Building a linux media center - New to linux

[pigwings]

Ok, so basically what I'm trying to create is a basic computer dedicated to console emulation. I'm gonna hook up a usb game pad, load a version of linux, and I want to store an archive of old sega, nintendo, and playstation emulators and games. Basically create a universal game console.

This is all speculation at this point since this is my first build and I have no experience with linux but I'd love to build this. I'm not going to run anything with high system requirements so I'd like to keep the specs low and the cost cheap.

This is what I quickly priced out on newegg. Nothings set in stone since I pretty much picked out the cheapest components.

processore: AMD Sempron 64 2600+ http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819104249R
mobo: ASUS K8V-VM 754 VIA K8M890 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131129R
ram - whatevers cheap
video: SAPPHIRE 100118L-RD Radeon X550 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102626
hard drive: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822144173
dvd burner: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827118001
micro-atx case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811154061

That should put me around $200. First of all, are there any obvious problems with this set-up? If I were to go for more expensive parts and more cutting edge technology would hardware reliability be any better? I'm only playing emulated console games on this and possibly dvds and music. Should I go for a better graphics card? I'm also thinking of adding a sound card instead of the onboard sound.

I'm trying to make the system requirements low. XP is more than I need and vista is just out of the question. Anyone have experience with emulators on linux? How much ram do you think I would need? If I don't include any optical or disk drives is there still a way to install linux like through a usb drive?

I'm not trying to build a power pc, just something that'll run smoothly for my needs. I've never built a pc before or messed with linux at all so I hope I'm on the right track here. Any input would be apreciated. Am I close here?

[blackbelt_jones]

Okay, since no one else has answered you, I'm going to say something vague and cautionary, but I don't know a lot about gaming, and I may know less about the subject in general than you do. But I'm going to take a stab at it.

Be sure your graphics card can do what you want it to, and what you may want it to do in the future. The problem is getting decent drivers. Most graphics cards can use a generic non-proprietary driver, and work fine for most non-gaming tasks, and might be fine for these older games, but, hypothetically, I could see how two cards might sell for about the same, but the availability of a proprietary Linux driver would make one of the two cards a lot more valuble to you. So before you buy a graphics card, be sure you know what's available in terms of drivers.

When I was shopping for a graphics card three years ago, I asked for advice in here, and got the same advice from all directions: NVIDIA! Nvidia lets you download quality linux drivers from their website. The method for installing them changes from distribution to distribution, but that's another story. Three years is a fairly long time in computer years, so heaven knows what other options may have opened up in the intervening years. But if you think you might want to expand to higher qulaity graphics in the future, a moderately priced nVidia card might be worth thinking about, at least until someone who knows a little more about this happens along and gives you better advice.

Anybody? Can I get a little help here?

[eyceguy]

I have to agree with Nvidia for the video card. While ATI support has gotten better AFAIK, Nvidia is still far superior.

As for HDD, I might go for a larger one than 40Gb, especially since you say you will store Roms on it especially PS1 games (using estimate of 700 MB per cd = about 58 discs and that does not include the os or any other files you may want on there) or since you are using a DVD writer, might I suggest in using dvd's/cd's to store rom collections for the older cartridge consoles and using cd's for ps1 games


I had a similar Idea to this a while ago, but I just never got around to actually building it

but then again that case does look good and those prices do sound good, i think i might try at it again when i get some dough

[blackbelt_jones]

Of course, you're trying to keep prices low, and I appreciate that. I didn't see any nvidia card available for that kind of money, but there were several for around 35 dollars. The issue of drivers could mean that you'd really see a signifcant difference for your 15 dollars... but I don't really know what's available for the Saphire card.

Just make sure you visit the website of the manufacturer before you invest, and find out if they have Linux drivers. And I'm (pretty) sure that you can't go wrong with nVidia.

[cybertron]

My first inclination is always to go NVidia, but upon further review it occurred to me that the X550 is probably supported by the open source "radeon" driver, and although it may not provide all of the functionality of the closed source ATI driver, it would be more than enough for you, and probably less hassle than the alternatives because it can be included freely in all distros regardless of their stance on non-free software.

I also generally recommend not just buying the cheapest ram you can get, and if you can get some name brand stuff for a few dollars more I'd say go for it.

[blackbelt_jones]

My first inclination is always to go NVidia, but upon further review it occurred to me that the X550 is probably supported by the open source "radeon" driver, and although it may not provide all of the functionality of the closed source ATI driver, it would be more than enough for you, and probably less hassle than the alternatives because it can be included freely in all distros regardless of their stance on non-free software.


Well, I don't know anything about this Radeon driver, but I also don't know of any real hassles with the nvidia driver and any distro, regardless of its stance on non-free software. Philosophically, I would think that Debian is about as devoted to free software as you can get, but I've installed nvidia drivers on Debian (the older Dell machine that I'm using right now is running Debian with an nVidia legacy driver. I've installed nvidia drivers on SUSE, Debian, Ubuntu, and Vector Linux (actually Vector automatically installs the nvidia driver while the distro is being installed, which impressed the hell out of me.)

Like everything else, installing nvidia drivers is easy when you know how but knowing how can be a problem. The basic method is to run the nvidia installer-script from the console without the xserver running. The script usually needs to compile a kernel module as part of the installation process, and that requires the usual develoment tools (gcc, etc.) and the headers for your kernel. For Debian, that meant that before I could run the installer script I had to type as root:

apt-get install linux-headers-2.6.18-5-686 build-essential


2.6.18-5-686 being the number of my kernel. You get the number of your kernel by typing:

uname -r

(Someone told me of a way to combine the uname with the apt-get install command, but I just couldn't get it to work for me. No doubt I was doing it wrong.)

Somewhere in the nvidia forums are "stickies" containing detailed instructions for installing the driver in most major distros. I just trie3d to find them, but I couldn't, and since it's 2 AM, I'm going to leave it, at least for now.

[cybertron]

(Someone told me of a way to combine the uname with the apt-get install command, but I just couldn't get it to work for me. No doubt I was doing it wrong.)
My guess would be that you were using single quotes instead of backticks (which are on the ~ key). So you could do: apt-get install linux-headers-`uname -r` build-essential (or something along those lines).

[lazybird]

Hey pigwings, I think that really a good budget build, and I think you can have a look at the this SAMSUNG SH-S203B/BEBN 20X SATA DVD Burner it is good, and right now the price is good for $29:
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=10006485&prodlist=pricegrabber
And I got to know a good deal on desktop memory, Crucial Ballistix Tracers 1GB (2x512MB) DDR2-800 memory on sale for $20:
http://www.**********.com/searchdeals.php?deal_id=71384
I think you can get it.