GeeXbox

[vivekam]

Here is the place to discuss all about GeeXbox.
GeeXboX HomePage

I was a bit surprised, we are having a little discussion on GeeXbox. I've been using GeeXbox for past few years.
It is probably smallest distro which turns computer into HTPC.
Alos, it has an ISO builder which can be used to configure the options and then compile a new custom/personal GeeXbox.

I am looking forward for discussion on audio/video related issues here i.e. resolution, SPDIF etc.

Note: GeeXbox is 100% free.:yahoo:

 

[thevortex]

True. It is among the distributions with the smallest footprint for the HTPC arena.

Somehow though Geexbox has never liked my setup - with my Gigabyte mobo and AMD processor. Not sure why. I suspect that it might be because of the SATA DVD drive that I have. This may need additional testing.

XBMC is not a bad choice either in this line.

While these are distributions for the Home Theatre fanatic, there are others like Ubuntu Studio, Apodio, Puredyne, Dynebolic, Musix etc. for the audio nut and also for the artists out there looking for a low latency system for their multimedia production needs.

 

[vivekam]

Somehow though Geexbox has never liked my setup - with my Gigabyte mobo and AMD processor. Not sure why. I suspect that it might be because of the SATA DVD drive that I have.

Recently I have installed it on Biostar mobo and AMD processor. DVD drive is SATA. It is working fine. Only problem is screen resolution in GUI. Otherwise video/audio is perfectly fine. No issues in viewing video.
Could you please let us know the behaviour of GeeXbox, when you try to play DVD.

One thing which I like in GeeXbox is small size of iso file. Though it is small in size but delivers very well.

 

[thevortex]

I forgot the exact error. I will do the routine again and tell you.

 

[dillihifi]

I am looking forward to trying it out this weekend.

 

[vivekam]

Only problem is screen resolution in GUI.

This is resolved now. Did a small change in one of the files and now everything seems to be perfect.

 

[vivekam]

I am looking forward to trying it out this weekend.

Please post your reviews, results, issues here.

 

[mod-the-pc]

I used to have GeexBox 1.1 and it is far from being a complete HTPC solution. But things may change with release 2.0. The screenshots already look promising.

 

[vivekam]

I used to have GeexBox 1.1 and it is far from being a complete HTPC solution. But things may change with release 2.0. The screenshots already look promising.

Any feature, which you thought of is missing in current release?

 

[thevortex]

Vivekam - as promised I test drove Geexbox again. This time, it booted in alright. But it simply hung when trying to play a FLAC file that I had stored on my NTFS drive. I did not try playing any DVD or divx file.

I will be troubleshooting this some more to see what the issue could be, but this is where it stands right now.

As a personal preference, I would like my Linux box to be slightly more feature rich actually. The bland interface of Geexbox is simply too simple for me - if you get what I mean. But I can understand how people would like and prefer this.

 

[ajinkya]

Instead of messing about with different distributions, why not use a standard OS and have ASIO drivers (along with foobar) or Cplay which try to ensure low latency and good sound quality?
That is a more flexible solution and for me, was a far easier and faster way to start playing my music.

 

[thevortex]

Instead of messing about with different distributions, why not use a standard OS and have ASIO drivers (along with foobar) or Cplay which try to ensure low latency and good sound quality?
That is a more flexible solution and for me, was a far easier and faster way to start playing my music.

Well, I see this as a journey. Yes, my core HTPC box has XP loaded on it with cPlay and solid ASIO drivers.

But Linux is something I would like to get into - because I have no plans on installing an antivirus on the HTPC box and without that I dont feel very confident getting on the internet for the occasional session. With Linux I would not feel too insecure about it. Plus you have got to say that pound for pound, Linux is far more efficient with resources than in Windows. Although I would not complain about XP - which is just sterling and has served me well enough for long enough.

 

[vivekam]

Vivekam - as promised I test drove Geexbox again. This time, it booted in alright. But it simply hung when trying to play a FLAC file that I had stored on my NTFS drive. I did not try playing any DVD or divx file.

I will be troubleshooting this some more to see what the issue could be, but this is where it stands right now.

As a personal preference, I would like my Linux box to be slightly more feature rich actually. The bland interface of Geexbox is simply too simple for me - if you get what I mean. But I can understand how people would like and prefer this.

Thanks, vortex.
For debugging you can start Geexbox in 'debugging mode'. You will get this option while starting Geexbox.

Meanwhile a rich GUI is coming in Geex box with Enna.
GeeXboX • View topic - Enna UI screenshots

Enna

 

[vivekam]

Instead of messing about with different distributions, why not use a standard OS and have ASIO drivers (along with foobar) or Cplay which try to ensure low latency and good sound quality?
That is a more flexible solution and for me, was a far easier and faster way to start playing my music.

Fair point.
What I expect from HTPC is, it should play music and video. For playing audio and video, I don't want to waste huge disk space, install unwanted softwares or applications etc.

HTPC should play audio and video, is this expectation too much from end user perspective?
And, when something is coming free why not try it.
Also, if we talk of Windows it is not free, it will cost approx. Rs.6000 for latest release.

 

[vivekam]

Enna released for Ubuntu 9.10 (Karmic)
Enna

Screenshots look promising, I'll need to try it on my computer.

 

[thevortex]

Thanks, vortex.
For debugging you can start Geexbox in 'debugging mode'. You will get this option while starting Geexbox.

Meanwhile a rich GUI is coming in Geex box with Enna.
GeeXboX • View topic - Enna UI screenshots

Enna

Lets see if the new interface is to my liking. I will try and let you know.