LinuxMCE: MythTV for the rest of us?
LinuxMCE is a recently released Linux distribution that promises to be the MythTV for the rest of us. MythTV is notoriously difficult to set up and LinuxMCE promises to be the easiest Media Center Linux distribution complete with an installer that is so easy to use any user with absolutely no Linux experience will have no problem using it. The following is a description from the project homepage:
LinuxMCE is a free, open source add-on to Ubuntu including a 10′ UI, complete whole-house media solution with pvr + distributed media, and the most advanced smarthome solution available. It is stable, easy to use, and requires no knowledge of Linux and only basic computer skills.
The following are the features LinuxMCE brings to the table:
Version 1.0
Media & Entertainment
• 3D alpha-blended GUI optimized for displaying on a TV and using a remote control
• Media browser presenting all content on all devices in the home on a 3D rotating cube
• Plug-and-play detection and aggregation of network storage and DMA’s
• Built-in NAS providing centralized backup and whole-house media server
• “Follow Me” Media, each family member’s media follows him/her through the house
• Automatically controls all existing av devices, like TV’s, Stereo’s, etc.)
• Many control options: mobile phone, webpad, pda, phoneSmart Home
• Home Automation: Control lighting, climate, security, camera surveillance, and more
• Communication: Phone system with auto-attendant, voice mail, call forwarding/routing for VOIP and POTS lines
• Security: Uses your existing home alarm, surveillance cameras, lights, phones and tv’s to notify you on your mobile phone of any security alerts with the option of reseting the alarm or broadcasting your voice in the house over the tv’s
LinuxMCE talks a mighty game. I will be installing it this week and putting it to the test. Have any of you tried LinuxMCE? What did you think of it? Please share your opinion in the comments.
Related Stories
POSTED IN: Explanation
12 opinions for LinuxMCE: MythTV for the rest of us?
Eric Wilson
Mar 25, 2007 at 11:48 am
Can anyone tell me, does LinuxMCE work with the KDE version of ubuntu, Kubuntu? Does Ubuntu have an update program on it for keeping the system up to date? Can I route regular phone service through LinuxMCE and use the voicemail/home security calling type features? If anyone can answer any of these questions, I would be very grateful. I currently use Fedora and Windows, and am working on slowly making my way off of windows, and I think this might do it for me. Thanks.
Eric Wilson
TKDWILSON@GMAIL.COM
Lon
Mar 26, 2007 at 9:37 am
Linux MCE installs its own OS onto the PC. It will wipe your hard drive and install its own OS and version of Mythtv. The thing to watch out for is that there are still hardware compatability issues. Even though its an easy to install distro, from reading their forums, the hardware support is not any better than other versions of linux. You might still have a hard time if some of your hardware is not fully supported. This is why I would go with a company like TVease. They do all the hardware research and MythTV install for you on an Ubuntu base for a really good price.
Treq
Mar 31, 2007 at 11:44 am
What Lon is saying is not correct.
LinuxMCE is an add-on to Ubuntu, basically a huge installer that automatically installs a number of individual programs that all set up to work together to create the LinuxMCE experience.
It is not an OS, and it does _not_ wipe your hard-drive or anything like that. You have to install standard Ubuntu first, and then run the installer.
TKDWILSON
Mar 31, 2007 at 5:15 pm
Yeah, I knew he was wrong, standard Ubuntu only not KDE? Does Ubuntu autoupdate your system?
Eric Wilaon
Seth
Apr 7, 2007 at 2:26 pm
Yes, it does have an update feature that keeps track of when you need updates, you can have it update automatically, or just notify you of needed updates
tkdwilson
Apr 7, 2007 at 6:18 pm
thanks. :-)
Opieum
Apr 19, 2007 at 2:38 am
Truth to tell it is easy to install it just takes long. It should work in kubuntu with no issues. Anything it needs it will just download via apt-get during installation.
The only time you should worry is when the install does not work (You will know when it doesnt come up)
In my case I had issues where it looked like everything would work and it did not. My milage varied there. The drivers do not always install correctly (I tried 5 times with 5 different results from clean installs each time)
wd4nzx
Sep 28, 2007 at 5:57 pm
The latest LinuxMCE can be installed from a DVD Installer as shown on the latest video. It will indeed wipe your drive and take over the box, but this is software that should be installed in a dedicated box for the entertainment center. I recently built a system using the hardware listed in the Wiki and it all went just as described. It installs Kubuntu 0704 as an underpinning and then all of the stuff needed for whole house control. I only have one problem now, it still installs Mythtv for the ZAP2 data source, disabeling the TV tuner. Anyone know how to change the data source in some easy way?
Andre
Oct 24, 2007 at 8:28 am
Absolute rubbish …. Tried to install LinuxMCE for 2 days now and still not working. Installed Ubuntu and MythTV in under an hour .. all working !
MythTV is the way to go …
Gordon Hope
Dec 13, 2007 at 3:15 pm
I have the same problem with the disabled tuner I would love to learn how to make this thing connect to schedule direct to get programing for the pvr. I am very impressed with the rest of the package but cannot get TV programing .
Kogos Grain
Jan 18, 2008 at 12:07 pm
actually, there are many people having issues with MythTV setup under Kubuntu distro… I have tried to install it under Kubuntu in 3 different computers, but no luck… MySQL gets mixed up, user groups get mixed up and everything goes down… No problem with Ubuntu though because of the Mythbuntu Control Center :)) So, is LinuxMCE any good under KDE???
Gordon Hope
Mar 18, 2008 at 1:34 pm
I have recently upgraded to linuxmce 710 beta 4 there are many improvements but I still have the same problem when I try to connect to my program provider it seems that linuxmce should be able to handle the setup by just typing my user name & password for schedules direct and mce will make all the connection automatically but this is not the case, instead I am getting a message that says” Sorry but linuxmce is unable to setup provider’s in your country please use mythtv to set up your provider”. I do this and I am able to get a connection through channel 4 on my Starchoice receiver this allows me to get a program using the starchoice remote but I cannot download the program channels to the software in linuxmce so that I can program recordings like a PVR should do . This is very frustrating. I have reached out to the forms but no one has been able to com up with an answer for my problem . aside from this everything works fine .
Have an opinion? Leave a comment: