Hi,

   We’re starting development of a (pretty much high-end) PVR/MediaCenter which will of course run linux. Now, one of the avenue we’re looking at is using standard x86 hardware (as opposed to custom built embedded hardware). Since the product will need a lot of processing power (since if we’re using x86 hardware, we’ll do most processing in software), we would like to use a dual-core CPU, something powerful. But it must also be low  power/low heat, as you can’t have a 12” fan running at 8000rpm to cool your CPU in the living now…

   The device should also feel “appliance-like”. That means that it must boot very quickly, at least displaying some nice animated loading screen within 5 seconds. And that’s where LinuxBIOS comes into play.

   Are there any supported board/CPU combo that would fit our needs? For an AMD board, something with an AM2 socket would be ideal as it’s a recent chipset and will stay longer on the market than say socket 939, but it’s not a requirement per se. We would need standard stuff on the board: USB, IDE, ideally PCI-E and pci and maybe onboard sound and video (although that’s more optional than anything).

   If no such board/cpu combo is supported by LinuxBIOS currently, we would be willing to evaluate the possibility of hiring someone to port LinuxBIOS to the chosen platform. Do you know of any individual/company that would do such work and an idea of how much such work might cost?

   Thanks a lot.

Simon Labrecque