[mythtv-users] Diskless frontend

adrian at lawsonlundell.com adrian at lawsonlundell.com
Thu Oct 9 09:55:36 EDT 2003


Hi There,

The motherboard is where the cost savings are. I am using an ECS K7SOM $74 which comes with a built in Duron 1800 cpu (its soldered on so you can't upgrade it but I think the current model has a Duron 2000). The draw back with this board is it doesn't have tv out which you will likely need if your putting it next to your tv. I use a computer monitor and will probably get a DLP projector which also takes vga as an input so I'm not too worried about it but I am going to find out if ECS makes one with tv-out I know the chipset they are using supports it. I would love to use one of those VIA itx boards, because they are so small, use very little power and some can be run fanless but the bare boards start at about $120.

My system:
ECS K7SOM	$74
256mb ram	$40
USB 32mb	$15	(You might have to shop around for the usb memory stick the 32mb ones are not in demand anymore so you can find deals on these)

note: I already had a PS, keyboard, mouse and I built the case so I didn't include those costs and I haven't gotten a remote working yet.

The case is only slightly larger than the mobo and I've kept the PS external, I need to build a case for the PS and make some sort of cable for it. I'd prefer to just buy one but I haven't been able to find anyone who makes external power supplies that have enough power for this type of setup so I'm making my own.

To get it booting from the USB stick but loading the root from an nfs share I used the linuxrc from the knoppix terminal server setup and copied just made the compressed file system available as an ro nfs share. I think booting from USB is now very common on new motherboards. I had to enable the DOS compatibility and booting from USB-FDD for it to work. I've remastered the knoppmyth distro to include the correct ip address and username to my mythbackend. I've also put the cheat codes into config so it just boots without any intervention.

I can put together a mini howto if people are interested.

Unfortunately our corporate spam filter is now blocking this list so I will have to find another way to get posts.

Adrian.

===============================================================================
This electronic mail transmission and any accompanying attachments contain 
confidential information intended only for the use of the individual or entity 
named above.  Any dissemination, distribution, copying or action taken in 
reliance on the contents of this communication by anyone other than the 
intended recipient is strictly prohibited.  If you have received this 
communication in error please immediately delete the E-mail and either notify 
the sender at the above E-mail address or by telephone at (604) 685-3456.  
Thank you.
===============================================================================



More information about the mythtv-users mailing list