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General => Users => Topic started by: tekoholic on October 06, 2007, 06:58:40 am

Title: Finally getting there (was "Unsure, still, what's wrong)
Post by: tekoholic on October 06, 2007, 06:58:40 am
I love the idea of this project, and look forward to seeing it actually capable of doing it.  However, after nearly 2 weeks of hassles trying to get it to work as advertised, I've not yet gotten close.

My experiences are as follow:

Hybrid = 1.3G Duron / 768MB DDR / 4 internal HDD's, totalling over 100Gigs (400 more on NAS) / AGP Nvidia GeForce 7300 GT with 512MB DDR2 / 1 Pinnacle tv-capture card, more would have been added when it worked...

I struggled for the first several days with the DVD-install, which in the end, was just plain useless to me.  It would not allow for ANY installation of proprietary drivers for my video-card, and there were HUGE stability issues.

I did get the video drivers (Nvidia 100.14.19) installed after the fourth attempt by use of the CD's on a clean Kubuntu load, and finally had a working standalone media-box, until I actually tried to use it for ANYTHING.  I could only start ANY video playback ONCE, as with all subsequent attempts, all video was garbled and mis-colored horribly (from capture, from stored vid-file, anything), until I rebooted the hybrid.  This went on for a couple of days, and then seemed to ALMOST fix itself (but NOT due to updates, they came in immediately), as I can now start video of any format around 8-12 times before this happens...  I've since become aware of the bugs in this version of the driver, but it's working for now, so I will wait until they've fixed it...

I then, began attempts to build out MD's...  I started with my own HP Pav dv6423om (notebook) / 1.8G Turion 64 X2 / 2GB DDR2 / 160GB HDD / Ubuntu 7.04 w/ KDE...  Cannot get it to network-boot, as each attempt results in "Diskless Setup failed" error after just 30 seconds (yes, the hybrid is the ONLY DHCP server).  Installed the LMCE MD software, and it cannot make use of my local Nvidia drivers (Go 6150), nor does it attach the network-drives, most times...  I cannot get it to do much of anything...

Next was an older HP L2105CA / Turion 64 / 1GB DDR / 80GB HDD / ATI Xpress 200M / missing LCD-panel, uses external flat-panel 19"...  In the end, same error as the last...  Nothing recognizable in the logs, no other signs of what might have gone wrong.  Several other attempts have come to just as bad a situation, so I attempted to install Kubuntu and the MD software.  Didn't even try to install the video drivers, yet.  It actually worked!!!  Until it didn't...  Lasted about 10 minutes, X crashed, and a string of repeated errors about CIFS share error -6.    It seems quite similar, if not identical to this:  http://forum.linuxmce.org/index.php?topic=2706.0

All the way around, the install media, hardware, and such are all good.  I've researched each and every problem I come upon, until there's no more info to research...  I've done everything exactly as it is to be done (at least per the documentation available...), and it still will not work.  Still wrestling with it...
Title: Re: Wonderful idea, not currently workable (IMHO)...
Post by: tekoholic on October 08, 2007, 05:43:23 am
OK, so I couldn't help myself...  Brought over another geek, who's vastly interested in what this is supposed to be able to do, and we went thru the diskless / PXE boot process, him on my server, I on my notebook (the dv6423om, if it matters).  He waited for any word that interaction was needed, as it states in the Wiki that it should be, I waited to see the familiar Diskless Setup failed.  He DID receive an announcement that the connection had been detected, and that the notebook was being added, but that went away quickly, no interaction requested, and I got EXACTLY what I expected...  Did I download bad CD-images?  The MD5 sums are good...  I just can't let this go, as this seems like it might be EXACTLY what I want (although I thought I'd need multiple servers with multiple OS's to do it all...), and I'm not one to give up easily, for which, I'm sure, my Wife will make DARN SURE I end up DEAD, one day (unless I can actually get it WORKING, in which case she'll love me to the ends of the Earth!!!).

PLEASE, if ANYBODY's got ANY thoughts on this, I'd GREATLY appreciate it.  I REALLY love it when my wife loves me...  And, I'd really hate to end up dead at her hand...

p.s.:  She wouldn't actually kill me, but she's pretty good at making me WISH I were dead, when she wants to be...  PLEASE HELP...
Title: Re: Wonderful idea, not currently workable (IMHO)...
Post by: tschak909 on October 08, 2007, 06:41:56 am
I am sorry you've had such difficulties, but there really are people who are using this system (and its ancestor, PlutoHome) on a day to day basis, in homes with multiple media directors and storage hanging all over the place, with home control etc.. it does work, honest.

The biggest problems thus far that i've seen with most people seem to center around:

* Video Card... this is currently very touchy, because the NVIDIA drivers that ship with the current Kubuntu are old, the NVIDIA 6150 and 6200 cards work best with UI2-AlphaBlending and the 5xxx cards work great with UI2-Masking. Other cards will work in either UI1, or UI2-Masking, you might have to fiddle a bit.... I hope the developers find a solution to allow download/install of the vendor drivers, this would solve so many problems... or at least try to track the latest NVIDIA drivers into deb packages...

* SATA... very strange indeed.. some SATA chips are not supported well with the DVD image, and the CD image seems to have better luck here...

* Network... Make sure you have TWO network cards... one for internal, one for external.. if you have to, DOUBLE NAT.. but run the DHCP and network services.. otherwise you will be fighting tooth and nail for nothing, really.

* Drives... this one heh....This is an example of the two converging worlds of users for this system... Pluto was originally designed as an appliance...drop the drives into the core...go... if you had windows shares, cool! it would find em... if you had a NAS dangling around, it would see it as shares, and just go with the appropriate credentials... I've seen so many users try to force their world view into this setup, at the expense of their own sanity, and I do believe that compromise needs to be done on both the developer and user end of things to make this better.

I hope you'll try again soon, it really is an amazing system. I've been running mine for a while now, and I can't live without it.

-Thom
Title: Re: Wonderful idea, not currently workable (IMHO)...
Post by: tekoholic on October 08, 2007, 04:23:33 pm
Quote
I am sorry you've had such difficulties, but there really are people who are using this system (and its ancestor, PlutoHome) on a day to day basis, in homes with multiple media directors and storage hanging all over the place, with home control etc.. it does work, honest.
I know, and for this very reason, it's killing me that I cannot make it work here...

Quote
* Video Card... this is currently very touchy, because the NVIDIA drivers that ship with the current Kubuntu are old, the NVIDIA 6150 and 6200 cards work best with UI2-AlphaBlending and the 5xxx cards work great with UI2-Masking. Other cards will work in either UI1, or UI2-Masking, you might have to fiddle a bit.... I hope the developers find a solution to allow download/install of the vendor drivers, this would solve so many problems... or at least try to track the latest NVIDIA drivers into deb packages...
Again, I do understand.  My Geforce 7300 GT was a  PITA to install, tried and failed a dozen times before it suddenly just worked, glxgears reporting steady 3850-4200 fps on the svideo all day long...  On my Go 6150, it never even shows me the video wizard, for to set up the UI selection, and the drivers are the newest already (on the install).  On the PXE-boot, I don't get past Diskless_Setup.sh, EVER.

Quote
* SATA... very strange indeed.. some SATA chips are not supported well with the DVD image, and the CD image seems to have better luck here...
The dv6423om and l2105ca have onboard SATA, but this should have no bearing on the PXE-boot, should it?  My wife's off-brand notebook and the server both have standard EIDE, so I'm confident that this issue should have no bearing on me, at this point.  Even my NAT (just an old tower with a bunch of HDD's), which at this point has remained unused, is all EIDE...

Quote
* Network... Make sure you have TWO network cards... one for internal, one for external.. if you have to, DOUBLE NAT.. but run the DHCP and network services.. otherwise you will be fighting tooth and nail for nothing, really.
OK, here is where I've received conflicting information...  So far, I've only had one NIC installed.  Thought this might be the problem, and read up on it.  The most common answer seems to be simply that it will work, as long as I DO NOT have DHCP served from another device, and I do not.  All addresses issued are in the 192.168.80.* net, as should be...  I'll have to give it a try with a second NIC, and see what happens.

Quote
I hope you'll try again soon, it really is an amazing system. I've been running mine for a while now, and I can't live without it.
Well sir, although my wife would like me to, I've not given up just yet.  I want to be able to install systems such as this for others, for profit, and this will please her, in the long run (I hope).  As well, when it's making me money, I'll be passing a portion back to the developers, to encourage and support the continued improvement of the system!!  My system, once working, will simply be the first of many, I'm sure!!

Thank you, Thom, for your reply.  I'm still kicking it around, don't worry.  I just can't give up...  Can't let it beat me...
Title: Re: Wonderful idea, not currently workable (IMHO)...
Post by: MediaMonkey on October 08, 2007, 07:39:48 pm
Thank you, Thom, for your reply.  I'm still kicking it around, don't worry.  I just can't give up...  Can't let it beat me...
If you don't mind investing in a new motherboard (everything built in -- video/audio etc) then it might be worth trying a proven motherboard. It does work, at least as much as shown in the video!
Title: Re: Wonderful idea, not currently workable (IMHO)...
Post by: marrandy on October 08, 2007, 09:25:08 pm
I am sorry you've had such difficulties, but there really are people who are using this system (and its ancestor, PlutoHome) on a day to day basis, in homes with multiple media directors and storage hanging all over the place, with home control etc.. it does work, honest.

I hope you'll try again soon, it really is an amazing system. I've been running mine for a while now, and I can't live without it.

-Thom

You know, I wish people that had working systems would put their working linuxmce hardware at the bottom of their post or even better, in their signature on their members page.  It would give us a better idea of how many people are using certain types of working hardware, especially when they post.

teedge77 does something like this although I don't see any PVR cards.
Title: Re: Wonderful idea, not currently workable (IMHO)...
Post by: teedge77 on October 08, 2007, 09:45:14 pm
well....you can only put so much in the signature...and i dont have any pvr cards yet. i put what i could. as i get more stuff ill take out the less pertinent crap ...like...the power supply....and the ram....replace it with the pvr or whatever i get.
Title: Re: Wonderful idea, not currently workable (IMHO)...
Post by: marrandy on October 08, 2007, 10:14:48 pm
Hey teedge77.

I wasn't criticizing you, just using you as a good example of putting some pertinent info in. 

I searched for some time and you were the first one I found.

Really, it was an indirect compliment.

I would like to see something like:-

Server/back-end
asus whatever, 1GB RAM, 1TB sata raid 5
hauppauge PVR 150 & 350
Digium XP100 & TDM400 (1-fxo, 3-fxs)
xwz cctv framegrabber

Client/front end
asus M2NPV-VM, 512KB
Title: Re: Wonderful idea, not currently workable (IMHO)...
Post by: teedge77 on October 08, 2007, 10:29:21 pm
i know you werent criticizing me. just saying that theres not a lot of room in the signature and that i dont have any PVRs so im not much help there. i do think its a good idea to see what everyone has working if they dont mind doing it. is there a place in the wiki we could put it? like a user configuration place? i guess as part of our profile? then we could just put the link and people could look. idk. the signature is pretty limiting.
Title: Re: Wonderful idea, not currently workable (IMHO)...
Post by: tekoholic on October 09, 2007, 06:13:03 am
If you don't mind investing in a new motherboard (everything built in -- video/audio etc) then it might be worth trying a proven motherboard. It does work, at least as much as shown in the video!

I do, greatly appreciate your input.  However, in regards to this, I ask you:  What if the whole system works, as a standalone MC?  At least, other than the buggy Nvidia driver (Yup, 100.14.19) and crap tv-capture card, and even they mostly work...  I don't see this having anything to do with my mbd, because all worx as it should.  Simply, at this point, the PXE of MD's fails just after the announce step, and attempting to run Diskless_Setup.sh...  I and my fellow geek have even edited the script on the server, to echo that it IS running, but we've never seen the message...  Something IN THE SOFTWARE IS BROKEN, whether by a bad load, bad update, bad default config's (or my own normal config edits broke something), or whatever else, I cannot say.  I'm investigating file permissions, hunting for a way to verify that everything that is SUPPOSED to be installed IS, and trying to verify installed file integrity if there's any way to do so.  Again, the cd iso's md5 sums match, and I installed by directing the installer to those iso's, rather than burning cd's.  I've reinstalled this thing from scratch 7 times in the last 2 weeks, and I'm NOT going to do it again, until I absolutely must.  It is working better now than it ever had in the previous attempts.  Again, though, my hardware is fine.

As well, I DID add a second NIC, and reconfigured the system to use both correctly.  So far, all's the same as it was with just the one...

By the way, if it matters, creating a MD via the admin page, and setting up diskless image, still leaves the /usr/pluto/diskless directory EMPTY, just as attempting autodetection does.  So now, I MUST assume that either the documentation that told me the images would be stored there is inaccurate, or that my own installation is broken, and is not creating them?  And again, how might this be the fault of my mbd?  I've tried running scripts in the /usr/pluto/* sub-dir's that sounded like they might help (Verify_Installation.sh, Verify_Dependencies.sh, Create_DefaultDisklessImage.sh, etc., but don't quote me on the names), to no avail...  What else might I do, without spending any money?  No further $$-investment will be permitted by the wife, until I can show her a working system, so that idea's out...

Oh, please, help me, LMCE-Gods???
Title: Re: Wonderful idea, not currently workable (IMHO)...
Post by: tekoholic on October 09, 2007, 04:25:35 pm
OK, just to offer updates on my progress (if it can be called that), here I am again.

I am now using VMware to boot to the PXE, so that I don't need to have all these different machines laying around my living room (it was getting quite cluttered), and so I don't have to reboot my own main notebook.

At this point, thinking that I found the correct directory for the PXE images, I deleted the contents of the /tftpboot directory, and attempted rebuild of them.  The directory was populated by 2 directories:  default, and pxelinux.cfg.

Unfortunately, at this point, I get the following errors, and they are the same when using the actual system as well:

TFTP.
PXE-T01: File not found
PXE-E3B: TFTP Error - File Not found
PXE-M0F: Exiting Intel PXE ROM.
Title: Re: Unsure, still, what's wrong (was "Wonderful idea, not currently workable (IM
Post by: tekoholic on October 10, 2007, 08:48:05 pm
OK, new potential cause for all this:  My community's DSL services have been horribly flaky for the last few weeks.  I'm starting to wonder if it's flaking out in the middle of an attempted update, and fubar'ing the data???  Is there any sort of integrity check upon a downloaded update file, before installation?  If there isn't, I'm of the opinion that there should be...

In any case, is there any way to roll back the updates, so as to redo them from fresh downloads???
Title: Re: Unsure, still, what's wrong (was "Wonderful idea, not currently workable (IM
Post by: tschak909 on October 10, 2007, 11:43:18 pm
Check this thread:

http://forum.linuxmce.org/index.php?topic=2300.0

-Thom
Title: Re: Unsure, still, what's wrong (was "Wonderful idea, not currently workable (IM
Post by: tekoholic on October 11, 2007, 04:59:59 am
You're wonderful, Thom...  However, as my DSL has been down ALL DAY, due to their 7th attempt to repair whatever the trouble is, I didn't receive your post until it was too late.  I decided to start from scratch, and am already in the process.  I'd have liked to try out the solution you sent me after, just to see...

Anyhow, just to detail what has me doing this, in case it is relevant:  I realized that I had set up my /home partition on an LVM2 software RAID set, of 2 partitions on separate disks, on the server.  I had, at one point, noticed that the LMCE system saw the 2 partitions as separate, unpartitioned space, even while it saw and used the /home mount-point to it's full capacity.  This got me wondering if there might be a conflict between LVM2 and the LMCE system, so I decided to quit troubleshooting the old, and start anew.

At this point, I've got a 30G EXT3 (was reiserfs) partition for /, and will allow /home to remain mounted within (for now).  Then, the 3 25G unpartitioned areas of 3 disks will be turned into a raid-set by LMCE's native mechanism, and I've got a 1G swap partition on each of the 4 disks (it was 2Gx4, but the system never used more than a few Megs).  As well, I've downloaded the Nvidia 100.14.11 driver, to replace the 100.14.19 I was using, as it is known to be buggy.  Just hoping that if any of these things were even a small part of the cause of my issues, I can fix them.

I'll be back to post progress, as soon as the install is complete!!
Title: Re: Unsure, still, what's wrong (was "Wonderful idea, not currently workable (IM
Post by: tschak909 on October 11, 2007, 05:15:24 am
dude, don't do lvm with linuxMCE. it will not recognise the LVM slices.. I figured this out too late, and the only solution for me was to mount the LVM slice via the fstab as /home...and now it always thinks my lvm slice has 500 megs free, it doesn't get the disk free bytes correctly because it can't grep for the partition correctly and update the database.. if I can track it down, I will try to fix at least that problem, if not adding support for LVM slices to LinuxMCE's automatic discovery process.

-Thom
Title: Re: Unsure, still, what's wrong (was "Wonderful idea, not currently workable (IM
Post by: tekoholic on October 11, 2007, 06:21:09 am
dude, don't do lvm with linuxMCE. it will not recognise the LVM slices..
Well then!!!  I guess I might just be on the right track...

Quote
I figured this out too late...
Haha, as have I, it seems!!  Well, the hard lessons are the most effective ones!!  Lol...

Wish I'd thought to mention that part of the setup days / weeks ago!!  Anyhow, I think it might be a good idea to place info to this effect on the wiki and forum...  LVM has become a standard setup for many (myself included), for the sake of ease of expansion.  That being said, many will set it up during Kubuntu install, or at least prior to installing LMCE, and may cause themselves the same (or similar) problems...

To your knowledge, is there any issue with using the Kubuntu DVD, rather than the CD?  I always try to avoid CD images anymore, as the DVD's are usually a whole lot more complete...

Thank you, again.  Now, at least I do know that I'm fixing some issues, if not all of them...

I'll post progress as I can!!

edit:  Any idea what version of the nvidia driver is bundled?  My 7300 GT usually gets 1024x768 with 4000~ fps all day long under the newer 2 versions, but is only getting <1000 at 800x600 with the one the LMCE installer put in, at least for the duration of the install...
Title: Re: Unsure, still, what's wrong (was "Wonderful idea, not currently workable (IM
Post by: tschak909 on October 11, 2007, 06:30:13 am
should not be a problem. However, when LinuxMCE is installed, you should not use APT beyond that point, because there might be a situation where you will cause package conflicts with the kubuntu repository, and the LinuxMCE update packages that get automatically downloaded. This can happen for example, if you install slimserver via apt to upgrade it.

this software is still very much in transition, and things like this have popped up, and a workaround will no doubt be done..but in the mean-time, watch what you install.

as for expandability... you can set up linux-md RAID arrays, and the web-admin site has a facility for this. Do keep in mind that with LinuxMCE, it automatically switches to your least-filled drive anyway when you add new storage, so the whole issue of needing to do LVM becomes somewhat moot and the resulting disks can be removed easier. You've also got the option of using NAS as well.

-Thom

p.s. are you sure the nvidia driver is being loaded?? check your xorg.conf to make sure vesa isn't being incorrectly loaded... As for me, I put in an 8600GT, and had to install the vendor drivers (basically, install, go through AV wizard, let it roll through the LMCE launcher, DO NOT LET IT PASS THROUGH THE BOOT PROCESS WITHOUT GOING THROUGH THE AV WIZARD AFTER INSTALLING THE DRIVERS AND REBOOTING BECAUSE THE X WRAPPER WILL UNDO YOUR CHANGES!)

the next version of LinuxMCE (due VERY SOON NOW) should have much newer drivers that support the current crop of cards in the retail shops.
Title: Re: Unsure, still, what's wrong (was "Wonderful idea, not currently workable (IM
Post by: tekoholic on October 11, 2007, 07:19:19 am
should not be a problem. However, when LinuxMCE is installed, you should not use APT beyond that point, because there might be a situation where you will cause package conflicts with the kubuntu repository, and the LinuxMCE update packages that get automatically downloaded. This can happen for example, if you install slimserver via apt to upgrade it.

Doing this install EXACTLY to defaults.  I'll worry about adding other things (phpmyadmin, azureus / vuze, few other things that should not conflict) AFTER it worx, and I've backed the system up...

Quote
as for expandability... you can set up linux-md RAID arrays, and the web-admin site has a facility for this. Do keep in mind that with LinuxMCE, it automatically switches to your least-filled drive anyway when you add new storage, so the whole issue of needing to do LVM becomes somewhat moot and the resulting disks can be removed easier. You've also got the option of using NAS as well.

As I've learned...  But, of course, that's what this project is all about, for me, is learning.  I intend to install these for home-owners in the area, so I'll need to know the system inside and out, before I get started.  I will use LMCE's RAID facilities to create the 3-disk set for local disk performance' sake.  I've already got an old system in place for nothing but to act as NAS for now, and hopefully a bit of extra horsepower once LMCE is clusterable (maybe with the next updates???).  I've got a few other old 500-700Mhz machines as well, for use as MD's (and future clustering) eventually, but I've run out of good memory at the moment.  Won't be long, I'll get some more...  Add to that the 3 notebooks we'll use as diskless MD's as well, and we'll have one heluva' setup!!  That does bring up another question, though:  If I put HDD's in each of the MD's (of course the notebooks have them already), will LMCE recognize the free space, and make use of it, as well???  Can they act as slave-backends, in the MythTV concept of thought???  That would be beautiful...  Basically, it could all act similarly to the Coda FS (virtual RAID over network), by my imagination...  Oh, beautiful dreams...

Quote
p.s. are you sure the nvidia driver is being loaded??

VERY sure...  I did allow the LMCE installer to install the driver IT found appropriate, rebooted, and went NO further without checking...  Will install the 100.14.11 driver once I've gotten thru the AVWiz...  Already aware of the bugs in 100.14.19, and even though I had it working (sorta'), I won't tempt fate this time around (at least until I've got the system fully working and backed up)...

Thanx again...
Title: Re: Unsure, still, what's wrong (was "Wonderful idea, not currently workable (IM
Post by: tekoholic on October 11, 2007, 07:50:29 pm
OK, now that install has completed...

Install went better than it has in prior attempts.  All updates HAVE been downloaded and installed.  All seems to be working, at least so far as I've tested...  Have NOT yet set up the RAID set, as it will not detect the unpartitioned space for it's use (I guess it needs to be partitioned).  As well, I've not yet tried to boot up a remote MD...  We'll see how that goes in a bit.

The Nvidia Driver that LMCE installed is working on the VGA port@ 1024x768:60, with UI2 / Overlay (haven't yet tried Alpha Blending).  However, I cannot get the AVWiz to come back up on boot, to try transferring video-out to the Svideo port for the TV (supposed to be my ONLY display), or to try the Alpha Blending...  I've not yet tried holding the shift button down during boot.  That's next...  If it worx, I'll not even mess with the other driver attempts!!!
Title: Re: Unsure, still, what's wrong (was "Wonderful idea, not currently workable (IM
Post by: tschak909 on October 11, 2007, 08:06:55 pm
holding down shift during boot is the best way to get to the AV wizard if you do not have a Fiire Chief remote.

-Thom
Title: Re: Unsure, still, what's wrong (was "Wonderful idea, not currently workable (IM
Post by: tekoholic on October 11, 2007, 10:52:10 pm
holding down shift during boot is the best way to get to the AV wizard if you do not have a Fiire Chief remote.

As I was already informed...  It worked!!!!!  I'm now running the LMCE-default Nvidia driver (still unsure of version #, but if it worx, who cares?!?), 800x600-60 (had to manually edit xorg.conf for res better than 640x480-60) on s-video to TV, using UI2 with overlay (unsure if Alpha Blending will work, but this even looks a bit better, IMHO), and it's GREAT, that I didn't have to fight with the other buggy driver install issues!!!!!

Anyhow, does anyone know about how long it will take, to activate the spare drive (partition) on a 3-separate-disk, 28.8G per partition RAID-5 set? 
edit:  Never mind...  I decided to stop it in progress, after almost 3 hours, and turn them into RAID-0 (didn't like the fact that RAID-5 only gave me 2/3 the space to begin with...).  That took about an hour to complete, but it's done now...

As soon as RAID is set up, I'll be venturing into the remote, diskless MD setup, again...
edit:  OK, here's where I'm having my first real problem, again, but differently than before...  I decided to stick with using VMware images for testing sake.  The one I'm using has a 2G vHDD, intended for swap, and the vNIC is bridged to my wireless (just to untether, for the moment).  The vSys boots, but never gets to the Announce step, freezing at "eth0: Link Up".  I let it sit there for nearly 2 hours the first time, it's been sitting there for nearly an hour on this second, and I'm going to go ahead with an attempt on my real notebook at this point.  Here's crossing my fingers...

Thanx again, Thom, for all your help.  I've learned alot, and am attempting, each time I see an opportunity, to assist others with my new-found education and experience!!!
Title: Re: Finally getting there (was "Unsure, still, what's wrong)
Post by: tschak909 on October 12, 2007, 03:01:56 am
I'm very glad you were able to get it running. I do hope that this system becomes easier to install, with time. If the evolution of Linux is any indication, this WILL happen.

As for testing media director functionality, I have not tried doing vmware, but I would imagine using a bridged-ethernet type setup would be most optimal.

-Thom
Title: Re: Finally getting there (was "Unsure, still, what's wrong)
Post by: Zaerc on October 12, 2007, 02:05:09 pm
There is a page in the wiki about using vmware that you might find useful: http://wiki.linuxmce.org/index.php/Testing_with_VMWare
Title: Re: Finally getting there (was "Unsure, still, what's wrong)
Post by: tekoholic on October 12, 2007, 07:27:47 pm
I'm very glad you were able to get it running. I do hope that this system becomes easier to install, with time. If the evolution of Linux is any indication, this WILL happen.

As for testing media director functionality, I have not tried doing vmware, but I would imagine using a bridged-ethernet type setup would be most optimal.

Ooh, I wouldn't say I've quite got it running, just yet...

There is a page in the wiki about using vmware that you might find useful: http://wiki.linuxmce.org/index.php/Testing_with_VMWare

Here's where I'm at with things:

I gave up on VMware, as I couldn't get it past the point I mentioned.  However, I was able to get my Wife's notebook to come up as diskless MD via PXE.  Her's is the off-brand, and is working well (although video card is crap, UI1 is it for her).  Tried with my own (the pavilion dv6423om), and things went great until reboot.  At that point, it halted with an error similar to "nvidia: NVIDIA module taints kernel".  Haven't gotten it up since...  As well, however, during the creation of these 2 images, the Core went somewhat haywire on the display, and since, it cannot load it's own Orbiter.  I get an error, "Not starting device 20 OnScreen Orbiter - binary is not found, probably it is in the middle...", and have not been able to troubleshoot it further.  Wondering if maybe I'll have to install a newer Nvidia driver?  I thought I had gotten away with avoiding that mess again...  Anyhow, I'll troubleshoot further as time permits, and post back results as I come across them.

Thank you both for all your help!!