Messages

1

Installation issues / Re: Diskless Media Directors on a 1 NIC Core, is that possible?

« on: March 30, 2009, 07:40:01 am »

LOL, ok you're totally right, but....

aren't we already asking Joe User to turn off DHCP on their wireless router?

2

Installation issues / Re: Diskless Media Directors on a 1 NIC Core, is that possible?

« on: March 30, 2009, 05:51:36 am »

Yeah, you'll break it all.

Why do you people make this so difficult, really?

-Thom

Because LinuxMCE really isn't a great gateway compared to some other offerings. Sure it has a full Linux network system that could be locked down (probably already is), but configuring QOS, Port Triggering, and the multitude of other cool Linux networking duties is difficult for the avg user without a web interface. The LinuxMCE web interface has BOREBONES gateway configuration when compared to DDWRT or Openwrt. Sure you can put your router in front of your gateway, but if you want wireless access on your LinuxMCE network (I have 2 wireless diskless MD and wireless devices that need access to all of the media directories) you need to buy a 2nd wireless router/AP and place it behind your Linux MCE gateway.

3

Installation issues / Re: LinuxMCE as DHCP server, NOT gateway!

« on: March 30, 2009, 05:34:12 am »

micasaverde looks cool, but I'm stuck on open-source (free) software for my media center. I'm also pretty cheap. Thanks for the help and links, this hack doesn't seem to be sustainable with all the rewriting in /etc/ each time a device is added, or the core rebooted.

I'm going to write some quick and dirty bash scripts to automate all of the config changes to change the gateway. Will post these if anyone else is interested.

4

Installation issues / Re: LinuxMCE as DHCP server, NOT gateway!

« on: March 26, 2009, 08:05:11 pm »

Thanks.
Hmm I would like to avoid a hack,

Then PLEASE, use the core as your gateway. Everything else is a hack. 

True. But.... so far this config works fine!
And where would Linux or LinuxMCE be if it weren't for hacks?

5

Installation issues / Re: LinuxMCE as DHCP server, NOT gateway!

« on: March 26, 2009, 06:17:13 pm »

Thanks.
Hmm I would like to avoid a hack, such as a CRON job that changes that line back to 192.168.80.150 and restarts the DHCPD daemon.
Does anyone know where in the LinuxMCE scripts it rewrites that dhcpd.conf file once a new device is added?

I will search...

6

Installation issues / LinuxMCE as DHCP server, NOT gateway!

« on: March 26, 2009, 06:04:44 pm »

So I have an issue with LinuxMCE and my network design and here is my "so-far" working solution.
Perhaps someone could let me know if I have broken anything I don't know about, let me know how nutty I am, etc.
First off, I'm a DD-WRT junkie. I love this tight little linux package on my routers and the way it turns all the iptables, OpenVPN, QOS, etc. linux complexity (and goodness!!!) into a easy to use web GUI.

At first I installed LinuxMCE 710 and turned my DDWRT router into a stupid switch, letting LinuxMCE handle all the dhcpd, DNS, gateway, etc. But I'm seriously missing a ton of things that were configured in my DDWRT router:
- QOS
- WAN thoughput and statistics (in colorful little pngs!)
- OpenVPN
- Much more

Now sure you can do ALL of this stuff in Kubuntu + a degree in Linux networking. But DDWRT gives me all this without said degree and leaves my Linux brain to worry about other more interesting things, like media scripts and flickr photos syncing

Sure the ideal solution for me would be to have the DD-WRT super awesome WebGUI merged with LinuxMCE (*cough*), but until that great day.....

I decided enough was enough, the simple port forwarding thingy in the LinuxMCE admin tool was not going to cut it as my DDWRT replacement. So here it goes:

Project LinuxMCE as DHCPD (192.168.80.1) and DDWRT Router (Netgear 834Bv2 192.168.80.150) as DNS, GATEWAY + all the other DDWRT goodies! YAY!

1) sudo su

2) Edited 1 line in /etc/resolv.conf to add my DDWRT router as DNS resolver

Code: [Select]

nameserver 192.168.80.150

3) Edited /etc/network/interfaces and added the gateway (FYI eth1 now is disconnected, would like to remove this interface completely!)

Code: [Select]

auto lo
        iface lo inet loopback

auto eth1
iface eth1 inet dhcp
auto eth0
iface eth0 inet static
        address 192.168.80.1
        netmask 255.255.255.0
        gateway 192.168.80.150

4) Edited /etc/dhcp3/dhcpd.conf and changed the routers line

Code: [Select]

option routers 192.168.80.150;

5) Restarted the involved daemons:
/etc/init.d/./networking restart
/etc/init.d/./dhcp3-server restart
/etc/init.d/./dhcdbd restart

Now I have my cake and I'm eating it. Perhaps this cake is not as good as I think it is, perhaps this cake smells funny? But so far ignorance is bliss.

The big question here is: Does LinuxMCE really need to serve any core network role beyond a DHCP server?

7

Installation issues / Re: Director Kernel Panic on P5E-VM HDMI

« on: March 26, 2009, 03:28:39 pm »

The atl1 modules worked!! Thanks!!

8

Installation issues / Re: Which Gigabit NIC to buy?

« on: March 26, 2009, 01:41:54 am »

Great, thx. I think I will stick with an Intel card then.

9

Installation issues / Re: installation on a pen drive

« on: March 26, 2009, 01:40:58 am »

Hmm I assumed you had a media director running off a USB key, that would be a great solution for my wireless machines. Sounds like you are running the core of a pen drive?

10

Installation issues / Which Gigabit NIC to buy?

« on: March 23, 2009, 05:05:21 pm »

Belkin Gigabit Desktop Network PCI Card (F5D5005) - 10/100/1000Mbps
D-Link DGE-530T 10/100/1000Mbps Gigabit PCI Network Adapter
Intel (PWLA8391GT) Pro/1000 GT Desktop Adapter, PCI Slot

The Intel is $40 and the others $24. Will any of these work out of the box with 710?

I would prefer the DLink (cheap/same brand as my gigabit switch) which uses the "skge" module, but I'm not sure if this is included with 710.

Thanks!

11

Feature requests & roadmap / Picture Directory Thumbs

« on: March 23, 2009, 12:22:59 am »

LinuxMCE does a great job with my Mp3's, it's pulls album art from inside the tunes and even uses it as the folder thumbnail in my Artist/Album setup.

I LOVE the missing cover art tool in the web interface, I've tried em all and no other solution would find  art for commonly worded band names such as Live, Sky and Band.

But why doesn't LMCE also create a folder thumbnails for each of my picture folders? This would be the intuitive extension to how it handles MP3s.

I'm using the LinuxMCE folder structure on a NAS device. Thanks!

12

Installation issues / Re: Director Kernel Panic on P5E-VM HDMI

« on: March 21, 2009, 05:24:19 pm »

Great well I await 810. Until then I set up a DD-WRT wireless N bridge to cheat the in the meantime. I'm actually getting great performance though I've only used SD video so far.

13

Installation issues / Re: installation on a pen drive

« on: March 21, 2009, 05:20:39 pm »

I installed LinuxMCE 0710 onto a USB drive without a problem.

That HOWTO would make a great wiki article my friend 

14

Installation issues / Re: Director Kernel Panic on P5E-VM HDMI

« on: March 20, 2009, 06:24:35 am »

Thanks a lot for the explanations. I will try adding NIC module names to that modules config file. Also will check out the media structure and see if I can apply directory structure that to my Sage setup. I'm assuming that if I'm pushing 1080i video around the house I'm going to need Gigabit wired everywhere.

It looks like my SageTV rig will eventually be the core, as soon as HDPVR support is working reliably and I have a decent Nvidia card in it. I've been pretty happy how all of my Dell laptops are running as Directors, same with my gaming rig.

I'm pretty sure this is the media architecture I've been looking for, I just hope a slightly tighter default skin is on the way. Browsing music at 1080p is a bit scary looking with the block letters and contasting colors.

One last question (again should be a new thread), if I have a wireless laptop, to be used for low bandwidth media (pics, music), I know that I can't netboot a wireless card, so is there way to install my media director files on a small partition on the director, boot this partition, and then use my wireless card to interface with the other units/core/directors? Or am I talking crazy talk?

15

Installation issues / Director Kernel Panic on P5E-VM HDMI

« on: March 19, 2009, 03:30:01 pm »

Hello Linuxmce world, I've traveled a long way through Nuppelvideo + bash, XP MCE, MythTV, Mediaportal, and now to this neck of the woods and I like what I see so far.

I have the core and a few directors going with 710.

My main existing SageTV HTPC......
P5E-VM HDMI
Nvidia 8800
Atheros onboard Gb NIC
HDPVR
Avermedia Combo QAM/Analog
4gb
2tb

 ......seems to work according to other users, but as a director I'm getting a kernel panic on Netboot, seem to be related the Atheros NIC:

NET: Registered protocol family 17
lpconfig: no devices to configure
/init: .: 1: Can't open /tmp/net-eth0.conf
Kernel panic - not syncing: attempted to kill init!

Looks like it didn't find the NIC possibly? So close!

I would love to tinker with the linux config for this director, is there a directory on the core with a preconfigured directory for each "announced" director?

Also, is there a scenario where a director would be the main store of video, audio, pictures etc? Or is this not viable. It would be nice to make my core "aware" of all the media on my SageTV rig without having to move all of those drives to the core.

Sorry for the mashup of various questions, but better than 4 threads.
Thanks!