yeah, kinda. You can stream videos to it from another computer using PS3 Media Server. It just won't be as streamlined as an actual HTPC since you'll basically be browsing folders to get to the media. It definitely works, and it's what i'm currently using, just not as pretty.

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/flippedcracker/6648552803/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/flippedcracker/6648554579/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/flippedcracker/6648554919/
Things to do:
USB key on the top is getting moved to the inside one the adapter comes in. I am getting a splitter for fan as there's a second on the front that I don't have a plug for. And I need to clean up the wiring.

At some point, I'll be getting different drive cages to be able to have more drives, but for now I have 6 in there.

It's a lot more quiet that it looks.

 

What program do you use to drip dvds to your hdd? What settings do you use?

 

it's called Couch Potato.

 

^^
I was talking about my dvd collection and turning it into data so I can offload my phsycal dvds

 

yeah, I know. I haven't ripped dvds in years. I did it once for the movies I had, and now I just acquire bluray versions.

 

Made some progress today. got mysql up and running the unraid server, linked my xbmc database to it, and now any xbmc install will be synchronized to it. So now I can start a movie in the living room, pause it, and finish where i started in the bedroom (or garage, or wherever else i have a tv set up). It will also sync up thumbnails, watched status, etc.

The only thing left to do is populate the serve with data. I'm trying to make sure all my media is organized and complete before I copy it. I also just need to set up a remote control for the htpc, just waiting for a dongle for that.

I'll post some final pictures once it's all finished and in place. I'm just using old computers I had in the garage for now. At some point I'll update them to something that actually looks nice in the living room.

 

Running into a slight problem starting the HTPC while it's hooked up to my receiver. It's not booting because it thinks there's no monitor attached. I haven't checked the BIOS yet to see if I can fix that. So I currently have to attach it directly to my TV.

But I've started moving all my media over to the server. Thank goodness for gigabit.

 

Got SubSonic up and running on the server. Allows me to access/stream music from the server to anywhere. You can either do it through a web app, or an app on your phone.

 

Media Server is running smooth. Got my HTPC running, although not at 100% yet. I'm trying to get emulators working, but having issues. I'm running XBMC Live, but I think I might need to switch to windows to get all the apps working like I want. The only problem with that is that the pc I'm using is old and probably won't run 1080p video in windows. Has no problem doing it in ubuntu with vdpau though. I'll have to do some experimenting and see what it can do.

Next up is flirc to get the remote working. I'm currently controlling it with my ipad.