Hi,
I have been using Canola as a "desktop" media center.

I had a HP L2335 (23") lcd which I no longer use. So I thought I will build a slim media center that I can mount in the kitchen. After doing some research I found HP Thinclients as a viable option. I bought a HP t5720 from ebay for 100£. Its a pretty system with 1 GHz proc and 1 GB RAM. Since its a thinclient it doenst have any hard disk and is absolutely noiseless. There is a 450MB flash memory, which is useless for any full blown linux. So I added an 8GB Sandisk USB and installed Ubuntu hardy heron on it. My initial notion was to install Myth and use the local media alone since there are no PCI expansion slots for me to add a tv card and I didnt really need tv on this one. After playing with Myth and Elisa(which for some reason needs h/w 3d accelration) I almost gave up on the media center idea. But then I decided to try Canola on desktop and see how usable it is on a desktop without the tough interface. I am surprised to see how smooth it is. I run it at 1024 x 768 but I tried it at 1920 x 1200 and it works perfectly.

here is canola playing a movie from my external hdd

all i had to do was to create a symbolic link from the media source (external hdd) in the Videos folder and update the content.

Its pretty slick to browse through pictures.


For now I use my sony ericsson phone(k750) as the remote. But i am thinking of more intuitive interface like Wiimote. Any one used a wiimote with canola ? I think it will pretty useful for photo albums !

HP claims it is possible to mount the client between the lcd and the wall !


Audio works great including podcast. Photocast works. Internet radio works too. I haven't got the youtube plugin yet. I am still using totem to play you tube videos. I use a M$ 7000 bluetooth keyboard. Has anyone got the youtube plugin working on canola desktop version ?