Current minimum hardware requirements for XBMC can be found at: http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=XBMCbuntu. On PC architecture, the XBMC project suggests a minimum of at least a Pentium 4, Pentium M, Athlon XP/64, AMD Opteron, or newer processor. For 1080p playback, the project recommends a fast dual core processor. Although XBMC can run on a Linux or Windows system on an Athlon XP, Athlon XP CPUs do not support SSE2 instructions that modern versions of Adobe Flash use.

The project also provides the following recommended video card minimums:

XBMC can run on a variety of hardware. A few specialized Linux + XBMC distributions exist for the Raspberry Pi, an inexpensive tiny computer with an HDMI output. If you're running XBMC on a Raspberry Pi, we highly recommend Raspberry Pi Media Center by Sam Nazarko, Packt Publishing, which covers some of the nuances of setting up Raspbmc. For this book, we assume you're installing XBMC on PC hardware. We tested our installation on:

We connected our XBMC media centers to a Samsung 42 inch LCD (LN40A330J1D) television via DSUB/VGA and HDMI. When connecting via VGA, we also need to connect from the green speaker/audio out on the netbook and PC to the green audio in the television. When connecting using HDMI, the additional audio cable is not needed, as HDMI carries both audio and video signals.

Depending on whether you have an AMD, Intel, or NVIDIA based graphics card, you'll download one of either the XBMCbuntu-XX.XX.Intel-AMD or XBMC-XX.XX.Intel-NVidia ISO (where XX.XX is the version number, in our case 12.00).

Download XBMCbuntu from http://www.xbmc.org/download/.

Other official versions of XBMC exist and can be downloaded from the same page. While XBMC can often be found in popular Linux repositories, these versions are often out of date or don't install the proprietary video drivers nor remote control drivers that XBMCbuntu does. We recommend you download the latest XBMCbuntu, as the project is always making improvements. XBMCbuntu provides a complete media center in a box solution that takes care of setting up extras such as compatibility with a Windows Media Center remote control.

While a variety of tools are available to create bootable XBMCbuntu USB keys on different platforms, the most straightforward solution that works across all platforms is UNetbootin. To create a bootable USB key on Windows, Linux, or Mac OS X, we follow the steps mentioned here:

Once you've downloaded UNetbootin, insert a blank 2 GB or higher USB key and run UNetbootin. The Distribution radio button is selected by default. Click on the Diskimage radio button, and then click on the button with three dots to select the XBMCbuntu-XX.XX-Intel-NVIDIA.iso (where XX.XX is the version of XBMCbuntu you downloaded) or AMD ISO image you downloaded earlier.

The last step is to choose the USB key in the Drive selection underneath where the ISO image appears. If no USB key appears in the selection, check to make sure the USB key works and is at least 2 GB.

Computer BIOS differ from manufacturer to manufacturer. In all cases, you need to hit a key just after your computer starts up, but before Linux or Windows loads. Dell, for instance, uses the F2 key to enter the BIOS, IBM uses the F1 key, HP/Compaq computers use the F10 key, and most generic manufacturers use the Delete (delete) key.

Computer BIOS vary from manufacturer to manufacturer. Look for an option to set the boot order. From the Boot Device Priority menu you can set the USB key to boot first. Once you've set the USB key to be the first boot device, save and exit; you should see XBMCbuntu starting to boot when your computer reboots.

If XBMCbuntu loads correctly, you'll be prompted to Try Ubuntu or Install Ubuntu. If things don't look right, refer to the section entitled And that's it. If everything is good, click on Install Ubuntu.

Next, XBMCbuntu displays the Preparing to install Ubuntu screen; select the following:

This step will install any proprietary drivers (for example, wireless) and the fluendo codec for MP3 playback, and then click on the Continue button.

Now it's time to select the installation type. At this stage it's time to delete anything that was on the hard drive you're installing to and create a new installation. Click on the Erase disk and install Ubuntu radio button and then click on Continue.

Once you click on the Continue button, XBMCbuntu will format the drive and begin installing XBMCbuntu. We still have a few details to wrap up, but at this point you'll notice formatting, copying, and installing activity at the bottom of the display (as shown in the next screenshot). Our next job is to select the city closest to us on the Where are you? screen.

The next screen, Keyboard Layout, asks you to pick the type of keyboard you have. Choose your language first from the language drop-down list, choose your keyboard layout from the keyboard layout dropdown, and then click on Continue.

We're almost done. The last information that you need to enter is about your name, username, password, and the name of the computer you're installing XBMCbuntu on. Give some thought to the computer name you give your XBMC machine because you'll be using it when accessing the machine from other machines on your network. Click on Continue when you're done.

After you've clicked on the Continue button, XBMCbuntu will continue to install. During the install XBMCbuntu displays a slideshow of information. Once XBMCbuntu has finished installing, you'll see the Installation Complete dialog box. Click on the Restart Now button to restart your XBMC system.

Congratulations, you've just installed XBMCbuntu!

XBMCbuntu is a great installer, but it's not always perfect. In a few cases, XBMCbuntu doesn't correctly get the Extended Display Identification Data (EDID) when connected to an LCD television. Basically, XBMCbuntu just doesn't understand what kind of LCD television you have. If this happens to you and the installer displays only tiny unreadable text (as shown in the preceding screenshot), try rebooting.

When XBMCbuntu first accesses the USB key, there is a brief pause before the installer loads. During this brief pause, you'll see a keyboard and accessibility icon at the bottom of the screen. If you hit the keyboard, you'll be presented with a text-based menu. From this menu try the Install XBMCbuntu with fixed dpi (120x120) option. If you're still having a problem with tiny text, try connecting a DSUB/VGA cable instead of HDMI, or try installing on an LCD monitor before installing to an LCD TV.