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Messages - ldiener

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1
Users / Re: Will mythtv make use of my 2nd hard drive?
« on: December 08, 2008, 04:10:18 pm »
Afkpuz thanks for asking this question.  I too just added a 1TB drive and it wasn't clear to me how it would be accessed for recording purposes.  LMCE detects it and asks whether I want to use it for storing media automatically, so I said yes.

Related to this issue, and perhaps this is a question for you Thom, there have been some posts recently in the MythTV forums about high levels of HD activity.  One respondant suggested that users should set up their systems so that the disk that contains the system and mysql db is physically separate from the disk used for recording media.  Based on your response to Afkpuz, am I correct in assuming that this is not yet possible in 7.10?

Thanks,

Larry

2
Users / Re: Itx Motherboard for MD
« on: November 29, 2008, 11:53:04 am »
Dear Nosebreaker,

Please share your experience with this board as soon as you've had a chance to fire it up as an MD. 

Thank you,

Larry

3
Dave,

Thanks for the informative article.  Since I'm not prepared to (or capable of) recompiling the kernal at this point, it sounds like the path of least resistance is to revert to the hardware that has been absolutely shown to work and is documented as such in the wiki.  Thanks for your encouragement and guidance.

Anyone wanna buy a slightly used xfx nForce 750a motherboard ;)?

Larry


4
This is a tangent from my original post "Re: AMD 64 - Clean install problems - seeking divine intervention" .  I searched on the message I'm getting (subject of this thread) and didn't see anything relevant except http://forum.linuxmce.org/index.php?topic=5407.0

The latest on my installation is that the LinuxMCE 0710 install package seemed to install without incident.  It did take a while though and there were a few "fail" messages that flashed past the screen.  I chose the option to run the LMCE as the default and open KDE if needed.  and opted for a "core-only" set up.

Upon reboot, I get a rapid series of rising tones and then the system enters what seems like an endless loop of blank screen followed by an "[OK]" in the upper right corner, followed by blinking cursor in the upper left corner of the screen, followed by text at the bottom of the screen that says "LMCE Launch manager: Fatal I/O error.  Client killed"

[Overnight update]  I let the system run ver night and now I'm seeing an repeating message of "lmce_launch_manager: cannot connect to X server :0".  I can't seem to break out of this but if I press "ENTER"  I'm prompted to log in to DCEROUTER$.  I can't seem to enter mu username and password fast enough to beat the next error message.  Pressing Alt-F2, Alt-F3 brings up propts for tty2, tty3 respectively. 

This appears to repeat over and over until I kill it with a ctrl-alt-delete.

Any thoughts?

Larry

5
Thanks Zaerc.  I really appreciate the pointers.  I'll install LMCE 7.10 i386/32bit to match the Kubuntu desktop and then work on the drivers for sound and video as you suggest.

Two follow-up questions if I may:

  • I ran a search and learned that the "ro" in the menu.lst file stands for "Read Only".  What is it exactly that is being set to Read Only?  It follows the kernal "name" so is it the kernal image?  Is this a safety measure so that critical system files don't get overwritten?  I'm just trying to understand what it is I'm doing when I change this kind of stuff.
  • I had read about not trying to run LMCE 7.10 on top of later versions of Kubuntu so I figured there was a tight connection.  But when you say "do not update kubuntu",  are you referring to updating to the next point version using another install disk or something else?  In other words, can I assume it's OK to update application packages as long as I don't upgrade to, say kubuntu 8.04 and thus to a different kernal?  Where's the line when it comes to system drivers/apps that show an "upgrade available" in the application manager?

Thanks,

Larry

6
Good News!

I was able to get a working install using the Kubuntu i386 0710 Desktop CD 32bit.  I had to choose "Safe Graphics Mode" and make the following changes to the GRUB boot script before booting...

  • second line: removed "ro quiet splash" added "all_generic_ide pci=routeirq"
  • fourth line: deleted quiet

The system booted from the Live CD without a hitch and opened to the KDE desktop! :)

I then ran the install using the icon on the desktop and the system partitioned my drive and  installed without any error messages that I could detect (things were scrolling by very quickly).  I was then prompted me for a reboot.

I interrupted the GRUB loader, selected the first line option, and edited the boot script to make the same changes as above.  The system booted up perfectly.  I was able to edit /Boot/Grub/menu.lst to make the changes above permanent and open and run programs in the applications and systems menus.  I also noted that the system is running under the generic VESA driver for video and that no sound components are being detected.

I don't appear to have any sound yet and I still have to install the latest nVidia drivers as directed by Zaerc, so there's light at the end of the tunnel but it doesn't appear to be a train!

I'm going to try installing the video drivers and getting sound working before attempting to install the LinuxMCE packages.  I'd welcome any other input now that things have gotten this far.

Thanks for everyone's help in getting me to this point.  This is fun stuff.

Regards,

Larry

7
Dave and Zaerc,

Dave - Thank you for the detailed information.  I don't see this as bad news.  Anything that provides clarity or defines a potential solution is good news in my book, even if it requires a change in path.

Zaerc - I'll try that route next.  I had been using the DVD install.  I'll now try the stepwise CD install for Kubuntu 0710 first then install the LinuxMCE stuff.   If I get past the install I'll try the process suggested in the wiki for the video setup (thanks for that pointer, I had missed it) and hope for the best.

Regards,

Larry

8
Thanks Dave for confirming the chipset as 8200.  I suspect this will help in troubleshooting and following threads for things to try.  If I do try a secondary graphics card is the 7200/7300 chipset supported or should I try to find older 6100 series cards?

I have no add-in graphics cards, only the on-board 8200 chip set.  I do have the Hauppage TV card I mentioned previously but I have not attempted to install it yet.

I have a PDF copy of the manual on the CD that came with the MoBo and will post a link tonight when I get home.  For now, screen shots of the bios options are available here if you are interested (no expectations implied, just FYI)
http://www.motherboards.org/reviews/motherboards/1801_5.html and here http://www.bjorn3d.com/read_pf.php?cID=1302.

I've tried registering on the XFX support web site but it keeps failing - probably not a good sign.

This morning I tried installing the Kubuntu 8.04 amd 64 dist off a CD .iso just to see if I could get any where.  I chose to partition the 500GB HD into two 250s so I can play with both 0710 for MCE and 0804 for general computing.  I had to leave for work before it finished partitioning so more on that later if anything comes of it.

Thanks to all (Dave/rodercot, technoobie, colinjones) for your support as I feel my way through this.  Even though it's a bit frustrating, it's kinda fun to have a challenge and see little breakthroughs.

Larry

9
Well Rats!  I was so intent on getting a motherboard with nVidia graphics that I didn't focus on the version of the chipset.  What I'm hearing is that my on-board chipset is not supported by the current dist. So, based on what I've read in other threads, I need to install a simpler card and disable the on-board graphics for now.  Is that correct?

By the way, I tried the official 0704 i386 dist DVD with the f4 option "1024 x 768 x 32" and F6 options "all_generic_ide pci=routeirq" (removed quiet and spash) and the install seemed to work beautifully.  There were no stops and only one fail message, something to do with memory scanning, I think.  When prompted to reboot the system seemed to hang but eventually broke out with into busybox with the initramfs prompt.

I just finished downloading and burning the 0710 i386 dist DVD ISO.  Trying that now...

Is there a way to dumb-down the on-board graphics short of disabling it and putting in a simpler card?  I'll search for 9600 GT and read what comes up.

Thanks,

Larry

10
Hi Technoobie,

Thanks for your questions and suggestions.  The motherboard is ..

XFX nForce - NVIDIA 750a SLI (PVT96GYDDU)
  (ATX, HDMI, DVI, PCIe 2.0, eSATA, RAID SLI Motherboard

The graphics are integrated and I bought the 667 memory because I was on a budget and chose to save a few dollars on the slower memory.  I had also think I read somewhere on this forum that some users reported more reliable performance with the slower memory.  In any case, the memory doesn't seem to be the problem.  I've run several memory checks on the system and they all pass.

I will try the i386 version tonight and report back.

Thanks,

Larry

11
Hi Dave,

The last thing I did this morning before heading out to work was to take out the Hauppage card (really the only thing I can take out and still do an install) and retried the DVD install without success.  I'll try to disable the onboard sound but it may already be disabled because I only hear occasional beeps from the motherboard speaker, nothing from the external speakers when the system boots.  I'll try the i386 32bit dvd route tonight and see if that gets me any closer.  By the way, the motherboard debug display shows "b1" which I think is OK based on what I read in the install guide.

Thanks again,

Larry

12
Dear Guardian Angels of the LinuxMCE world,

First off, thank you for your willingness to help new folks like me get into or make the transition to Linux.  I hope someday to be among you helping out the next guy or gal. But today, I ask for your help in getting through some difficulty I'm having with a new intallation on a clean (just assembled machine). 

===========================================================
Here's my hardware:

XFX nForce - NVIDIA 750a SLI (MD-A72P-7509)  <<= correction 08/27/08 12:20pm EST I had originally posted the wrong part number
  (ATX, HDMI, DVI, PCIe 2.0, eSATA, RAID SLI Motherboard
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+ Processor ADO4400IAA5DO - 2.30GHz, 1MB Cache, 1000MHz (2000 MT/s) FSB, Brisbane, Dual-Core, OEM, Socket AM2, Processor
2 GB RAM (Corsair DDR2, 667mhz)
Seagate 500GB SATA HD (7200/32MB/SATA-3G)
LiteOn SuperAllWrite DVD-RW (iHAS220-08 6)
RubyOrb CPU fan (CL-P0391-01)
Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-1250
PS2 Optical Mouse
PS2 Keyboard
VGA Monitor
Gladiator Ultra ATX Case/500watt power supply
===========================================================

Here's what I've tried:

I have attempted three different installations:

LinuxMCE DVD 0704 32bit (purchased from linuxmce.org not burned)
 -- Ended with Busybox initramfs prompt
 -- tried F6 and adding vga=791 all_generic_ide noacpi pci=routeirq in various combinations
 -- tried F6 and removing ro quiet splash
 -- No Go.

The new 0710 installation as described here with 64 bit .ISOs:
http://wiki.linuxmce.org/index.php/Installation_Guide#New_installation
 -- Ended with Busybox initramfs prompt
 -- tried F6 and adding vga=791 all_generic_ide noacpi pci=routeirq in various combinations
 -- tried F6 and removing ro quiet splash
 -- At one point I actually got what looked like the KDE desktop but I lost mouse control


and a LinuxMCE 0710 DVD D/L'd from the torrent below and burned to DVD at 4x (http://torrents.thepiratebay.org/4175299/LinuxMCE_Install_DVD_for_AMD64_-_0710_RC2.4175299.TPB.torrent)
 -- After what appeared to be a stop or break in the install, I think I typed exit and the install continued.
 -- The installation appeared to proceed to completion, formatted disk, uncompressed and copied the DVD to the HD, DVD drawer opened, installation complete, remove CD and reboot.
 -- On reboot, hang black screen, hard drive light on.  Left that way over night, no change by morning.
 -- rebooted, used F6 to interrupt GRUB and modified start script in various ways as described in the forum and as above.  see photos below:

Grub details
http://picasaweb.google.com/lwdiener/LinuxMCE/photo?authkey=hEWrW49oylI#5238850873287784130

Error message
http://picasaweb.google.com/lwdiener/LinuxMCE/photo?authkey=hEWrW49oylI#5238850862867479634
==============================================
   Check root= bootarg cat /proc/cmdline
   or missing modules, devices: cat /proc/modules ls /dev
ALERT! /dev/dusk/by-uuid/82bcede9-2ffa-4c00-b69f-7dcb33927fbf does not exist.  Dropping to a shell!
==============================================

I've have read a great many forum threads here, and on the Ubuntu and Kubuntu boards before posting this request and have attempted several things as recommended.  I was not sure how to actually try some of the modifications (such as that described by LeeAdkins at http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=580903  because I don't know how to get into the editors without first having a working installation.  Any assistance regarding how I might proceed would be appreciated.

Thank you,

Larry

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