Mailing List Archive

First impressions of the SS50
I sent a note awhile back about the Shuttle SS50 and promised to share
my experiences with MythTV. Basically it ROCKS! :) The video looks
great and the audio is a lot better than I expected, using the default
settings for mpeg4/mp3. So far I haven't noticed a single glitch, been
recording for about 3 hours, watching the live input the CPU usage is
around 40%. And I still have a free PCI slot! Most likely I'll set up
a few cameras around the pad.

After I've had more time with it, I'll put up a page that describes the
experience/setup in more detail, but for those considering the SS50 as a
Myth box perhaps this will be useful. Sorry if I'm leaving anything
out, it's been a long (but fun) day.

Thanks so much to Isaac, Matt, everyone else working on Myth, and the
posters to the mailing lists :)


Hardware:
Shuttle SS50
P4 2GHz (512KB L2)
512MB PC2100 DDR (Kingston)
200GB 7200RPM 8MB cache (WD)
Generic DVD-rom
Generic 4-input Bt848 capture board
Using on-board sound, video, lan, etc.
Total cost: ~ $700


Software:
Debian Woody (bf24 kernel)
CVS MythTV
CVS MythWeather


Installation:

Step 1:
Installed Debian via the miniCD here:
http://www.phy.olemiss.edu/debian-cd/
I first tried upgrading from Woody to Unstable but ran into a lot of
problems due to the new gcc/qt
issues. Rather than spend a lot of time on this, I just reinstalled
Woody and left it that way.

Step 2:
Installed the SiS650 drivers from this page:
http://www.winischhofer.net/linuxsis630.shtml#download
I just used the precompiled versions he has for Debian, slightly
modified his XF86Config-4 file, and X was running beautifully.

Step 3:
modprobe cmpci to configure sound chip.

Step 4:
modprobe videodev ; modprobe bttv to get the capture board going.

Step 5:
Grabbed the necessary packages from Matt's page:
http://dijkstra.csh.rit.edu:8088/~mdz/debian/dists/woody/mythtv/

Step 6:
Got the latest XMLTV build from debian unstable sources.

Step 7:
Built mythtv && build mythweather (using the easy to follow
instructions)

Step 8:
It just works. :)
Re: First impressions of the SS50 [ In reply to ]
On Wed, Feb 12, 2003 at 11:06:11PM -0500, Jeff McDonald wrote:
> I sent a note awhile back about the Shuttle SS50 and promised to share
> my experiences with MythTV. Basically it ROCKS! :)

How do you find the fan noise? Did you tweak any fan-related BIOS
settings?

--
Eric C. Cooper e c c @ c m u . e d u
RE: First impressions of the SS50 [ In reply to ]
I thought it was to loud too.

I bought a new fan. A Zalman, I think it was at
http://www.sharkacomputers.com/80balbearcas.html, I really can't remeber off
the top of my head. I wasn't able to tweak the BIOS ( I wasn't really sure
how to )

It was quieter, but not enough for me. I probably need to replace the
processor fan too.

I decided on a different route, I got a usb rf remote (ati) and I going to
put it in a cabinent.

-- Brian

>
> On Wed, Feb 12, 2003 at 11:06:11PM -0500, Jeff McDonald wrote:
> > I sent a note awhile back about the Shuttle SS50 and
> promised to share
> > my experiences with MythTV. Basically it ROCKS! :)
>
> How do you find the fan noise? Did you tweak any fan-related BIOS
> settings?
>
> --
> Eric C. Cooper e c c @ c m u . e d u
> _______________________________________________
RE: First impressions of the SS50 [ In reply to ]
The fan is pretty loud, my only complaints are the fan noise and the
insanely bright blue LED on the front. The LED infatuates my cat, but
I'm afraid it will be disconnected soon. As far as the fan goes, there
are some BIOS hooks, you can set the temp when the fan should speed up.
But I'm going to get one of these heat pipes:
http://www.shuttleonline.com/specs_access.asp?pro_id=150 heard it helps
out quite a bit. I'll post something once I try it out.

--jm


>How do you find the fan noise? Did you tweak any fan-related BIOS
settings?
>
>--
>Eric C. Cooper e c c @ c m u . e d u
Re: First impressions of the SS50 [ In reply to ]
> Step 2:
> Installed the SiS650 drivers from this page:
> http://www.winischhofer.net/linuxsis630.shtml#download

does the SS50 come with the SiS650 or the SiS315? (I know the driver
should work with both)
RE: First impressions of the SS50 [ In reply to ]
The vga is SiS 315, North bridge is the 650.

So far I can only get X to do 800x600 with the Svideo output, but I
haven't tried tweaking every setting in the X config file yet...


>does the SS50 come with the SiS650 or the SiS315? (I know the driver
should work with both)