[mythtv-users] ION boards, 230 vs 330, fans?

[Bill Bogstad]

On Tue, Dec 1, 2009 at 6:56 PM, Jim Stichnoth <stichnot at gmail.com> wrote:
...
>>
>>    Not a bad tradeoff. You can buy/build quieter machines if you're really
>> motivated. You will spend more time or money though.
>
> I'm surprised to hear this experience.  I have 3 ION frontends that
> handle HD-PVR output with no problem:
>  Zotac IONITX-C board
>  2 GB DRAM (1 GB would probably be sufficient)
>  USB IR receiver
>  $5 box from a craft store
>  $5 power button
>  All of them net-booting, all of them completely silent
>  Photo gallery at
> http://picasaweb.google.com/stichnot/20090614TinyHomeTheaterComputer
>
> This probably cost slightly more time, but certainly less money than
> alternatives.

I just bought a Zotac board with plans to do something like what you
have done.  A couple of questions:

1. In the case when you used the metal tinbox, what kind of standoffs
did you use to mount the motherboard?  (I'm worried about shorting
something out.)  Also, did you consider drilling a bunch of small
holes in the box rather then a few large ones?  I''m thinking that
would eliminate the need for the rubber grommets and smaller holes
would make it even less likely that something would fall in the top.

2. It sounds like you eventually abandoned the use of the USB flash
drive for network booting.
Any issues with getting network booting working?  What base OS
distribution are you
booting (and what OS is hosting the boot environment)?  Any pointers
to docs would be appreciated.  What is the boot time like for network
vs. USB flash?  I'm wondering
about WAF here...

3. For the moment, I've decided to put one of my HDHR's in the living
room so I can use it's
IR receiver with lirc to control the Zotac frontend.  If I change my
mind, what USB IR did you use?

4. Finally (to the world): Has anybody figured out a way to somehow
add a firewire port to the Zotac board so I can talk to my cable STB?
I don't need wireless access so I could try to use the mini-pci
slot.The only other option, I can think of is some kind of USB to
Firewire adapter.  I started looking into that, but haven't found
anything that looks promising for under $50.

Thanks,
Bill Bogstad