Media System Setup

I've had a request to write something!! Admittedly it's a tech request by a family member, but it still allows me to make use of the blog before it fades into complete obscurity in the face of Google+(https://plus.google.com/104031145895548702140/posts)!

My brother has asked that I detail my lounge media setup. So here it is:

Thecus N5500 NAS in the study connected via a cat6 cable around the outside of the house to a...
Revo 3700 PC. A small, silent little box with a 1.8GHz processor and 2 Gig of memory. The 160 Gig hard drive is largely unused, but it is running...
Ubuntu 10-10 (yes, Maverick) running...
XBMC 11.0 (Eden)
The PC is connected via HDMI to a Onkyo amp, and from there to some speakers and the TV.

The old version of ubuntu is because the repository I use to get a pre-compiled version of XBMC didn't, at the time, support anything newer (http://ppa.launchpad.net/team-xbmc/ppa/ubuntu maverick main). The repository now deals with everything up to Oneiric, and XBMC is now in the main Ubuntu Universe repository for Precise.

You have to do some, well documented, hacking with the /etc/asoundrc file to get sound over HDMI, but that's a one off. A quick play with alsamixer should get you tested and running. The internal config of XBMC for sound was a bit trial and error, but there is only a handful of options, so it didn't take that long (it's better documented now as I've just discovered by searching google for "revo 3700 ubuntu xbmc")

The NAS is split into directories for TV, Movies, Music, and Pictures (although I'm not currently using the latter 2), and the config of XBMC points the relevant section at the relevant directory. This works really well, and took no configuration. Go into movies, point it at the movies directory, configure the type of media as movie, and the system went and scanned everything in there, looking up all the relevant details from IMDB as it went. There were only a handful of movies I had to correct it on, and there were down to the directory name being ambiguous.

The system can be controlled by keyboard and / or mouse (the keyboard is how my daughter navigates her "Scooby Doo" episodes), or via an official XMBC Android app(https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.xbmc.android.remote). We have the Android app on both mine and my wife's phones, and it works brilliantly. Layout has the same options as the system, browsing is intuitive, and the "Now playing" option allows direct control of whatever is on at the time. Remote control allows you to browse around the system as though you were using the keyboard / mouse directly, but from the comfort of your seat. The app even pauses the current program if you get a phone call (resuming seamlessly when the call finishes).

XBMC has apps for YouTube and IPlayer both of which we've used easily enough. The YouTube one syncs with your account, so your favourites, playlists, and subscriptions are there when you open the app up. In fact there are many apps and plugins, so if you have a specific need it can probably be met(http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=Category:All_add-ons).

Overall the system is low maintenance and easy to use. My 5 year old, and my "non-geek" wife use it without issue. I spend almost no time worrying about it. The only "maintenance" I do is to initiate a scan when I add something new one of the directories. That's a simple menu option, and could be negated if I turned on active scanning (I don't because I don't add stuff that often and don't want the overhead).

I'd highly recommend the system as long as you have the media to support it. It took a while to rip all our DVDs to the NAS, and the options for getting media in a digital format that you can copy straight onto the NAS is still currently limited. Ripping blue-rays is a PITA, copying DVDs makes that new disk redundant almost immediately. The media companies will catch up though. Eventually. And I'll be right there ready and waiting.

I think that covers everything, but if I've missed anything (or you want something clarified), you can put any questions in the comments.