// stuff',
'file: /// home / ftp / incoming '] , the
configuration file is created in ~ / .elisa / elisa.conf after the first run. This
media center has a huge number of settings, but all of them are in the configuration file.
For example, there is such an interesting feature as synchronization with F-Spot.
XBMC
A very interesting media center, originally written for xbox, but later ported to Linux,
Mac OS X, Windows. It has many beautiful themes, and a large number of ready-made scripts. The scripts
are Python code and WindowXML (a framework for creating
an XML-based GUI ). Among the scripts there are both simple plugins for services, and rather complicated
applications, for example, an email client, a variety of games. There is support for DVD, including something
like a menu. Keyboard, mouse control (because the cursor is your own and quite
large, using the mouse is quite convenient), you can also use LIRC. All settings
are in the menu, and there are quite a lot of them, except for the settings through the standard menu there is a web interface,
but I could not use it. There is support for subtitles, beautiful visualization of the current
song, there is synchronization with Last.fm. In general, this media center left a very pleasant
impression of the completed product, but sometimes there are stability problems.
Attention: in the current build under ubuntu problems with screen resolution, you need to
use the SVN build.
MythTV
Probably the most famous media center for linux. Quite a heavyweight decision, because ubuntu
pulls a lot of dependencies. Able to work with a TV tuner, record transmissions.
A MySQL database is required. Keyboard and LIRC control, no mouse control.
It is quite difficult to configure, but it has support for DVB cards (satellite TV, cable,
etc.). Supports distribution to multiple servers, video encoding. In fact, a
rather redundant solution, as it seems to me, because Video recording / encoding is easily adjustable
by crown. It has a large number of plugins.
Installation and setup
Initially, we need an X.org server, as initially in ubuntu-server it is not:
apt-get install xorg
Next, install the media center you like:
apt-get install elisa (xbmc / mythtv)
note: for XBMC you need to use a
third-party repository , preferably with
SVN builds, as in the usual assembly there is a problem with the screen resolution.
We create a
.xinitrc file in the user's home directory from which the media center will be launched and write to it:
exec elisa (or xbmc / mythtv)
Now you need to configure the X to automatically start from under the user, without asking for a
password, for this we add a line in /etc/rc.local to exit 0 :
su - username -c startx
If an X error occurs : user not authorized to run the X server, aborting. when
loading, then you need to change the X11 settings:
dpkg-reconfigure x11-common
And let anyone run the X11 server.
Attention: since Since this is a potential security hole, you need to prohibit remote
connections to the X11 server.
That's all, now the media center starts automatically after a reboot.
Other articles in this series: Xen-based virtualization , proxy for SIP
cross-post from my blog