TShak has helped me shed some light on this-

When the media grid is up, I'm on screen 66. I know this from the DCERouter.log at thepoint where I hit the "Audio" from the media menu.

Code:

35;1mSet Screen Type^[[0m, retry none, parameters: <0x773f9b70>
08      01/22/13 21:55:19.657             Parameter 48(Value): 66 <0x773f9b70>

The screentype for this screen is revealed as NULL from the pluto database as follows

Code:

mysql> select ScreenType from DesignObj inner join Screen_DesignObj on DesignObj.PK_DesignObj = Screen_DesignObj.FK_DesignObj where Screen_DesignObj.FK_Screen = 66;
+------------+
| ScreenType |
+------------+
| NULL       |
+------------+
1 row in set (0.00 sec)

Therefore, I need to look at the remote mapping that matches to screentype=null and remotelayout='W'. Not quite sure why the remotelayout is 'W' but it is in the corresponding field in webadmin for my remote.

So, retrieve remotemapping as follows

Code:

mysql> select * from RemoteMapping where RemoteMapping.ScreenType is null and RemoteMapping.RemoteLayout = 'W';
Empty set (0.00 sec)

But... I seem to recall that the null/null option will be the default if you don't get a more specific match.

Code:

select * from RemoteMapping where RemoteMapping.ScreenType is null and RemoteMapping.RemoteLayout is null;

which returns 1 row with the relevant chup/chdown lines revealing

Code:

chup;ChanUp;|0 -106 1 65 5 +1
chdown;ChanDown;|0 -106 1 65 5 -1

Which corresponds nicely to what is happening as shown in the log below. The media plugin is getting the chup, chdown buttons as a "jump position in playlist" which is nice... but not what I want. The problem, to my mind, is that the context needs to be set... this is not media that's playing... this is a grid (or filelist) that's viewing. So the grid needs a screentype (not a null as I found it to be) and the screentype needs to correspond then to a remote mapping in the remote mapping table that transforms the remote buttons into something more appropriate to a grid/filelist.

David

Not sure how up to date the wiki is but a few things I've experienced with my TV-

Apart from it working as a TV - full HD, the look, size etc that you want, there are a couple of things to consider

1. Inputs - you need to think about what devices you're planning to connect and how. Ideally, IMHO, everything streams via the MD so all you need is one HDMI input direct from MD or from your AV Receiver, but it can be useful to have the others while you're getting going and/or as backup if your system is down for maintenance or whatever.
2. Control - this is probably the biggie. Even if everything comes via the MD/AV Receiver you will at least want to turn the thing on and off and possibly switch sources and you'd rather that all happened from LinuxMCE rather than you having to pick up the dedicated remote just to do that. You may also require volume and some other commands. Options are RS232, IR, Network (LAN), HDMI CEC. You need to see what the models you're looking at support and find out how easy it is to use those protocols. IR is the most common but can be a bit tricky. LAN and CEC are very new and rather proprietory and will take a fair bit of hacking. RS232 I gather is very reliable but getting rare. If you go IR, it helps if discrete codes are available for things like power (on/of) and input switching (discrete codes for each different source rather than a toggle button).

It helps to design your setup in diagrams and drawing apps with all the connections shown etc so you don't miss things and can ask questions.

I'm still very new at this but hopefully this gives you some food for thought.

OK, I'm getting a bit more understanding of this lot thanks to the wiki pages - Remote Mapping Table, Command Table and Button Table which some kind soul recreated last night.

Of course all of the above exist in the Pluto Media database but it's difficult to know that without the nice, linking wiki entries.

It seems that the sequece of "events" from IR remote to LinuxMCE action is something like this-

• Button Press on remote, transmits IR code to receiver
• Receiver device, set up in LinuxMCE receives IR code and checks if it matches IR codes in any of the remotes that are controlled by it. This is done via the IR codes section in the remote template, where a "command" is associated with the IR code
• If the above matches, the "command" or "button" is therefore known... this "command" is then checked against the Remote Mapping Tabletable. There may be multiple entries in this table for the same command but pluto tries to match the most specific (ie least generic) one.... specifically, it will first match an entry in this table where the "Screen Type" and "Remote Layout" match those in the current context. If this fails, it will fall back to a less specific entry.
  
  • On matching in the above table, the associated message is sent to the associated device using a similar format to messagesend.
    
  .
  
  In my case, all looks good - I'm pressing the chup/chdown button on my remote, which, according to my remote template, should be telling the receiver that the "command" is chup or chdown. Since I'm on the media browser screen (type B), this should result in a message of "0 -203 1 28 26 6" or "0 -203 1 28 26 7" being sent. Decoding this lot- 0 means the message is "from" device (core/dcerouter?), -203 means message is "to" onscreen orbiter of current room ¹, 1 means it is a message of type "command" ², 28 is the command itself, which in this case is a simulated keypress ³, 26 is the parameter name for the command and 6 is the parameter value. In the case of "simulated keypress", the parameter is the key itself which, from the button table, 6 represents Scroll Up!!! ⁴ So it should flipping work!
  
  Nope.
  
  So I thought I'd check out the DCErouter log this morning while the children set fire to the furniture in another part of the room...
  

Code:

08      01/22/13 7:09:57.786              Parameter 74(Offset): 0 <0x76eafb70>
05      01/22/13 7:09:57.786            file grid pics took 0 ms <0x976f0b70>
08      01/22/13 7:10:09.129            Received Message from 121 (USB UIRT 0038 / TV
Room) to 10 (Media Plug-in / Server Closet), type 1 id 65 Command:Jump Position In
Playlist, retry none, parameters: <0x6e69eb70>
08      01/22/13 7:10:09.129              Parameter 5(Value To Assign): +1 <0x6e69eb70>
08      01/22/13 7:10:32.622            Received Message from 121 (USB UIRT 0038 / TV
Room) to 10 (Media Plug-in / Server Closet), type 1 id 65 Command:Jump Position In
Playlist, retry none, parameters: <0x6e69eb70>
08      01/22/13 7:10:32.622              Parameter 5(Value To Assign): -1 <0x6e69eb70>
08      01/22/13 7:10:41.349            Received Message from 121 (USB UIRT 0038 / TV
Room) to 10 (Media Plug-in / Server Closet), type 1 id 65 Command:Jump Position In
Playlist, retry none, parameters: <0x6e69eb70>
08      01/22/13 7:10:41.349              Parameter 5(Value To Assign): +1 <0x6e69eb70>
08      01/22/13 7:10:42.878            Received Message from 121 (USB UIRT 0038 / TV
Room) to 10 (Media Plug-in / Server Closet), type 1 id 65 Command:Jump Position In
Playlist, retry none, parameters: <0x6e69eb70>
08      01/22/13 7:10:42.878              Parameter 5(Value To Assign): +1 <0x6e69eb70>
08      01/22/13 7:10:44.314            Received Message from 121 (USB UIRT 0038 / TV
Room) to 10 (Media Plug-in / Server Closet), type 1 id 65 Command:Jump Position In
Playlist, retry none, parameters: <0x6e69eb70>
08      01/22/13 7:10:44.314              Parameter 5(Value To Assign): +1 <0x6e69eb70>
08      01/22/13 7:10:45.688            Received Message from 121 (USB UIRT 0038 / TV
Room) to 10 (Media Plug-in / Server Closet), type 1 id 65 Command:Jump Position In
Playlist, retry none, parameters: <0x6e69eb70>
08      01/22/13 7:10:45.688              Parameter 5(Value To Assign): +1 <0x6e69eb70>

Aha!! Looks as if possy was on the right track. It looks like the correct message being fired "Jump position in Playlist" (sort of...) but why is it going to the Media Plug-in in the Server Closet? Is there a media plug-in in the TV room.... don't know because I'm at work but will check later. So it could be that it's being sent to the wrong plug in. OR.... maybe it's just the wrong flipping command... is Jump Position what I want? Stay tuned.

Nope.. all in the same room - see device tree below.

I see it says "registered: No" whereas the parent device has "registered: Yes" Does this mean anything to anyone?

Thanks, possy, I'll double check the webadmin setup and ensure any and all devices are located in the same room! However, since the receiving part is working... would that not make it unlikely that this is the issue? As I understand it the transmitter is a child of the receiver so they will probably be in the same room? Will check this evening, thanks.

cperk4, I think you need to post a little background info for the smart guys to be able to help.

Sounds as if your install has worked up to a point.

Did you install 8.10 or 10.04?
Did you follow the instructions here?
Did you install from a the release (downloaded image and burned to dvd) or internet install as described on the above page? If the release what was the image name?
What is your hardware setup - do you have just one machine or have you tried creating media directors (plugging additional machines into the internal network) yet?

This info may help others to get a picture of where you are and more directed questions to ask.

Regarding those 3 items

1.Libdvdread 3
2.w32 codec pack
3.disclesscreat_TBZ

The first 2 are required to read encrypted DVDs but you only need to install them if you try to play a file/dvd or copy a dvd and get a message on the screen saying "unable to read" or similar. The message usually includes something about "libdvdcss2".

The third item should no longer be necessary at all in 10.04 AFAIK. Also, it is only relevant when you start adding media directors but I wouldn't worry about it at this stage.

Your sound issue - some of the smart guys should be able to help if you start by giving some detail about your hardware setup - what your video card and sound card is and the other detail I mentioned above.

Thanks, Tshak. I have done that, though - built the new template for my remote and, as mentioned above, it is all going swimmingly. The buttons work well.

And I can go down entry by entry through the media list by using the down button. When I get to the bottom another down press causes the list to scroll. But it would be nice to be able to do that with a separate button without having to go down through all the entries- a sort of "page down" button.

So my limited understanding of remotes is that there is a list of commands that LMCE understands as per wiki entry

So most of these have IR codes in my remote template but I'm trying to execute specific behaviour on the UI with a specific button. I think the DCE command I'm trying to execute is the "scroll grid" command... and I would like to somehow tie that to a particular button on my remote, say "channel up/down"... so that when I'm viewing the media list, pressing that button would cause the grid to scroll.

It looks as if what I'm after may be some custom configuration in the Programmer's Guide. This points to remote mapping between button names and DCE commands that are sent when a button is pressed in a certain context. Sweeet. Will check it out.

Set up the remote that comes with the Zotac AD04 box in LinuxMCE and it works really nicely - the receiver being my new USBUIRT. But my only gripe is that in media lists I have to scroll right to the bottom before I can get the list to scroll. How do I set up a button to page down on the media list?

Any ideas? I've tried the chanup, chandown buttons and, in fact, just about every other button but none seems to do that.

Another thing that would be useful is to be able to access the "letter list" on the right. That would help to be able to jump to a point on the list but with a plain IR remote (not a mouse/gyro or wiimote) it doesn't seem possible. Is it?

thanks
James

Afaict, my new USBUIRT is not transmitting. The receiving part is working nicely but when I do a "test code" in webadmin from a device that is a child of the "USBUIRT embedded transmitter" nothing happens (apart from the ok box popping up on the screen). I'm carefully watching the unit with a digital camera to check for any IR flashes but there's not a thing.

Any ideas? Anyone else got a USBUIRT working nicely in 10.04... any tricks I should know about?

thanks
James

So I tried to use the HD_PVR with LInuxMCE... but the newer 1480 or gameplayer edition. LinuxMCE didn't respond at all when I plugged it into the MD and I've verified it's working so it seemed to be a driver issue or similar.

lsusb showed:

Bus 001 Device 003: ID 2040:e502 Hauppauge

So it was connected etc but dmesg had no record of a driver responding.

On doing some reading, it appears that this model is not supported by LInux. Blast. Apparently the driver in question is called hdpvr and I even came across some forum entries where people had managed to get newer HDPVR versions (than the original 1212) working by modifying the driver code to detect the model.

I gave this a bash - adding a new product id with the code (e502) reported on lsusb for my model-

Code:

i media/drivers/media/usb/hdpvr/hdpvr.h

added ID5:
#define HD_PVR_VENDOR_ID        0x2040
#define HD_PVR_PRODUCT_ID       0x4900
#define HD_PVR_PRODUCT_ID1      0x4901
#define HD_PVR_PRODUCT_ID2      0x4902
#define HD_PVR_PRODUCT_ID4      0x4903
#define HD_PVR_PRODUCT_ID3      0x4982
#define HD_PVR_PRODUCT_ID5      0xe502

vi media/drivers/media/usb/hdpvr/hdpvr-core.c

/* table of devices that work with this driver */
static struct usb_device_id hdpvr_table[] = {
        { USB_DEVICE(HD_PVR_VENDOR_ID, HD_PVR_PRODUCT_ID) },
        { USB_DEVICE(HD_PVR_VENDOR_ID, HD_PVR_PRODUCT_ID1) },
        { USB_DEVICE(HD_PVR_VENDOR_ID, HD_PVR_PRODUCT_ID2) },
        { USB_DEVICE(HD_PVR_VENDOR_ID, HD_PVR_PRODUCT_ID3) },
        { USB_DEVICE(HD_PVR_VENDOR_ID, HD_PVR_PRODUCT_ID4) },
        { USB_DEVICE(HD_PVR_VENDOR_ID, HD_PVR_PRODUCT_ID5) },
        { }                                     /* Terminating entry */
};

And then recompiled the driver and modprobed it. Then, on plugging in the hdpvr, at least the driver did try to respond but dmesg shows it crashing out on initialisation with the message -

Code:

kern.log:Jan 18 06:21:18 moon76 kernel: [49733.312114] hdpvr 1-1:1.0: unexpected answer of status request, len -32
kern.log:Jan 18 06:21:18 moon76 kernel: [49733.312127] hdpvr 1-1:1.0: device init failed
kern.log:Jan 18 06:21:18 moon76 kernel: [49733.312206] hdpvr: probe of 1-1:1.0 failed with error -12

Am I on a hiding to nothing here or is there a chance I'll be able to sort out this driver to support the device? Any suggestions?

The offending bit of code, if anyone eats C++ for breakfast, is at http://pastebin.com/3eeNqkfB
and it's in a function called "device_authorization":

Code:

        ret = usb_control_msg(dev->udev,
                              usb_rcvctrlpipe(dev->udev, 0),
                              rcv_request, 0x80 | request_type,
                              0x0400, 0x0003,
                              dev->usbc_buf, 46,
                              10000);
        if (ret != 46) {
                v4l2_err(&dev->v4l2_dev,
                         "unexpected answer of status request, len %d\n", ret);
                goto unlock;

So I guess it's requesting control of the usb device, expecting 46 back but getting 32 and, quite understandably, getting flustered when it receives 32. And then cowardly bailing out.

Any thoughts or suggestions?

cheers
James

Looks good! Tell me, you're supplying power via POE/step-down but presumably network connectivity is wifi?

HP touch pads are not cheap in this part of the world, either I might add.

sudo is a command that tells the machine that you would like to run the subsequent command with super-user privileges.

For example:

Code:

sudo apt-get install libdvdcss2

The command you are giving the system is "apt-get", the "sudo" part says you would like to run the "apt-get" command with super-user privileges, not just as a normal user. The "install" is a parameter given to the "apt-get" command to tell it what, specifically you want to do, and the "libdvdcss2" is another parameter to the "apt-get" command telling it which package you would like to install.

HTH.
James

As far as a "list of software" goes.... perhaps someone else can assist. This is pretty much endless but you generally install the software as you have need! Eg.... if you need to read encoded DVDs, you install "libdvdcss2" and "w32codecs". Other software for other needs as required.

Hope that starts to shed som light.

Just some update to what is quite an interesting topic to me....

I ordered the joggler which was, surprisingly, available in my neck of the woods, but when it arrived, it turned out to be a paperback book on the 02 joggler, not the actual device. How odd is that- there is a book out there that retails for the same price you'd expect of the device with the same name. Fortunately, the supplier was happy to refund but that put paid to my joggler plans.

Phase 2, I fell back on the Android tablet option and ordered a point-of-view mobii protab 27 7" android (4) tablet. Well, all well and good except the wifi on this unit was terrible. I used a neat Android app called "wifi analyzer" to check it and compared to my HTC one V, the tablet was consistently receiving 10Dbi or so worse signal. It would constantly drop the signal if I was more than 5-6m away fromt he access pt. Pathetic. Complaining to the support crowd didn't help as they promised to upload new firmware to the website but never did so I returned the tab.

Lesson learned - make sure the wifi is good on the tablet you buy or you're sunk. For weborbiter or Qorbiter that's an absolute necessity since most of these (cheap) tablets don't have a LAN connection as far as I can tell. It's difficult to evaluate wifi connectivity upfront but if you can, it's worth checking.

Never got around to mounting it or anything but I did notice that the power supply was 5 or 6v and I reckon that's pretty standard these days due to the proliferation of USB charging so it should be fairly easy to modify / purchase a POE splitter to supply the voltage and not have to worry about the brick if you're thinking of mounting. However, as pointed out by possy earlier on, they do tend to have the connections (power and usb) on the sides which could make neat mounting tricky.

A touch PC is going to be pretty expensive for that solution... another option might be to split the two -

keep your tablet-orbiter idea for the orbiter but have a low-spec PC or old laptop as the MD sitting under the counter somewhere driving the sound. That's the way I run my kitchen setup and it's very neat and unobtrusive. All you see are the speakers which are pretty discreet and then I just drive the MD and sound from a mobile orbiter (phone, or tablet if you like).

The advantage is you can spend a lot less on what is just a sound station. Disadvantage, of course, is you don't get video or any of that but then you can get all the other apps and whatnot on the tablet.

Another link to follow regarding the mounted/touch-screen stuff is here:

http://forum.linuxmce.org/index.php/topic,13004.0.html

Maybe unrelated but I have a particular dvd that crashes if you wait to get to the DVD menu and. It sounds similar to what ranpow is reporting. I found that if I go to the orbiter while the dvd is just starting (before it gets to the onscreen menu) and immediately select the first title/chapter, then the movie starts and plays through normally. Could be some funnies with the DVD menu?

Most of my other DVDs work fine, though.