Messages

121

Users / Re: I must say... (and Hello from a newbie)

« on: February 28, 2009, 10:07:27 am »

Heh, actually already ahead of you on that, but that is exactly what i am going to do.

I ended up running into several issues trying to get Kubuntu even installed on the A8V machine so I just went ahead and am loading it on the optiplex 755, instead doing 3 hard drives with the intent to make 2 of them a raid1 after installation. CD 1 is caching right now.

edit:

Has anyone tried getting an ATI TV Wonder Pro to work as an additional capture card within LMCE? I have one laying around and figured now would be a good time to put it to use. I know the CPU handles the processing unlike the Hauppauge WinTV-PVR-500 MCE card. I found a site that has a driver with it working under mythTV. I am thinking if i stick it in a media director, it will puts its procesor to use and not tax the Core. It would be nice to have 3 TV tuners, especially as more Media Directors get added in the future.

Also as a question assuming i end up putting the TV Wonder Pro in my MD. Do the recorded shows still end up on the Core system? If im installing LMCE on the system and not doing network boots, is it possible to have its recordings stored locally and still have the Cores recordings stored on the Core? Or am I limited to storing the recorded TV from all sources on the Core?

122

Users / Re: new z-wave install

« on: February 28, 2009, 03:34:19 am »

Slightly on topic and seems to fit in with what he is asking...

Is there a wiki page that outlines the different choices available for use (z-wave, x10, etc)

Then expanding on those choices, lists what is required in order to set that brand up to connect it to the LMCE system.

Then slightly expanding on that, a list of available items (shitches\dimmers, etc) and which ones are known to work with LMCE, which have some quirks and which do not work at all?

Forgive me if i missed it, but i didnt find anything like this. What information is available seems to be scattered over several pages and makes it difficult for someone that does not know a lot to get a grasp on exactly what would be needed, etc. Im getting an idea as I go, but if this doesnt exist, it would be a good asset to newbies or those just trying to expand their current system. Ill help make something once i get to that point if it doesnt exist already.

123

Users / Re: I must say... (and Hello from a newbie)

« on: February 27, 2009, 09:12:06 pm »

Well, after the nice wait for the DL disk, the dvd drive i have in the system will not boot it, go figure. The disk boots in the laptop that burned it so I assume it is a drive issue, maybe needs a firmware update or so. I just decided to go with the standard 32bit install DVD. Maybe I can pull the extra's off of the disk later or something.

Also during the install (just started) it seems LMCE is again seeing each drive individually and ignoring the onboard Raid controllers. Im going to let the installation finish and see if i can configure software raid afterwards, but I might as well look for a way to make it see it corretly during installation. While im at it i might as well look into the dvd drive.

I started a Wiki page to outline everything as i go along and ill create additional pages if I find any good workarounds for problems i run into.

Edit:

So after the restart asking me to remove the disk, i get Error 2 and a flashing cursor after it tries to load GRUB. I am thinking I should reconsider using the Optiples 755 as the Core until I learn a bit more about linux in general. So tonight I will start there and see where I go.

124

Users / Re: I must say... (and Hello from a newbie)

« on: February 27, 2009, 05:45:31 am »

thanks for the link, but ill just let the DL run its coarse. I had a few good spurts of high download today and made it to 38%. Ill see how tonight and tomorrow goes, if its close ill go overnight tomorrow and see if it finishes in time, if not ill just use the single layer dvd.

Edit:

ok, decided on the AMD64 3800+ but noticed ill run into a possible problem, it has the A8V Deluxe board and I saw it was noted in the Wiki I will not be able to use the AGP slot with the Hauppauge WinTV-PVR-500 MCE card. I have an old ATI 7000 PCI card, so ill give a test install tomorrow and see how it goes with that. Hopefully it wont matter since this machine is a Core installation.

125

Users / Re: I must say... (and Hello from a newbie)

« on: February 27, 2009, 04:45:12 am »

Thank you for the info Darren.

Looks like ill go with one of the older systems then for the Core. I am going to be doing the installation\migration of my current network slowly as i am able to get time.

I couldnt find any mention of this, so it probably doesnt matter, but does doing the core installation while being not connected to a network cause any problems? Is there anything that is normally automated that i would have to do manualy afterwords by doing this? I do not want to just drop the current setup and plug this in right from the start. My initial roleout plan is as follows:

1. Install Core (Off network, assuming there are no conflicts doing this)
2. Change XP-MCE to use DHCP
3a. Reconfigure Linksys Router to act as a AP
3b. Connect Core external NIC directly to Modem
3c. Setup temporary Switch to connect XP-MCE and AP to Core's Internal NIC
4. Move XP-MCE Hauppauge WinTV-PVR-500 MCE card to Core
5. Schedule recordings based off of XP-MCE for Core
6. Archive any data off of XP-MCE
7. Install LMCE as an MD on the system

Assuming no issues, I would like to complete up to 5 this weekend and up to 7 by next weekend. I can always network boot the current XP-MCE until then if i need to so this shouldnt be to hard to start with. Then i can move the rest of teh network as needed. As long as wireless has internet access i can get buy for a week on laptops.

Pnuts

126

Users / Re: I must say... (and Hello from a newbie)

« on: February 27, 2009, 01:40:41 am »

ok, with the download getting close to finishing (not the Dual Layer disk, still a week out on that, lol) I am running into road block on what I should do regarding the Core system. The Dell Optiplex 755 I wanted to use is limited to 2 PCI slots. 1 of which has to be used by a 2nd NIC (unless I use a USB NIC). I have 2 older machines that i could use instead, but i might run into issues with each of them also.

1. P4 3.0 with HT processor, 2gb of RAM
2. AMD64 3800, 2gb of RAM

If I use either of those systems, I will have 3 PCI slots open after the 2nd NIC. They also have onboard raid controllers (hopefully not like the Optiplex, but actual hardware raid controllers) so i would not need to use the PCI raid controller. I would be limited to either of these 2 AGP video cards though: NVIDIA GeForce FX 5900 Ultra or Radeon X800 XT. Since this is a core system only, I am not sure if that matters at all since it will not have a disply connected once its configured.

The lack of PCI slots heavily limits growth it seems. I have a Hauppauge WinTV-PVR-500 MCE card that i assume should go in the Core system (downsides to sticking it in another system?) and if i want to expand to make use of phone functionality, I would need to add a X100P card to use Comcast's VOIP. Thats 2 PCI slots there.

If you want to comment on the above, please do so, otherwise here are the specific questions i have for the experts:

1. Assuming when im finished that i have 5 MD's(3 initially, 2 more as time goes on. at most 1 of these will be network boot if that matters) would either of the 2 systems mentioned above be able to handle that without many issues, or should i stick to the Optiplex (Dual Core @2.33)

2. Can I have the Hauppauge WinTV-PVR-500 MCE card on a machine that is not the core? Aside from that PC needing to be on to record or watch TV, are there any other down sides to doing this?

3. Would a USB NIC be a terrible choice for the external NIC? Should I stick to the PCI card?

4. If I end up using the Optiplex as the Core and I use the USB NIC (or spring and buy a pci-e 1x NIC, but i would rather not spend any money right now), what would be the best choices to stick in the PCI slots? the Hauppauge WinTV-PVR-500 MCE card  and eventually the X100P or an additional capture card?

I know i could figure this all out on my own as i go, but if others already have experiance with it, it could save me a bit of time, so wh not ask right?

127

Users / Re: I must say... (and Hello from a newbie)

« on: February 26, 2009, 07:46:10 pm »

Well, I have the raid problem resolved. Basically the motherboard in the optiplex, dispite being set to RAID in the BIOS, is not actually raid. It forces windows to do a software raid during installation. The LMCE installation see it for what it is and prompts me which drive to install it on. I have a promise PCI card that im going to use instead of the supposed onboard raid. LMCE will only see the 1 raid drive this way instead of 2 seperate drives.

As for the install itself, im going to be delayed a little while. I decided to go with the DL dvd for the extra's, but it seems its taking a lot longer then anticipated to get it. im only downloading at about 20kb but uploading what i've already got between 60-80kb, only at 19% so far. I might just start the regular dvd to speed things along here.

I decided to just run with the DHCP as long as it works like it should. I figure if i have any problems i can resolve them as it comes.

Thansk everyone for the input, now to just finish the download, lol

Pnuts

128

Users / Re: I must say... (and Hello from a newbie)

« on: February 26, 2009, 12:55:59 am »

Thanks for the info, definetely going to go with the 32bit install then. Now to DL it

Also, thanks for the info on DHCP. I was under the impression the addesses would change often as they do with addresses handed out by my linksys wireless router. The main reason i did not use dhcp previously was routing specific ports to different machines, like xbox live to the 360 or web\ftp to the 2k3 server. I had run into issues where the linksys wireless router would give out addresses that another thing used. Like the xbox was off for a week or so and a wireless laptop got the address. Troubleshooting why im not getting connected properly to xbox live was fun the first time this happened. Since this is not going to be an issue, ill just run with dhcp.

---

As for the raid drive, im holding off on the instal until tonight and use a hardware raid card to mirror the drives, i was never a fan of software raids and wasnt aware until now the 755's did it this way. maybe ill stick a 3rd drive in there, load the OS on that and then just mirror the existing 2. This seems like a good bet to free up 250gb from the nas for more dvd's or something.

thanks for the info again guys

129

Users / Re: I must say... (and Hello from a newbie)

« on: February 25, 2009, 10:48:59 pm »

Thanks for the heads up.

I know with Windows, your limited to abotu 3gb of ram on 32bit systems, is that not true with linux (ill be googling this in a minute, but remember im not very well versed in linux OS's which is why i do not know).

If the machine is only used as a Core system, would being limited to 3gb cost me anything down the road (assuming above is true)

and thanks for the welcome

Edit: found the 3gb ram limitation holds true, so my questions become:

Do i need more then 3gb of RAM for a Core system? (what is performance like for people that use it with 3gb or less)
Do issues still exist on the 64bit platform?

Ill have to wait until tonight to load the raid controller anyways so ill keep looking for the answers to the 2 questions unless anyone wants to jump in.

130

Users / I must say... (and Hello from a newbie)

« on: February 25, 2009, 10:08:33 pm »

Wow! I must say, earlier this week a remote coworker of mine introduced me to Linux MCE and I am blown away. I have been reading the wiki and watching the youtube\google videos and feel i have a complete project ahead of me now. I've been pretty much a windows only guy with only basic linux knowledge from work and have been meaning to dig a little deeper, so this is a beter reason then not.

I have a rather complex setup at home and not everything will be able to be dhcp as the wiki suggest, but i think I will be ok. here is a basic outline of my network (excuse the MS Paint) http://i44.tinypic.com/3539gtg.jpg

I renovated the house a few months ago and when i did so, ran cat6 in the walls with cable so each room has a wall jack with cat6 and cable. Currently, All wired devices have a static address including the 2 switches(managed). All Wireless devices are using dhcp (except the Wii which is static). There is a 2k3 server that occasionally hosts ftp and game server files in addition to a sequal server and IIS for playing around with website changes before i upload them to an external server.

I have an Dell optiplex 755 (E6550 - Dual Core @ 2.33 with 4gb RAM and 2x250gb drives in raid1) that I am planning to use as the Core machine. The current XP-MCE is also a Optiplex 755 (same configuration but with a nvidia 8600) which will become a MD along with another small form factor optiplex 755 (ill need to buy a video card for this one) to connect all of the equpment in the Office\Media room.

When everything is said and done, the switches and printer will remain static, most likely the win2k3 server as well. I might make a few other things static, but we will see as i get more familiar with linux.

I do have 1 question I just ran into during the installation. I am using the 64bit 0710 dvd disk. In BIOS I have 2 hard drives configured in RAID1, however, right at the start of the isntallation I am getting prompted to choose which HD to install to. With the onboard RAID controller being configured correctly, shouldnt the installation only see 1 drive?

Edit: found my answer: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/FakeRaidHowto Ill just stick a pci raid controller in the machine tonight, go figure...

-Pnuts