Messages

1

Users / Cannot open DVD

« on: October 10, 2008, 01:22:23 am »

I put in a very simple DVD (several actually) and neither Xine nor Media MPlayer can play the DVD. Xine: There is no MRL and MPlayer just doesn't open the DVD.

2

Users / How do I disable this slideshow screen saver?

« on: October 09, 2008, 10:58:17 pm »

How do I disable this slideshow screen saver?
I already tried: Right-click desktop>Configure desktop>Screen saver>start automatically but it wasn't checked.

3

Users / MythTV requires DCERouter login

« on: October 09, 2008, 04:29:56 am »

When I go into MythTV setup it bounced out to a dcerouter login. I have tried everything including my username and "linuxmce" and nothing works. What is going on and what gives?

4

Users / Hauppauge WinTV-PVR-USB2

« on: October 09, 2008, 03:52:26 am »

I just plugged in a Hauppauge WinTV-PVR-USB2 to my linuxMCE box.

I read the following link:
http://wiki.linuxmce.org/index.php/Hauppauge_WinTV-PVR-USB2

How do I get to the MythTV setup to install a new capture card? Do I need to install any drivers?
I went to KInfoCenter and honestly I could not see if this device was recognized or not. Does Kubuntu have a plug and play engine?

5

Users / Why did my MCE setup wizard start over?

« on: October 09, 2008, 02:38:12 am »

I shut the computer down (as far as I know normally) and when I start the box back up it re-runs the entire MCE setup wizard over again losing all of my configurations. What gives? And how do I backup my config in case something like this happens again. Also, what is the best, correct shut down procedure?

6

Users / Re: Digital media receivers

« on: October 08, 2008, 01:56:12 am »

Oh, and why do I need 2 NICs?

I tried testing and running the system with only one NIC and even though I was able to get it to work (installed with router providing DHCP, set static IPs, tweaked LMCE's network settings, etc.) it wasn't worth all the effort and gave me many sleepless nights.

At the very least (and if you run out of PCI slots) you should get something simple like the Linksys USB200M and use that for your connection to the Interweb. LMCE likes to have control of its subnet for better support of PNP and diskless Media Directors so I'd dedicate your GigE port for that.

So, even though it's possible, you should avoid it if you can and just buy a MB with 2 NICs.

So, if I am understand you one NIC is for communication with the server and the other is for streaming media?

7

Users / Re: Digital media receivers

« on: October 08, 2008, 01:37:24 am »

That's basically the short version, yes. You must have a Core that has 2 NICs, and then the Core acts as a router between your existing home network and the new "internal" LMCE network.

All equipment that will interact with LMCE needs to be on the internal network - Media Directors, Home Automation equipment, Phones, media sources (PCs, NAS's, etc) using DHCP to get IP addresses from the Core. The recommendation would be simply to move everything you currently have to the internal network, and plug the Core's "external" NIC directly into your broadband router. They will all behave in exactly the same way, so its pretty much transparent.

If you are using Media Directors, then a Gig switch and NICs are recommended just to speed up the boot times, etc, but isn't essential. Then, as you say, put the Media Director's BIOS in to boot from LAN mode (its actually called PXE boot, but often BIOS's describe it as other things) and reboot the machine. It will then find the Core, and have a boot file delivered which will go through the process of creating a boot image of LMCE that sits on the Core's hard drive. After a while it will complete building this image and instruct the new Media Director to reboot. This time the Core will serve up the pre-build LMCE image to the Media Director to boot from... voila

So it will just hunt down the Core on the network even though it is a barebone box with no HD, correct?
What about DVR functionality storage, etc, that can stay on the Core no need to have a local HD for speed?

Oh, and why do I need 2 NICs?

8

Users / Re: Digital media receivers

« on: October 08, 2008, 01:09:27 am »

Its an example of a typical "barebones" system (ie PC minus CPU, RAM, HDD) that is designed for Home Theatre PC use - basically it looks like a HiFi component. You can use it as either a Core, Hybrid or Media Director depending on what CPU, RAM and HDD you get for it.

A Core is the central "master" for an LMCE network that controls the network and can be headless (no screen) if you wish and placed out of the way in a cupboard or somewhere.
A Media Director is a "slave" to the Core, and is used to provide AV media to a display and audio system (hom theatre, stereo, amp, whatever) - you place as many of these as you like around the house, wherever you have AV equipment and would like to be able to access your LMCE media from.
A Hybrid is a Core with a Media Director on it as well - this way you can have a standalone LMCE system consisting of a single PC. Although many people use a Hybrid, plus Media Directors so that they do not "waste" a PC just for the Core as it can play media as well as the simple Media Directors.

Yes, you can build whatever you want, but be aware that if you do not choose recommended hardware (or at least known good chipsets) you will likely come across compatibility issues. Best to search the forums and wiki for advice on the best hardware - eg nVidia 6xxx and 7xxx chipsets are the best for video.

There are several motherboards and barebones systems coming out at the moment that are very cost effective, and people are looking into the compatibility of ones from Asus and MSI at the moment.

I hear what you are saying. So how do you get the slaves to boot off of the MCE Core? Just go to the bios of each slave unit and select boot from LAN?

9

Users / Re: Digital media receivers

« on: October 07, 2008, 11:06:41 pm »

as per colinjones' reply, we have an extensive system where you can simply drop diskless PCs wherever there is a TV. What I recommend is the following setup:

* MSI Media Live
* USB UIRT for A/V control
* Xantech 286 double emitter to control TV and one other device such as an amplifier.

Use a tablet, PDA, Nokia 770 etc, as an Orbiter, that you can move from room to room to control the different devices, and you can have as many orbiters and remote controls as needed for the system.

The MSI media live just needs a CPU and some RAM. A hard drive is not required.

As per the system design, you can attach peripherals to any media director or the core, and it will replicate house-wide.

Even though we do support both UPNP clients, media storage, and players, we do not recommend them, because they do not expose functionality of the entire house.

Many people honestly have a difficult time understanding the sheer scope of the system, because quite frankly, nothing else has existed like it before, so it can take a bit of time to wrap it all around your head.

That's okay, that's why we're here.

-Thom

What is the MSI Media Live device the slave or can I build my own?
http://www.msicomputer.com/product/p_spec.asp?model=Media_Live

Also are there other units, maybe that are less expensive?

10

Users / Digital media receivers

« on: October 07, 2008, 02:37:36 am »

I want to be able to pull movies from the linuxMCE to any one of my TV's. My understanding is that I might be able to do this via a DMR. What DMRs (digital media receiver) will work with linuxMCE?
And how would I set this up?

11

Installation issues / Re: Up and running now i have a few questions.

« on: October 06, 2008, 02:28:40 am »

Check out the wiki for your last set of questions...

Hardware:  http://wiki.linuxmce.org/index.php/Category:Hardware
Tutorials:  http://wiki.linuxmce.org/index.php/Category:Tutorials

Hope that helps a little.

Any help with the "When you can see and hear me wizard"? Also, what DMRs (digital media receiver) will work with linuxMCE.

12

Installation issues / Up and running now i have a few questions.

« on: October 04, 2008, 08:48:40 pm »

I got MCE  up and running and I am at the "When you can see and hear me wizard" where the lady is talking to the screen. I went thru the wizard once. Then it comes up again and again. I finally go to the KDE desktop, but I see that this wizard is still running in one of the panes on the kicker.

Also, I do not get a login prompt when I login and when I logout I get a black screen, I do not see an option to shut down.

Also, is there a quick start guide anywhere? Some place where I can get the basics for getting the entertainment portion especially, up and running. And some place where I can get a list of the most popular and compatible hardware to run with MCE.

I would appreciate any help, thanks.

13

Users / "When you can see and hear me wizard" = Infinite Loop

« on: October 04, 2008, 05:04:49 pm »

I got everything up and running and I am at the "When you can see and hear me wizard" where the lady is talking to the screen. I went thru the wizard once. Then it comes up again and again. I finally go to the KDE desktop, but I see that this wizard is still running in one of the panes on the task bar. Any ideas?

14

Users / Re: Download links do not work

« on: October 04, 2008, 03:03:21 pm »

I managed to get the DVD ISO downloaded burned the DVD while going thru "Copying DVD to hard drive" I get the following error in RED:

ERROR: I/O failure while copying from the DVD

Any workarounds, is this common?
I am going to burn another copy from the same ISO, if I get the same error I will assume the ISO is corrupt.

15

Users / Re: Download links do not work

« on: October 04, 2008, 05:12:59 am »

KD4?

Kubuntu 8.04 KDE4, yes can you help me load MCE?

.

Sorry you've wasted your time lmce runs on 7.10. You really need to READ the installation info. Go back to my original response and start over. The path you are on right now is completely wrong.

OK then i'll start over.