I'm not from Uganda, nor do I live there, so I do not have to handle Umeme at all :) I don't have a UPS; the last power outage was three years ago (not including my local circuit breakers of course).
If Umeme is that bad, the best solution would be to use an old laptop as they consume less energy. If you have only desktops at hand, strip it of any unnecessary components. Don't have a CD or DVD drive unless you plan to use them; they consume valuable energy. Underclock the processor, so it will generate less heat and consume less energy. Use the smallest graphics card you can find which will still play your video without lagging. If you have the means to do so, download the Server edition of Ubuntu, as its default setup consumes less resources than the Client edition. Then install the base X11 client (without any desktop environment,) drivers for the graphics card if needed, and the front-end of your choice (XBMC, MythTV, etc..) This should give you a reasonably power-cheap setup. If you want to do some more advanced things, you could custom compile your own kernel only to include what's absolutely needed for your particular setup. You could also pay the BIOS a visit and disable everything you don't need... Yeah, there are less of ways to lessen the power drain. As a foot-note, I could add that the Raspberry Pi is perfectly happy running on four AA batteries, should you ever happen to buy one. -- Skickat från min Android-telefon med K-9 E-post. Ursäkta min fåordighet. Jake Markhus <[email protected]> skrev: Man, you guys have really inspired me! I have all this multimedia hardware and an old frankenpc I am not using (windows 7). I have Ubuntu (somewhere). So, which is the best media center setup using Linux? How do you guys handle umeme? Do you have the WHOLE SETUP on ups or inverter? The reason I gave up on my desktop is cause Umeme kills my ups batteries by being off longer than they are on!! From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Peter C. Ndikuwera Sent: 08 January 2012 22:17 To: Uganda Linux User Group Subject: Re: [LUG] Jailbroken IOS 5.0.1 Well it was about 4 or 5 years ago. XBMC was a baby. MythTV was for the brave. HDMI was unheard of, and so on. Haven't looked into it recently though I setup MythTV the other day and the PCH detected it immediately as a media server. Fighting with LIRC plus a Chinese TV card that I had to hack kernel modules for, etc, etc. :-) P. -- Evolution (n): A hypothetical process whereby infinitely improbable events occur with alarming frequency, order arises from chaos, and no one is given credit. On 8 January 2012 22:08, Benjamin Tayehanpour <[email protected]> wrote: I think it was an A-110. They might have fixed the issues in the A-210, but then again that would just show that they abandon the old models in terms of support and updated. I'm glad the newer models seem to work, though! The ipkg tool (and much of the community, actually) wasn't available when I bought my PCH. Now that it is, I just might try using my PCH again. Thanks for mentioning it! How come your DIY box was a nightmare? I have a box running Ubuntu Server with XBMC and it works like a charm. On Sun, Jan 8, 2012 at 7:19 PM, Peter C. Ndikuwera <[email protected]> wrote: Hi Benjamin, Out of curiousity, which PCH did you have? I'm using the A210 and haven't had any of the issues you mention. Also, what Linux-ish stuff did you fail to do? If you install the ipkg tool, you have a whole range of installable Linux applications (see screenshot below) I had a mythtv box that I built from scratch using low cost parts and it was a nightmare. Costwise, the PCH was relatively easy to get up and running. I have mpd for music and a customized skin for YAMJ for video media and it's pretty easy. Did you try the www.networkedmediatank.com community? Some of the PCH developers hang out on it. P. I -- Evolution (n): A hypothetical process whereby infinitely improbable events occur with alarming frequency, order arises from chaos, and no one is given credit. 2012/1/8 [email protected] <[email protected]> True, the Pi is a low cost PC. And it's quite suitable as a media centre. I have a Popcorn Hour, and I eventually had to abandon it for a home-built media server due to poor customer support, lacking firmware upgrades, unbelievably buggy NFS support, and not many customisation options. It is a Linux powered box only in name (as opposed to in spirit), trust me; the way it handles things on the inside totally defies any standards observed in other Linux distributions. That said, if you are simply looking for a good and easy to use media centre and plan to play media only from locally connected drives (SATA or USB), then Popcorn Hour is a really good choice, and I recommend it. However, if it is the Linux aspect of the device pickling your curiosity, don't bother. Then there are both cheaper and better alternatives for you out there. _______________________________________________ The Uganda Linux User Group: http://linux.or.ug Send messages to this mailing list by addressing e-mails to: [email protected] Mailing list archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ Mailing list settings: http://kym.net/mailman/listinfo/lug To unsubscribe: http://kym.net/mailman/options/lug The Uganda LUG mailing list is generously hosted by INFOCOM: http://www.infocom.co.ug/ The above comments and data are owned by whoever posted them (including attachments if any). The mailing list host is not responsible for them in any way. _______________________________________________ The Uganda Linux User Group: http://linux.or.ug Send messages to this mailing list by addressing e-mails to: [email protected] Mailing list archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ Mailing list settings: http://kym.net/mailman/listinfo/lug To unsubscribe: http://kym.net/mailman/options/lug The Uganda LUG mailing list is generously hosted by INFOCOM: http://www.infocom.co.ug/ The above comments and data are owned by whoever posted them (including attachments if any). The mailing list host is not responsible for them in any way.
_______________________________________________ The Uganda Linux User Group: http://linux.or.ug Send messages to this mailing list by addressing e-mails to: [email protected] Mailing list archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ Mailing list settings: http://kym.net/mailman/listinfo/lug To unsubscribe: http://kym.net/mailman/options/lug The Uganda LUG mailing list is generously hosted by INFOCOM: http://www.infocom.co.ug/ The above comments and data are owned by whoever posted them (including attachments if any). The mailing list host is not responsible for them in any way.
