Side Projects

Those of you who follow GeeXboX development carefully already heard about the project Enna . It's a Media Center project, based on Enlightenment Foundation Libraries (EFL), that has been developed by the GeeXboX team members. Enna is a standalone application, that can be run on any Linux distribution, GeeXboX LiveCD being one of them and that will be the major feature of upcoming v2.0.

As a convenience (and because some users do not want to use the LiveCD distribution), Enna will be made available for others than GeeXboX (first release is expected pretty soon). Enna being a graphical interface only, the team has developed many other libraries that are used by Enna and for which initial release just has been made:

- libnfo : a small library used to parse and write NFO files. NFO files are XML files used to store metadata information on many multimedia files. It is massively used by other Media Centers, such as XBMC, which allow you unique metadata storage among your various Media Center applications.
- libplayer : a multimedia A/V abstraction layer API. Its goal is to interact with Enna . libplayer provides a generic A/V API that relies on various multimedia player for Linux systems. It currently supports MPlayer, xine VLC and GStreamer only. This will allow future GeeXboX users to easily switch from one media player to another.
- libvalhalla : a media scanner library, that stores various information in an SQLite database. It features many Internet grabbers that allows automatic download of covers, lyrics, informations on media files, tags retrival in video and music files and so on. Among them, we currently support Allocine, Amazon, EXIF information, FFmpeg, ImDB, Last.fm, local files, LyricsFly.com, LyricWiki.org, NFO files, TheTVDB.com, TheMovieDB.org and TVRage.com. It can of course be extended to support so much more.

All of these libraries just hit the 1.0.0 release and are available either under source format in their respective projects' homepages but also have been packaged for Ubuntu 9.10 (Karmic) users (but should work as well on Debian Sid) to try them out.

Also remind that these libraries are not meant to be GeeXboX specific. They are fully portable and can be used with many other projects.

As you may have understood, it is now possible for you to easily try out Enna before it gets officially released. However, and just for the most eager ones of you, you may appreciate the following screenshots of Enna .

Some commercial DVD decryption bug having been spotted out on GeeXboX forums, we had to fix it through this minor 1.2.4 release. In the mean time, you'll be pleased to hear that 2.x development branch has been greatly stabilized recently and we should be able to provide the first alpha release by end of year.

GeeXboX 1.2.4 (for x86_32 and x86_64 computers) is available right here and now!

As it appeared that a nasty bug with some AC3 audio encoded files slipped through previous 1.2.2 release, here's another minor release. No big changes here except from AC3 playback recovery.

GeeXboX 1.2.3 (for x86_32, x86_64 and powerpc computers) is available right here and now!

A few interesting patches recently having been commited to 2.0 development tree, people on forum asked for backport of these on stable 1.2 release. So did we, adding a new key feature, with multi-threaded video decoding support. Non IT people can see this as a way to finally make use of their brand new multi-core CPU systems providing parallelized treatment. And the results are pretty good, with a 1.8x video decoding speed boost on Core2Duo and 3.0x speedup with Core2Quad. It is now truely possible to actually decode 1080p HDTV streams on Linux.

As exciting as it may be, please however note that this is still an experimental feature (we're probably the one of the first Linux distro to integrate it), that may cause undesired visual artefacts (in some very rare cases). In order to make use of it, you'll have to explicitely enable it through ISO generator.

Detailed Changelog (relative to 1.2.1 release):

- Multi-threaded video decoding for MPEG-1/2/4 and H.264 codecs.
- Support for newly discovered DVD MovieProtect encryption method.
- Extended DVD CSS descrambiling capabilities.
- Removal of GOOM audio visualization (was causing too much troubles).
- Automount daemon enhancements.
- Upgrade of MPlayer and its set of codecs.

GeeXboX 1.2.2 (for x86_32, x86_64 and powerpc computers) is available right here and now!

While working on 2.0 development, we managed to find a few major bugs in 1.2 release codebase. There were a major flaw in installator which may (in some cases) lead to destroy your HDD's MBR while trying to install to a removable USB key plus a few minor bugs with EeePC 701 frequency scaling and parallel port LCD driver support.
It is highly recommended that you use this new version instead.

GeeXboX 1.2.1 (for x86_32, x86_64 and powerpc computers) is available right here and now!

Here we finally are. Today marks GeeXboX 1.2 release that was awaited for such a long time. This is a really important step for the project, being the very latest release from the 1.x series. The 1.2 took quite a long time to emerge but brought a lot of features, the most important ones being the x86_64 architecture support and the HDTV and widescreens optimizations through X.Org inclusion. We've also added a brand new tool, called Win32 installer that allows you installing GeeXboX to your current hard-disk without need of partitionning/formatting it again. Please feel free to browse Changelogs from all 1.2 beta releases for a complete list of changes.

So again, GeeXboX 1.2 is the last version you'll see that relies on our original MPlayer OSD based blue screen user interface. Over the years (and especially last months), a lot of efforts have been made to work on the upcoming 2.x series, that will feature a complete rework of the UI, based on the ultra fast and shiny Enlightenment toolkit. We already have made very good progress on this nextgen architecture and the first 2.0-alpha1 release will probably be out in a few weeks for tests purpose.

Eager and impatient folks can have a look at exclusive screenshots of what 2.x interface will looks like. So just wait for a couple more weeks for this.



But let's get back to 1.2. This is our very latest stable release and will stay so for quite a while, until 2.0 is fully ready for use. With this release, we've done our best to please everyone in order to provide you with best video playback experience and we hope it'll keep on going.

Detailed Changelog (relative to 1.2-beta3 release):

System:
- Upgrade to Linux 2.6.27.13.
- Use On-Demand CPU frequency scaling policy.

X.Org:
- Upgrade X.Org ATI driver to 6.10.0.

Player:
- Fix VCD playback issues.
- Disable GOOM audio visualization, was sucking down CPU too much.
- Fix some TV card bad color effects.

Installator:
- Simplify installator partitionning step.
- Unify disk install, using GRUB on USB devices too.

Miscellaneous:
- Fix a mounting issue when 2 hardware devices have the same name.
- Add support for disks with no partition table (Ex: Win32 formatted USB keys).
- Add a Win32 utility that allows installing GeeXboX to your current hard-disk without need of partitionning/formatting it again.
- Add USB network drivers to emulate a NIC.
- Fix boot issue with several CD/DVD drives.

GeeXboX 1.2 (for x86_32, x86_64 and powerpc computers) is available right here and now!

Ok, beta2 was not the last one and here comes beta3 which is definitely candidate for 1.2 release. We've performed a huge amount of bug fixes in various area and were able to correct some long standing issues we had. Two major changes come with this release: a completely new automounter that now relies on D-BUS and HAL and the restoration of installer feature. So yeah, finally (it's been time ...), you should be able to install GeeXboX again, on both your HDDs and USB keys. Other parts of GeeXboX also welcomed a few changes, mostly regarding the player, that received a few fixes for AudioCDs, DVDs, AAC and RealVideo 9 playback.

Detailed Changelog (relative to 1.2-beta2 release):

System:
- Upgrade Linux kernel to 2.6.27.10
- Rework of installator, now works fine with both HDD and USB installs.

X.Org:
- ATI Radeon driver upgrade.
- ATI Rage128 driver addition.

Player:
- Updated MPlayer to r28184 (provides native RealVideo 9 / RV30 decoder).
- Use FAAD2 for AAC decoding (fixes many audio playback issues).
- Fix CDDA/DVD playback issues.

Networking:
- Add optional Samba server support.

Miscellaneous:
- Complete rework of automounter, now based on D-BUS/HAL.
- Mounted disks names are now much more eloquent.
- Fix some disc eject issues.
- Add optionnal disc images (.bin, .iso, .img, .mdf, .nrg) mounter.
- Restore the old menu font.

GeeXboX 1.2-beta3 (for x86_32, x86_64 and powerpc computers) is available right here and now!

Here comes GeeXboX 1.2 second beta release. Thanks to your feedback on forums, we've been able to iron out a lot of nasty bugs from beta1. There's no major changes in terms of features but the distribution is now much more stable, which is always a good thing. Most of the corrections took place at the driver level, as many people encountered some issues with hardware support. The few PowerPC users that still exist will also be pleased to know that we've manage to resurrect the port to this architecture (latest release was 1.0, more than 2 years ago).

We truely hope it'll be the very latest beta release before 1.2 comes out. In the mean time, just test this one out.

Detailed Changelog (relative to 1.2-beta1 release):

System:
- Upgrade Linux kernel to 2.6.27.9
- Massive firmwares support upgrades: fixes many driver loading issues.

Toolchain:
- Update uClibc to 0.9.30.

Ports:
- Restore PowerPC architecture support.

X.Org:
- Update X.Org server to 1.5.3.
- Add HAL support, X.Org now uses evdev/XInput to handle input devices: this provides a complete X.Org settings autodetection.
- Fasten X.Org startup.

Player:
- Upgrade MPlayer to r28089.
- Native RealVideo 10 decoder.

Video:
- Remove RadeonHD driver, use legacy ATI instead (should fix some X.Org ATI drivers issues).
- Upgrade Intel X.Org driver to 2.5.1

Drivers:
- Many UDEV related rules changes (should fix some legacy PATA devices driver loading issues).
- Fix LIRC Serial driver issues.
- Fixes some CD/DVD loading issues (bad fs was used on Video DVDs).

Networking:
- Restore UPnP feature.

Miscellaneous:
- Fix FBI Image Viewer loader.
- Various enhancements on info display menu.
- Many fixes to WebGUI.

GeeXboX 1.2-beta2 (for x86_32, x86_64 and powerpc computers) is available right here and now!

As usual, it took way longer than expected but there it is: GeeXboX 1.2-beta1. Why Beta release ? Honnestly, this version should now be pretty stable. However, too few tests have been done by users on forum recently and we wanted to confirm the good feedback we have before releasing the final 1.2.

So what has changed to take so much time ? As told at 1.1 release's time, the major change is X.org inclusion. This was a lot of work but this allows GeeXboX to fully support wide screens and all of the new HDTVs monitors. Everything is autodetected and configured and it should detect the best resolution that suits your monitor. Along with X.org, come all of its video drivers. Say bye bye to VIDIX (as good as it was) and welcome XVideo. This brings video acceleration (but still no GPU offload) to nearly all video cards in the wild (whether it is Intel, nVidia, ATI, S3, SiS, VIA ...).

Alos come many kernel and internal changes. The whole distributions is now modularized to best detect your hardware and load ony what is needed. Many drivers have been added and installation has been completely reworked for better usability.

This version also has been optimized for various platforms like EeePCs, EasyGate and bring official support of MacIntels computers. It also introduce a new port to x86_64 architecture which brings a small performance boost regarding to the 32bit edition.

Unless major bugs are encountered, you may expect the final 1.2 release to come pretty soon. In the mean time, the more you test this beta version and report bugs, the fastest it'll be issued.

Detailed Changelog (relative to 1.1 release):

System:
- X.Org 7.4 inclusion (default, change it with generator).
- Support for SMP and multi-cores.
- Update to Linux 2.6.27.4.
- Update BusyBox to 1.11.3.
- Update to SysLinux 3.72.
- Use of initramfs instead of initrd.

Toolchain:
- Update to GCC 4.3.2.
- Upgrade uClibc to 0.9.30-rc3.
- Upgrade glibc to 2.7.
- Use glibc as a default when building with X.Org.

Ports:
- Port to x86_64 architecture.
- Port to PowerPC 64bit architecture.
- MacIntel support.
- Optimizations for EasyGate platform.
- Optimizations for EeePC 700.

Player:
- Update MPlayer to r27662.
- Enable ASS support.
- Add MonkeyAudio decoder.
- Add GOOM audio visualization.
- Fix for CDDA playback.
- Add TV selection menu.
- Add de-interlace filter for DVDs and TV streams.
- Use of keypad for DVDNAV controls.
- Add support for extended PLS netstream entries.
- Enhanced DVD Navigation Menu support.
- Fix somes issues with encrypted DVDs playback.
- Use per stream type configuration profiles.

Video:
- Add widescreens and HDTV screens support.
- Add X11 video acceleration for most graphic cards (Intel, nVidia, ATI, S3, SiS, VIA ...).
- TV-Out is no longer available when booting with X.Org enabled.
- Some Intel VESA driver fixes.
- ATI VIDIX driver color fixes.
- Restore VIDIX support on PowerPC.

Drivers:
- X.Org hardware autodetection.
- Dozens of new WiFi, Ethernet, DVB ... drivers supported.
- All drivers are now modularized (no longer built-in): only useful ones are actually loaded.
- Add kernel drivers auto probe and load mechanisms.
- Fix many PATA devices issues.
- Add support for 16bit PCMCIA cards.
- LIRC 0.8.4

Networking:
- Upgrade to Samba 3.0.32 (better support for MS Vista shares).
- Add support for Plan9 network shares .
- Add NFS v3/4 support.
- Add PXE boot from Samba.
- Allow for defining static samba mounts

Installator:
- Introduction of configurator: post-install reconfiguration utility.
- Use of libparted instead of old fdisk for disk partionning.
- Enhanced install to USB process.
- Provide faster boot methods for install to HDD.

Generator:
- Add HDTV (X.org) related new options and configuration settings.
- Add GOOM audio visualization settings tab.
- Add NFS shares configuration tab.
- Add static Samba shares configuration tab.
- Automatic packages download at ISO image compilation.

Miscellaneous:
- Add AppleIR remote support.
- Add X10 RF MCE remote control support.
- Add ACPI multimedia buttons handling.
- Enhanced system information menu.
- Enhance VESA boot menu.
- Enhanced Web interface and better browser compliance.
- Add optional support for Video Disk Recorder (VDR).
- Use FeH image viewer instead of FBI.

GeeXboX 1.2-beta1 (for x86_32 and x86_64 computers only) is available right here and now!

Surrending to the blog's trend and due to both the lack of releases and massive user/fanboys spam regarding project's enhancements, a few GeeXboX developers have decided writting their own blogs to relate about project's evolution. Lack of manpower resulted in homepage not being updated, but development never has stopped and development releases are regularly provided on user forum. While the 1.2 release of GeeXboX still suffers of some nasty bugs to be released, interested people can subscribe to RSS feeds (or simply visit) the following blogs. They'll try to keep you updated on GeeXboX related projects enhancements, including of course GeeXboX Media Center OS, but also uShare, libdlna, libplayer and Enna. Stay tuned folks ...

Ben's Blog
Mat's Blog

Although development never stopped, more than a year has passed without any new official GeeXboX release. This new one is a really good candidate for your HTPC multimedia distribution choice. It comes with an improved hardware support, providing dozens of new drivers (a lot of new WiFi controllers, DVB card chipsets and new remote controls). It also comes with a massively upgraded and more stable MPlayer, which features native decoding of various audio/video formats/codecs that used to be available through non-free Win32 DLLs only (such as Windows Media Video, Flash ...). Also, GeeXboX now has some decoding speed improvements (use of SSSE3 instructions from Core2Duos has been added) and the OSD menu has been completely rewritten to provide a lot of new attractives features. Oh, and did we mention ? It can plays decrypted EVO files from HD-DVD ?

While still working on version 2.0, the next version of GeeXboX (1.2) will come with some features that were requested for quite a long time. First, it'll come in both 32 and 64 bits editions (second one is 15% faster). But more importantly, it'll be first version of GeeXboX to come with a native HDTV screens support. So, just stay tuned, most of these features are already available, and 1.2 won't take a year to come this time ;-) By the way, speaking about the future, we're looking for a Sony PlayStation 3 to port GeeXboX to: that would make the best HTPC ever. Feel free to help us doing so ;-)

But let's get back to 1.1 release and just enjoy using it.

Detailed Changelog (relative to 1.0 release) :

System:
- Update Linux to v2.6.21.3
- Upgrade BusyBox to v1.5.1
- Update uClibc to 0.9.29.
- Upgraded SysLinux bootloader to v3.20.
- Better CPU frequency scaling capabilities.

Toolchain:
- Added optional support for GNU glibc 2.5 in toolchain for debugging purpose.
- Upgrade to GCC 4.1.2

Player:
- Upgrade to MPlayer SVN v23418.
- Added support libavformat demuxer in addition to internal libmpdemux.
- New native VC-1/WMV3/WMV9 video decoder (Windows Media Video).
- New native On2 VP50 and VP62 decoder (Flash video).
- New native lossless audio decoders for WavPack, TTA, and Shorten.
- Support for VC1 in MPEG-TS and MPEG-PS files (like HD-DVD and BlueRay ones).
- Support for EVO demuxing (HD-DVD file format).
- Added support for VP7 binary codec.
- Added binary extra codec (through Generator) for WMA Pro files handling.
- Added binary codec for VC-1 codec as the native decoder is not (yet) able to decode all samples.
- Support for audio stream switching in MPEG-TS/PS, Matroska and streams supported by libavformat.
- Support for audio stream switching between streams with different codecs.
- New native RTSP input (handles MPEG-TS over RTP only) for generic RTSP servers (like FreeboxTV) which deprecates Live555 usage.
- H.264 decoding speed improvements.
- SSA/ASS subtitle renderer.
- Added support for ICEcast netstreams.
- Radio is now handled direclty through V4L2.
- Support for 3GP, AAC, VDR and DVR-MS files.
- Added a new Preferences menu, with many new options to control audio streams, subtitles, colors and tweak all video parameters.
- Removed libdts, libmpcdec, libogg, libvorbis and libtheora, as deprecated by new MPlayer internal decoders/demuxers.
- Allows loading external subtitle files.
- Allows setting playback speed.
- Allow selection of radio Genres, and store each genre in a subfolder for easier discovery.

Video:
- Fix with VESA on i945 cards.

Drivers:
- Added support for IVTV based cards (such as Hauppauge PVR 150/250/350/500).
- Support for WPA encryption on WiFi cards.
- Added support for Broadcom BCM43xx WiFi chipsets (like Apple AirPort).
- Added Ralink RT61 and RT73 chipsets support.
- Added support for wireless TI ACX111 chipsets.
- Added support for MadWiFi-NG driver.
- Added support for ZyDAS ZD12x1 wireless chipsets.
- Added support for PVR USB 2 TV card.
- Added support for Rio Karma USB mass storage devices.
- Added support for USB soundcards.
- Fixed ATI USB mouse directional keycodes.
- Added Medion (also Aldi) X-10 OEM'd remote.
- Added support for Logitech UltraX Media remote.
- Added support for some USB to serial interfaces.
- Introduced new libata support in kernel for IDE disks support.
- Do no more force disks to 32bits I/O (crashes with CompactFlash over IDE).
- Much better autodetection of USB DVB devices.
- Support for more radio cards.
- Rework of DVB firmware loader.

Networking:
- Support for IPv4 multicast (useful for RTSP streams).
- Added NdisWrapper support that allows using Win32 network (WiFi) drivers under Linux.
- Upgraded bftpd to version 1.8.4 and added new file /etc/ftp for FTP authentication.
- Updated Samba to 3.0.25, uses UTF-8 charset to mount shares and fixes some mount points handling issues.
- Allows Samba and NFS mounts to come up if the servers are brought up after geexbox boots up, by looping in the background.
- Added basic WebGUI implementation.

Generator:
- Support for NDISwrapper driver loading.
- Added new tab to add extra files to generated ISO image.
- New generator option to set WiFi channel number.
- Support for Windows Vista.

Miscellaneous:
- Removed deprecated non-working recorder/mencoder support.
- Added remote=/receiver= cheat codes in isolinux for easy change.
- Added menus in installator for selecting remote/receivers.
- Added support for various keyboard mapping (azerty/qwerty/qwertz)
- New makefile rules to build and play VMware virtual machines (make vmx; make vmx-play).
- Fixed QEMU/VirtualBox emulation.
- Add autoplay support for USB devices.
- Reworked internationalization files.
- Support for multiple languages in the same ISO image.
- Support for JFS file system.

GeeXboX 1.1 (for x86 computers only) is available here and right now!

Major changes and enhancements have been performed since 1.1-rc2 release and many bugs have been fixed. The most significant change probably is the MPlayer upgrade which now comes with many new options and have various decoding speedup improvements. It is now up to you to test this new release again, which should be the latest release candidate before final 1.1. Another important change is the new internationalization files. If you intend to translate GeeXboX to your mother tongue, it is time to do so. As usual, you can grab a detailed ChangeLog of this release in forum. Once again, please test this version and report problems to the Forum (where ISO image and generator can be picked up). As usual, the more you'll be to test it, the faster we'll release 1.1.

According to recent user survey, you were more and more asking for a proper HDTV support. So finally here it is. Let's introduce the first beta of the HDTV Ready GeeXboX (based on 1.x version). Please have a try at it but also remember it's only a beta (no release date). More informations can be found on Forum .

Great news, the GeeXboX/Freevo project has been accepted for the Google Summer Of Code 2007 . This means that we'll have 4 students working on several aspects of both projects to extend their capabilities. Let's introduce the projects:

* LiveCD boot and HDD installation process by Adir Abraham.
* Controlling Freevo through a simple web interface by Ky Phan.
* DVB CAM support by Alessandro Decina.
* Gstreamer Integration by Killian Faughnan

Welcome to these students and good luck to everyone for their projects.

At last here it is... we have been analysing the data we gathered during the user survey, and we found out many interesting thing about you! First of all, you are many more than we imagined, and you are very responsive and involved: thank you for your interest and participation! And then where and how you user GeeXboX, what you like the most, what your strongest needs are... Are you curious to have a look at the survey report? Then download it! You can find it at OpenUsability

The GeeXboX user survey is now closed. We have received many more responses than we would have ever hoped for, and this means that we have a great user base. We really wish to thank all of you for your help; now we have to get working and make good use of your responses: hopefully you'll be able to see the effects very soon!

Thanks to your 1.1-rc1 testings, we've been able to fix out a lot of bugs from GeeXboX. It is now up to you to test this new release again. Once again, please test this version and report problems to the Forum . As usual, the more you'll be to test it, the faster we'll release 1.1.

Below are links to 1.1-rc2:
- GeeXboX 1.1-rc2 ISO for i386
- GeeXboX 1.1-rc2 ISO Generator for i386
- GeeXboX 1.1-rc2 ISO for PowerPC
- GeeXboX 1.1-rc2 ISO Generator for PowerPC
- GeeXboX 1.1-rc2 Light Sources

Within the OpenUsability project, we are deploying a user survey in order to get to know our users better so that we can improve the user interface. We currently are in the process to restructure GeeXboX in order to render it more usable: that is, we want you to be able to use GeeXboX more easily, quickly and with more satisfaction and enjoyment. So, please spend five minutes of your time and answer the questions that you can find on this survey .

Thank you in advance for your involvement.

While the team is working on 2.x series achievement, the 1.x series has continued to evolve and here's the first release candidate of the upcoming 1.1 version. In order for us to discover the remaining nasty bugs and help us release 1.1 as soon as possible, please test this version and report problems to the Forum . As usual, the more you'll be to test it, the faster we'll release 1.1.

Below are links to 1.1-rc1:
- GeeXboX 1.1-rc1 ISO for i386
- GeeXboX 1.1-rc1 ISO Generator for i386
- GeeXboX 1.1-rc1 ISO for PowerPC
- GeeXboX 1.1-rc1 ISO Generator for PowerPC
- GeeXboX 1.1-rc1 Light Sources

The GeeXboX project has been accepted to the OpenUsability , Season of Usability 2007 program. As a result, we are proud to welcome a student, Francesco De Rose, that will work with our team on usability concerns, especially dealing on GeeXboX 2.x interface. He will be mentored by Celeste Lyn Paul, an interaction architect, active contributor to the KDE Usability Project and OpenUsability. Francesco might start collecting user feedback in order to help us extend GeeXboX and make always the most easy and intuitive to use we can.

Xmas passed away and no new GeeXboX release came out this year. It's a bit sad but we were focusing on next generation architecture which delayed a bit the 1.x serie development. You may however expect some 1.1 release any time soon, with it's usual set of improvements. Time has come now to let you discover our very first technological preview of GeeXboX 2.x series.

Some of you may have heard about MPUI years ago, or OMC/libplayer a bit earlier this year but both approaches went down. The decision has been taken to make use of Freevo 2.0 (still work in progress, but so is GeeXboX 2.x) and Kaa, its multimedia framework as our new UI reference. As a consequence, many new packages had to be added (such as Python) to our distribution. In a near future, GeeXboX and Freevo projects will be more tighten than ever, and we should be the official Freevo LiveCD, still keeping in mind our embedded and easy-to-setup approach. Unfortunately, ISO grew up radically (it is now 20 MB) and so does RAM usage (at least 128MB is now mandatory). But, as a development version, don't take it too seriously, it'll still change 'till the final release. If you want to have a try at this technological preview, just grab the GeeXboX 2.x 2006-12-31 ISO and burn it to a CD or try it through VMware or so. Don't look for a generator or try to install it on disk, it is not yet meant for. Don't expect it either to be fully functional, it's still full of bugs and isn't meant to replace the official 1.x serie anytime soon. Right now, it can be controlled through keyboard only (arrow keys and Enter/Escape) but should already be able to let you watch some videos, play audio files or view various pictures. Well, that's said, here are some screenshots, just for you to know what to expect from 2007 ;-)


Happy new year from all the GeeXboX team members ...

Here we finally are ... after more than 3 years of perpetual development, GeeXboX finally reaches its so long awaited 1.0 release. Many of you were waiting for it and this is probably the best edition of GeeXboX that you've ever had. We've spent so much time in the last few months to fix all the bugs that we can, so that you'll be forced to enjoy it ;-) At the time Aurel and myself started working on GeeXboX, none of us would have expected our software to become that famous. I'm really glad that this version finally came out and I really really want to thank from the depths of my heart all the people of our development team who are getting involved in GeeXboX everyday. None of this would ever have been possible without the work you've all done on it. I'd also like to thank all users that trusted us and are now using our software in a daily manner. You are the ones who made it possible. So for now, I hope you'll all enjoy our 1.0 release, we all did our very best on it, and we're on the road to 2.0.

So, what can you expect from this final 1.0 release ? Well, so many things have changed, been added or simply fixed. The most noticeable thing probably is the support for DVD menus, this feature that had been requested so many times by so many people and that was unfortunately missing from MPlayer is now part of GeeXboX. A lot of work also has been done for playing back network streams from SHOUTcast WebRadios, WebTVs or even RTP/RTSP streaming so that you should now be able to easily watch any kind of network or broadcasted stream from your GeeXboX media center. The overall hardware support for various DVB cards, sound cards and video display adapters has also been improved. You're now also able to see all metadata information and properties (like Codecs, resolution or ID3 tags) from your multimedia files. The easiest way to tell you the changes is probably for you to read the concise version of our changelog.

Detailed Changelog (relative to 0.98.7 release) :

System:
- Updated linux to version 2.6.16.17.
- Updated BusyBox to 1.1.3.
- Updated uClibc to 2006.05.05 snapshot.
- Updated udev to version 0.92.

Toolchain:
- Introduced GCC 4.1.1 as the new compiler.
- Support for C++ in the toolchain.
- All packages are now built with big files support flag.
- Added support for non-free binary firmwares at sources build.

Player:
- Updated MPlayer to 1.0pre8.
- DVD Navigation Menus support.
- SHOUTcast and Netstream support (with content filtering on adult/subscription-only streams).
- Support for LIVE555 library (RTP/RTSP/SIP streaming) which provides FreeboxTV support for French people using the Free ISP.
- Use mp3-lib instead of FFMpeg to avoid audible glitches while seeking.
- Fix MPlayer's bug which prevents AVI files with ODML index (99% of XviD files) to be read when idx=yes (default).
- Fix sound/subtitles issues while playing MPEG-TS streams.
- Support for multichannel AAC in MOV files.
- Playback of IFO files (DVD disc ripped on HDD for example) now works as expected.
- Set minimal cache size (5% of cache) to start playback of file very quickly.
- Fix TV channel OSD name generation with spaces in their name.
- Allows RTSP client's port forcing (for FreeboxTV users in router mode for example).
- Added support for DVD-RAM MPEG files.

Menu:
- Brand new menu item selection display (now with alpha layer).
- Added new menu that displays streams A/V properties.
- Allows metadata retrieval from MP3/OGG/FLAC audio files.
- Properties menu auto-opens and updates on audio-only media.
- Prevent user from browsing (and getting lost) in /
- Display NIC's MAC address into information menu.
- Display CDROM size.
- Fixed display of disks partition size and freespace.
- Added release number information.

Audio:
- Update ALSA library and utilities to version v1.0.11.
- Added a lot of fixes for audio playback.

Video:
- Added support for different resolutions to be used through generator.
- Support for VESA with Intel i865, i910 and i915 chipsets.

Drivers:
- Added support for Serial ATA CDROM drives.
- Added support for ATAPI/IDE ZIP/LS120 drives.
- Added support for PcCard (32bits CardBus only, not 16bits PCMCIA).
- Added LCD displays support through LCD4Linux.
- Added support for most of the Gigabit NICs.
- Fix support of Nova DVB-S+ card.
- Updated LIRC to v0.8.0.
- Updated rt2400/rt2500 drivers to CVS 05.09.2006.
- Fix em8300 driver and firmware loading issues.

Networking:
- Updated djmount to version 0.53 (files are no more represented as playlist).
- Fixed bftpd FTP server write access error.
- Updated bftpd to version 1.4, and included fix for file transfers greater than 2GB.
- Update wireless tools to version 28.

Generator:
- Updated generator tools for MacOS X (support for MacIntel x86 OSX 10.4).
- Allow you to choose between multiple themes.
- Option for DVD Navigation menus to select it as a default or not.
- Option for autoplay to select it as a default or not.
- Option for SHOUTcast (radio and tv netstreams).
- Tab for video settings configuration (resolution, color depth and boot splash)
- Tab for support of LCD displays.

Miscellaneous:
- Fixed zoomed scrolling in FBI image viewer.
- Support for Microsoft Media Center Edition USB, StreamZap, Twinhan DTV, Toshiba VT76F and ATI Remote Wonder II remotes.
- Implemented full Digimatrix hardware support (apart from panel buttons).
- Allow multiple resolutions in themes.
- Support for VMware and QEMU (usefull for test purpose).

GeeXboX 1.0 is available here and right now!

On this sunny sunday, GeeXboX comes with its very latest development release. This one is the latest one before the final 1.0 which should be available in all FOSS stores for the end of the week. We're getting closer folks ... just have a last try at it.

GeeXboX 1.0-rc3 Release (ISO + Generator)

It's been exactly 2 weeks since previous GeeXboX development release. Thanks to your reports, a lot of bugs have been fixed and we're getting closer to the so waited for final 1.0 public release. It's just a matter of a couple of days now. It's now up to you to test this second release candidate in order to help us finalizing GeeXboX. Just remember it's the last chance to report nasty bugs to us.

GeeXboX 1.0-rc2 Release (ISO + Generator)

Today is just a special day. Thanks to you all, our baby boy now celebrates his 3 years old birthday. It's been quite a while since the first GeeXboX public release and for the few of you that use it since the 0.90-1 release, you can for sure see how much has been done and much more than just a media player GeeXboX now is. We've actually planned for quite a long time to make this day the special moment of the 1.0 major release but unfortunately you'll have to wait a couple of days more to discover this 1.0 final version. The reason is quite simple, first we aimed at featuring MPlayer 1.0pre8 which is not yet out and second we still have a couple of things to be tested out and maybe (probably ?) fixed in order to provide you a much better version of GeeXboX.

Your goal now is quite simple, just try it out the most you can and help us hunting for these nasty bugs in order to fix the most of them. As an unofficial release, you won't get any ChangeLog but don't worry, you'll be provided a complete one with the incoming 1.0 release. Remember that it's just a matter of a couple of days before the final version and the more you'll help us testing this version, the sooner we'll be able to provide you the new version.

Once again, happy birthday GeeXboX, thanks to you all for using it and we'll really hope you'll keep on doing it ;-)

GeeXboX 1.0-rc1 Release (ISO + Generator)

As you may have seen last month, we were encountering some hosting issues. Fortunately, many of you have helped us handle this problem. We now have a new sponsor (special thanks to Hosting365.ie ) who have granted us with a new dedicated webserver with unlimited bandwidth which will host the GeeXboX project for at least the whole of 2006. The new server is now up and running fairly well. We also have received a lot of mirroring proposals which will let us provide your with more ways to get GeeXboX (you can still be a mirror if you're interested, please check the donations page). Thank you very much to the following hosts that currently mirror our website :

* Free / ProXad - Paris, France
* Zyrianes - Brest, France
* RelouFR Networks - Paris, France
* MirrorGeek - Austin, Texas, USA

This may be the first time that a GeeXboX release has been made without a player update... but hey, the enhancements were significant enough and so we bring you the new, fresh, version 0.98.7. GeeXboX now enters the "digital era" with a feature that many users have been waiting for : the DVB cards support. Basically you're now able to use any kind (PCI or USB) DVB device (either Cable, Terrestrial or Satellite) that is support under Linux (see website for more info) with this release of GeeXboX. Due to the i802.11 official stack inclusion in Linux 2.6.14, we've also decided to bring you better WiFi chipset support with the introduction of Prism54G and Centrino drivers.

Unfortunately, many of the DVB devices and WiFi chips require those nasty proprietary firmwares in order to work correctly. That is of no concern however, as GeeXboX now comes with its own brand new firmware auto-loader. You're even able to use the FLTK generator to grab them from the web for you and build an ISO that fits your needs. You can also use it to grab some more fonts or non-free codecs.
There's also some bad news that will soon be a major problem. For various reasons, InTouch, our current sponsor that provides us a virtual server with free hosting services, will certainly have to discontinue this offer after the 1st of January. As a result, we're currently looking for anybody that can help with mirroring solutions and/or grant us a new hosting service. After this date, we'll probably lose our server and won't be able to provide you with GeeXboX anymore. Our only solution will then be to buy a new dedicated server and host it with some provider. So, if you're able to help us by providing a server or hosting for free, please contact us.

Last, but not least (and to end on a positive note), we've added the latest trend in network sharing protocols that is being supported in many new consumer devices : UPnP. With its support, the GeeXboX is now able to auto-discover UPnP Media Server devices on your Home Network and play media content from them. So, while waiting for the next MPlayer release, just sit back in your seats and enjoy the digital show ;-)

Detailed Changelog (relative to 0.98.6 release) :

System :
- Linux updated to 2.6.14 version.
- Updated uClibc to 0.9.28.
- Support for FUSE (Filesystem In Userland) 2.4.1
- Support for driver firmware auto-loading. You can now use drivers that require an external proprietary firmware.
- Updated Syslinux to v3.11.
- Support for DVB cards.
- Added a DVB Free-To-Air channel scanner (at boot time for LiveCD, or when using installator).

Toolchain :
- New DEVTOOLS option at compilation, that adds many useful debugging tools for easier development.
- New UPNP option at compilation time to enable/disable building UPnP support.

Audio :
- Updated ALSA libraries and utilities to 1.0.10rc2.
- Fixes some PPC sound issues.

Video :
- Support for VESA with Intel i855 chips.
- Updated EM8300 (DXR3) drivers to v0.15.1.

Drivers :
- Added support for WiFi Prism54G cards (requires proprietary firmware).
- Added support for Centrino (ipw2x00) WiFi chipsets (requires proprietary firmware).
- Support for PCI and USB DVB cards (Satellite, Cable, Terrestrial) based on BT8x8 / CX88 / SAA7136 (AV7110) chipsets (some may require proprietary firmware).

Networking :
- Updated Samba to 3.0.20b.
- Added auto-discovery of UPnP A/V Media Server compliant devices.
- Added djmount 0.31 that uses FUSE to mount UPnP Media Server contents filesystem.

Generator :
- New MacOSX generator binary.
- Generator is now able to download extra firmwares/fonts/codecs for you (with MD5 sum check).
- Added an option to enable/disable UPnP support.

Miscellaneous :
- Updated LIRC to 0.7.3pre1.
- GeeXboX uShare UPnP A/V Media Server (for Linux only) is available to share content to GeeXboX through UPnP.
- Support for multiple gateways and DNS servers in network configuration file.
- Add sleep timer to automatically shutdown GeeXboX after a specified time.

GeeXboX 0.98.7 is available here and right now!

Neither a major feature nor a revolution, but the GeeXboX team now provides you a wiki (collaborative documentation web space) in order to help you using the GeeXboX distribution. The overall goal of this Wiki is to provide to the newcomers the necessary help to start dealing with GeeXboX. There you can find many tips for optimizing your GeeXboX system or even some special configuration needed for reluctant hardware stuff.

The GeeXboX Wiki also features a developer section that will help everyone who intend to add new packages to the distribution, explaining how to create patches and help the core team with development issues.

As every wiki in the world, it depends on user feedback to be fullfilled. Save and share your knowledge.
Waiting for next official release ... ;-)

Long time folks since latest release, but now, things will change a bit. Today, the GeeXboX team is proud to introduce you its new release : the 0.98.6 edition. Even if it looks the same, the changes are numerous (see the list above). This release also introduces the opening to new architectures, with the first support of GeeXboX for PowerPC architecture. Yes, you've read well, you're now able to use GeeXboX on both your PC and Macintosh. This latest is still in beta stages so we need you all to test it.

A lot of work still need to be done on GeeXboX on we're working hard each days to compete with the best proprietary solutions to give you the most we can. Interested developers and translators are fully welcomed to help us with this task. Anyhow, spoken enough, lets show you what this 0.98.6 edition features :

Detailled Changelog (relative to 0.98.5 release) :

System :
- Support for the PowerPC (MAC) architecture.
- Linux updated to 2.6.12.3 version.
- Use of UDEV to automatically populate the /dev directory.
- Remove of the now useless SuperMount patch.
- Use IDE CD driver instead of the old ide-scsi emulation layer.
- Support for CPU frequency scaling for supported CPU (generally laptops) to minimize power consumption.
- Use LZMA algorithm instead of gZip for compressing iso (far slighter).
- New HotPlug script : hot autodiscovery and mount/removal of external devices.
- Reduce CD drives spin to 8x each time a disc is inserted in (previous versions did it for boot media only).

Toolchain :
- Complete rework of the sources tree (splitted init.d scripts and patches now are in package's directory, allowing a successfull build of old versions).
- Toolchain can now build distribution for different architectures.
- Toolchain can now optimize distribution compilation for specific CPU.

Player :
- Updated MPlayer to 1.0pre7 (support for H.264 video and AAC audio codecs).
- Can play IFO files from disk to read complete DVD structure.
- Keep current path in OSD after the end of a file (no more need to do a complete browse each time you play a file).
- Use cvidix video output mode instead of vesa:vidix by default.
- Support for radio cards.
- Support for FLAC files.
- Support for MusePack codec (.mpc files).
- Avoid some crashes when pausing/resuming a movie with remote control.

Audio :
- ALSA drivers ported to 1.0.9b
- Fix some SPDIF configuration problems.
- No more need to force sound rate for reluctant sound cards.
- Can choose which soundcard to use (default is #0), output mode (SPDIF or Analog) and AC3/DTS decompression method (Hardware or Software) through the ISO generator.
- Added drivers for Emu10k1X chipsets, SB Audigy LS and SB Live! 24bit cards.
- Fix some ALSA bug with Nforce2 chipsets.
- Support for Intel High Definition Audio (Azalia) chipsets.

Video :
- Removed buggy Savage vidix driver (works fine using VESA).
- Fix vidix support for some Rage128 / Radeon cards.
- More chipsets supported by atitvout : Mobile M3, Radeon Mobility, Radeon Mobility 9000, RV200.

Drivers :
- Support for QStor SATA controllers.
- Use GPL'd RT2500 driver instead of Ralink one.
- Support for CX88 analog TV chipsets (BT8xx successor).
- Support for in-built multi-LUN X-in-1 card readers.
- Support for XboX gamepads.

Networking :
- Security fix : FTP / Telnet / HTTP services (anonymous root) are closed by default : use generator to open requested ones.
- Support for the CIFS protocol.
- Can setup network and Samba configuration directly through installator.
- Samba updated to 3.0.14a.
- Can manually set DNS server to use.
- Faster Samba shares mount (parallelize mount processes for multiple servers).

Internationalization :
- Use TrueType fonts for subtitles.
- Use UTF-8 as default charset.
- Support for different charsets for menu and subtitles.

Miscellaneous :
- LIRC updated to 0.7.2.
- Support for the DigiMatrix remote controller.
- New FLTK graphical ISO generator for both Win32 and Linux.
- Added analog TV channels scanner in installator.
- Added HTTP server for remote Web management of GeeXboX : web designers are fully welcomed to build the Web interface ;-).
- Non-free codecs package is now directly available on our server.

GeeXboX 0.98.6 kann hier heruntergeladen werden.

Ho ho ho ... here comes a new GeeXboX release. As a tradition, many free software projects have decided to release on Christmas, so do we (with a little bit delay, just to be original :-). So, here's our gift to you to end up with 2004 : GeeXboX 0.98.5 !! Hum what ... you've said 0.98.5 ? Man ... where's 0.99 ?

As we said before, the 0.99 release will come with a completely new interface (you can have a look at our Work in progress page ), which is not yet completely finished. But 4 monthes have last since last release and many work has been done from this date. You probably won't notice any big differences in terms of functionnalities by comparison to the old 0.98 release. The reason of it is quite simple : we did a major rewrite of our code, build toolkit and all major packages and there were that much deep changes that we needed to make some new release before adding the new interface.

We really want to thank Amir Shalem who officially took his place to the GeeXboX development team few monthes ago and who made a huge part of this rewrite of GeeXboX. Many thanks to him.

So, please use our last GeeXboX. Do not consider it as a revolution, it isn't. Please see it as an up-to-date release of the old 0.98 : coming with its new kernel, updated player and codecs, with a better support for video cards and better handling of fonts and languages and with an easier than ever way to install it on disk.

We hope you'll be enjoyed by this release, wish you an happy new year and hope you'll keep using GeeXboX in 2005 :-)

Detailled Changelog (relative to 0.98 release) :

System :
- Switch to Linux kernel 2.6.9 (say goodbye to 2.4 series).
- Switch from Linux Progress Patch to BootSplash as a splash screen.
- Switch to uClibc CVS.
- Switch to Samba 3.0.10

Player :
- Switch to the new MPlayer 1.0pre6 (thanks for the Xmas present guys) : see its complete ChangeLog for more details.
- Support for video Post Processing : features horizontal and vertical deblocking, deringing effects and auto luminance (disabled by default).
- Use of a 24 bits per pixel display depth.
- Playback speed increased with certain hardware (fewer CPU needed).

Drivers :
- Switch to the latest ALSA 1.0.7 drivers and librairies.
- Fix bugs with some audio chipsets (the output sound rate is now automatically adjusted to its best value).
- Increased VESA compliance (hey we now supports 3Dfx and Intel i845/855/865 cards too !!)
- Vidix support for EPIA MII boards (CLE266 revision) and S3 Savage chipsets.
- Removed useless DirectFB drivers (as they were only used by 3Dfx cards, which are now supported in VESA mode).
- Added WiFi drivers for RaLink rt25xx chipsets.
- Removed drivers for ACX100 chipsets (need proprietary firmware to work).
- Support for more ISA network adapters.

Internationalization :
- Better menu fonts and subtitle fonts handling.
- Support for asian fonts.

Miscellaneous :
- Support for TV-Out on Intel i810/i815 cards.
- Added new options to our win32 generator (even easier to use now).
- Complete rewrite of the installator : it now uses GRUB as the main bootloader. It also has support for both FAT16/32 and EXT2/3 partitions to install GeeXboX to. Besides, there's no more need to install GeeXboX on first primary partition. And, to end up with this, it features an autodetection of other installed OS and installs a multiboot if requested.
- Complete rewrite of the build toolkit (you should now be able to build GeeXboX from sources on every kind of GNU/Linux distro or from FreeBSD). It also features more optimization and an easier way to add new packages to the distro, following the toolkit rules.

GeeXboX 0.98.5 is available here and right now.

Almost 2 months have passed since GeeXboX 0.98 was released. Lots of work has been done since then. For example, we're now supporting the Linux 2.6 kernel series and many improvements have been made to the video output. It now fully supports the VESA 3.0 specification, adding a new support for all 3Dfx and Intel i845/i855/i865 cards and chipsets. Also, pictures are now rendered using 24 bit depth.

We're now almost finished with the architecture changes we've planned to do for 0.99 release, and we can finally start to work on a complete rework of the menu interface. To give you a taste of the future of GeeXboX, you can simply have a look at our Work In Progress page . Currently it's only a snapshot of the coming 0.99 and to provide you with such a perfect release as soon as possible, we need you to test our development release and report to us as many bugs as possible.

We'll try to release as many development versions as we can. In each release we would add significant changes. So, if you want to help us, please try our development release here page . Please understand that they are snapshots of a work in progress, meaning that they can not be considered as stable. If you want to be sure to use a stable release, keep using the 0.98 release.

Here comes the GeeXboX again. This 0.98 edition is a key point in our roadmap. This does not really come with many new features (or some new useful things) but fixes a huge number of annoying bugs. Most of all, this release will probably be the last time you see GeeXboX in its current state. We have plans to work harder than ever to bring you new OS, like you've never seen, still keeping it as simple to use as it ever been. So just stay tuned :-)

Ok, back from the future, lets give you details about the current release. Here's what you've been waiting for :

* Switch MPlayer to 1.0pre5
* Fix for key delay with ATI Remote Wonder.
* Better WiFi support and drivers for RT2400 and ACX100 chipsets.
* Better support for FTP file transfer.
* Disk free space information is now available in the menu.
* Added player control through joysticks (all USB models and Microsoft SideWinder on traditional gameport).
* Added support for SPDIF (digital) sound output.
* Better support of WideScreen (16:9) displays and fix the TV-Out norm (PAL/NTSC) with DXR3 cards.
* Added support for software decoding of DTS audio streams.
* Autodetection and autoplay of the the longest available DVD title (should be the right one, i.e. the one containing the main movie).
* Added a GeeXboX's generator Debian's package building script.
* Fixed some compilation compatibility issues with distributions other than Debian (i.e. should work pretty well under Mandrake 10 and Fedora Core 2).
* Added a chapter selector for DVDs and Matroska files.
* Fix the TV-Out problem with nVidia cards : display should no more turn to black-and-white at each video change.
* The generator now includes a distinction between the receiver and the remote itself.
* Added support for external USB SmartMedia and CompactFlash cards readers.

Hope you'll be pleased with this release, 'cause the next one will kick-ass :-) By the way, we're still lacking support in several areas. More than ever, we need translators, designers, and documentation updaters. If you get some free time and want to help us, please let us know. Oh, and if you really like GeeXboX and want to be warned each time a new version is released, you can freely subscribe to our project page on Freshmeat (and let us gain some popularity at the same time, maybe one day we'll rank at the top :-)

'I think it was the hardest version to release but 0.97 has finally come, exactly one year after the first public release. As you may have noticed, our website was unreachable for some time in the last month and until only recently, some services were unfortunately down. Let's clarify the situation. Our previous host (tuxfamily.org) has been attacked by hackers in January 2004 and decided to stop hosting free projects for an undefined period. Thanks to BWare, a member of the GeeXboX's forum, we got the opportunity to get a nearly dedicated web server with lots of bandwidth. Many thanks to him, without whom our services wouldn't have been restored at this time. More than ever, we need generous contributors and donators to help the project and prevent us from such a situation to happen once again. If you believe in our project, don't hesitate to have a look at the appropriate section of this website.

Let's stop with it, it's now time to talk about the 0.97 release :-) For many reasons (like the one just above), the developement took really much more time that we could have wished. But you will be glad to know that this release comes with many new features that have been requested by users for a long time. By the way, one of the longest period between releases is the bug tracking phase. We often release developement versions of GeeXboX and you're all welcomed to test them the most you can. Please remember that the most you are to test and to report bugs and the quicker will new versions be released.

So, as usual, here's a quick changelog of the new features for which you've been waiting for so long :

* Switch MPlayer to 1.0pre4
* Support for Packard Bell Fast media remote and receiver.
* Support for DXR3/Hollywood+ (MPEG1/2 hardware decoder) cards (TVOut only for now).
* Support for S3 Virge GX2 TV Out.
* Support for the Matroska container.
* Support for the Nullsoft streaming video (NSV) container.
* Support for PCI and USB WiFi network adapters (AiroNet, Atmel, and Prism2 chipsets).
* Support for Serial ATA disks.
* Support for 3COM/NetGear Gigabit ethernet cards.
* Support for BT8x8 and Saa73134 cards (Composite and S-VHS inputs and TV tuners).
* Support for audio/video streaming (Web-Radios etc ...)
* Access to the Internet through web gateways.
* Added Telnet server for remote access.
* Support for hardware video acceleration (VidiX) for EPIA-M (CLE266 chipset) and ATI Radeon 9xxx boards.
* Support for VidiX for nVidia cards (EXPERIMENTAL : disabled by defaut).
* Added the IrMan library.
* Support for ATI Remote Wonder remotes through LIRC (better latency time and customizable key bindings).
* Added an image viewer (FBI) with support for BMP, GIF, JPEG, PCD, PNG, PNM and PPM formats.
* Switch from CVS revision control system to GNU Arch.

OpenWeb's stylesheet was used for too long. OpenWeb's people were not so pleased so we've finally taken the time to redesign it from scratch. You're now even able to switch between two different stylesheets (feel free to submit new ones if you're inspired).

As always, the site is W3C standards compliant (XHTML 1.1 and CSS 2). If you notice display problems, just use a CSS 2 compliant browser (for example Mozilla ).

It's Christmas time ! So comes the new release, ready to be put under the Xmas tree :-) Most of the changes are essentially bug fixes and added hardware support just to please more and more users. Here's part of the Changelog :

* New remotes support (this feature was broken in previous release when used with the autoplay function).
* Switch MPlayer to 1.0pre3 release and ALSA to 1.0rc2.
* Support for DirectFB video mode.
* Support for 3Dfx cards.
* Support for USB devices hotplug.
* Support for nForce Ethernet controller.
* Support for NFS shares.
* Support for Windows 2k/XP multi-boot manager.
* Support for AniMAX remote.
* Ready to boot network, using PXE method.
* Russian font fix.
* Added bulgarian, romanian, polish and german languages.

The GeeXboX team also provides you a live IRC chatroom, to share your experience with worldwide users about all yours suggestions or problems. Please connect to IRC server chat.zone-irc.org and join the #geexbox room.

This release is dedicated to our first generous donator (we're sure he will recognize himself :) for his xmas gift which will help us in further development. Besides, we want to thank you, users from all around the world, for using GeeXboX, we wish you a merry Christmas and hope you will continue using our software next year :-p

As you may have noticed, GeeXboX's forum has been unreachable for the last 10 days due to an unknown problem with our PostgreSQL database. A severe error cause our host to completely purge it with, unfortunately, no existing backup :-( This means that the forum has been completely purged. Our sincere apologies for this situation.

All existing threads and registrations have been lost, so you just have to register again to the forum (a weekly backup is now automatically done). To make you feel better, we can say that the 0.96 release of GeeXboX is really close to release, so stay tuned :p

Here it comes again ! GeeXboX releases take lots and lots of time but we've added a full list of new features and bug fixes, as usual. In this release, many compatibility problems have been solved and there's the much-awaited support for soundcards with digital output. Look at this quick changelog :

* Fix display problems with nVidia, SiS and Kyro graphic adapters.
* Support for multi-subbed OGM files.
* Added AutoPlay.
* Added XCD support.
* Added lots of translations (available in 11 languages).
* Added support for Creative PC-DVD, Sony RM-S6 and RX-V850 remote controllers.
* Added a GUI-Win32 version of the generator with many bugfixes.
* Updated MPlayer to version 1.0pre2.
* Replace OSS sound drivers by ALSA ones, with support for digital outputs.
* Set resolution to 800x600 to fix some TV-Out bugs.
* Fix the DVD playback problem.
* Upgraded Samba to 3.0 with better WinXP shares support.
* Better USB keys support and detection.
* Added FTP server to easily modify GeeXboX's configuration files or copy movies from the network.
* Native support for QuickTime SVQ3, H264, ASV 1/2, Indeo, ATI VCR 1/2, and 3ivX codecs.
* GeeXboX can be booted under Debug mode.

For people who don't have a high speed connection to the Internet, the GeeXboX CD is available. This provides you the 0.90-4 bootable release and the full source packages of all GeeXboX releases, for only 1.99$. More information is available at the Downloads section.

Here is GeeXboX's new release ;-) It now comes with the 2 main features that were missing and requested : network support and hard disk installation. Take a look at the changes: ;-)

* Add a runtime subtitle file selector.
* SysLinux bootloader has been replaced by IsoLinux, providing quicker boot with no more floppy emulation.
* Add a TCP/IP and network ethernet support and autoconfiguration with DHCP client.
* Add support and automount for all Windows shares (Samba support).
* Add support for Leadtek TV2000 remote.
* Add support for homemade LIRC receivers.
* Add Italian, Czech and Slovak langage support.
* Add a new theme (design and boot logo).
* Add an easy HDD and USB keys installator (just hit install at boot prompt).

The GeeXboX's website has also been modified to provide better user's support and faster developement :

* This website is now accesible from http://www.geexbox.org/
* You can now subscribe to the developer mailing list to help for the development or to simply be aware of daily progress.
* You can get the current development version from CVS.

Seems it has been a while since the last release ;-) But its contents reflect its name ;-) While the overall system hasn't changed much, you'll be pleased to discover all of these new features, for which you've waited so long :

* Support for multilingual menus.
* Change the quit/eject scheme.
* Support for RealMedia 8/9 and Windows Media 9 codecs (needs to regenerate the ISO).
* Better CD/DVD drives detection.
* Reduction of the CD's rotation speed.
* Support for hardware acceleration (vidix) on EPIA 800.
* Support for on-the-fly image ratio switch.
* Support for on-the-fly audio streams switch.
* Support for on-the-fly subtitles switch.
* Display subtitles in a more traditionnal font.
* Support for FireWire devices.
* Support for PcTV, RealMagic, Hauppage, Logitech and especially ATI Remote Wonder remote controllers..
* No more distinction between EDEN and i586 versions.
* Partial support for some Plug'n Play ISA sound cards (untested feature).
* Add an ISO generator, that lets you regenerate a customized ISO (or include a movie) in just a few seconds without building the sources (available under GNU/Linux and Microsoft Windows 9x/NT/2k/XP systems).

So you enjoyed 0.90-1 ? We listened to your requests and a new release has finally arrived. Since the day of the first public release, almost 15000 ISOs have been downloaded. We hope this one will do better. So here is the news :

* Support for almost all PCI or motherboards integrated soundcards (ISA sound cards are still NOT supported at all).
* Support for USB Keyboards
* Support for SCSI CDROM and Disks and Adaptec SCSI controllers.
* Support for FireWire/IEEE1394 CDROM and Disks (no HotPlug). EDIT : Seems to be broken :-(
* Support for NTFS FileSystem.
* Support for S3 Savage cards' TV-Out.
* No more distinction between Standard and ACPI version.
* Drives have been renamed for easier understanding.

GeeXboX is a full standalone media player. It's a bootable CD based on Linux which allows you to watch movies or listen to music. It supports most formats, such as MPEG, AVI, DivX, XviD, Ogg/Vorbis (Ogm, Ogg), RealMedia, MP3, DVD, VCD and Audio CD. Here is a few examples of its capabilities :

* Support for MPEG 1/2 movies (MPG files, VCDs, DVDs ...)
* Support for MPEG 4 movies (DivX, XviD, FFMpeg ...)
* Support for OggMedia streams
* Support for Audio streams like MP3, Ogg/Vorbis, WAV (AudioCD), AC3 ...
* Support for IR remote controllers
* Support for ATI and nVidia cards TV-Out
* Support for subtitled movies
* Support for media playlist (including WinAmp .m3u)
* Support for USB Drives
* Fully customizable with themes.
* Fully controllable by OSD Menu.
* Fully bootable Operating System (i.e. you don't need any hard disk to boot).

Don't wait any longer! Just go to the Downloads Section.

The GeeXboX's Team