Topics

1

Installation issues / Frequent failure to display video properly

« on: September 28, 2007, 11:16:33 pm »

Quite frequently I will try to play a video or watch a tv broadcast, only to find that the sound is fine, but the video is totally messed up. It's as if there's some sort of codec missing. A reboot will normally fix this, but it happens so frequently that it's not really an option to just keep rebooting.

Once it happens it affects Xine, Linux MCE, and MythTV.

Anyone got an idea what could be causing this?

Cheers in advance

2

Feature requests & roadmap / C-bus/C-gate interface possible?

« on: September 27, 2007, 08:24:45 pm »

I'm an electrical contractor, and have a few clients interested in home automation, namely the Clipsal C-bus system.
http://www3.clipsal.com/cis/portal/

I'm failry certain it's possible to get it working using linux, but to have it working through Linux MCE would be superb.

I know of a company in Nantwich, Cheshire, selling machines using Linux MCE, who have said that they could get it working, but they want £13,000 for a backend, and £750 for each media director!
It was my disgust in their rediculous prices that has spurned me on to get a system of my own up and running on a much smaller budget.
Everyone has to make a buck, but I don't believe in ripping off my clients, so I'm looking for an alternative.

Is the standard Generic Serial Device module up to the task, or would it require something more?
It's possible some financial compensation could be sorted if required.

3

Installation issues / Slow running and warning message

« on: September 26, 2007, 08:09:25 pm »

In order to use my machine with a CRT TV in my lounge, the final step of my installation was to ditch the onboard graphics, and add a graphics card with a TV out. Since my onboard was an nvidia 7050pv, which worked just fine, I bought another nVidia, this time a 7300GT.

Thinking I should be able to just plug the card in, I did so, and booted up the PC.
All went well, with the kubuntu logo appearing, and the progress bar going all the way up, the dcerouter login screen popped up as per usual, and from there linux mce would normally auto start.

However all I got was a blank screen with a small horizontal white flashing line in the top left corner (Like an underscore). I left the machine just in case it was doing something, but ages later nothing had changed.

Figuring I must be missing something, I powered down, removed the card, and booted up again, this time using the onboard gfx.

This time it booted up into linux MCE, however everything was really jerky, and the GUI was totally messed up, just random blue and grey blocks where the tabs should be.

I eventually managed to open up the kde desktop, which took ages to load, and was just as jerky, and it popped up a message saying:-

The Process For File Protocol Died Unexpectedly

This now happens every time I run the PC, and google hasn't really thrown up any definite causes/fixes.

If anyone has any suggestions I'd be most grateful.

Thanks in advance

John

4

Installation issues / Problem with DVD playback

« on: September 20, 2007, 09:06:55 pm »

Hi All. I've recently installed Linux MCE, and have had various problems, but the most recent is DVD playback. With the help of a more Linux savvy friend, we discovered we had to install a few things to get dvd's to work, and they work just fine from the kubuntu desktop. However when in linux mce, I can only get as far as the menus, which take ages to load up in the first place. After hitting play movie, all I get is a black screen. The dvd drive seems to be reading the disk as I can hear it spinning, and the read light is going on and off, but other than that I have nothing. I must admit I haven't connected to an amp yet, so I'm unsure whether audio is playing.
Does anybody have any idea what might be the problem?

Thanks in advance

John