LinuxMCE Forums
General => Installation issues => Topic started by: JonH on April 24, 2011, 11:13:44 pm
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Hi all,
Please forgive my probable newbie mistakes but I am having real issues trying to install.
I have downloaded & burned to DVD the iso image, I have booted from the dvd & selected install linuxmce (onto a freshly formated disk) the problems start at the remove disk & press enter to reboot.
I have done this process 4 times now & it has never done anything other than boot up into kubuntu & does not attempt to install linux mce. There is a window on the desktop with a file in it called linux mce but clicking on this just opens a terminal window that quickly fills up with a stream of can not open file errors & can not connect errors, then nothing. This I guess is because there is no network connection, I cannot access the internet or my own network & there is no activity on the NIC led.
The system itself works fine as I have a second HD loaded with ubuntu which works AOK.
Any help for a complete linux newbie would be very much appreciated.
Thanks
Jon
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Hi Jon,
What hardware are you using?
Are you using two NICs?
LinuxMCE won't install unless there is an internet connection I believe.
When you get to the Kubuntu, you need to get the external network/internet working.
Josh
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Hi Josh & thanks for your reply.
I've installed a second nic & sometimes I can get an internet connection & sometimes nothing.
I tried clicking the linux mce file that was in the window on 1 of the occassions I did have a web connection but I got KDE Sudo Error command not found, It tries to install a load of stuff that it is pulling from a server but gets a way through & then just stops.
On 1 of the attempts it refused to install as kubuntu was out of date but when I went to upgrade it said are you sure you want to upgrade to a version of UBUNTU that is no longer supported?
To be honest I've had enough, the product certainly isn't ready for the general public, documentation is out of date & contradictory & the installation guides are a joke "install with just 3 clicks" yea right.
It's a pity really I was looking forward to getting this up & running as I have 5 pc's spread throughout various buildings & wanted to be able to share media & phone calls across them all along with cctv footage & lighting control. The promise is so great but it just does not deliver. :(
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its a project, not a product. you paid nothing for it, so you dont get to expect anything from us. that said we do appreciate any help anyone is able to give to help make it better. this is the way open source works.
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Hi Jon,
Yes it is one of the drawbacks with open source, but if you wanted something more plain sailing at this stage then you also have to pay a lot for it. People here are pretty helpful and if you stick with it it does eventually get going but you do need a lot of patience. I believe this software is very much in it's infancy.
If you do want to stick with it:
use the latest snapshot and one that is recommended.
http://linuxmce.iptp.org/snapshots/ (http://linuxmce.iptp.org/snapshots/)
http://wiki.linuxmce.org/index.php/Snapshot_overview (http://wiki.linuxmce.org/index.php/Snapshot_overview)
Installation on my last snapshot (23843 16 March) was pretty much 3 clicks.
Josh
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Hi merkur, I'm not being negative just trying to express my disappointment after having spent 3 1/2 days working on this to end up not even being able to install it.
You may call it a project & I can see from your point of view it is but it is out there in the world & it is being promoted, so just because you aren't charging doesn't make it a product and in this day & age if you make claims for a product it should stand up. If it doesn't and has obvious flaws call it a beta.
I would love to be able to help & work on this project but I don't have the knowledge & experience, & without a functioning install I'm not likely to gain it either am I.
As for my remarks about documentation, well if I can't get it even installed after aprox 20 hours of work what more do I need to say.
What I was hoping to gain from this forum was constructive help from someone who really knows how it all works of the sort that josh started to offer, please remember none of us are born with the knowledge of how to install an operating system, EVERYONE had to ask questions at some point, especially if the user manual requires interpretation.
Regards
Jon
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Jon,
I can understand your disappointment. Lots of videos out their show how easy things are, and now that you try to get into the world of LinuxMCE you see stumbling blocks everywhere.
From what you have written in your first post, I strongly suspect networking/internet connectivity problems as your main problems. There is a wiki page about the snapshots (as joshpond has pointed out already), containing a list of snapshots which have successfully completed a basic installation test done by our main snapshot tester bongowongo.
If you have chosen a snapshot that is defined as working, and you do not have success installing it, internet connectivity problems and/or hardware problems are most probable the culprit.
Unfortunately, not much we can do about those two.
If you have wiki pages that contradict each other, feel free to open a trac ticket for each of those pages, and let us know about them, or, if you can after some time, just correct the ones that are wrong.
Thanks and good luck getting the sucker installed.
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Hi Josh,
Thanks for your reply. Yes that is the image I used.
I've also tried with the very latest version but no difference.
I'm really struggling with kubuntu & don't find it very intuitive or user friendly at all, maybe I'm just not into it yet but feel like I'm banging my head against a wall.
Really need someone to help & guide me through this as I feel like I've been dumped on mars at the moment.
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Thanks Posde,
Unfortunately I'm using the recommended image on a system that I know is good, it works fine when booted with Ubuntu 10.10 or windows.
Networking does seem to be the issue and not understanding what the likes of network manager are supposed to do does not help. For instance I want to see whats going on with my network so obviously I try to open network manger, click on the link to it and what happens, nothing. No windows open, no dialog boxes, no new icons...??
Trying hard not to be negative but everywhere I turn is a dead end.
Thanks for commenting.
Jon
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Remember that Windows and Ubuntu 1010 has support for newer devices. So it might be the fact, that your hardware is too new to be usable out-of-the-box with an 810 snapshot.
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Hi Jon,
Keep banging that head, Mine is getting nice and tough now but it does work. The biggest thing if you haven't used a linux system before is that it is very different from windows and MS stuff.
If you have a known working snapshot, the next thing is run the dvd.iso, get to kubuntu and open up a terminal. (From memory (not infront of my machine) click the start button on the bottom left, Applications and system, konsole.
Paste the output of:
lspciifconfigifconfig -a
As psode said, likely either a hardware incompatability or networking issue as you need to get onto the internet.
Also please list the details of your setup and network and there any many people here that will help.
Josh
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I tried clicking the linux mce file that was in the window on 1 of the occassions I did have a web connection but I got KDE Sudo Error command not found, It tries to install a load of stuff that it is pulling from a server but gets a way through & then just stops.
When you next try to install and you have your internet issues sorted, if you get the error message you commented on above do not click the 'OK' button or anything - just leave it. I had this same error message and when clicked it kicked me out but when left it ran fine.
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I thought I was the only one with the Ksudo issue. I'll add it to the wiki as it drove me nuts trying to find the error. Basically when you double click the icon you will receive some kind of Kdesudo error and you have to ignore it completely, not even press "OK" like Techstyle says.
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I found the same ksudo problem whilst attempting my first installation over the last few days.
I also found that I had to change the Ubuntu repository from the local mirror (Australia) that was selected during the first stages of the installation to the main Ubuntu repository.
Sean.
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Sounds like your nics are not supported in 810. A simple google search should reveal some answers.
You can do some work to make them work (probably), but my recommendation is to install 10.04. reading this very well. http://wiki.linuxmce.org/index.php/Installing_1004
While this is less stable at the moment (devs are working very hard to make all of the pieces functional) you will likely have much better success. Get used to a terminal. We are happy to help, but as Merkur2k said, it is a project. These guys will give you their time, but complaints are not well received. This system is like nothing else in existence. It's hard... and hacked at in the devs spare time.
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In my case I dont think it was a NIC issue. I'm currently using a SMC 1211TX, which is by no means a recent card and has had kernal support as far back as 2.2.x (possibly earlier). It works fine with Knoppix 4.0.2, 5.10 & 6.4.4. I've also used it with ubuntu server 10.10 and assorted other linux flavours over the years without any hassles.
Immediately after completing the ubuntu 810 installation, I was able to browse these forums and the wiki. However Adept & apt-get failed to work until I changed the repository server from the local Australian mirrors to the main Canonical server.
After that, running the LinuxMCE script would fail immediately after the ksudo error came up and I did anything with the error message. After seeing the posts above I reran the script and ignored the error and after nearly 4 hours it installed.
Now all I have to do is solve this blank screen on reboot issue and I'm away. Something for tommorow night methinks.
Sean
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BelSean21,
It sounds like you are nearly there. the blank screen after reboot and before AVwizard usually means that the video is being outputted on the wrong adapter to select a different adapter press the number keys. Start at 1 and press the key and then wait 5 seconds. If you do not see anything go to the next number (3 was good for me). this is described in section II of http://wiki.linuxmce.org/index.php/AV_Wizard_Step_by_Step (http://wiki.linuxmce.org/index.php/AV_Wizard_Step_by_Step), however which number is which may have changed a little, it is safer to try all of them.
Good Luck
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You do not by chance have a copy of the bad sources.list do you? I wrote the script that should have rewritten those to correct repos when you clicked the install button. As kubuntu 810 is end of line, the sources supplied on the DVD lead nowhere, and the prefixes should have been rewritten to (appropriate country).old-releases.ubuntu.com etc. If you happened to back up the incorrect sources, it would be helpful for me to see what went wrong so I can correct it. Even if you did not consciously make a backup, you might look in /etc/apt for other iterations. I thank you in advance.
AVWizard wants to be run on vga1. Assuming you are displaying over DVI/HDMI chances are pressing the number 3 will output correctly for AVWizard. Make sure if you are going to try and run UI2 with overlay, that you choose the "test" button first to avoid further frustration. UI2 alpha should also only be run on a recent nVidia card.
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All,
It would appear that, when the script failed with the ksudo problem the first time. It never got as far as rewriting the sources file. After the initial failure, I went to a CLI to run my favourite filebrowser, discovered its absence and attempted to apt-get install. Thats when I discovered the sources issue. apt-get was displaying what looked to be similar errors to the script. I ran Adept and played around with various mirrors till I got it working. Rerunning the script still failed, but reading the earlier posts in this thread about the ksudo problem has gotten me past that.
Now, to the black screen I was getting during the AVwizard stage appears to have been caused by the presence of an analogue TV capture card (Winfast 2000 XP). After removing it from the system it, the AV wizard ran without a hitch.
Now all I have to do is get it to talk to my Dynalite lighting system :-)
Thanks for all the advice.
Sean.
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Hi to all,
Sorry not been back on to reply to your responses. Haven't had time lately to get back on the forum so haven't done anything further with trying to install again.
Might get some time next week to give it another go, will let you know how I get on.
Cheers
Jon
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OK so got an hour or so to myself & having another go. Re-installing from scratch & just noticed as it is booting from the DVD it comes up with the line "not starting internet superserver as no services found"
Is this the culprit as to why I have no internet?
The network manager shows a green globe but then reports etho 0 no carrier.
Jon
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OK so some progress of sorts.
I started from scratch & booted from DVD but this time choose install kunbuntu instead of linuxmce & hey ho it installed with a working internet connection (on the pc card nic not the onboard nic)
clicked linuxmce file & it started to install.
I did get quite a few could not connects during the install and a few fails when starting services including domain name service and upnp server but it did get to the setup screen.
Just going through setup at the moment, only issue so far is no sound from the onboard audio out but not worried about that.
keeping going :)
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Even though you probably will not believe me, but selecting Kubuntu instead if LinuxMCE at the start of the install should NOT give you better results for the initial install, and, without additional manual work, should not have installed LinuxMCE. just a reminder to other people hitting your thread to always select LinuxMCE on the boot menu of the DVD.
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OK, so I have achieved a basic setup, all be it with no sound but I guess thats because I'm using an onboard audio output. I've got a sound card kicking around somewhere so next time around I'll install that & see what happens. So thank you for the encouragement.
A little question about network setup if I may.
In the diagram on the wiki it shows the core going between the router and the switch, however like most home users this is all in one box supplied by BT. Do I need to reconfigure things or can I plug both nic's of the core into 2 of the 5 ports in my BT hub? If not can I go BT hub-----core-----5 port switch or do I NEED to replace the BT box with a dedicated router?
I might not be able to see the light at the end but at least I can see the tunnel now.
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The DCE router needs to be the ONLY thing spitting DHCP on your internal network, or nothing will ever work correctly. So to answer your question, you will want a GB switch which everything is plugged into, being provided DHCP and internet by your core.
Internet ---- core external nic+core internal nic ---- switch ---- everything else
Onboard sound SHOULDN'T be an issue. As posde said, not choosing LinuxMCE install does not setup some very important things, and I would expect problems.
You are not going to be able to get around having an internet connection for install. I mean, you can install kubuntu without a connection... but you will have to then run pre-install-from-repo.sh in /root/new-installer... You should do yet another fresh install. There are pieces missing from yours which need to precede your install. I recommend, for you, because of your issues... following the "Internet installation" instructions here http://wiki.linuxmce.org/index.php/Installing_0810
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Hi L3mce,
Don't know why but doing it that way seems to have installed things nicely, I now have an internet connection & LCME has installed and does something at least.
So just to confirm, can I keep my 2 wire hub supplied by BT, then go to my core, then go to my 5 port hub and then onto everything else?
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Yes... that is correct. I would recommend a switch over a hub, but... that is nitpicky.
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JonH,
Hub, Switch, Router which is it? it should be configured as a switch if possible
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my bad with terminology.
The router is a 2wire bt2700hgv router with built in switch & wireless AP (the sort of thing you get from your broadband supplier) and I also have a couple of Dlink 5 port switches about as well.
The problem I am going to have setting it all up is that the core is in a different building to the router. I've got cat 5e connection over there but getting it back again could be difficult, need to think a bit.
Cheers
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Correct me if I am wrong, but I don't think that BT router thing is a switch.
LMCE _IS_ a router; what you are aiming to do is plug your Internet directly into the core, and let it handle all the DHCP witchcraft and firewall settings etc. The only thing between my core and the wall is a simple cable modem - cable in, Ethernet out (and this Ethernet cable goes straight to eth0 on my core). And of course, the second NIC/network card in the core connects to your internal network, which is where you would put your D-Link switches.
You might be in a situation where that BT router has it's modem built in - are you using DSL for example? If this is the case, I would have thought (although I have no experience of this, so please correct me if I am wrong somebody) that DHCP would need to be disabled and you'd have to set up a static IP or something for eth0 on the core.
Whatever the method, before you start with the DVD installation, start with everything off. Then, switch things on one by one, in order (starting from the wall), waiting 30 seconds between each.
Did you burn the DVD on its slowest speed?
Cheers,
Matt.
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It's a modem, router, wireless AP with 4 lan sockets in the back, any more than that I can't tell you.
Tripod has a tech description here http://bt2700hgv.tripod.com/001.htm
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I have a 2-wire DSL router as well.. it has built-in wireless, and 4 lan ports and USB port on the rear. This device provides DHCP for a 'normal' home setup. I have my Core connected to one of the ethernet jacks in the back... I then have another lan card in my core that is connected to a 1Gb ethernet switch that my Media Directors are connected to. This is the preferred setup for a LMCE home network. Note though that I do have another PC that I use that is also connected directly to the 2-wire router.. I dont want this PC to be part of the home network because it is my 'backdoor' to the internet if i am 'tinkering' with my core PC.
Dennis
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Cheers Biker that is exactly what I wanted to know.
Jon :)
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Glad I could help... sometimes things get 'lost in translation' here in the forums... after reading a few posts, I knew I should chip in.
Good luck.
Dennis
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You might be in a situation where that BT router has it's modem built in - are you using DSL for example? If this is the case, I would have thought (although I have no experience of this, so please correct me if I am wrong somebody) that DHCP would need to be disabled and you'd have to set up a static IP or something for eth0 on the core.
DHCP can be enabled on the external network. The modem/router can provide the extenal nic (eth0) with an IP address and LMCE is setup to request an IP address from the external network. (Can be made static if you wish)
The internal network, (eth1) LMCE makes it's own IP addresses and this is the standard 192.168.80.1 which is best left alone. LMCe then acts as the DHCP server and provides IP addresses to everything else.
Hope that doesn't throw more mud at the issue.
Then, switch things on one by one, in order (starting from the wall), waiting 30 seconds between each
That is how I go from here.
1) The BT connects to the internet and to the Cores external nic. BT is setup to provide DHCP
2) Nothing is connected to the internal NIC for now
3) Install LMCe but stop before running the LMCEinstall script on the kubuntu desktop.
4) make sure internet is working. If not let us know as that is what needs to be sorted.
Josh
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Keep in mind that any computer connecting to the BT DSL router's wireless will be on the external network (they can still access the net of course). So if you want wireless on the internal network you will need to get an access point.
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DHCP can be enabled on the external network. The modem/router can provide the extenal nic (eth0) with an IP address and LMCE is setup to request an IP address from the external network. (Can be made static if you wish)
The internal network, (eth1) LMCE makes it's own IP addresses and this is the standard 192.168.80.1 which is best left alone. LMCe then acts as the DHCP server and provides IP addresses to everything else.
Yes, that will work. Now that I think about it, I have done it before in order to get some cameras I had working properly (they kept dropping out when on the internal network, but were fine on external). What I am saying is that I do not think it is a recommended setup. If it works OK for your current needs, great; just don't expect to be welcomed with open arms when you get a problem getting your VOIP setup or whatever (I am speaking from experience here ;))