[vdr] Re: VDR box based on EPIA-M board and Cubid case

[Wolfgang Fritz <wolfgang.fritz@gmx.net>]

Ondrej Wisniewski wrote:
> Hello,
>
> after some weeks of comprehensive research for the best HW platform for 
> my VDR I
> found this solution: the VIA EPIA-M9000 main board with the C3 933MHz 
> processor
> built into the Cubid case from Morex. The EPIA board has everything 
> built-in and you just have to add the DVB card. There actually is a 
> review (with many
> pictures) of one of the Cubid cases with an EPIA board at
> http://www.mini-itx.com/reviews/2688R/
First: I have an EPIA M6000 (the fanless version) running with a 
Hauppauge Nexus-s DVB card.

IIRC the 2688 case can only be used with older EPIA boards, not with the 
 M series. You have to use the new 2699 case.
> To me this seems a very good solution for the folloing reasons:
> - nice looking and small case (similar to commercial set top boxes)
> - low power consumption (important for permanent running systems)
> - low noise level (just a small CPU fan needed)
>
> There are also some limits to this solution of course:
> - only 1 PCI card supported (no issue for me because I plan to use just 
> 1 DVB-s)
AFAIK you get a PCI riser card for the Cubid case. I know that there are 
riser cards which give you 2 PCI slots, but I don't know if they fit 
into the cubid case.

> - possibly not enough CPU power for DivX over DVB playback (could be 
> solved by
> playing DivX through the on-board graphics section with S-Video out)
I am following the VIA arena Linux forum (www.viaarena.com)  for the 
past weeks. The present state is that you can use the binary via video 
drivers  with some versions of Redhat and Mandrake kernels and even get 
them to load with other kernels with some manual work. But up to know 
there is no information how to use the MPEG hardware, so you dont't get 
a performance gain by using the via video drivers.

That's a pity. I think an EPIA M6000 board with a budget DVB card would 
be a nice platform for multimedia/VDR etc. applications.

Wolfgang

> - only a slimline CD/DVD drive is supported which is more expensive then 
> normal
> drives
> - don't know if an LCD display can be fitted into the case (otherwise an 
> external display could be connected, should still look nice)
>
> These limitations are not a real concern to me. Can some of you VDR 
> experts see
> any serious drawback to this HW setup for a VDR box ? Has anyone 
> actually built a VDR box with these components ?
>
> Ondrej ...



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