[LINUX] HOW-TO achieve XBMC nirvana with an Acer Aspire Revo 1600 and Ubuntu

Sorry if I look totally ignorant here but what exactly are you torrenting? I'm at work now so can't try to download till later to find out for myself. Is it just an image file? I'm currently running a XBMCFreak build off a SD card, is it possible to take what you're sharing and have it bootable off a SD card as well? I'm pretty intimidated by linux so I'd love to have a build with all the Revo tweaks already built in.

hmm, not sure it will boot off of SD.. it might.

What's being torrented is a "partimage" snapshot

http://www.partimage.org/Main_Page

I used unetbootin to create a live version of Ubuntu 9.04 and booted my revo from that.

It would really kick ass if someone could doc up a VERY quick walkthrough on how to use partimage to restore this image to a harddrive (I can but I've GOT to get some billing done today).

It's REALLY not that bad or scary.

Basically:
# Edit /etc/apt/sources.list to enable repositories
# apt-get update
# apt-get install partimage smbfs -y (smbfs if you're restoring this image from a networked location)
# fdisk to wipe out the partions that are on the drive now and create new linux partitions
# partimage to restore the torrented image to the partition created with fdisk


(Crap, yeah, I should do an ACTUAL screenshotted write up, but gotta do a LITTLE work first. Any takers?)

Edit
(Also, thanks to those seeding already!! I'm pulling a copy down to my office and seeding from there now to try to add to the throughput)

Ok, my copy is downloaded and uploading at 1 Mbps. (apparently my bandwidth outranks S3's?)

Looks like there are 2 others downloading (evomac and at least one other). I don't plan on actually testing this as my current setup is working and I don't want to upset it, but for anyone who does start from this, please post back with your experience. If this image is helpful, I'll add the torrent link to my first posts for others to download.

Thanks.

Much obliged sir. With a set of known hardware like this, I'm inclined to hope that a boot-and-go solution might help spread the XBMC/Revo gospel a little.

PS Go Mono! Get me silverlight / netflix on linux

I've been seeding this for a little while now.

I was actually thinking this was a .iso. Now I think I might need to do a little research on how I can even make this thing bootable. We shall see.

It's also nice to see when I started downloading there was only 2 seeds, it's now up to 5. To thermite451 I think its safe to say you can drop your seed so you don't incur additional charges.

I'll get to it shortly

I'm putting together some quick instructions.

If someone else knows how to go from partimage->iso->drive....

Chime in

I am seeding too. Question - what size partition should this be restored to? I read the partimage intro doc which says if the size is larger than the partimage file then space may be lost.

Thanks for sharing this. Oh, BTW, I am assuming you have xorg.conf settings like Modelines that are specific for your TV. Is that correct?

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 * 1 19177 154039221 83 Linux
/dev/sda2 19178 19457 2249100 5 Extended
/dev/sda5 19178 19457 2249068+ 82 Linux swap / Solaris


Working on a writeup now.

I actually didn't have to hack up the xorg.conf, I let he nvidia software auto set it and had no complaints


(Also.. MINOR snag, apparently shutdown and reboot options aren't playing nicely. I will put a fix together)

I have no idea how to work with this file. Any help would be appreciated?

You can pm me and I'll catch you on IM if you have AIM or Gmail.

I'll walk you through it right quick