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If you can't find a projector with RS232... you're not looking too hard...  Most projectors I've seen installed in presentation rooms are controlled over RS232.  Also, the projector running above my head right now is RS232.

No, RS232 support should not be "dropped" - that would be very dumb... why would we take a step backwards? we're trying to support MORE hardware not less...  Lots of people are using RS232 successfully - including me.  Lots of devices manufactured today can be controlled by RS232... just because the projector you want isn't, doesn't mean that the receivers, televisions, cable boxes, and other special devices that other people have don't use it... you need to look at the bigger picture before you suggest dropping a feature that isn't useful to you.

Also, TCP/IP over Ethernet (the stuff that probably comes out of this RJ45 jack you're talking about) is supported... so is USB...
http://wiki.linuxmce.org/index.php/Control_A/V_equipment_with_RS232/USB/Ethernet

http://wiki.linuxmce.org/index.php/FAQ

jimbodude:

regarding simplephone on orbiters: another thing to consider is adding buttons to answer "on this orbiter" or "on media director A", "media director B", etc... or even "on Media Director in this room" for that screen. This should be a decent way to handle being able to take calls on both orbiters and media directors.

Correct. Not even close to that yet.  Need to get it to run first.

In response to getting simple phone on the DT:

I was working on getting it to run on the DT360 before I fell off the face of the earth for a month.  Progress detailed here: http://wiki.linuxmce.org/index.php/User:Jimbodude/Orbiter_Phone  I'm not sure I'll have time to go much further with it for about 2 months.

There is an image available here (http://jimbodude.net/tab/webpad-dt360-beta4-based-gamma1-simplephone.dd.tar.bz2) for anyone who wants to play with it.  Note that I only have web space for one version at a time, so if it's not there anymore, there's something newer.

You cannot send the "On" command to the MD when it's off - the message will not be delivered because the MD device isn't online.  Try the "Wake Device" command in the General Info Plug-In.  Supply the MD's device number as the argument.  (This is what is done by the "Power On" button in the orbiter.)

http://wiki.linuxmce.org/index.php/AVWizard#What_to_do_if_A.2FV_Wizard_does_not_start
http://wiki.linuxmce.org/index.php/FAQ#Why_does_LinuxMCE_Require_nVidia_graphics_cards.3F__Why_can.27t_I_use_my_ATI_card.3F
http://wiki.linuxmce.org/index.php/Display_Drivers

you're preaching to the choir here buddy.

The section I was referencing was this:
http://wiki.linuxmce.org/index.php?title=Frequently_Asked_Questions&oldid=15562#Workaround

but it seems you've already re-written the whole thing.

Further discussion on this definitely deserves a new thread, as the debate about LMCE network setup always seems to end in a heated argument.

There is documentation about adding a second network in the FAQ, in the same section.  This discussion probably warrants its own thread.

It may be easier to just use the UPnP server that LinuxMCE and MythTV set up for you.  The naming and sorting are human friendly already, and don't require you to copy all your TV shows.

Use the "dcerouter: MythTV AV Media Server" UPnP server to view recordings by human-readable groups.

See also, LinuxMCE's own UPnP server (which suffers from the naming problem, but gets you into your stuff)
http://wiki.linuxmce.org/index.php/UPnP

Try these docs:

http://wiki.linuxmce.org/index.php/FAQ#How_are_media_files_organized.3F

http://wiki.linuxmce.org/index.php/FAQ#Why_does_LinuxMCE_require_that_it_replace_my_router.3F__Why_do_I_need_2_network_cards_in_my_Core.3F

Also, in order to access the shares from a Windows machine, you may need to add that system to the "LinuxMCE" workgroup.  You can search the internet for how to do this.

There are also some issues that will cause Windows to not list any systems in your workgroup except your own - you can look this up in the Microsoft knowledgebase at http://support.microsoft.com

There are some (very poorly designed) firewall software packages that will limit your ability to connect to other machines on your network.  Try disabling any software firewall you have on your Windows machine.

Once you get your files off, wipe the system, and install Linux. 

[should]

I recently overcame a similar problem caused by the nvidia driver (I'm assuming you're using an nvidia card).  To tell if you're having the same issue, do this:

Code Select Expand


ls /proc/irq/*


This will give you a listing of the IRQs being used by your system.  If your graphics driver is nvidia, and it's on the same line as something else, these devices are sharing an IRQ.  This should work just fine - but I guess there are some very specific (and completely undocumented) situations when it is not ok to do this.

To further verify the problem, look in /var/log/syslog around the time of the lock-up.  If you see a bunch of Xid 8 and 16 errors, this is likely your problem.  I got these errors about 75% of the time - so you may have to check over a few lockups.

If this is your problem:
The easiest way to correct this it is to physically move the cards around in your system until the nvidia device has its own IRQ, or is sharing with a device that doesn't use its IRQ much or at all (like an ivtv tuner).

Some additional background:
I was using an onboard nVidia 6150, which worked fine until I added a second NIC.  I did a reinstall at that time, then the system started to have xorg and orbiterGL spin at 100% CPU usage.  I was able to get a running system by putting in a PCI graphics card - which led me to believe the problem was a cooked card.  The trick here, was that I removed my tuner card to put in the graphics card - this put the PCI graphics on a physically different IRQ pin, making an overlap impossible.  I bought a new PCI-Express nVidia 7300, reinstalled the tuner, and immediately started to have the same issue.  I just happened to notice the exact time of a few lock ups, and went looking for patterns in the logs.  Finding Xid 8 and 16, I started to do some research.  After a while, I came to the conclusion above, and now everything seems to be just fine.

This took me about a month to track down because it is so obscure and undocumented.  There is one forum post on the nvidia site explaining that a combination of Xid 8 and 16 point to an IRQ conflict.  It goes on to explain that it is technically impossible to have an IRQ conflict like this with the way the nvidia driver is designed (which is clearly false).  There is also almost no documentation of what individual Xid errors actually mean - it seems to be some sort of corporate secret - so it's very hard to get a picture of what is going on unless you ask at the nvidia forums with the exact combination of Xid errors you're getting.

Hope I can save someone all this trouble...