Free, Bootable Multimedia OS

Anti-Trend

Anti-Trend

Nonconformist Geek
I recently came across this very cool (and very geeky) bootable Linux distro called GeexBox. It's a free ISO that acts as a multimedia operating system. It comes equipped to play DVD, DivX/Xvid, CD, MP3/Ogg, Quicktime and lots more. All you do is boot to it and load your movie via disc, USB device, or even network share. It's only 4 megs to download the ISO, available in English and French, and would be a great companion for your home built console or multimedia system. No HDD required :)
 

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A lot like Knoppix. Haven't tried either, but, hell, it'd be fun. Looks cool, especially for people wanting to try out Linux.
 
Greets Big B :)

It is like Knoppix in that it runs from CD, but actually this Linux distro is built to be strictly a multimedia platform. It's more like a console system's OS than a desktop platform. No desktop, no profiles, no software to speak of. Just a stripped 'nux kernel, drivers, a media engine with a simple menu interface and LOTS of audio & video codecs. The whole thing weighs in at a mere 4mb.

This thing is also great for allowing a less than technically savvy friend or relative play a sub-popular [read: DivX] video format on their PC without installing or configuring anything. They just boot to the CD, and once booted insert the media to be played. The bottom line is it just plays with no configuration, no command lines, not even so much as an abstract thought. ;) Another cool feature is compatibility with many remote controls with the use of the PC's IR port.
 
this looks very interesting !!! I will try it out, cuz I plan to turn my old pc into a mp3 server once I get a new pc! instead of installing xp etc etc all I need is geexbox, thanks anti, great post!
 
Hey -=Sniper=-,

Are you going to be serving files from your old machine, or to it? GeexBox is really intended to be a sort of lightweight multimedia console, without any network servers or powerful file managers.

If your aim is to make your old machine a multimedia appliance, GeekBox, Morphix, or even MoviX should nicely fill the niche. If you want to make the machine a fullfledged standalone file server, I'd still definately recommend linux over WinXP. However, probably a full distro would suit your needs for that purpose a lot better than a bootable CD. There's probably a hundred free unix distros out there that would make a good file server, not excluding BSD-based unixes.

So the big question: Ultimately, what are your plans for this box?
 
hey anti! I wasnt really looking to plan ahead or really thought about the purpose of my future project.

I'm not quite sure if I'm gona use my old hardware, cuz I want to have a small case (mini-itx i think its called) anyway to whole purpose would be to play mp3s and thats it, but now that I think about a maybe movies (divx etc) and also work as ftp server? make use of a remote control and maybe a lcd screen to display the song names?
 
That's pretty cool -=Sniper=-, I've always wanted to build a Mini-ITX system to go with my entertainment center. :) I do think Linux would be best for your needs, and would do better on resources, security, and of course cost. Even if the perspective project is a way down the road, you may want to visit Distro Watch. They've got the skinny on many popular distros, along with reviews, package info, and URLs. That's where I'd start. :D
 
thanks Anti, nice link! I will try out Linuxm yet to try it :) a Mini-ITX system would be very cool, I've seen people with such systems in cars, with a 7"screen! imagin that?!! in your car! this kind of project would be interesting!
 
Sounds good, let me know how it goes! I've got a little daughter due in a few weeks here, so I dunno If I'll be able to spend money on fun stuff like that for some time... :stickout: Baby = $$$
 
gone off-topic, oh well :) congrats from me too!

btw Big B: like the new sig image!
 
just to get back on track I tried this, but it kept on crashing, seems very buggy from what I've read! hmmm! oh well, will try again sometime!
 
Do that :) Actually there are many distros to fill that niche, so try a few on for size if it please you. Also keep in mind that Geex Box is a progressive, non-profit project, and that it's still in > v1.0 beta... :P
 
yeh, I would def try geekbox again, looks really good, shame it kept on crashing :(
 
There's a new version out right now, hopefully it's fixed the glitches you've encountered. With my hardware config, I had 0 problems with October's build. But that's not to say there aren't some problems with a free open-source project.
 
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