Media Centers for Cheapskates!

I thought I should post this, since I have been playing with XBMC. This is a really decent/cheap way to get up and running with A LOT of free media.

Things you need:

- Apple TV 2

- USB to Micro USB Cable

- Computer with iTunes

Follow the links below:

- First you want to Jailbreak your Apple TV 2, then you want to get XBMC up and running on it. As if this isn't cool enough, you can get a lot of free content with Icefilms and Navi-X

This is the best and cheapest solution I have found for a Media Center to date

*UPDATE* Megaupload.com was shut down by the Feds....so most of Icefilms.info content was removed.

Zotac ID41 XBMC (OpenElec) Guide

This Guide is mostly for me, as I just setup my first HTPC. I just wanted to have a place to remember what was involved in getting this setup up and running. Feel free to buy the Hardware I did and use this guide to setup your own stand alone XBMC HTPC.  Obviously this will not be ideal for everyone, but this works excellent for me.

Hardware:

Zotac ID41 (Barebone Mini PC)

Kingston SSDNow V100 64Gb Drive 

Kingston 2GB 800MHZ DDR3 Single Rank NON-ECC CL6 SODIMM (I bought 2 of these)

Flirc.tv Remote USB IR Receiver

Any Logitech Harmony Remote

Also a good idea to have a 1GB+ USB Flash Drive, any one should do

Software:

Not all of this Software is needed, but you might find it helpful.

OpenElec (Really the only thing needed + USB Flash Drive)

Flirc.tv (Needed for Remote Mapping)

My Config Files

Clonezilla

Ubuntu

Gparted

Universal USB Installer

Putty

Setup:

I will do my best to go over all the problems I have encountered. I have included a ZIP file with my Config Files needed for most of the below guide.

- Remote Setup

Harmony Remotes and Flirc.tv have some issues, this is what works best. Make sure your Remote Device added for the XBMC HTPC is either Panasonic TC-P65VT30 or SAMSUNG LN46C650L1F. I used the Panasonic as it won't interfere with anything in my setup. Once this is done you can add your Activity and update your Remote.

Once this is completed you can open the Flirc App and start your Keymap. I looked to the default Keymaps for XBMC and within Flirc App use the full Keyboard mode and assign the appropriate key to which button suites your need best.

Example: Assign "T" to the button on your remote titled "Subtitles" to Toggle Subtitles within XBMC

I have included my Keymap from Flirc if you choose to use it. This seems to work excellent with Openelec, no issues.

Guide from Flirc.tv

- Installation

Here is where things can either be super easy and just work, or be a pain in the @$$. First of all, only have a USB Keyboard plugged into the Zotac device. NO OTHER USB device and make sure you are using one of the USB 2.0 ports.

Enter the BIOS with DELETE and get boot menu with F11 (I had issues entering the bios with a bluetooth keyboard or with anything else plugged into the USB Ports). Update the BIOS if you need to and then load optimal default settings and save/reboot. If you have the need to use AHCI, switch from IDE to AHCI after install. This shouldn't be a problem in Linux.

*Another option that might help is "General ACPI Configuration -> Repost Video on S3 Resume -> Yes" as it seems to help with resuming from a suspend. WOL Should be working on this device if you loaded the Optimal Defaults*

Prep your USB Flash Device with Openelec (Make sure you pick the ION 64 Build), I use the nightly builds of Eden. Also make sure your SSD has a Partition on it, FAT32 if possible. With only your USB Flash Drive and USB Keyboard plugged into the USB 2.0 Ports on the Computer, start it up. If your Computer freezes after "Quick Install" try and prep another USB Flash Drive or preform a "Low Level Format" on the USB Flash Drive. Trust me, this can be a pain as I went through 4 USB Devices until one worked. Once this step completes you can remove the USB Flash Drive, reboot back into the BIOS and enable AHCI. Now when your Computer boots you should be in XBMC (OpenElec).

You should be able to plug in your other USB devices now (Flirc.tv IR USB receiver)

- Setup/Config

SMB (Samba) should be enabled, go to your PC and connect via IP Address as I noticed that the Device Name of "OPENELEC" doesn't always broadcast. You can find the fixes for SSH, Sound, and Video in my Config ZIP File. You will also find instructions on how to get the Splash Screen working. All these are tested and working for me with the above Hardware.

Any other issues can be sorted at the OpenElec Forums

The rest of the Config is within XBMC (Themes and Plugins). There is no need for me to cover this as everyone's setup will be different, and there is plenty of support out there for XBMC and OpenElec.

*Side note, Updating OpenElec should not affect settings*

Extra:

This is an extra step that is not needed, but after hours of setup and indexing I wanted to backup my XBMC Setup. Create a Live USB Flash Drive with Clonezilla and back that sucker up.

Hopefully this guide will help someone other than just myself.

*Update*

- Skin of Choice is "Aeon Nox"

- I have been having freezing after resume issues, make sure your samba.conf is configured properly and try adding your SMB shares properly to your hosts.conf file. This could be USB 3.0 related as well.

- How to install Icefilms.info and use Navi-X to access Icefilms as well (Can be installed on many devices)

Media Center

I finally got annoyed enough to build my own Media Center, here is what I will be doing.

Open Elec

Kingston 2GB 800MHZ DDR3 Single Rank NON-ECC CL6 SODIMM x 2

Zotac ZBOX-ID41-U Intel Atom D525 1.8GHZ NVIDIA ION 512MB HDMI DVI GBLAN WLAN USB3.0 Barebone NetTop

Kingston SSDNow V100 Series 64GB 2.5IN SSD SATA Solid State Disk Flash Drive

http://flirc.tv/cart/ Remote

Hopefully this setup works well, I have researched quite a bit before picking this. XBMC is fantastic so hopefully running OpenElec will keep it simple for anyone to use my Media Center without having access to a complete OS. I would love to use Plex as it's great with all mobile devices, but I seriously think you need the server running on a Mac as it's too horrible on a PC. It's pretty, but playback sucks and it crashes. XBMC takes the cake for an all rounded Media Center.