# Home media server setup



## brock029 (Sep 12, 2010)

Alright, so i've been thinking about it for awhile and now im finally getting ready to get started on it. Basically im wanting to build a media server off of ubuntu (which i found a great tutorial for already). The next step is what I want connected to the tvs....im really wanting to beable to record tv shows and have them save on the server and also whatever movies i have on there too so all of the tvs can access them. At first i was thinking the easy route of just getting a sony media streamer for each tv (mainly because of the price) but then with that the recording tv is not going to happen. So then i thought maybe I could build some small (mini itx or mini atx) computers also with linux and install a tv tuner card and go from there. So i guess the question is Ive already got the server planned out just not for sure what to do client side for each tv. Any suggestions would be great because im not for sure how to get the tv signal hooked to the computer and then back out to the tv. Im just looking for a good linux build for the computers or if any one knows a good media streamer that could connect to the server and record would be great too.


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## billotronic (Jun 27, 2005)

For the tv recording check out mythTV or mythUbuntu

MythTV, Open Source DVR
About Mythbuntu | Mythbuntu

Both have pretty good documentation and are capable of running a front end (set top) and back end (server)


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## brock029 (Sep 12, 2010)

thanks thats exactly what i was looking for....and im asuming all my movies i can just put on the server and mythtv would stream thoughs too....so next would be the build for my "set top boxes" im guess all i need is a tv tuner card but with one of those can the tv signal go in and out from a tv tuner card if soo thats my main concern. after that im guessing pretty low end on the rest of the hardware should work just fine. any suggestion, and do you know if a tuner card that has a remote if the remote works with myth tv or linux for that matter?


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## KD5EEJ350 (Apr 19, 2011)

The AMD Fusion 350 APU's dominate Intel in the "Low power/Low Noise/Low Heat" Set top ITX market.

Newegg.com - Computer Hardware,Motherboards,Motherboard / CPU / VGA Combo,AMD E-350 APU


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## billotronic (Jun 27, 2005)

if you want to have movies and such then you might want to take a look at xbmc. 

XBMC

It might just be the best thing out there for movie playback from local sources. Plus there is a VERY active community that has come up with a wide arrange of eye candy and functional improvements to the core software that might just make you crap your pants.

mythTV is more geared for a software DVR and it is mighty good at that. It can also be paired with xbmc with this:
[RELEASE] MythBox for XBMC - a MythTV Front-end Python Script for XBMC - XBMC Community Forum

When you ask if the TV signal go in and out, do you mean take a coax to the card then a coax from the card to the tv? If so, I would imagine that would be up to the TV card you use.

This is some general info on tuner cards:
Video capture card - MythTV Official Wiki

And its seems that Hauppauge PVR series of cards are very popular for what you are wanting to do and I believe some if not all come with some sort of remote. 

I personally don't have a remote though, I use a wireless keyboard for my htpc (no set tops yet)

Newegg.com - IOGEAR GKM561R Black 2.4GHz Wireless HTPC Multimedia Keyboard with Laser Trackball and Scroll Wheel

Scour xbmc and mythtv forums... there are TONS of build ideas, comparisons, and debates.


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## brock029 (Sep 12, 2010)

Thanks for all the info. Yeah i wasnt for sure if there was a tuner card that has an input and an output....so think i got it thought, just have to plug the video out on the pc to the tv....which will also be fun have 2 tvs that dont have vga inputs. so you can put xbmc and myth tv together so for what im wanting seems like the best route. Also server side do i use the myth tv backend with regular gui ubuntu or do i need to instal the server version of ubuntu? And on that does the server need to have a pretty good cpu/ram if im going to be streaming with xbmc and also recording with myth tv. And for now think im out of questions....thanks again.


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## billotronic (Jun 27, 2005)

server side you could go mythubuntu since that comes with a LOT of stuff already set up. depending on how comfortable you are with the command line you might be able to set things up with a leaner linux install, but I would recommend starting off with mythbuntu and going from there. 

hardware is a little trickier to call. your biggest concern is going to be bottle necks... either over your lan or your hardware. some things you need to think about is what kind of content you want to stream (ie, 720 takes larger pipes than 480 etc) how much storage you want, server going to ONLY serve files (no bittorrent, video conversion, etc), and how much money you want to spend on your electric bill. One thing I whole heartily recommend is not going cheap on a power supply. Do your research and cough up the extra $$$ for a solid PSU. Past that, 4gb of ram should be over kill for most applications, double and even triple check your selected hardware's compatibility with linux (TONS of headache potential!) 

The best advice I can give you is READ READ READ! I spent the better part of a month researching the hardware and software for my HTPC setup and you shouldn't order anything until absolutely sure it will fill your requirements.


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