[mythtv-users] Mac Mini and Broadcom Crystal HD PCI Express mini-card

Brian Wood beww at beww.org
Fri Jan 1 03:12:48 UTC 2010


On Thursday 31 December 2009 07:01:55 pm Jarod Wilson wrote:

> 
> Think laptops, netbooks and small form-factor systems. I have one in an
> older x86 Mac Mini with Intel graphics and one in a ThinkPad T61 with Intel
> graphics. Two others are in boxes with vdpau-capable video cards, but I
> have the option to NOT have to use the binary-only nVidia blob if I so
> choose on those systems. That'd be another benefit to some: no need for
> binary-only drivers. The Broadcom bits are now 100% open-source (save of
> course the firmware, but that's pretty much industry standard).
> 

Hadn't realized it was totally OSS, that's good news, mostly because it 
probably means faster development, but I guess we'll see.

The fact that something is "Industry Standard" does not make it right or 
desirable. At one time it was "Industry Standard" to have a 20% mortality of 
employees, or run trains with no brakes :-)

The firmware is useless without purchasing the hardware, so who cares? Are they 
worried about competitors learning from the source code? The more usable your 
product the more you will sell, or so I would think.

I wish you wouldn't refer  to Intel-era Macs as "older", that would make me... 
:-( Anything with an x86 chip is a "newer" Mac :-)

But re-purposing"older" laptops is a good thought, too bad most of the ones I 
have are truly "older".

The really "older" ones won't have mini-PCIe or x1 slots, any ideas on how to 
use the XtalHD unit in an "older" PIII machine, for example? Say with a 700 
Mhz. CPU?


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