Free, simple OS for HTPC?

[maddogchen]

Hello.

Is there a free OS that works with a pentium 2 1ghz 512mb system that just lets you start up, open up a video folder and lets you pick mpgs and displays them on the tv? I was thinking Win XP was a bit overkill for this.

I'm trying to set up a HTPC for a volunteer job I do. We have a group of children with special needs that watches movies and tv shows on VHS tapes. These old VCRs are breaking down and replacements are getting harder and harder to find. And they can't understand how to play DVDs. Its easy for them to play a tape, just punch it in and hit play and hope its not at the end of the tape. But DVDs go through menus and most have a learning disability so they don't understand how to use remotes and which buttons do what.

So i was thinking of taking one of their old computers and setting it up as a HTPC and just have the output straight to the TV. Then I would convert the DVDs to mpg files and copy them onto the htpc. Most of them know how to use a mouse to select items so I would put it in a folders with a thumbnail of the video so they can tell which one they want to play. The htpc would not connected to the internet.

Thanks!

 

[wwswimming]

Hello.

Is there a free OS that works with a pentium 2 1ghz 512mb system that just lets you start up, open up a video folder and lets you pick mpgs and displays them on the tv? I was thinking Win XP was a bit overkill for this.

I'm trying to set up a HTPC for a volunteer job I do. We have a group of children with special needs that watches movies and tv shows on VHS tapes. These old VCRs are breaking down and replacements are getting harder and harder to find. And they can't understand how to play DVDs. Its easy for them to play a tape, just punch it in and hit play and hope its not at the end of the tape. But DVDs go through menus and most have a learning disability so they don't understand how to use remotes and which buttons do what.

you didn't say anything about Linux.

are you more comfortable with Windows ?

Windows 2000, i got my last copy for about $15, a legit copy. but if you're working with DVD software you might need up to date *.dll's and stuff.

i'm sure you can do it with Linux and a lot of people do that, put Linux on older slower systems where it runs just fine.

i didn't know the Pentium 2 went up to 1 GHz. is it over-clocked or is it actually a P3 ?

 

[WaitingForNehalem]

linux

 

[RebateMonger]

i didn't know the Pentium 2 went up to 1 GHz. is it over-clocked or is it actually a P3 ?

According to Wikipedia, the fastest P2 was 450 MHz.

 

[maddogchen]

Sorry, I'm not quite sure about the pentium #. But I do remember it said 1ghz.

So I should use Linux? Ubuntu 9.10?

 

[WaitingForNehalem]

Sorry, I'm not quite sure about the pentium #. But I do remember it said 1ghz.

So I should use Linux? Ubuntu 9.10?

Ubuntu is a good choice.

 

[manko]

http://www.xubuntu.org/ is a lighter version that might be better for an older machine.

 

[squirrel dog]

thats a p3.

 

[Modelworks]

A 1ghz cpu just isn't going to have enough processing power to do what you want. I put together a very low end HTPC for someone using a AGP based motherboard, P4 2.8Ghz and 1GB ram and while it works, it isn't ideal. It will drop frames if the cpu is tasked with doing much else if I use the cpu to decode video.

If you are only interested in playing back mpeg2 based files then I would look on ebay for a hardware mpeg decoder. They are on their for under $20 shipped. Usually the real magic EM8300 cards are best.That would allow just about any old pc to run dvd quality video without problems.

I put a ATI 2600HD AGP pro in this HTPC and now it plays HD video fine because of that cards hardware decoding.

Or even better might be to see if you can get the funds for something like the western digital media player that has usb port for external drives , and all the video hardware in one box. The interface is basically click and play like you want.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-325-_-Product


For OS , winxp is fine and when configured correctly uses very little memory. Just turn off all the services or use something like nlite to trim it down.
http://www.nliteos.com/nlite.html

 

[JackMDS]

Win 2000 pro would work well with 1GHz 521MB OP.

Search, you can find OEM version bellow $40.

 

[todpod]

My current HTPC is a 1.2ghz celeron with 2mb of ram. I run winxp with VLC and it hasn't balked at anything I have thrown at it. You might want to look at lubuntu sounds idea for your machine.

 

[RebateMonger]

Thought I'd mention that if it's a Charitable organization (meeting IRS guidelines), you ought to take a quick look at Microsoft's offerings to such organizations. It won't help at this moment, but MS has REALLY low prices on software to organizations meeting their charity criteria. It won't solve your problem today, but might come in handy next time if you plan ahead.

 

[Fox5]

I wouldn't say HTPC, based on the usage criteria. I was going to suggest XBMC software running on any OS of your choice, but it sounds like it'd be too complicated for what you want.

 

[silverpig]

That 1 GHz should be fine for dvd related stuff, but not for HD.

 

[BTA]

You could try XBMC. There might be some real simple skins for it out there that you could use.