XBMCLive & Windows on another partition, Windows with Root access to EXT4??

[DejaVu]

Is this possible to do?

I'll explain why.

I'm trying to make life a lot easier with Linux as I am still having issues learning all the command lines and access the drive through Windows share moaning about permissions.

My aim is to boot from the XBMCLive partition most of the time (400GB) with all my SabNZBd & Sickbeard running and sorting stuff out. BUT - when things go wrong and I have to shift files about, I want to be able to logon to Windows and access the ext4 partition with root access (with no bitching about permissions) so I can fiddle and play with files - like css, php and html or deleting old pointless files that are no longer required.

Can this be done? I asked over on XBMC's site, but the techy's over there are way too advanced and confuse me with their answers (as I know fuck all about Linux in comparison!)

At the moment, I'm reinstalling XBMCLive on a 400GB partition leaving 100GB for Windows 7.

Am I wasting my time?

[Conkers]

yep... install win7, eventghost for the remote & boxee, simple.

[DejaVu]

yep... install win7, eventghost for the remote & boxee, simple.

and Windows 7 will browse the EXT4 volume correctly?

Windows 7 WONT be used as the HTPC, XBMCLive will. Windows just sort and organise.

[Mnementh]

and Windows 7 will browse the EXT4 volume correctly?

Windows 7 WONT be used as the HTPC, XBMCLive will. Windows just sort and organise.

Erm I think he was saying yep you're wasting your time!

Getting any version of Windows to read any other OS's file system is a bit of a nightmare to be perfectly honest.

If you really want to try doing things this way you might give http://sourceforge.net/projects/ext2read/ a go, I haven't used it personally as I'm quite happy using the cli so I have no idea how well it works so use at your own risk etc etc...

[DejaVu]

I'll give it a go and report back.

I assume the only other way is to mount the volume through a VM running Ubuntu and sort the files that way.

[Mnementh]

Your best bet might be to do an install of xbmc on a full ubuntu install (or even a minimal install just with the desktop), then if you have a problem with xbmc you can boot into gnome/kde to make any changes you need to make. Makes it easier to run your torrent and newsreaders etc as well.

Not sure how old you are so you might not get this reference, but think of xbmc and gnome as like Windows 3.1 running on DOS. DOS (or in this case linux) is the underlying system and Win 3.1 (xbmc/gnome etc) is just a GUI running on top.

[DejaVu]

34 Mate! Remember DOS and Windows 3.1 days.

The way I tried was install XBMCLive then -
$ sudo apt-get install ubuntu-desktop

Went into overdrive downloading 500MB's of system shit, so I stopped it. Should I maybe have tried

$ sudo apt-get install gnome-desktop

Is that a more slimmed down GUI for Linux? All I really want to do is point and click files about and open them - but on the XBMCLive install.

I NEVER want gnome-desktop to load either unless I drop to Terminal and type - gnome-desktop.
Possible?

XBMCLive runs a load better than Ubuntu Desktop with XBMC Standalone installed, plus adding the software/drivers/sound shit for a Revo is at best a catastrophe with Ubuntu. Alsorts of weird and wonderful problems. (Alsamixer etc)

[Mnementh]

Yeah it's not easy getting it all set up though it is worth it in the long run. XBMCLive is great if everything works, which to be fair it does extremely well on the revo but it can be an absolute nightmare when something doesn't work, if you have problems or if you want to do something just a little out of the norm.

It's all a bit of a minefield unless you're comfortable using the cli over ssh.

One possible way to do it has just occured to me, Ubuntu has no problems reading ntfs drives so you might want to consider dual booting xbmclive with Win7 and having your media files on an ntfs partition which will be readable by both Window and xbmc, this also gives you the bonus of not losing your files if you have to reinstall xbmc.

[DejaVu]

I'm going to delve into the gnome-desktop route and see if it works.
I seem to recall a problem with xserver for some reason though.

As for the Dual boot, the only reason I want Gnome desktop is to have direct access to the /var/www folder through a GUI to make edits to the Web Interface.

MediaFrontPage and AWX for XBMC are incredibly good and centralise everything in a web browser!

[Mnementh]

The main issue is sound and the nvidia drivers when doing it yourself. you might want to take a look at the XBMCFreak install, I've not used it myself but my brother used it last week and has been raving about how easy it was, and trust me if it was easy for him it must be along the lines of "My First XBMC"

I've just noticed they've posted the RC for Dharma within the last couple of hours, might be worth a look.

One note from painful personal experience, make sure that you get absolutely everything working in Ubuntu the way you want it before you install xbmc it will prevent loads of problems further on down the line.

Any problems or questions ask away I've probably come across them at some point I've been using xbmc since the original xbox days and can honestly say combine xbmc with an original ION setup and you have an unbeatable media system

[Conkers]

Sorry, what I was saying above was that if you're not confident in Linux, why persue a linux install?

Run Win7, a default Boxee system supports HD acceleration and on my zotac ion plays 1080p fine through HDMI.

I went the linux route originally but it simply didn't have the ease of use or flexibility of win7 for me.

[Hodge20001]

Or install windows 7 and install the latest beta of XBMC supports Hardware acceleration, so no need to fuck around,

[inspectercoley]

wow, I haven't read up on XBMC for ages, might give the live one a try cos would be good to use it on a device with usb and dvd support unlike the xbox.

[DejaVu]

Windows 7 version on a Revo is not sufficient IMO even with Hardware Acceleration. I found the Menu's slow to navigate and become unresponsive with my huge library.

XBMCLive is definitely the way to go, it's so much more reliable. Reading around on XBMC's forums, most use the Revo as a client using XBMCLive and a server to organise the library.

My Revo is the 4GB version and it's still sluggish in Windows 7.