Ubuntu on new HTPC

Use x11vnc instead of vino

Update alsa to 1.0.20 to get spdif working.

Use arialuni.ttf to replace /usr/share/xbmc/media/Fonts/arial.ttf, and choose GBK as charset in XBMC settings to get Chinese filenames working.

Mythtv:
Couldn't connect to database after installation. Had to:

mysql -u root -p
mysql>grant all privileges on mythconverg.* to mythtv@"localhost" identified by 'avxGzq44';

Use tar to backup and restore the system: link
Using rsnapshot, rdiff-backup, flyback and timevault look interesting too.

New HTPC build

I'm going to build a new mATX HTPC for use in both WXP and Linux. It needs to play 1080p H.264 smoothly and be quiet.

I bought a case already thanks to this thread.
Mobo/CPU/Video/Audio:
It seems the latest crop of on-board video cards are not too bad for HD video playback, with AMD's 780G better than Nvidia's 8x00 chipesets in this respect. However, there is no hardware acceleration for HW decoding in Linux for AMD so far, while Nvidia has VDPAU.
So I'm looking at this combo on newegg.
Edit 7/16: Now I'm leaning towards the new Athlon II x2 Regor 250, an AM3 socket CPU but the M3N78-EM board also support it, sans DDR3 support. I'll probably buy the CPU from newegg (update 7/17/09, bought with coupon AMD791 for $10 off) and buy the board from ewiz (update 7/17/09: bought).

HS: I'll probably buy this one from svc.com which is a little cheaper than newegg and can be picked up locally. The fan needs to be removed and the case vent and fan will be used to force air through the HS. The case fan can be connected to CPU fan header for control.

RAM: (update 7/17/09: bought this one)

HDD: maybe reuse some old drive laying around.

OS: I'll try Ubuntu first.
Media frontend: try XBMC first, Mythtv if XBMC isn't enough.

DD-WRT and vpnc

Followed this to configure vpnc on my Buffalo router with DD-WRT. In addition, added the following options to netmasq on router setup:
dhcp-option=6,192.168.123.254,68.87.66.196,171.70.168.183
It's still not ideal, iTalkBB doesn't work and DNS lookup is slow when vpn is established.

ubuntu Jaunty Jackalope (9.04) on Thinkpad X61s

I used wubi to install Ubuntu inside Windows, then used LVPM to move it to a separate partition later when everything's verified working.

I'm amazed that almost everything works out of box, below are some little tweaks needed.

Sync with Windows Mobile phone:
http://www.synce.org/moin/SynceInstallation/Ubuntu/ModernDevice
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=6913410

Vertical scrolling:
http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/How_to_configure_the_TrackPoint

Webcam:
Logitech QuickcamPro4000 works without tweaks but it only works on the USB port on the left side, no image when plugged into the two USB ports on the right side.

Email:
Evolution, need to import the pst files into Thunderbird on windows first and then import from Thunderbird to Evolution.
http://ubuntu-tutorials.com/2006/10/24/use-evolution-with-microsoft-exchange-ubuntu-606-610/
http://www.linuxquestions.org/linux/answers/Applications_GUI_Multimedia/Howto_migrate_from_Thunderbird_to_Evolution
Update06/16/09: email seems to be most troublesome, the pst import of Thunderbird works but html emails are not shown correctly. So I ended up installing hMailServer on windows and set up a local IMAP server, copy archived folders into the IMAP server in outlook and then copy them to local folder in Thunderbird. Once it's in TB, make a s-link from ~/mail to TB local directory and import in Evolution.

Auto-archive in Evolution: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/evolution/+bug/197290 Anoop P B. (doesn't work for exchange mail)

IM:
Pidgin, I use Pidgin on windows too so no issue here. Sametime server for Cisco is sametime-im.cisco.com, port 1533.

Virtualbox:
I still get BSOD with Virtualbox booting the windows partition (error 0x00000050).
Followed instructions here to get the box booting:
http://brionetka.com/linux/?p=82

VMware Player:
Followed this:
http://imrannazar.com/Running-a-Windows-Partition-in-VMware
But no luck either.

VMware Server:
Follow this and use Cisco's preinstalled WinXP vmdk image file. The bridged network didn't work in Player and it is somehow required for the Cisco domain registration to go through.
Use Ctrl-Alt-PrtScn instead of Ctrl-Alt-Ins
http://danielmiessler.com/blog/vmware-server-20-for-linux-doesnt-have-a-send-ctrl-alt-del-button
add to /etc/fstab following line to make usb devices work on VM.

usbfs   /proc/bus/usb   usbfs   auto,devmode=666   0   0

It seems VMware sometimes mess up the keyboard making ctrl, shift and some other keys unusable. Type setxkbmap to get the keys back.


VPN:
Use network-manager-vpnc and the patch by Patrick Healy in this bug report:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/network-manager-vpnc/+bug/360818
SoftokenII: http://zed.cisco.com/confluence/display/LINUX/SofToken+under+WINE

Webex:
http://www.gargolito.com/2008/11/how-to-fix-webex-in-ubuntu-hardyibix.html
http://linuxsagas.wordpress.com/2009/02/20/webex-in-ubuntu-810/

When you see NO_PUBKEY:
In short, you have to find the gpg key for your ppa (Personal Package Archives) I believe you are looking for this one http://keyserver.ubuntu.com:11371/pks/lookup?op=get&search=0xCA5D96E9AB82B686
Save the contents of the webpage as a text file
Import the textfile into System -> Administration -> (Software Sources(Authentication->import key))
Or this:

sudo apt-key adv --recv-keys --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com {key}

Compiz:
Need to comment the line to blacklist Intel 965 and update mesa to 4.0:
http://ubuntuforums.org/archive/index.php/t-1115208.html

PulseAudio and Skype
Skype didn't play nice with PA originally, I tried these:
Guide 1
Guide 2
Guide 3
And Skype kinda works but still have memory leak issue as reported here, so I ended up using HDA Intel (hw:intel,0) device for both sound out and ringing.

Dock eject hangs the system. Fix.

Internal Mic need to be activated:
Go to the Volume Control (gnome-volume-control) > Edit > Preferences > check the Capture box > Close. Next go to the Recording tab and set Capture to max (and unmute it if it's muted)
Then went to the mixer's Options tab and where it said input source and set them both to internal mic.
now skype works just fine.