Very Basic Media Center

Computer Forum Sound Cards and Speakers
1

Ok I’m looking to make the lamest media center ever. If fact, one could argue this is not even close to being a media center.

I’m not trying to record TV shows for future play back. Therefore I don’t need a tuner card and I don’t need DVD functionality. All I want to do is hook my CentOS box to my LCD television and play avi videos or YouTube clips.

Think of it as me hooking my box up to a larger monitor which has built in speakers.

I bought a VGA cable and the picture works perfectly. Now I need a way to get audio to the TV. My TV has the usual female connections (RCA, HDMI, etc) including a 1/8" stereo “audio in” plug hole.

What kind of cable do I need for the audio? I’m using a very old Dell OptiPlex GX400 so I’m not looking for an elite media center. Just a bare bones basic setup for playing web clips…nothing more.

2

I’m guessing the old Dell OptiPlex only has lineout (3.5mm) connection?

This cable should work Newegg.com - CABLES UNLIMITED AUD-1105-10 10 feet 3.5mm Stereo Audio Cable M-M - Audio Video Cables

3

Yes and thank you :), I’m going to order this cable right now. I’ll give you an update in about a week.

4

For the front-end, you might want to look into XBMC.

Also, just a tip, but CentOS isn’t much of a multimedia OS. If you’re flexible, Debian + Debian Multimedia Packages would be a good choice.