The Asus AT5IONT-I was picked for several reasons:

• Reasonably low power (30 watt)
• Passive cooling
• USB 3.0
• Nvidia ION Graphics
• Small form factor

Initially i did buy a Asrock 152b. This machine has exactly the same tech spec’s as the Asus AT5IONT-I. Packed in a small casing with Ir remote this seemed ideal. Sadly i could not live with the noise from the two small fans. Neither did i fancy the remote much. It has to be pointed directly at the receiver before it registers anything. As the Asrock had to be rma’d due to a faulty memory block i decided to build a new machine based around the Asus AT5IONT-I. Together with some spare parts from a Intel Atom D510MO server sitting in a closet i had a complete build:

• Asus AT5IONT-I Motherboard
• 2 x Kingston 2GB 800MHz DDR3 Non-ECC CL6 SODIMM SR X8
• Antec ISK 300-65 case
• Seagate Momentus 7200, 500 GB, 16 MB, SATA II, G-F
• OCZ Vertex 2 SATA II 2.5″ SSD 60gb

Hardware notes (Asus AT5IONT-I)
I did not encounter any problems running Asus AT5IONT-I with Linux. Rock stable, never crashed, but tends to get a bit hot. At the moment the machine is sitting in a closet beneath my Flatscreen tv. There is active fan cooling on the case and holes drilled in the back of the closet to allow cool air to be sucked in and hot air to flow out. I did spend some time getting sound to work, but when all is setup it runs very well. Plays 1080p nicely and even 24p works.

Hardware notes (Asrock 152B)
As mentioned i did not like the Asrock 152B very much. Seen in retrospect i should have bought an external Ir receiver and put the machine in a closet to minimize the noise. That said i know people who are very happy with their Asrock 152B which is not a bad machine. It is a matter of preference.

Software

As mentioned i am running Gentoo Linux. Gentoo is a powerful source based Linux distribution which i have used for some years. The advanced build system ensures that you are always using the most recent packages and that one can specify exactly what options a package should include (eg mysql support, ssl etc) Downside is that it is quite time consuming compiling an entire system. No you can’t fetch precompiled binaries (who wants to fetch binaries for a source based distribution anyway )

General install instructions for Gentoo can be found on the Gentoo homepage:

http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/handbook/handbook-amd64.xml

This may at first seem a bit hard but it really isn’t. Make a cup of coffee and give it a try. When your first Gentoo install successfully boots, you will smile. I promise.

Gentoo Install:
I did spend some time configuring my Kernel. This can save you a lot of time when getting your system up and running without using gentoo genkernel. When you have reached section: “7. Configuring the Kernel” You can use these instructions to compile your first kernel. After this jump to Section “8. Configuring your System”

We are getting portage to use the latest (unstable) version of the kernel by adding the keyword sys-kernel/gentoo-sources to the file /etc/portage/package.keywords. By adding the keyword >=sys-kernel/gentoo-sources-3.3.0 to /etc/portage/package.mask to prevent it downloading 3.3.x kernel but only the latest from 3.2.x branch. I always like use the latest kernel available (at least 3.2.x kernel) Kernel 3.2.x is at this time supported by both Ubuntu and Debian so i consider it the most safe choice. You can choose to use the latest Gentoo marked stable by not adding any keywords to /etc/portage. The kernel config should work for all 3.2.x kernels.

XBMC Setup

With this setup we will use slim as display manager. It is lightweight and fast and does nothing more that we need to which is to start XBMC in a X server.

First we need to add a user to run XBMC. This is a security measure as nothing should be run as the root user. This is to prevent attackers from gaining root privileges should any service be compromised.

You may want to add a password to xbmc user as well.

First we need to enable the correct use flags. This is my entire /etc/make.conf. The important use flags for XBMC is opengl vdpau alsa and VIDEO_CARDS=”nvidia”.

Next we move over to the files in /etc/portage. First we add this to /etc/portage/package.keywords. XBMC 11.0 has not been marked as stable so we need to add xbmc and related stuff to use ~amd64

There are no surprises in here except avahi which was added to allow the Apple Airplay feature in xbmc to work. Then we move over to /etc/portage/package.use. One of Gentoo’s most powerful features. Build excatly what you need not a bit more!

Please notice that i did not enable the X flag globally but only for one package. This is simply done to not pull in non essential packages. The global X flag is NOT needed for Xbmc to run. This will save some space. Gotta love Gentoo

Now

This will take a while. A long while. About 4.30 hours. When done start by getting X server to use the newly installed nvidia-driver:

then edit /etc/slim.conf. Locate the line (line 37)

uncomment the line by adding # in front, and add these lines below.

Remember to make the file .xinitrc in the user running xbmc homedir (in this example that would be the xbmc user previously added. Content is:

Make sure that system can actually run the file. As user xbmc

Next edit /etc/conf.d/xdm. Change DISPLAYMANAGER=”xdm” to DISPLAYMANAGER=”slim”.

Next we need to configure the X server. When newly installed X does not have any config. It is possible to make a xorg.conf by using the provided utility nvidia-xconfig.

As seen it will create a xorg.conf if none is found. This config is sufficient to get X server up and running and even xbmc started. To test if stuff is working start up xdm.
This is optional

If all is good slim will launch XBMC. If you wish to use 24p mode for playing you need to edit /etc/X11/xorg.conf. As suggested in several guides it is not needed to manually add modelines. Locate /etc/X11/xorg.conf. At the bottom replace entire screen section with this:

Next we move on to the sound config. This has given me a few grey hairs. Please comment if you have a more elegant solution.

You want to reboot here so that kernel can pick up the changes. When back run alsamixer and unmute your card.

Press F6 and select “HDA Nvidia” There should be only one entry: < S/PDIF > If it says MM your card is muted and you need to unmute it using key m. The MM should change to 00 and your card is unmuted. Next run /etc/init.d/alsasound start which will save the new mixer level. Oddly enough you do not need to add alsasound to startup.

Then we are all set. If you ever need to use passthrough in XBMC (av recievers etc) set it to custom and input hw:1,3. This works

To start xbmc (slim) type

To have xdm startup when system is booted you need to add it to the default runlevel

Optional lirc support
My included kernel config has support for the built in ir reciever featured on the Asrock 152b. Also compatible is HFX Vista GP Remote Control which i do recommend. Cheap and somewhat stronger than the built in receiver in Asrock 152B. A small note. The ir receivers on the Asrock and 152B are not the same. This is the first difference i have found between the two systems.

Chances are the build will fail. I am not happy documenting this but to actually get lirc compiled one needs to apply a patch to the ebuild. The Gentoo version of lirc has several unfixed (and quite old) bugs assigned. This is unfortunately one of the downsides of using a source based distro. But fear not the solution is quick:

We are applying a patch from gentoo bugs which should be applied to portage real soon. Was quite puzzled that this still was happening after my last lirc install some months ago. Until this happens use this fix. Gentoo will not allow use of the ebuild as it has been changed, so we are making a new manifest which allows us to build from the changed ebuild.

When done create /etc/lirc/lircd.conf and put in the following content:

You probably want to run lircd on boot.

Optional Lm_sensors support
Both systems have some sensors support for reading out temperature from the running systems. The Asus AT5IONT-I have two readings which in Bios are called GPU and CPU.
The Asrock 152B also have two which in Bios are called CPU and Motherboard temperature. Note as both systems use different sensors we have the second spotted difference between the two systems Asus AT5IONT-I uses asus_atk0110 modules chip to monitor and Asrock 152B uses w83627ehf. Both are enabled in my kernel config.

Optional Extra software
Both systems are perfectly capable of running Sambe/CIFS effectively making a perfect Network attached storage (NAS) machine. I use mine for XBMC, Torrenting, Newsbin, DLNA server and Irc Bouncer. Only your imagination sets the limit.

Conclusion
Now you hopefully have XBMC up and running. Even though the Asus AT5IONT-I is a aging piece of hardware it still is a valid solution in 2012. There are alternatives but the ION based boards are well supported in XBMC and you will not run into problems getting hardware playback to work. Intel did release the next generation Atom (cedar trail) in 2012. At first Cedar trail looked very promising, but lack of descent graphics drivers for non Windows users makes Cedar trail unusable at least for media use. Please note that this guide was written some time after i deployed the machine. I may have forgotten vital steps. Please comment if you find any problems. Also comment if this is working for you. Thanks

Files used in this guide

AT5IONT 64 bit Kernel 3.2.14 config

Linux 3.2.x kernel config for Asus AT5IONT-I. Should work on similar hardware (like asrock 152b) as well. Most options not necessary have been removed. Not using initrd so be sure to select the proper hardware settings. Will work with any recent hard drive formatted using ext3/ext4.

• One PCI Express* x1 slot
• One PCI Express* Mini Card (Half-size)
• One PCI Express* Mini Card (Full/Half-size adjustable) with mSATA support

Nice addition as it is possible to have two wireless pci mini express cards giving access to dual 2.4/5 ghz wifi. Onboard Intel network interface controller is also a good thing instead of the Realtek NIC featured on previous boards from Intel. Inclusion of a HDMI connector and a new graphic core called GMA 3650 able to decode full hd 1080p streams without much fuss, makes the possibilities even larger. It should be noted that the GMA 3650 is driven by a PowerVR SGX 545 developed by Imagination Technologies and not by Intel itself. This will make support for Linux troublesome at best. There are rumors that Intel at some time in 2012 will release a Linux driver but i would not count on that. Still this board seems like a low power swiss army knife. Only your imagination will decide what the board will be used for.

UPDATE (10-02-2012)
News just in from www.phoronix.com will confirm that Intel does indeed have some licensing trouble with the GPU currently used in cedar trail licensed from Imagination Technologies. Intel will in the future create its own gpu to be used in the next generation of Atoms. The discontinuation is good news at least looking at the future, but probabaly bad news for the DN2800MT (and other cedar trail CPU’s) if you wish to hardware accelerate your media using an os different from windows.

What still needs to be verified is what it actually will pull at wall. Some sites announcing Cedar Trail will say that the announced TDP includes the total of the board not only the CPU. Personally i do not believe that. Looking through the technical specification does not seem to verify that either:

As seen on the picture there is a lot going on and my first thought is that the Intel DN2800MT this will in no way be able to compete with my Intel D510MO which uses around 20 watt total measured at wall. Second thoughts tells me that Intel will not release a motherboard using more power than previous models, so i am looking forward to reviews of the board showing the actual power usage. Other sites say a 20% decrease from previous models (pine trail)

UPDATE 03-03-2012
Seems the boards are finally hitting at least some consumers:

http://www.silentpcreview.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=63959

Power usage looks VERY good. But graphics seems to still be a problem. Intel have released Megoo, which should include a binary driver for Linux. Only 32bit but better than nothing. Intel does indeed seem to be on the right track with this board. I am still not convinced though, and not sure if i ever will buy this board. The Atom/ION combo is still a better choice if you wish to run a media center on Linux. For all other uses this board is a killer. Same performance as the D525 but using much lower power.

UPDATE:
As commented by Joggebogge with link included: http://www.logicsupply.com/blog/2012/01/18/crisp-and-refreshing-new-thin-itx-board-from-intel/
This suggests that it will idle at 10 watt. High 15 watt. Those are quite good numbers indeed! Still needs verification and also power testing running Linux.

Known limitations and missing/odd features

• Intels nm10 express chipset will only allow two sata drives. Installing a msata drive into one of the mini express slots will disable one of the onboard sata connectors. It is a pity that Intel decided to reuse the nm10 express chipset with such a limitation. That said it is not a deal breaker unless you absolutely must use more than two drives.
• 8 usb 2.0 ports but not a single usb 3.0 port. Again a chipset limitation. Depending on usage most people will not even notice this. But if you use it for NAS it would be nice to be able to attach some faster usb drives.
• PowerVR SGX 545 driven graphics. Linux support at this time is non existing.

Conclusion
While we are still waiting till people actually starts to receive boards and testing, there is not much to be said. As mentioned I think this could make the NAS/Router/Firewall of your dreams using lower power than previous options. That said Intel Atom is to undergo massive changes in 2013, where it probably will be completely converted to a SOC (System on a chip) making it even more power efficient. Can you wait?

(Thank you all for the useful comments, keep them coming.)

DLNA
Created by SONY in 2003 in an attempt to ease connection of different devices. The goal was to make it easier for the consumer to share videos, music and pictures between devices. The idea is great. By using a DLNA server you can stream media content directly do dlna clients. That be stereos, televisions or even mobile phones. Unfortunately seeing the DLNA certification on a television does not mean it will play all your media. The standard does only describe how devices connect, not what they can play. When buying a TV you should look in the manual before purchasing and check if the formats supported match your media collection I did look at the manual for Samsung UE32D5005 and it is able to play most stuff:

As seen Samsung UE32D5005 can play most common formats. If your tv does not support your local media format you have two options. Reencode your entire collection to a format that the tv supports. Or transcode your media. Transcoding is a process where the server decodes your files on the fly and streams them to the DLNA client. Depending on hardware there will be some CPU usage required to transcode. Not all DLNA servers do support transcoding. DLNA servers found in NAS servers will almost never support transcoding as they are usually not powerful enough for this process. Speaking of DLNA servers, windows 7 does have inbuilt DLNA server. Samsung also has their own DLNA server called Allshare. In my opinion a crappy piece of software but Samsung likes it, and looking at Samsungs support this is the only DLNA server ever mentioned.

All this does indeed sound wonderful The sharing of the future. DLNA servers can run on virtually anything and there are lots of different servers to try and download. Real world use is a bit different. Having browsed around the internet one will quickly come to the conclusion that the companies all have decided different implementations of the standard. The very same reason that the number of DLNA server is higher than expected. You will find that one server will work, where another will not do anything on your tv set. If using windows your could just run the included software (in this case Allshare) but turning my main computer on to watch a movie on the bedroom Television is simply not a choice for me. My Linux server runs 24/7 so this is the obvious location of the DLNA server. I tested a few DLNA servers. MiniDLNA runs out of the box. Exposes all the selected media to the television. Subtitle support also works but playback is not fluid. There will be cuts in audio and video every 10-15 seconds. Mediatomb gave me a much better result. But i did need to modify the config and applying some Samsung only stuff

I also needed to patch the source code to allow subtitle support in mediatomb. The patch can be found here

I can verify that it works nicely. Movie playback using Mediatomb is (almost) fluid. There still are some small hickups which i have not been able to solve yet but they are not coming at at rate that makes the movie unwatchable. it will play anything (avi, mp4 and mkv) and quality is very good. Also thumbnails are working which is good for the kids when they need to pick a movie. I will update this post as time allow as i do not yet have time for much testing.
Gentoo specifics

Add following line to /etc/portage/package.use

Optional (for subtitle support)

Edit /usr/portage/net-misc/mediatomb/mediatomb-0.12.1.ebuild and insert

Below following line:

mediatomb-0.12.1.ebuild will look like this:

emerge will surely complain about the unknown file and the changed ebuild. Recreate both by issuing following commands:

Please note that re-syncing the portage tree will remove the changes.

Install mediatomb

Edit /etc/mediatomb/config.xml and add:

Change

to

If you want subtitle support.

Add following mappings to allow both mkv and avi playback.

Now Mediatomb is installed and should be ready to launch:

and you are ready to go. The webserver part can be reached at url

Release Notes for Build 2.9.40.0

This milestone build features our holiday content for Christmas and another new ship – the Centurion 3rd Rate! This build also includes significant changes to Open Sea engagement mechanics, penalties for directly trading with opposing nations, removal of the blind auction system, and making character transfers between our live servers available through Treasure Aisle. Also included in this build are new Kilts and Tams for avatars, new ship outfittings, changes to bonus books and the ability to purchase active nation resets.

Release Notes for build 2.8.84.0 are here.

Differences between 2.8.84.0 and 2.9.40.0 include but aren’t limited to:

Treasure Aisle:

• Non-consumable clickable mission rewards have been added to Treasure Aisle for characters that have unlocked them by completing the affiliated mission.
• A Halfway Pack has been added alongside the Starter Pack for levels 25 and up.
• A new recipe book “Pages from a Bosun’s Journal” can be found in Treasure Aisle. The recipe book allows for the creation of: Tight-Braced Cross Catharpins, Hammock Netting, and Well-Ordered Pinrails.
• A Server Transfer Request token added to “Account” tab, with a special price in the Captain’s Club tab.
• An Active Nation Reset Request token added to “Account” tab, with a special price in the Captain’s Club tab.
• New 1-hour and 6-hour bonus books have been added to “Consumables” tab. The 6-hour books are replacing the 8-hour books. All bonus books have received price adjustments.
• A new “All New” category has been added in each tab to easily find the newest items in each category.
• A new “Festive Loyal Dog” has been added to the “Pets” tab. (We couldn’t find a reindeer, so we made one instead.)
• A Holly-Day hat accent is unlocked in Treasure Aisle by completing the seasonal mission “A Penny to Bury the Wren.”
• Captain’s Club now contains older seasonal clothing in the Specially Priced section. Enjoy!
• Tackle Box: Bahamas, Florida, Louisiana was still hidden from Captain’s Club members after being removed from the Specially Priced section. It is now back in the Angling section for all players.
• Two new kilts and two new tams have been added to the Captain’s Club section of Treasure Aisle.

Ships and Outfittings:

• The Centurion Third Rate has been added to the game. The recipe to create the Uncertified Deed will be purchasable in Treasure Aisle.
• Insurance on the Centurion was lower than it should have been, and captured versions of it and the San Fernando were not flagged as Invalid for Pirates. This is fixed.
• Boarding resistance for all ships has been returned to its previous value of 50% to correct boarding resistance issues.
• Captured San Fernando deeds are now tradable, and they no longer pay out insurance.
• The new outfitting rewards Careful Gun Crews and Ship’s Cat have been added to each national MoV Exchange Shop.

Avatars:

• We’ve adjusted how the Hellhounds swords sit when sheathed so that they no longer have clipping issues.
• The Halloween swords healing effects should no longer stomp other healing effects such as those in fighting school-specific skills.
• The Bone Pole fishing pole should no longer suffer animation issues.
• The Floral Calaca and Black & White Calaca face paints were swapped. This has been fixed.
• The reward coat for completing “Yard Armor” wasn’t working with certain glove and coat combinations on male avatars. Fixed.

Missions:

• Added 2011 Holiday titles for A Penny to Bury the Wren mission and the gift exchange.
• The mission “Black Flags or Dread Saints” wasn’t possible to complete, since none of the treasure spots generated any treasure. This is fixed.

General:

• The Blind Auction system has been turned off allowing players to see the lowest price for auction house items. While the lowest price is now visible the quantity of items at each price still remains hidden. The quantity accurately reflects the total number of units in a particular category regardless of pricing.
• Players will now lose 300 player faction with their nation for each direct trade with any character from an opposing nation. Penalties for losing too much faction with a player’s nation may include some or all of the following: increased tax rates, loss of the ability to generate unrest, loss of ability to attend port battles, loss of ability to group, permanent PvP flagging, loss of ability to be a member of a society, and loss of chat channels.
• OS engagement mechanics have been modified to use player level and ship level in new group strength calculations. Group strength comparisons for engagements now work both up and down and will only allow engagement if group strengths are within the allowable engagement ratio of 2:1. Once engaged both sides in the battle may reinforce within the allowable engagement ratio for 30 seconds after which only the weaker side may reinforce for 90 seconds up to a group strength value equal to the larger side.
• Blockading now requires a group strength of 500. Patrolling now requires a group strength of 400.
• The “B” hot key was dropping sails instead of going to battle sails. Fixed.
• Fort Deeds were sometimes found on the Auction House. Since they are not useable by players, this should not have happened. Fixed.

Objective: 

Build a machine which can route and firewall traffic, both wireless and wired. Run a few services like Bittorrent and CIFS/Samba share.

Spending some times to locate the different parts this is what the final list looks like:

• Intel D510MO Motherboard
• Sparklan WPEA-110N mini pci express wireless network card
• Antec ISK 300-65 case
• Intel pro1000gt ethernet card
• OCZ Vertex 2 SATA II 2.5″ SSD 60gb

The choice of motherboard was the toughest. There are tons of different Atom powered motherboards, but only a handful of them is able to provide both wireless (via pci mini express) and dual network interfaces (using the extra pci slot). There are a few boards which provide dual network directly on motherboard but they are quite expensive. Also some provide inbuilt wireless but they are usually usb solutions attached to the motherboard. Be sure to check for Linux compatibility if you wish to use it as a Linux server. Atheros chipsets are usually a safe choice. Some notes for the weird pci mini express slot as i could not find much information at that time:

Pci Mini Express:
It is a interface which is usually used in laptops to allow for replacement of the wireless network card.

On the picture is the slot itself, and a pci mini express card to be inserted into the slot. Also seen is two Hirose U.FL -> RP-SMA pigtails. They are simply cables to be attached to the wireless network card with an antenna connector at the other end. You do usually do not need to drill holes in your casing. Most io shield have predrilled holes on the io shield that just needs to be punched through. At least the Intel D510MO had.

Retailers
Locating pci mini express add on cards is not easy. At least not in Denmark. Having searched around i finally found a European retailer, which has some very nice stuff for those odd pci mini express slots. They also have antennas and pigtails. I do recommend this retailer.
http://minipci.biz

Other sites which has some nice listings:
http://www.oxfordtec.com/uk/

Advantages

• Complete control
• Parts can be exchanged easily
• Cheap upgrade
• Passive cooling (completely silent)
• Has excess CPU power
• Very configurable
• Rock stable

Disadvantages

• mini pci express slot (must be used to allow wireless routing)
• Intel Atom D510 has no cpu idle support. It will run at 20 watt load or not
• only two sata ports
• Seems to be picky with memory ( The official ddr2 standard says 1.8volt for memory. Most high performance memory requires more than 1.8v and the board can’t supply more than 1.8. There is no option in the bios to change memory voltage so beware that your memory can run at 1.8v. That said memory should have a 1.8 volt timing (to comply with the standard) which in my case means the memory will only run at 667 mhz and not the 800mhz max)
• No simultaneous 2.4 ghz and 5ghz operation. It’s either 2.4ghz or 5ghz
• No Media capabilities beyond DLNA sharing

I did spent some time tweaking the wireless settings. Below is my hostapd.conf. Perfectly capable of feeding my Western Digital Media Live with Blueray rips (1080p – aprox 8gb size) wireless. If anyone is interested, my non scientific tests shows that a stream like that maxes out at about 2.3 MB/s which would be the rate you are looking for if you want to stream to a media player. The system itself can pull at least 8 MB/s but that could be limited by the client

Conclusion
This machine will run 24/7 using a mere 20 watt (measured at wall) This is a bit higher than the Excito B3 but still quite low. Please note that size of PSU does matter! If you choose to power the motherboard with a large PSU it will use more power at wall as well. Performance wise this machine is much stronger than the Excito B3 and performed well even when running 4 dedicated game servers. The build was not cheap either but you can easily exchange parts if anything breaks. All in all it is a great home server build which use seems to only be limited by imagination

Gentoo specifics:

Safe cflags: