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Open Source Multimedia Center For Windows

Posted by timothy on Wed Dec 01, 2004 04:43 PM
from the not-if-your-windows-are-managed-by-fluxbox dept.
Media Software Operating Systems Windows IT
An anonymous reader writes "A new opensourced multimedia center for Windows has been released. Media Portal boasts the ability to turn your PC into an advanced HTPC (Home-Theatre PC) and PVR/DVR (Personal/Digital Video Recorder). It allows you to listen to your favorite music and radio, watch all your video's and DVD's, view, schedule and record live TV and much more. The software is a port of the homebrew Xbox Media Center software which requires a Modded Xbox to run."
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  • media portal page (Score:5, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 01 2004, @04:46PM (#10967609)
    don't link the home page or anything
    http://mediaportal.sourceforge.net/ [sourceforge.net]

  • The server's already running slow... (Score:5, Informative)

    by rjelks (635588) on Wednesday December 01 2004, @04:50PM (#10967667) Homepage
    The project is at SourceForge [sourceforge.net] if you guys want to give maxconsole a break.

  • Um.. (Score:5, Funny)

    by ackthpt (218170) on Wednesday December 01 2004, @04:50PM (#10967670) Homepage Journal
    It allows you to listen to your favorite music and radio, watch all your video's and DVD's, view, schedule and record live TV and much more.

    Clearly a threat to Copyrights, Profits and Homeland Security. In certain the authorities (MPAA/RIAA/Microsoft have already been notified and are moving the threat level up from Plaid to Paisley)

    The software is a port of the homebrew Xbox Media Center software which requires a Modded Xbox to run."

    Now I'm certain Microsoft will be activating their Bucket 'o Lawyers* The only people allowed to give away something like that for free must have an ulterior motive, such as locking everyone into mind control or market share...

    *Not to be confused with the toys Bucket o' Soldiers or Barrel o' Monkeys, but toys of their masters all the same.

    • Re:Um.. (Score:5, Funny)

      by panurge (573432) on Wednesday December 01 2004, @05:01PM (#10967803)
      Plaid to Paisley? That's worrying. Plaid Cymru just burns down the houses of the English settlers, but the Rev. Ian Paisley shouts stupid things really really loudly.

      So where is that on the Fonda-Rumsfeld threat scale?

      • I thought the only level higher than Blackwatch Plaid was the cover of Rush's seminal album _Moving_Pictures_

        Oh, and I've played with this software, Xbox Media Center is still a better option, even if you have to go buy and mod an Xbox to get it.

  • Hardware (Score:4, Insightful)

    by hoggoth (414195) on Wednesday December 01 2004, @04:52PM (#10967686) Journal
    This could be interesting.
    What is the most inexpensive hardware with enough OOMPH to run this?

    I looked at Mini-ITX systems, and the HUSH grabbed my eye. Then the price grabbed me somewhere else.

    And I don't really want to get an XBOX then modify it, so don't give me the obvious answer...

    • And I don't really want to get an XBOX then modify it, so don't give me the obvious answer...

      So how about the slightly-less-obvious-answer: Find one of the guys that is selling pre-modded XBoxen on the internet, and grab one of those. Usually they can be had for around $250, and have a switch so you can temporarily "unmod" as necessary.

    • hehe, im presently taking a break from coding in C++ and saw the OO in 'OOMPH' and thought to myself,

      'Object Oriented...Multimedia...Player...Hardware?'

      huh? ah well. back to coding...
    • An Xbox will not act as a DVR, as far as I know. I use the XBMP to play media from my Xbox onto my television, but the Xbox does not have a TV card needed to capture the feed from the television. This port is very very cool because it allows you to run the app on hardware that is much more upgradable than the Xbox. I will definitely check this out.

      • Re:Hardware (Score:3, Interesting)

        by jarich (733129)
        Why do you say that about Myth?

        I am running a 1.2 ghz Thunderbird (AMD) w/256 megs of a memory and a ~really~ cheap ($10) capture card and it's working fine.

        A lot of the people in the Myth forums go on about how you need a P4 3 ghz chip, but it just isn't so.

      • "MythTV remains out of reach for me as I would have to build a machine specifically for it that is 100x more powerful than my current fastest machine."

        Hmm..what kind of box do you have?? If you get a PVR250/350 for the hardware compression...you can significanly lower your processor needs. I tried it with a P3 600 Mhz...and just skipped a bit...but, I've heard other have success that low. I junked that box, and am rebuilding with new case...new MB and Althon (2.1 Ghz?)...just reused the old drives, DVD, e

  • Not 1.0 (Score:3, Informative)

    by Gathers (78832) on Wednesday December 01 2004, @04:54PM (#10967721) Homepage
    This just in from http://mediaportal.sourceforge.net/

    Latest News

    01-December 2004

    IMPORTANT NEWS PLEASE READ THIS!

    There are some rumors floating around about MediaPortal 1.0.

    However this is very wrong, because as you can see below we just released 0.1. The current version 0.1 is not considered as the first stable release and it is definitely not final!

    This does not mean the product is an alpha release! The 0.1 is considered a very nice and stable beta release, which everyone can and should test and help out to fix bugs and/or improve the product even further. And remember: it is free forever!

  • Features on the XBOX.... (Score:3, Informative)

    by Aceto3for5 (806224) on Wednesday December 01 2004, @04:55PM (#10967737)
    Alot of people also use this as the dashboard, or OS so to speak, of their modded XBOXes. The version I have also has some built in VOIP capabilities. With VOIP locked into a media center, you could simulate the full movie theater experience, with everyone talking to each other during the movie.

    Seriously though, comedies tend to seem funnier in theaters, i think in part to the fact that you are with a bunch of other people laughing. Its like how children, and some adults, look around before or while they are laughing, as if they are looking for approval.

    VOIP in a media center could also be fun and useful for streaming educational videos, sporting events, sales, what have you. I hope they port those options over too. Forgive me if they mentioned that in TFA, but i couldnt seem to connect to it.

  • Does it come with... (Score:5, Funny)

    by noidentity (188756) on Wednesday December 01 2004, @04:59PM (#10967783)
    ...an extraneous apostrophe remover?
    • While fully realizing that this is Slashdot, and not the New York Times, I'd just like to share the response I got from the Public Editor at the NYT when I complained about their use of apostrophes in headlines like "NEW DVD'S":

      Dear Graabein,

      Thank you for your message.

      I include The Times stylebook entry on this subject below.

      Sincerely,
      [Name withheld by me]
      Office of the Public Editor
      The New York Times

      Also use the apostrophe for plurals formed from letters or numerals (p's and q's; size 7's; B-52'

      • > I guess I will just have to respectfully disagree...I never heard back

        Perhaps he just didn't want to argue the finer points of grammar with someone who likes splitting infinitives.

  • Slightly on-topic... (Score:5, Informative)

    by blackmonday (607916) on Wednesday December 01 2004, @05:08PM (#10967870) Homepage
    I just got my Xbox modded yesterday, and it included the excellent XBMC. Only problem is upgrading it. My version is a few months behind, and you cannot download binaries from Sourceforge, because the project must be compiled with Microsoft's dev kit for the Xbox, and XBMC is an unlicensed project. I still have not figured out how to get binaries!

    This project is compiled with Vanilla .NET, I tried running it on my PC before modding my Xbox and it crashed every time I tried to do anything, I might download and try again.

    Although modding an Xbox isn't for the faint of heart (I just had someone else do it), it's fun and the software you get is very powerful. I was up and running with MP3's burnt on a DVD-R and some Divx TV shows. By the way, you can make XBMC be the default program when you boot the Xbox, if thats all you want to use your console for.
  • welcome our new open source overlords.
  • I remember awhile ago I installed this a long time ago when it first started development, and it still supported my old hauppauge card and my Riva TNT2 video card, Installed it yesterday when I saw 0.1.0.0 was released and it doesnt even open, read the min requirements, and you NEED a mpeg2 hardware encoder, WMP9 which crashes my system so I refuse to install it, and a directx 9 card. After my frusttration yesterday, I convinced myself maybe I should install mythtv, Not sure if I will need a mpeg2 encoder f
  • This all sounds great, but I just spent a wad on all new HDTV gear and am distressed to find that you can't easily capture HD to a DVR in a PC. Maybe in a year or two...
    • I'm in the same boat. Realistically, though, most channels are not broadcast in HD, so you're not missing out on much. I do have a few key HD channels that I'm stuck on, but I can live without recording them. Have you had any luck finding a card that works with your HD receiver and component cables?
  • Has anyone tested this out yet? I'd be interested in how it compares with Meedio, WMCE, Sage TV, Snapstream, etc... I guess I'll have to wait until I get home.

    I used myHTPC for a while and it worked pretty good. They moved to a commercial project called Meedio (probably worth the money when they get the TV tuner working), but I've been looking for other solutions.
  • What does this do, besides lack any substantial development history, that MythTV doesn't do?

    That being said, it seems to be working great on my Xbox, that mighty 733MHz P3 w/no hw MPEG capabi...BUFFERING...
  • Just because, you know, for the rest of us who want to plug in our systems to our TV sets without having to shill out money for a modded Xbox or a PC.
  • I tried this software a few months back, and I must say, while I was comparing it to an already mature piece of software (MythTV [mythtv.org]), it was certainly not up to snuff. It was incredibly slow to launch from my standpoint (this was on an Athlon 2400XP ), took over 20 seconds for the GUI to launch - probably due to it being in .Net. After launch, only a few functions were usable, and the system frequently crashed.

    On the whole - if you are looking for some free PVR software NOW, get MythTV or Freevo. There are excellent tutorials on the net on how to set up a MythTV system - from scratch - no hardcore Linux skills required.

    • "probably due to it being in .Net"

      On what basis do you ground that hypothosis?

      All versions of VC#.NET require the .NET framework be loaded, but 2002 takes nearly a minute to load where as the 2005 beta loads in less than 3 seconds on my machine. .NET does incur some startup cost (the CLR needs to be initalized) and code needs to be JITed, but this should hardly take 20 seconds!

      There are full featured high performance 3D engines written with .NET, let's have no more FUD about .NET's performance!

      The start

    • Re:erm, not 1.0? (Score:5, Informative)

      by Suddenly_Dead (656421) on Wednesday December 01 2004, @04:49PM (#10967652)
      From the homepage:

      There are some rumors floating around about MediaPortal 1.0.

      However this is very wrong, because as you can see below we just released 0.1. The current version 0.1 is not considered as the first stable release and it is definitely not final!

      This does not mean the product is an alpha release! The 0.1 is considered a very nice and stable beta release, which everyone can and should test and help out to fix bugs and/or improve the product even further. And remember: it is free forever!

    • Re:Open Source for Windows ? (Score:4, Informative)

      by nosaj72 (615582) on Wednesday December 01 2004, @04:50PM (#10967660)
      I've been running this for a while. It just runs on regular Windows, not the XBOX. It is just a port of the XBOX Media Program. Not bad for keeping a nice queue of DIVX movies at the ready for the kids.
    • Does it still require the MFC to be compiled ? If this is the case I then fail to see the interest of this especially when it requires an Xbox and then Micorsoft to gain alittle money from the operation.

      They're saying that it's a port of the XBox app, which has already been around for a while. The new app is a Windows-based product and does not require an XBox
    • The Media Portal software appears to be a port of the media center from the xbox platform to normal Windows. Hence it doesn't require an Xbox. I.e. from the requirements page it specifies WinXP SP1 or SP2.

      t

    • Some people don't read the articles, others don't even read the post.

      Read this part once again and notice the "is a port of the" part then finish off with the "which requires a" part:
      The software is a port of the homebrew Xbox Media Center software which requires a Modded Xbox to run.

    • The software is a port of the homebrew Xbox Media Center software which requires a Modded Xbox to run

      It doesnt' require an XBox. It's a PORT of software that requireD an XBox...
    • I still think Beyond TV snapstream is the only logical option on windows XP due to price and the fact that it runs on virtually all cards. MythTV and other open source projects seem so raw still.

    • Re:HAHA (Score:4, Insightful)

      by ackthpt (218170) on Wednesday December 01 2004, @04:54PM (#10967718) Homepage Journal
      An Open Source solution running on Microsoft branded hardware.

      You're still paying the Micrsoft tax after all.

      Actually, if you buy the Xbox but no games for it you're screwing Microsoft, since the box is a loss-leader. The real revenue is games and services.

      • This was always a weak argument but especially weak now. 5 years ago the xbox was a loss leader, today despite the slashes in price Microsoft are stil probably making a tiny profit on each one. If you buy one now then you are just helping to offset the losses they made in the past.

    • You're still paying the Micrsoft tax after all.

      And why is that so bad?

      I'd run another OS if I got as much hardware and software support. The OSS community needs to get rid of people like you in favor of some people that will help me move to an alternate OS without *wanting* to fdisk and go back.

      • Re:HAHA (Score:5, Interesting)

        by plover (150551) * on Wednesday December 01 2004, @05:20PM (#10967965) Homepage Journal
        No, the OSS community does not need to "get rid of him." But they do need to understand that not everyone is going 100% open source. I'm running Windows at home because the games and apps I want are Win32 platform based. I'm a developer whose day job is programming on a Win32 app, and so I need to use Windows all day long. Does that mean I'm opposed to open source? Of course not, I run several open source apps, and have contributed to a few.

        I usually ignore both sides of the OSS / Microsoft debate, but in this case the attitude of "trow da bums out" is just too divisive. If you're OK with paying Microsoft dues, then fine. If Robyanetta is avoiding it, that's fine too. Just both of you should recognize the other point of view isn't going away, and you should learn to cooperate on the common ground that exists between you.

    • The point is:
      * The VAST majority of computer users are using Windows ie... they've already paid for it, so it's not an issue (ie. it came with their computer or whatever)
      * They don't want to wipe it out completely to install a media center
      * Things like this can exist harmoniously with Windows, and can be tried before wiping it all out... or you can use the computer for both purposes (htpc and normal)

      There is another free (not open source) windows based media pc solution... It's called myHTPC.

      Now, it's sin
    • On a side note, I should write a HOWTO on how I found the perfect Geek wife.

      Yes, you should. I havn't heard of an American woman under 40 that cooks, cleans, and pays bills without also being a psycho bitch on the side. If she still does this in 5 years (without bitching)...

      Wow. I'm speechless, and thats hard for me to say.
      • I can't speak for the grandparent, but...

        Yes, I found her. She's under 40, cooks, and pays the bills. She cleaned until a couple years ago, when as a birthday present I got her someone to come in and clean every other week.

        "If she still does this in 5 years"? Try 14. Yes, she still does. And no, she's not a psycho.

        Where did I find such a gem? In church. (What, you thought I found someone like that in a bar?)
    • Why not try SageTV? It's mature, inexpensive, pretty stable, and nicely designed. It's even hackable (via STV modules) to boot. People have already written STV mods for weather, early itunes functionality, and a web interface for it.

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