Topics

1

Users / Hard Drive Help

« on: December 27, 2010, 11:24:40 pm »

Hi all,

I hope this should be an easy question to answer. What file system should I use for formatting a 1TB external hard drive for use with linuxMCE? I want to fill it with blu-ray sized movies.

I'm not sure if NTFS or FAT32 will work or does Kubuntu use it's own format?

Then how do I add or delete drives from LinuxMCE?

Thanks

2

Installation issues / First diskless MD boot

« on: October 06, 2010, 11:07:36 am »

Hi all.

I just installed a LMCE core and attempted to network boot a MD. I still havn’t got one to work. Here’s a few issues I’ve encountered.

1.You need to run /usr/pluto/bin/Diskless_CreateTBZ.sh I couldn’t run it under the command line interface, I had to do it through Bash on the KDE desktop.

2.Although there is loads of information detailing network settings they are based on a 2 network card configuration. There is no space in my PC for a second card. I have a fantastic integrated modem/wireless router that from what I understand doesn’t fit well with the duel network card theory. The following is the way I’m currently preparing my system for a network boot.

On the Core
Advanced >> Network Settings >> Use DHCP
Computing >>Web Admin >> Advanced >> Network >> Network Settings >>
   a.Check Enable DHCP Server Proxies 192.168.80.1 to 192.168.80.128
   b.Check Provide IP addresses for anonymous devices not in Pluto Database 192.168.80.129 to 192.168.80.254
   c.Choose “Obtain an IP address from DHCP server”
On the router
DHCP settings >> Turn DHCP off >> Save and reboot
On the MD (Windows) Apparently with this configuration MD’s need static IP’s??
Plug in LAN cable. Right click on the LAN connection, select Properties >> Select Internet Protocol Version 4, click Properties >> Choose “Use the following IP Address
-IP: 192.168.1.101
-Subnet Mask: 225.225.225.0
-Default Gateway: 192.168.1.1

And “Use the following DNS server address
-Preferred DNS: 192.168.1.1
-Alternate DNS: XXX.XXX.XX.XX (this is from my ISP)

At startup ensure BIOS is set to Network boot first preference

3.On first attempt at network boot I got the error
“Trying to load pxelinux.cfg/default
Kernel panic – Not syncing. Attempted to kill init”

It appears that I can solve that problem by going into /tftpboot/pxelinux.cfg and editing the default boot script to remove acpi=off.

4.I now get stuck at the following error-
Ipconfig: no devices to configure
/init: .: line 1: can’t open /tmp/net-eth0.conf
[4.193551 Kernel panic – not syncing: Attempted to kill init”

Judging from the post by bombastic here http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=975417 there is a fairly long solution requiring a static IP to be set in pxelinux.cfg/default. I have not attempted this yet.

So it’s a work in progress! Make any comments or suggestions you like, I am open to all advice!

3

Users / Adding a hard drive

« on: September 30, 2010, 08:30:37 am »

This might sound like a silly topic but how do I add a hard drive to LinuxMCE?

I have 1TB of blu-ray quality video on an external drive but i'm not sure how to include it into LinuxMCE. I've tried running the LinuxMCE setup again, the only section I could imagine it might appear under would be "Other A/V devices" but it's not there. Also, it's NTFS, is that a suitable format? I hope so because I don't have another terabyte anywhere to place the files while I change the format!

4

Users / Screen resolution

« on: September 29, 2010, 04:19:59 am »

I'm using nVidia 8400 and a cheap Plasma over HDMI. I setup the resolution for LinuxMCE using the wizard, everything looks great. The problem arises when changing to KDE Desktop.

The resolution settings are wrong, everything is too small. First I started Kmenu>Settings>Display and changed the resolution to what looked like the next lowest. As soon as it switched, my monitor could no longer display the image, I didn't click anything but it never reverted back.

I used terminal to reboot and again I can see the KDE Desktop but it's resolution is wrong, but now when I select the Kmenu>settings>display (also Kmenu>applications>system>ScreenResize&Rotate) it appears to remember what I changed the resolution to last time,immediatly revert, and again i'm stuck with no input.

I want to know if-
1. There is a solution to the Display application not reverting to the previous resolution when nothing is clicked and if it's possable to change it's default back to something that my monitor can accept.


2. If Display will not revert back, I may need to switch the output over to VGA and try change the settings on a monitor. If this is the case, how can I switch the output from HDMI to VGA? Windows is a simple Fn key, is there anything like that in Kubuntu? Keep in mind I have only a very basic understanding of Kubuntu so please try to explain in layman's terms.

Cheers

5

Users / Keyboard - DVD contols

« on: September 29, 2010, 02:25:06 am »

As my first test of LinuxMCE, I put a DVD into the drive. It worked straight away which is good but the only control I have is by right clicking the mouse, which gives me a mute button and a play/pause button. Without a separate orbiter or MCE remote, how do i use other controls (ff, rew, subtitles, volume, EXIT!). I can't even stop the DVD and pressing the button on the front of the drive has no effect

::At least using the eject command means I don't have to keep watching this terrible movie!

6

Users / Errors found in 152 lines. Snapshot install

« on: September 28, 2010, 03:06:12 pm »

I just downloaded a recent iso snapshot, created a boot disk and when I booted from it I chose "check the disk for errors". It reports "Errors found in 152 files!". Is this a problem?

7

Users / Client speaks protocol version 50 but we speak 56

« on: September 19, 2010, 01:18:18 pm »

Hi all,

I'm very new to this. LinuxMCE reports that "MythTV seems to have died", I often get problems when trying to start mythTV-setup and frontend. Sometimes TV will play for a few seconds, then crash.

Console displays the error "Client speaks protocol version 50 but we speak 56" and "warning unknown socket closing mythsocket".

I assumed that the frontend and backend must be different versions which seemed strange because they were both installed with the same package at the same time. I used
mythbackend --version
mythTV version: 23227M
mythTV branch: tags/release-0-23
Network protocol: 56

mythfrontend --version
mythTV version: 23227M
mythTV branch: tags/release-0-23
Network protocol: 56


They seem to be the same. Does anyone have any idea why i'm still getting this message?

8

Installation issues / MythTV Tiny text

« on: September 12, 2010, 03:48:03 pm »

Hi all,

This is my first post to these forums, i've held off and worked through a number of issues but i'm stuck with this one. I've got only basic Kubuntu knowledge, I recently installed the newest LinuxMCE 8.10, my machine is a basic business level PC, integrated graphics and sound, connected to my router which is linked to a HDhomerun DVB-T capture device.

I believe all the steps to install LinuxMCE were completed successfully, the PC can access the internet, play sound and Kubuntu and the UI1 display as I would expect. The tutorial with Kate or whatever her name was went well, she identified the two HDhomerun tuners although it seemed as though they may have been assumed to be routers with my router identified as a device connected to them. Either way that was ok however she could not find any guide data. I had not installed the driver or updated the firmware prior to the setup. I chose to use MythTV over the other option.

THE ISSUE: When I click the TV button on the orbiter screen i get the message:

"MythTV seems to have died. I'm trying to reset it now. If you do not see the TV, try stopping it and restarting it. If you still have any problems you may need to reboot"

pressing ok in a black screen however pressing nothong results in the message "MythTV is having problems. Reset the back end?". If I do that then i get a black screen again if I say no, then i get a basic media player type window with a black screen.

I tried using the web admin page, selected the HDhomerun from the list as my DVR, updated and restarted but still the same problem.

I searched and ran MythTV-setup on the Kubuntu desktop. This opened a gray/brown window with a list at the top left corner. The list is WAY too small to read, like 1pt size. I can press up and down to move through the menu but I have no idea what it says. If i press the esc button it seems to move to the next setup window which is all impossably small, esc again and I get another screen with a button but nothing else visible.

I tried to adjust the Xterm font size using the console commands but I got the message 'xterm xt error: can't open display: xterm: DISPLAY is not set"

I edited my xterm displaysize in the config file. When I returned to the desktop the font for the menus were MASSIVE but the MythTV text was still microscopic.

I used a different monitor with no difference.

I was under the impression that the HDhomerun was plug&play and I wouldnt even need to use the mythTV setup.

I also tried to install the driver as per the instructions on the SiliconDust website, i downloaded the tar, i ran configure make and install make but I have no idea if it made any difference. I cant see any app or GUI (as the file is called) as such on the desktop.

Does anyone have any suggestions?