Sean Houlihane » HTPC

AMD/ATI linux driver survey.

Sean — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 15:29:15 +0000

http://www.amd.com/us/LinuxCrewSurvey
Following my ongoing inability to use an integrated graphics 790GX motherboard with myth, I found this survey linked in the release notes for fglrx 9.7 (which I haven’t tried, but the pre-release version seemed a small improvement)

Cutting edge (beta) drivers may be posted here:
https://edge.launchpad.net/~xorg-edgers/+archive/ppa
Latest update was this morning.

790gx Integrated graphics and MythTv

Sean — Thu, 28 May 2009 08:50:16 +0000

On first glance, an AM2+/AM3 motherboard using 780GX or 790GX integrated graphics would make a great HTPC, particularly with a reasonably low power CPU.
The big problem with this strategy is the driver situation. Whilst there exists an open source driver, it is limited in it’s use of acceleration – particularly for 3D.
The proprietary fglxr driver from AMD (version 9.5 as of this post) is very shaky. Although it gave the appearance of working, video playback under MythTv is broken, and I’m having many problems in trying to use a HD-TV as a display. Setup only seems to work if I have an analogue display connected to start with, and I need to ssh in to run aticonfig –install.
In fact, with the ASrock A790GMH/128M motherboard I have, it’s impossible to generate digital output from either of the onboard connectors, although the control pannel shows the TV is detected.
The RMA’d motherboard from DFI has returned, so more games tonight.

http://davmac.wordpress.com/2008/04/06/ati-driver-woes/ suggests disabling interlacing 9or at least not using ‘bob’ as an interlacer, since this generates double height images. That helped, I can now use myth full screen, compiz off, QT rendering on a 2nd ATI card (not the integrated one).

The DFI M2RS board has working onboard graphics, but won’t display the bios settings on a HD-TV (and is digital only, no analogue output). It’s northbridge also runs very hot (60 degrees in free air, out of the case) so is unlikely to be a go-er in the case in a cabinet.

DFI LanParty JR 790GX-M2RS – DOA

Sean — Thu, 21 May 2009 07:24:57 +0000

Hmm… After my parcel arrived from Scan, I started to assemble my new PC. Everything seemed to go well, until I plugged it in. Blank Screen. The POST led indicated that everything was normal, booted OK. I try sapping the DVI/HDMI selector (this motherboard can only support a singe connector at a time). No Joy. I try a Cmos reset. The POST sequence now stops at 7F, cmos checksum error, so I know that the bios is reset correctly.

Inspection of the interwebs shows several pople have had doa problems with this board. Closer instpection of the packaging suggests I am not the first person to receive this motherboard – some of the plastic bags containing cables are already open. Have Scan sent me a board which has already been returned by someone else?

Initial thoughts on this board – the manual is very light on detail.Connectors are detailed, but nothing at all on the bios settings. Whilst having round cables is a plus, they do look very cheap and nasty after unpacking the Lian Li case, which is very nice. the BIOS POST lights are really useful in determining if the board is functioning.

Emprex wireless keyboard – Looks nice, feels very plastic. Has 18 media keys, about half of which work in Ubuntu 8.10 out of the box. I’ll save messing about trying to get more till 9.4, which has to wait till I get a working motherboard. Not too bad to type on whilst resting on the lap, and range is good, works at 5m with new batteries. Mouse joystick is a rubber tit thing, and sadly has no click button built in.

Likewise, the cyberlink remote needs to wait, but first impression is that it is a usb keyboard device, not an IR receiver. Luckily there is a driver, just hope it can be made to work.

Lian Li C36 HTPC Build

Sean — Tue, 19 May 2009 15:36:06 +0000

HTPC build

Introductory post for my HTPC build, May 2009.
Parts list:

4GB (2x2GB) Corsair TwinX DDR2 XMS2        £46.37
DFI JR 790GX-M2RS, AMD 790GX, Sok A        £99.49
Scythe Shuriken Rev.B Quiet Low Pro        £19.89
Lian Li PC-36B MUSE Black Desktop /       £134.00
AMD Phenom II X3 720 Black Edition,       £100.72
1TB Samsung HD103SI EcoGreen F2, SA        £63.89
----------------------------------------------------------
Nett total      £465.25 (+ vat, delivery) = £546.53

The HDD is ultimately destined to go in a Myth backend server box, with something faster (maybe) in the frontend. I chose the Lian Li c36 primarily so that I can fit it within my TV stand/cabinet. This means it needs to be low-profile.

I was looking at the C38, but that seems to have been delayed and only the C39 is appearing in stores. I opted for an external IR receiver ( Cyberlink Remote Control + USB Receiver, 5.99 from Play.com) so I don’t need to keep the TV receiver or the case in view. Also from Play was the Emprex MCE Wireless Gaming Keyboard @ 31.99 since this is a desktop/Myth combo.

Cooling is an unknown at the moment, since the box will be sitting in a confined space. I looked for an external ATX psu, but found nothing that looked sensible. This would help by moving 15% of the heat generation outside the main case. If I have a problem, I’m inclined to spend money on water cooling with an external radiator than a marginal psu setup.

I’m opting for onboard graphics, so no cards fitted on the motherboard. Primary media storage will be on the backend over network. This box will be powered off when not in use, the backend is always live (hence the choise of a low-power drive). I’ll be experimenting with booting from USB flash, having no local HDD, and also using flash for the backend / partition.