Flattr this  

Categories

Archives

Elsewhere

     

QR Code

QR Code

Xubuntu on the Acer Aspire Revo

By Nathan Chantrell, on February 27th, 2010
mini-acer_revo_7
Creative Commons License Photo credit: nDevilTV

In the last post I described how you can use XBMC Live on the Acer Revo but as well as that works it seemed a waste to restrict the Revo to just XBMC so I’ve since installed the 64 bit version of Xubuntu instead and run XBMC on top of that.

I chose Xubuntu as it is a light weight version of Ubuntu using the XFCE window manager instead of the Gnome desktop environment so has the advantage of having all the Ubuntu repositories available without the overhead of running Gnome or KDE (in the case of Kubuntu).

I installed the 64-bit version of Xubuntu 9.10 (Karmic Koala) available here.

As with XBMC Live I used unetbootin to create a bootable image on a USB flash drive (actually an SD card in this case). Once this is done insert the flash drive or SD card into the Revo and turn it on, pressing F12 during boot and selecting the USB drive or SD as the boot device.

I installed it into the unpartitioned space on the Revo drive leaving the factory Linpus install in place. Linpus is added as an option to the Grub boot menu allowing you to choose between it and your new Xubuntu install should you need to (I can’t see why you would).

Once you have installed Xubuntu and booted into it you will see a popup within a few minutes prompting you to install the proprietary Nvidia drivers which you will need to use the Revo’s ION GPU for HD playback (you will also need to change the “Render Method” to VDPAU in the XBMC settings later on as with the Live setup).

Continue reading Xubuntu on the Acer Aspire Revo

TwitterFacebookRedditDiggStumbleUponDeliciousShare
Tags: , , , | Category: Computing | 9 comments

XBMC on the Acer Aspire Revo

By Nathan Chantrell, on February 13th, 2010
XBMC Live Screenshot

XBMC Live on the Acer Revo

Earlier this week I bought an Acer Aspire Revo R3610 to replace my original Xbox based XBMC system which has provided sterling service for the last 7 years.

I’ve been a big fan of the Xbox version of XBMC and its predecessor Xbox Media Player  (it was the only reason I bought my Xbox) but it’s getting a bit limited now due to its 733MHz CPU and paltry 64MB RAM.

By contrast the Revo R3610 has a dual core Atom N330 CPU and up to 4GB RAM as well as a NVIDIA GeForce 9400 Ion GPU. As a result XBMC on the Revo is capable of playing full 1080p HD video without problem. It makes a perfect media center; it’s small, low powered and if you have a MCE remote control it will work straight off, just plug the USB receiver in.

I’m currently using the XBMC Live release which is a self contained install built on top of a minimal Ubuntu installation. Installing XBMC Live on the Revo is a breeze:

  1. Download the Camelot 9.11 repack version of XBMC Live
  2. Extract the iso from the zip file
  3. Use unetbootin to create a bootable image on a USB flash drive
  4. Insert the flash drive in the Revo and turn it on, pressing F12 during boot and selecting the USB drive as the boot device
  5. At the menu you can select to run straight from the USB drive (option 1) or you can select “Install XBMCLive to disk”
  6. Once that is done just reboot and it will boot straight into XBMC

You will then want to go into the settings and change the “Render Method” in the video section to VDPAU. This allows XBMC to use the Revo’s NVIDIA Ion GPU for video processing. If you are using HDMI for your audio output you will also need to go to the audio section and change the output to Custom and enter plug:hdmi

It makes a fantastic media center and the Revo R3610 with dual core Atom N330 CPU, 2GB RAM and 250GB HD is currently on offer for £199 at ebuyer which is a great deal.

TwitterFacebookRedditDiggStumbleUponDeliciousShare
Tags: , , , | Category: Computing | 2 comments