Posts tagged Open Source
How To Build a Car PC (A Carputer!)
1These days computers are everywhere, and more and more that’s beginning to include peoples cars. Believe it or not, it’s often not that hard to achieve and the results mean that you could have a complete media, internet, GPS and communications device all in one box!
There are a number of ways to achieve this, both when it comes to hardware and software, in this article I’ll take you through some of the options available to you when building a Carputer.
Build Vs. Buy
You really have two options when it comes to car PC’s; you can either design, build and install your Carputer yourself. Or you can pay someone else to do it.
There are a number of companies out there that offer an array of different solutions, both fitted and un-fitted. The type of solution that you require will dictate the equipment that’s used (as well as dictating the price).
The cost of using one of these companies is likely to be quite high, but then the results are guaranteed to be good and you’ll end up with a fully working and fully integrated machine. If you’re not great with wiring, or if you just don’t want to interfere with your cars electrics yourself then this is the best option for you.
companies such as In-Car PC, Opus Solutions and CarComputer offer a good range of solutions, from budget up to premium. But no matter which system you choose, bare in mind that it will always be cheaper to make it yourself. The only difference is that it’ll be you that has to fabricate your car to accept this new PC, something which most modern cars just aren’t suitable for.
If you’re happy building an ordinary PC then the best option is to take a look at your car, work out where you would want to mount your PC, monitors and control system, and then decide if it’s a job that you can achieve yourself. It’s likely going to involve cutting up your cars interior, running new power and audio cables, and a reasonable amount of soldering.
If this is something you don’t feel comfortable then I suggest you contact one of the companies above, but if you think it’s within your grasp then click through to the next page to read about the hardware basics.
Next Page: Power
Building an HD Media Center – For Less Than £200!!! – Part Three
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In Part one of this guide I took you through the considerations for hardware, and then in part two I demonstrated the process for installing software. Now, in part three, I’m going to show you the finished machine and demonstrate it’s capabilities as a media hub at home:
How to Dual Boot Linux and Windows
0These days more and more people are becoming interested in using Linux on their home PC’s, the problem is that most people have a huge library of files and programs that only run on Windows. It would be difficult and expensive to get rid of Windows altogether, and besides; Linux isn’t for everyone, what if you don’t like it?
The solution is to install Linux alongside your existing Windows operating system, that way you get all the advantages of trying Linux on your home machine whilst maintaining your existing Windows OS as well.
In the video below I’ll take you through installing a Linux operating system alongside your existing Windows installation.
In this example I use a Windows XP installation and the latest version of Ubuntu Linux, but this approach should also work fine with later versions of Windows as well as most other Linux installations.
Building an HD Media Center – For Less Than £200!!! – Part Two
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In part one of this guide I took you through the considerations for buying parts and then assembling a low cost media PC, in this part I’ll take you through the software setup for this PC and give advice on the different options available for producing your own media PC.
Operating System
If your machine is going to be used purely as a media center then the best option is to install a free operating system such as Ubuntu Linux. Linux is a good choice because it isn’t as susceptible to the threats of the internet as a Windows machine would be, which means that the PC will be more stable and require less interaction from you.
If, however, you plan to use your machine for other purposes then Windows may be a better choice, especially if you are unfamiliar with Linux.
In this case, because the machine is going to be purely for playing media, I’ve decided to use Ubuntu Linux 10.04 as my base operating system.
Media Player Software
There are many choices of media player software, both for the Windows and Linux platforms, but following our recent testing of free media center software I’ve decided to use Boxee as the basis for my media center.
The advantage of Boxee is that it’s available for Windows, Linux, AppleTV and Mac, so it can still be used even if you decide to have a Windows operating system. You can read our review of Boxee here.
If you don’t want to use Boxee, there are other options available. XBMC is an excellent alternative for Windows and Linux users, and most Windows users also have the benefit of Window Media Center.
Installation
As my media PC doesn’t feature a CD or DVD drive, I’m going to have to install the operating system using a USB pen drive, full details of how to do this can be found in our article, here
The first step is to install the operating system (in this case Linux). No matter which OS you use, the steps for creating your media PC are more or less the same:
- Install the operating system (Windows, Linux)
- Install all security and software updates (through Windows Update or the Software Updater in Linux)
- Install virus protection software (free options include Microsoft Security Essentials and AVG Free)
- Ensure all your device drivers are up to date (graphics and sound drivers are particularly important)
- Install your chosen media center software (in my case, Boxee)
- Set up your media center software.
- Enjoy!
In the video below, I take you through these steps for an Ubuntu Linux/Boxee installation on the media PC I built in part one.
Review: Boxee Media Center
4A friend, knowing that I use XBMC at home, recently suggested I try Boxee. At first I was reluctant, after all; all of my libraries are set up with XBMC and working perfectly fine, what else could Boxee offer me that XBMC doesn’t? The answer is: quite a lot.
I’ll start off by stating that Boxee is actually developed from XBMC, and uses the XBMC code to run. There are a few advantages to this:
- It’s just as cheap (free!) as XBMC
- It’ll play any files that XBMC can play
- It has a large user community and strong development
- It’ll run on far more platforms than some other media centers; Windows, Linux, Mac, AppleTV, all no problem.
These facts are where the similarities end, however. Boxee has been designed from the ground up with online content and social networking at it’s heart. As well as playing back any of your own media files, it can also pull down content from the internet from a variety of sources. This is nothing that XBMC can’t achieve with a bit of tweaking, but the point of Boxee is that you don’t have to tweak it, it’s all there and ready to use right out of the box.
One big advantage that Boxee has over XBMC (in the UK at least) is the inclusion of BBC iPlayer, which allows you to watch most BBC broadcasts up to 7 days after they were first aired. This is a feature that was removed from XBMC at the beginning of 2010, but Boxee has been able to retain it by utilising your computers own web browser and accessing iPlayer directly.
In addition to iPlayer, there are countless other apps available for Boxee, popular ones include Youtube, Google Videos, Facebook picture viewer and Flickr, which will all allow you to view online content quickly and easily and from the comfort of your living room using nothing but a remote control or the Boxee iPhone application.
Boxee also allows you to connect your Boxee login with a number of social networking sites such as Facebook in order to view what your friends are watching and what they’ve recommended for you, this is a nice feature, but I was unable to find anyone on my Facebook friends list who uses Boxee. Whether this is a bug in the software or testament to how many of my friends use Boxee remains to be seen, but for those who find it working it is a nice feature.
Where Boxee lags behind XBMC (in some people’s eyes) is the inability to change the look and feel to the same degree that you can on XBMC. There are no additional themes available (so far as I can see), although users are able to specify an image (or images) to use as the wallpaper for the home screen.
That being said, the Boxee theme is perfectly usable. It’s clean and responsive and offers a clear window into your media libraries. The controls are optimized for remote controls, but a keyboard or mouse can also be used if you so choose, in fact a keyboard may prove useful when browsing for online content on YouTube or Google Videos.
The library management is very similar to that of XBMC, though the online database feature seems to be locked down to IMDB only (whereas on XBMC you can choose your database manually). This is fine, though some TV show information was still missing after Boxee had completed it’s initial scan. Adding or changing information is a little easier than on XBMC, the Boxee guys have given a shortcut for doing so on the interface so that you can quickly and easily change the information for your media.
Conclusions:
All in all, Boxee offers a well rounded alternative to XBMC for those who wish to have easier access to online media, whilst retaining the same level of information for their home libraries. The inclusion of the social networking aspect is a nice thought, though how impactful this is in the long run remains to be seen. Like XBMC, it has no PVR functionality, so is no use for those wishing to record TV broadcasts on their computer, but it remains at the forefront of media management and playback, and for that we give it top marks.
Pro’s:
- Rock Solid XBMC Foundation
- Free
- Online media aspect
- Works on all major PC platforms
Con’s:
- Little personalization possible
- Some media information missing from IMDB
- No PVR Functionality
Rating: 10/10
Review: Linux Mint 9
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This weekend I’ve been taking a look at Linux Mint on the recommendation of a friend.
Mint is based upon Ubuntu Linux but is aimed towards those who are used to using a Windows operating system. Overall it’s an excellent Linux distribution, and well worth the attention of anyone looking to dip their feet in the Linux pool. Check out the video below…..
Review: XBMC Media Center
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There are a few other articles dotted around this site (as well as a couple of videos), it’s no secret that my personal favourite media playing suite is XBMC. But is it the best performer objectively? What are it’s strengths and it’s shortcomings? What can it do, and what can’t it do? Read on to find out.
XBMC originally started life as a hack for the original XBOX games console, in fact XBMC stands for X-Box Media Center. Originally it was achieved by either modifying your consoles hardware, or by exploiting a software loophole to modify the systems software and install XBMC. Once installed XBMC replaced the original XBOX system, allowing you to play movies and music files, but while still allowing you to play your XBOX games (or even copy them to your consoles hard disk – Microsoft didn’t like that one bit!).
XBMC was such a success that it was then developed for other platforms such as Windows, Linux, Mac, and even Apple TV, and development continues today with new features and applications rolling out periodically.
But how does it actually perform? Well, the default theme gives a very clear cut and professional look, the menus are easy to navigate and it will make use of any input device that you have attached, be it mouse, keyboard, remote control or XBOX controller. The default skin “Confluence” returns a nice user experience, with album artwork etc. being displayed flawlessly while navigating the menus. Check out XBMC and Confluence in our “XBMC Walkthrough” videos below.
Youtube is flooded with other videos of XBMC, spread across multiple different platforms and using lots of different skins and themes to get the look and feel exactly as the user requires. From the ground up XBMC was designed to be a media center used with large screen TV’s rather than on a computer monitor, so the themes usually tend to be layed out in a way that makes them clearly readable from a distance.
The way XBMC handles your media assists in this; once set up it will check your sources for new media upon startup and automatically download information pertaining to it from online databases such as IMDB and TVDB, meaning that you can focus entirely on enjoying your media collection and not have to worry about ensuring that items are correctly added to your library.
That being said, XBMC can sometimes get it wrong and download the wrong information for a movie or TV show, but this can be fixed in mere seconds with the use of a remote control or mouse; an on screen keyboard is included as part of XBMC so that you don’t need to keep a keyboard connected to the PC in order to add items to your library.
XBMC can also pick up media sources elsewhere on your network, meaning that you can play back items on your TV that are stored on another computer in your home, which can be useful if you don’t wish to keep your main PC in the living room or want to avoid doubling up on data storage.
There’s also an official XBMC remote control app for both the iPhone and Android marketplaces, we reviewed the iPhone version not so long ago, here:
What’s more, XBMC is available for absolutely nothing, just head over to XBMC.org and follow the instructions to download the program for whatever platform you require. The additional skins, plugins and scripts are also free and can be downloaded from the XBMC site as well. There’s also quite an extensive following of people online who are busy developing new and interesting uses for XBMC, so development is likely to continue for quite some time.
Conclusions:
All in all, XBMC offers a complete solution for a media center platform for your PC (or Mac, or Apple TV, or XBOX). There is hardly a better solution available for free that offers the same degree of usability and flexibility in managing your home media connection. Add to that that it’s free and readily available for almost all platforms and you have the ideal media player solution for the home today.
Pro’s:
- Available for free
- Works on a variety of platforms
- Fantastic user experience
Con’s:
- No PVR facility
- Music library feature could use improvement.
Score: 9/10
Building A PC From Scratch – Part Three
2In parts one and two of this guide we dealt with procuring hardware and assembling it to form a complete PC.
In part three I’m going to give an overview of what you need to do now to make your machine usable.
Operating Systems.
The first thing you’ll need to do is obtain an Operating System (OS) such as Microsoft Windows or a version of Linux. The OS is the program on your computer from which all your other programs and files are accessed. Microsoft Windows is the most popular OS, with the latest version being titles “Windows 7″.
Windows 7 comes in a few different varients, with varying features and options available dependant on the varient. Most home users will be content in purchasing Windows 7 – Home Premium which offers perhaps the best value for money out of all the varients. For dull details on what each version offers, check out the article on Wikipedia here.
You can buy Windows from a number of online suppliers, including those that were mentioned in part one of this series.
The actual installation procedure for Windows I will leave to the installation guide provided with your copy of Windows, there is little point in me re-writing the information provided to you by Microsoft.
If you do not wish to pay extra for an OS, there is an alternative to Windows known as Linux. Linux is an “Open Source” OS solution, which means that for personal use it’s completely free. There are many varients of Linux, but perhaps the easiest to use is Ubuntu Linux which we reviewed here. You can download Linux from the website of each of the varients, most will also include installation instructions.
Security Software
If your computer is to be connected to the internet then it is imperative that you install some form of security software on your computer to prevent it from getting infected and to protect your personal information.
There are two ways to go about this; there are complete security packages available from specialised security firms, such as Norton and McAfee. These are paid-for products which offer a decent level of protection from all sorts of online threats, such as viruses, spyware and malware. If you don’t wish to purchase security software, then there are some free alternatives available online. These offer a reasonable level of protection but updates are often slower to be released than for the paid for products, which means that your computer may be liable to infection for periods of time between viruses being created and your security package being able to detect them. Microsoft themselves have released a program called Security Essentials which is free to download and offers reasonable protection against online threats.
It’s important not to install all of these products at once; each of them requires processing power to run and slows down your system slightly, if you install multiple versions then the effect will be amplified and your system will function a lot slower than it could.
If you’re using a Linux OS then security software is a lot less necassary, that’s not to say that Linux is impervious to attack, or that you should let your guide down, but being that Linux is a lot less popular than Windows viruses don’t tend to be written to attack Linux.
Installing Updates
In Windows and Linux, you have the option to enable automatic updates so that the latest security updates and utilities are available to you. It’s important to make sure that this option is turned on as, combined with a decent security package, it will ensure so far as possible that your computer is protected from the threats of the internet.
Installing additional software.
With both types of Operating System there is a massive catalogue of additional software that you can install in order to increase the functionality of your computer. For details of some excellent free packages for both Windows and Linux,check out our top ten programs for both here and here.
Once you’ve installed security software, updated your OS and installed additional software you’re ready to begin using your computer for it’s true intents. Hopefully you’ll experience many years of happiness with your machine without the need to change any of the hardware of software, and even then you will likely be able to perform simple upgrades to both the hardware and software without having to go through the complete process of designing and building a PC again.