Topics

16

Users / Network Configuration Question

« on: March 14, 2008, 05:56:26 pm »

How do I open the external interface on the core for file sharing?

My core is on our internal network.  I have the external interface obtaining an address from our router and the internal interface connected to an independant switch that all the MD's are connected to.

External IP:  192.168.1.66 (Which is the subnet that our internal workstations are connected to.)
Internal IP:  192.168.80.1  (The subnet all MD's are on.)

I want to be able to browse the public share from the workstations on the 192.168.1.xx subnet, however being the External interface of the Core, it seems to be blocking this traffic.  How do I open that up?  I'm not concerned about security as our perimeter firewall then the internal router are protecting the Core from outside traffic.

Thanks

17

Users / Commercial installation questions.

« on: February 22, 2008, 09:19:34 pm »

Is there any kind of control interface that can be used to monitor/control MD's?

Specifically, let's say I have multiple entertainment areas with multiple MD's in them and I want to play different infomercial vids or DVD's on them as I choose.  Is there an interface that I can sit down in my office and choose MediaX play on Entertainment area 1 and MediaZ play on Entertainment area 2, etc.  I've explored the scenarios but that seems extremely cumbersome, I'd just like to select the media and it's destination as many times it will be a one off thing.  (Current promos and the like)

Also, is it possible to, from my office, view what is currently playing on a given MD?

18

Installation issues / Cable box not showing up on MD

« on: February 04, 2008, 06:14:32 pm »

I've got my cable box installed on the Core/Hybrid and MythTV setup and it works as expected.  When running through the wizard I said to enable the box for all users.  Upon bringing my diskless MD online I don't see the cable box in the media menu.

First: Should I see it and if so, what am I missing?

Second: Should I be able to use MythTV from my MD and how do I set that up?

19

Users / Cable box and MythTV interface.

« on: February 03, 2008, 07:46:22 pm »

I got my cable box and MythTV all setup but I'm not understanding something.

I only get Live TV when I set my MythTV channel to 4, any other channel is static.  Like on a TV with a cable box.  When I'm set to channel 4 I can change channels on my cable box with the cable remote, but that pretty much renders the Native Myth guide and recording useless as it has to stay on channel 4.

I want to have my cable box change channels when I select a channel from the guide not the tuner card.  Can this be done?

20

Users / eSATA NTFS hard drive reports 0MB

« on: February 03, 2008, 01:54:49 am »

I'm trying to add a 500Gb eSATA hard drive to hold media.  New empty NTFS partition on the drive, I plug it into my 0710 box and it recognizes it.  I go through the wizard to use the drive for media and when I try to rip a dvd to it, it says the drive has 0MB.

Any ideas?

21

Users / Need help getting updates.

« on: February 01, 2008, 05:43:51 pm »

I'm trying to get updates on my 0704 core (new install).  It's been running for 3 days and the version info on the Advanced page shows Sat, Aug 4 2007.

When I click on "Force Upgrade Now", nothing happens.

I tried running these commands as per other posts to manually update:

cd /usr/pluto/bin
sudo ./LMCEUpdate_DownloadXml.sh
sudo ./LMCEUpdate
(takes some time, but when complete...)
sudo ./LMCEUpdate_Apply.sh

However when I get to the second one, I get this:

dcerouter_55697:/usr/pluto/bin# sudo ./LMCEUpdate
LMCEUpdate, v.1
Visit www.linuxmce.com for source code and license information

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 11:14:18 -0800 Helper Script Started
I/O warning : failed to load external entity "/home/updates/updates.xml"
01      01/31/08 11:14:18.777           Failed to parse xml /home/updates/updates.xml <0xb77fe8e0>
05      01/31/08 11:14:18.777           UpdatesManager::init : XML parser error <0xb77fe8e0>
01      01/31/08 11:14:18.777           Updates manager failure. <0xb77fe8e0>
Thu, 31 Jan 2008 11:14:18 -0800 RECV :
dcerouter_55697:/usr/pluto/bin# Thu, 31 Jan 2008 11:14:18 -0800 Helper Script End

Still no updates.

I'm at a stage where I need to get MythTV setup but it seems I can't without these updates.  Can anybody steer me in the right direction?

Thx

22

Users / TV listings help.

« on: January 31, 2008, 07:14:42 pm »

Sorry to keep inundating this forum with newblet questions.  I'm trying to setup my Hughes Sat receiver and all is going well but I get to the screen where it tells me to go to labs.zap2it.com and setup an account, no problem I do so.  Then on the next screen I enter my username and password and it gives me the error:

"There was an error retrieving provider information.  Confirm you location is set correctly.  Check the network connection."

Obviously I have confirmed the location as well as the network connection and they seem fine.  Any suggestions?

Thanks

23

Users / Hoping someone here can help.

« on: January 29, 2008, 05:44:46 pm »

I've got a Fiire Engine and two Fiire stations.  The core showed up with a failed hard drive so I put another drive in it and installed 704 from my download, all went well except when I tried to start the Fiire Station MD's. 

Evidently there are special VIA drivers that should have been on an installation DVD from the company which I did not receive.  So the Fiire techs uploaded "VIA archives" to my core last night but I have no clue as to what to do with them.  Unfortunately I'm told there won't be a tech available for four hours and I don't want to wait that long.  Can anybody tell me how I'm supposed to install these things?

The three files they sent are as follows:
boot.tgz
kubuntu.tgz
pluto44md.tgz

Any ideas?

24

Users / Just venting general frustration.

« on: January 25, 2008, 07:42:35 pm »

First, I'm a Windows guy.  Now, that doesn't mean I'm an OS biggot.  It just means that in my business (IT support for small businesses) Windows is the dominant OS so that's what I've put my effort into for the last 12 years.  (MCSE, CCNA, Network+, etc.)  So, I'm a linux newbie and I am fully aware that this is the main reason for my frustration.

Second, I also believe that LinuxMCE is a good product and I commend everyone involved in it's development for their hard work.

Now the frustration part.  Mostly it's documentation, it seems to me that the Wiki assumes in many areas that the user is familiar with linux.  I have often been greeted with the solution "You can do that in the Admin page" as if from there it is totally obvious.  Well, it's not.  The Admin page is confusing at best.  One example is adding a diskless MD.  The documentation says to add the MAC address of the MD in the admin page then boot up your MD and all will be candy and soda!  However in the Admin page I go to Wizard > Devices > Media Directors and I see a New Device button that seems to be what I want.  I click it and Choose the manufacturer, category and template and then update the MD page assuming that my new device will show up seeing as I think I've just added it (I have to assume that because the wiki says nothing other than "Do that in the admin page").  Well I click update and nope, no new device.  So where am I supposed to enter this MAC address?  I try the Setup Diskless MD button, reload the router and still no MD in the list.

In desperation I just turn the MD on and it now shows up in my MD devices list with the correct MAC address and everything but the damn thing hangs at "Helper Script End".  It's been sitting there for 3 hours now and I've scoured the wiki for any hint at what to do and of course there's no love.

As I said this is just one of the many problems I'm having, not to mention setting up AV equipment which is about as vague as the Bible in the wiki as well. 

It seems to me that the wiki assumes too much about the users knowledge of the system and being brand new to LinuxMCE with very little linux experience in general I'm getting more and more frustrated by the minute.

I'm a savvy guy however and I'm sure I'll get it figured out but for now I need to step away from this thing and breath a little.

/end rant

25

Users / How do I add a hard drive as a media location?

« on: January 24, 2008, 10:03:49 pm »

I've installed on a small drive in my computer, I have an eSATA 500GB drive which is where I want to be my media location.  How do I do that?  I don't see anywhere that I can define which drive to rip to.

Thanks

26

Users / I'm confused yet again....

« on: December 27, 2007, 08:55:14 pm »

OK, I've read and reread the wiki and I can't gleen a clear answer to this.

I'm not understanding how the LinuxMCE system will control my A/V equipment.  Here's what I mean specifically.

Most of my A/V equipment is very basic, meaning my TV's only have RCA or Coax input, no RS232 or anything, same with my cable boxes, S-Video and Coax out with only Coax in, again no RS232.  The MD's (I'm looking at the Fiire boxes), only have S-Video or VGA/DVI output and computer soundcard type audio out (which none of my A/V equipment has).  So how does my Cable box and TV hook up and once the A/V part is hooked up, how in the hell is the MD going to communicate with it in terms of power on/off, channel changing, input selection, etc?

I looked at the diagrams showing the connections between devices and there is something called an "Interface Module" that connects to the receiver through IR and to the TV through RS232 but what exactly is it ("Interface Module" is pretty vague) and what happens if I don't have any RS232 connections?

Thanks in advance

27

Users / Storage sizing

« on: December 18, 2007, 12:11:26 am »

Can anyone help me out with sizing the storage on this system.  I'm looking to find out how many standard DVD's (Not HD) I can rip per TB of storage.  I have roughly 2200 DVD's and would ideally like to get them all on the core.

Thanks.

28

Users / Newbie question (again)

« on: December 17, 2007, 10:12:00 pm »

I'm a little confused on exactly how A/V equipment physically connects to the system.

If I have a core and 2 MD's, I gather I hook the cable box up to a video capture card in the core.  Will I be able to watch two different channels at the MD's with one cable box or will I need two cable boxes hooked up to the Core?  If the latter is the case, does that mean 2 video capture cards installed and what happens when I need 6 or more? 

Likewise how do other A/V devices physically connect?  For instance, Cable box + CD changer + DVD Jukebox + Satellite Box, etc.?  I don't see anything on the wiki that adequately explains the physical hookups of all this equipment.  I need this info before purchasing hardware so I know what to purchase.

Is the video/audio transmitted to the tv's from the core over ethernet?  If so, what is the point at which the traffic is too heavy for smooth playback and what is the solution?

Thx

29

Users / Good Hardware to make this thing rock.

« on: December 14, 2007, 04:51:28 pm »

I'm going to be building a system for my home, can anyone help me with a known working hardware list.

I want good gear that won't be buggy and will perform excellent, price is not an issue up to about 5K.

The system will consist of the core and three clients, I'll only be using it for AV right now.

Any help would be appreciated.

Edit:
Before Thom rips me again to read the wiki, I have seen the hardware section.  What I'm hoping for is user input on hardware they've used and that works well. 

30

Users / Playing multiple movies/media at the same time.

« on: December 14, 2007, 04:17:20 pm »

Does LinuxMCE do this?

Play one movie in the living room while someone else plays a different movie/music in another room?

If so, is there any special consideration/hardware to make it happen?

Thx