Hiper HMC-2K53A
Hiper HMC-2K53A (more specifically, HMC-2K53A-H2) is a media centre case manufactured by Hiper. It is normally sold as a bare-bones package but can also be obtained as OEM. This case is designed to work with Windows Media Center and there is no official Linux support, but there are efforts being made to turn this slick box into a fully functional MythTV front-end. One of the major benefits of the case is that its size is that of a normal DVD player.
After introduction of the HMC-2K53A-H2, a new model called HMC-2K53A-A3 has been released. This model seems to be hard to find in stores (as of 2010-06-03), which could be related to a rumour that the company is out of business.
Status so far:
Device | HMC-2K53A-H2 status | HMC-2K53A-A3 status |
Graphics (nVidia 6150) | Supported by nVidia drivers | ? |
Built in Ethernet | Natively supported by kernel | ? |
Audio (RealTek ALC883) | Supported by kernel | ? |
Built in Wi-Fi (rt2x00) | Supported by ndiswrapper and kernel >= 2.6.24 | ? |
Multi-card reader | Supported by kernel | ? |
VFD Display | Supported, see Futaba mythTV wiki page | ? |
Front panel buttons | Supported, see Futaba mythTV wiki page | ? |
There is no IR receiver in the barebone versions of the chassis, in the HMC-2K53A-H2 version (the HMC-2K53A-A3 contains a built-in IR receiver). There is, however, a COM port on the motherboard that can be extended to a standard 9 PIN port. After that, all you need to do is to buy or build an IR-receiver and fire up LIRC. Read more on www.lirc.org
The graphics adapter, nVidia 6150, works well with the latest Linux driver, but be aware that the GPU does not support cloning across two simultaneous analog ports, e.g. VGA and S-VHS. You have to choose one or connect the monitor or TV to the DVI-D. With this device being designed to be a front-end, that is usually not an issue.
Further information can be found here: http://www.hipergroup.com/English/products/hmc-2k53a.html
Front panel module
The case includes a module that connects via USB header connection to the motherboard. It provides:
- Generic 4 port hub (Genesys GL850A) - problems with port 3!
- VFD & Panel Buttons
- Futaba "DM-140GINK Demo", (usbhid driver) wiki page here Futaba
- Wifi B & G adapter
- Ralink RT2571WF - Install a kernel >= 2.6.24 and enable the rt2x00 drivers or use the latest Ndiswrapper and the windows drivers located here if you have a 32-bit Linux dist installed.
- Connection to the memory card reader
- VFD & Panel Buttons
Please note that the problems detailed below are solved with 2.6.23 or newer kernels.
dmesg when module hot-connected:
[ 700.156000] input: USB HID v1.10 Device [DM-140GINK Demo DM-140GINK Demo] on usb-0000:00:13.5-8.2 [ 701.116000] hub 4-8:1.0: Cannot enable port 3. Maybe the USB cable is bad? [ 701.948000] hub 4-8:1.0: Cannot enable port 3. Maybe the USB cable is bad? [ 702.780000] hub 4-8:1.0: Cannot enable port 3. Maybe the USB cable is bad? ... [ 549.984000] usb 6-8.2: reset full speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address