Can I use Linux, and which one?

[cybervision_]

I am about to setup a computer that will be feeding a Duet with delicious music and Win XP activation refuses to accept my code even though I have a genuine license. Oh how I hate Microsoft.

I saw on the SS website that you can run Squeezecenter on Linux and I was wondering if it would run well on a computer with Ubuntu.

If the machine is to do nothing but running SCenter - would linux be a good choice on an elderly computer?

[pfarrell]

Can I use Linux, and which one?

cybervision_ wrote:
> If the machine is to do nothing but running SCenter - would linux be a
> good choice on an elderly computer?

Yes. Which one is a bit of a personal choice.
I use Debian Etch on my music server. Works well on machines that are
too underpowered for Vista.

My number one rule:

Pick the distro that your buddy uses, buy your buddy a beer, and enjoy.

Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora, ClarkConnect and others are popular.

And I will not pick between them without a beer.

--
Pat Farrell

http://www.pfarrell.com/

[cybervision_]

So what you're saying is that I can use the linux version of squeezecenter on ubuntu and get all the stuff windows users can get and the performance will be good?

[pfarrell]

Can I use Linux, and which one?

cybervision_ wrote:
> So what you're saying is that I can use the linux version of
> squeezecenter on ubuntu and get all the stuff windows users can get and
> the performance will be good?

I don't know what you mean by "get all the stuff windows users can get"

Squeezecenter runs great on Ubuntu or Debian, and all you have to do is
point your browser to <ubuntuhost>:9000 and it will all work the way you
know and love.

Performance will be at least as good as XP, better than Vista. A lot
depends on how the box is, more memory is good, of course.

If you install 'samba" then your windows users will just see the shares
and use the usual drag and drop stuff to move files.


--
Pat Farrell

http://www.pfarrell.com/

[SuperQ]

Ubuntu is a fine choice. I run SqueezeCenter on an old PC for my parents squeezebox. It's just a P3-500 with 128MB ram. It runs without a GUI, so it's only a bit slow (uses a tiny bit of swap regularly). But it's fine via the remote interface. This is probably the minimum requirement for a dedicated server these days. Supposedly the new database design will shrink the requirements a bit (no more mysql)

You can also turn off un-used plugins to save ram.

[pfarrell]

Can I use Linux, and which one?

SuperQ wrote:
> It's just a P3-500 with 128MB ram.

> This is probably the minimum requirement for a dedicated server these days.

So, this is a slow computer that is at least a decade old. You can't buy
a new computer now, even the cheapest, slowest one available, that is
not at least four times faster CPU and four times the memory, and any
vaguely reasonable computer will be eight or 16 times faster with eight
or sixteen times the memory.

The cheapest, slowest computer on the walmart.com site has 2.7 GHz and
2GB of RAM.

I've had embedded systems that were faster and had more memory than that.

Why would anyone care to have something use "less" that this, unless you
want to run it on your cell phone?

--
Pat Farrell

http://www.pfarrell.com/

[SuperQ]

Hah, I wonder if I could get SC running on my Android G1 phone. I would have to get an ARM build of perl.

Considering most NAS devices are about as powerful as my G1, That is a good target. A lot of people want to run SC on NAS devices.

Another target platform would be something like my Soekris net5501. 512M ram, 400mhz AMD Geode CPU.

My Squeezecenter runs on a dual core Athlon64 with 2G of ram. I might move it my colo which is a 2x quad core with 16G of ram (running in a small VM)

[egd]

I am about to setup a computer that will be feeding a Duet with delicious music and Win XP activation refuses to accept my code even though I have a genuine license. Oh how I hate Microsoft.

Oh dear, you obviously need some "I love Windows" counselling from Goodsounds. If that doesn't work, install a distribution like Xubuntu which is aimed at older machines and you'll find it does all you need and probably quicker than you're used to.

[cybervision_]

I have a Athlon 1.4, 512 mb ram, 80 GB WD 7200 RPM disk, Radeon 8500 pro. It runs Win XP really nice so it should cope with Ubuntu.

I have downloaded Ubuntu now so here it goes.

[egd]

I have a Athlon 1.4, 512 mb ram, 80 GB WD 7200 RPM disk, Radeon 8500 pro. It runs Win XP really nice so it should cope with Ubuntu.

I have downloaded Ubuntu now so here it goes.

Once installed, open a terminal window (Applications/ Accessories/ Terminal) and type the following:

sudo gedit /etc/apt/sources.list

Then refer to http://wiki.slimdevices.com/index.php/DebianPackage and cut and paste the entry for the version of SC you'd like to install. Save and close the file, then type the following in the terminal window:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install squeezecenter

Answer Y to any prompts. Once back at the command line, it's all done...just point your browser to: http://localhost:9000/

[wotuzu17]

In my opinion linux is the best OS to run slimserver/squeezecenter. I bought a small fanless VIA/1GHz/256MB system, installed a basic version of Suse Linux and slimserver and now have a perfectly running music system. It is one of the install-once-then-forget systems and it has a uptime of several months.

No virus protection needed, no annoying popups for security patches, no reboots, no licence keys, no noise, low power consumption. I love my squeezeboxes and squeezecenter.

[cybervision_]

I ended up installing Ubuntu, but my old PC was very unstable som I went online and got a really good price on some new hardware. I will be running WD 7200 RPM disc with AMD 64 5000+ AM2, 2 GB RAM and MSI mainboard.

I think it should be up for the task as a server.

Will this computer use a lot of power standing powered on 24/7 running Ubuntu and SC?

[CatBus]

I will be running WD 7200 RPM disc with AMD 64 5000+ AM2, 2 GB RAM and MSI mainboard.

Will this computer use a lot of power standing powered on 24/7 running Ubuntu and SC?

"A lot of power" is relative. Compared to your average electric water heater, it's miniscule. But you could use a lot less power.

Less power consumption eventually leads to a less powerful computer. Ideally you'd first figure out exactly how much computing power you need, then buy hardware that meets those needs while drawing minimal power. Less power also means less noise (my pet peeve), less heat (which, over time, will kill your computer), and frequently fewer moving parts (all of which have a limited lifetime).

If all you want to do is run Linux and SqueezeCenter, you overshot that target by a long, long way. You can buy tiny fanless VIA computers that run SqueezeCenter quite nicely and absolutely sip power. But if you want to do something other than run SqueezeCenter, then maybe having such a powerful PC isn't such a bad idea.

[pfarrell]

Can I use Linux, and which one?

cybervision_ wrote:
> running WD 7200 RPM disc with AMD 64 5000+ AM2, 2 GB RAM and MSI
> mainboard.

Its massive overkill. What does the power supply faceplate say? It
should give you an idea of the power usage. I could guess that it may
use as much as 200 or 250 watts, I think your CPU uses 100 watts itself.

To really squeeze the watts, you can use slower disks, and slower CPUs.
Anything over a single gigahertz is plenty fast enough.

Memory is always good, and uses next to zero power, so more memory is
good within limits, so you are fine there.

--
Pat Farrell

http://www.pfarrell.com/

[Goodsounds]

Oh dear, you obviously need some "I love Windows" counselling from Goodsounds. If that doesn't work, install a distribution like Xubuntu which is aimed at older machines and you'll find it does all you need and probably quicker than you're used to.

Ha, I'm glad you read my posts, but you don't quite have the message right. Just like the thread last week you tried to bluff your way through, without much knowledge of the subject. My suggestion is simple - answers should be tailored to the level of the person asking the question.

This thread is perfect, the originator got the expert advice he/she requested. Unlike several other threads I've read recently where people continue to think basic-level SB users are either helped or impressed by suggestions that direct actions or approaches beyond the interest or ability of the person needing the help.

I see the same problem in my consulting work, so this isn't anything unique. The best technical people are those who can read their audience and explain/work with others at an appropriate level. Those who have difficulty with that remain lower level worker bees. We have a lot of lower level worker bees here.