Requirements ...
Hardware Needs
GeeXboX is an operating system but you still need something to boot on ;-) You're lucky, GeeXboX is based on MPlayer, which can be considered as one of the less cpu-dependent movie players, thanks to the use of FFMpeg for decoding movies.
So, here's what can be considered as a minimal config :
* x86 Pentium-Class CPU or above (P2-400 should be quite enough, Core2Duo is recommended for HDTV) or Macintosh NewWorld G3 (G4 highly recommended)
* a VESA 2.0 compliant graphics card (for x86 PC only).
* an ALSA compatible sound card.
* at least 64 MB of RAM (128 MB or more are recommended for HDTV)
* CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive
* Motherboard which supports booting on CD-ROM (should be ok for everyone ;-)
* Keyboard, Joystick or Remote Controller, using a Lirc-compatible IR (InfraRed) receiver (check http://www.lirc.org to build yours), e.g. Miro PcTV's one or ATI Remote Wonder.
So, here's what can be considered as a minimal config :
* x86 Pentium-Class CPU or above (P2-400 should be quite enough, Core2Duo is recommended for HDTV) or Macintosh NewWorld G3 (G4 highly recommended)
* a VESA 2.0 compliant graphics card (for x86 PC only).
* an ALSA compatible sound card.
* at least 64 MB of RAM (128 MB or more are recommended for HDTV)
* CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive
* Motherboard which supports booting on CD-ROM (should be ok for everyone ;-)
* Keyboard, Joystick or Remote Controller, using a Lirc-compatible IR (InfraRed) receiver (check http://www.lirc.org to build yours), e.g. Miro PcTV's one or ATI Remote Wonder.
Software Requirements
This is useful only if you consider compiling / customizing your own GeeXboX. First of all, GeeXboX has to be compiled under GNU/Linux. Also, you may need some packages such as :
* gcc : The GNU Compiler Collection, used to build the whole project. Please avoid using Gcc 2.96 (available on old Redhat and Mandrake distributions) which is not really MPlayer-compliant.
* make : GNU Make is a program that determines which pieces of a large program need to be recompiled and issues the commands to recompile them, when necessary.
* patch : this package is needed to patch some official programs sources to customize them to be GeeXboX compliant or simply to add some features.
* wget : Wget is a network utility to retrieve files from the Web using http and ftp, the two most widely-used Internet protocols.
* nasm : This is an x86 assembler which will flat-form binary files, a.out, COFF and ELF Unix object files, and Microsoft 16-bit DOS and Win32 object files. It is used to compile the uClibc of the GeeXboX.
* mkisofs : Creates ISO-9660 CD-ROM filesystem images.
* mkzftree : this program is available from the zisofs-tools package and let you create compressed iso images.
* cdrecord : A command line CD writing tool cdrecord allows you to create CDs.
You also need to have at least 7 GB of free disk space in order to build the GeeXboX properly.
* gcc : The GNU Compiler Collection, used to build the whole project. Please avoid using Gcc 2.96 (available on old Redhat and Mandrake distributions) which is not really MPlayer-compliant.
* make : GNU Make is a program that determines which pieces of a large program need to be recompiled and issues the commands to recompile them, when necessary.
* patch : this package is needed to patch some official programs sources to customize them to be GeeXboX compliant or simply to add some features.
* wget : Wget is a network utility to retrieve files from the Web using http and ftp, the two most widely-used Internet protocols.
* nasm : This is an x86 assembler which will flat-form binary files, a.out, COFF and ELF Unix object files, and Microsoft 16-bit DOS and Win32 object files. It is used to compile the uClibc of the GeeXboX.
* mkisofs : Creates ISO-9660 CD-ROM filesystem images.
* mkzftree : this program is available from the zisofs-tools package and let you create compressed iso images.
* cdrecord : A command line CD writing tool cdrecord allows you to create CDs.
You also need to have at least 7 GB of free disk space in order to build the GeeXboX properly.
