Messages

31

Installation issues / Setting up Core – MDs.

« on: October 12, 2009, 05:56:35 am »

I had an interesting experience so far setting up my Core / MD units. My Core has been up and running for about a week now, with no major problems. One of my Win 7 machines keeps loosing its IP, but I think that that is isolated to that one as all of my other PCs and Macs are doing OK.

For the last several days I have been trying to set up a second LinuxMCE machine, on a Zatac 330 platform. I could not install 7.10 successfully, but was able to install 8.10 on it before, when I first started playing with MCE. This time however, I could not get the 8.10 to go through the process of updating itself to MCE no matter what I did. I tried reinstalling the OS from CD several times, and then going through the steps of upgrading, only to get the same errors that some of the components could not be downloaded, and the update process would constantly hang.  That is until I tried one thing.

I took out the Core out of the loop completely, and connected the new PC directly to the cable modem. It installed and upgraded in one easy step…  I am not sure why, but it seems that the Core “running” my network was somehow interfering with the new PC’s download process… If anyone has other thoughts, please – I would love to hear them, as I have one more Zotac based PC that I will set up. If I do not have to take out the Core, at least for the original OS install, that would be nice.

My second question is – do I need to disable the Core function on the new Zotac PC that will act as an MD only? It has one NIC. I saw that there is an option on my 7.10 to disable the Core and leave the MD to load at startup.

Sorry for the long history, but I thought it was interesting to me, and maybe can help someone else. 

Lev

32

Installation issues / Re: Accessing home network

« on: September 23, 2009, 04:08:15 pm »

Thom,

Thanks. I will not bother you all again...    or at least the 2nd NIC comes in from Newegg... 

Lev

33

Installation issues / Re: Accessing home network

« on: September 23, 2009, 04:03:07 pm »

I think that all of you are making a very good point, and watching some of the demonstration videos online is very convincing. I've ordered the 2nd NIC and will set up the CORE as recommended. I am still a little confused, though. The core will be acting as DHCP server, not my router, as it is now? Will I need to disable the the DHCP server functionality on the router then?


Thanks again,

Lev

34

Installation issues / Re: Accessing home network

« on: September 23, 2009, 06:05:42 am »

And, by the way, I am looking for a cheap 2nd NIC, at my local retailers, to plug into one of my old Dells to create a CORE... 

35

Installation issues / Re: Accessing home network

« on: September 23, 2009, 06:04:04 am »

Thank you!!!

Are you referring to this part?

  Scanning For Shares

The good thing about LinuxMCE is, that LinuxMCE routinely scans the internal network for servers, and if found, scans those servers for shares to be mounted and spidered for media. To initiate the scan for shares manually (because of a manually added server) do the following

    * Open a terminal
    * Execute

/usr/pluto/bin/Configure_1837.sh -d <device-id> -i '<ip-address>' -m '<mac-address>'

36

Installation issues / Re: Accessing home network

« on: September 23, 2009, 05:51:13 am »

Thom, thanks.

I have a straight forward cat 5 and cat 6 wired home network, with a series of both wired and wireless hubs/switches, and I easily stream from my unRAID box to PCs, PCH and a Mac. All I want to do is be able to "see" my unRAID box from the MD and play an MKV, to see what it would look like. Again, I am not versed in Linux, but do not give up easy. I am savvy with hardware and would not hesitate to "revamp" the infrastructure, but only if it will have what I need. Can you please direct me to a way to be able to connect to the unRAID?

Thanks,

Lev

37

Installation issues / Re: Accessing home network

« on: September 23, 2009, 05:34:32 am »

Thanks. I am sure that all pieces fit together nicely. But, still, is there a way for me to browse my network share without the CORE?  At this point I want to see how well the network streaming is with Linux. As I said, I do not have a spare motherboard with 2 NICs to build a CORE... 

I have spare parts, procs, memory, cases, but not the board. I do not want to rework my infrastructure and later find out that the one thing that is most important to me, streaming hi-def content, is not up to par.

Again, I understand the necessity, or the importance of the 2 NIC system (well, somewhat), but need to see the benefits before investing $$$ into the new system.

Thanks,

Lev

38

Installation issues / Re: Accessing home network

« on: September 23, 2009, 04:26:59 am »

Thanks for the informative reply. As I have multiple PCs running various flavors of Windows, a single Mac and a PCH on my already existing network, I was trying to not reinvent the entire wheel all at once, and rather dip my toes into the water of the Linux OS. I was hoping that one PC having a bare essentials would be enough for me to try out how the system looks and feels. I love the ease of use of the Mac and the constant configurability of a PC. PCH is brainless, and has a great wife acceptance factor (WAF). I do not know anything about Linux nor do I have a spare board with 2 NICs on it to build a CORE.

So, I cannot just have a single MD connected to my existing infrastructure? I do not mind, with time, expanding my system to have a complete LinuxMCE setup, but would like to see if I will like the setup first. As I mentioned earlier, I was able to connect to my server via the KDS desktop, and stream a video file (mkv). However, I found that the video was extremely choppy, something that I have not experienced with my other PCs.

Please, let's not get carried away with insults and obscenities, and if you do not want to answer an novice's question - then don't. I do not pretend to know much about Linux, but that is no reason to insult.

39

Installation issues / Re: Accessing home network

« on: September 22, 2009, 10:11:52 pm »

I did not. I only needed the PC to act as a "media player" and not have any other functionality. I do not need it to serve files nor monitor anything. Also, that board only has one NIC.

40

Installation issues / Accessing home network

« on: September 21, 2009, 09:40:05 pm »

I recently installed a LinuxMCE 810 on a Zotac A-U board. My home network has mostly PCs, but also a Mac and an unRAID for centralized storage. All of the computers are on the same "home" network and can see the unRAID, except LinuxMCE. When I go to KDE desktop I can find the share and browse it. However, I cannot seem to see that same share from the LinuxMCE MD desktop. Please be mindful that I a Linux novice.

Thanks for your help.

41

Installation issues / Re: Zotac Ion board

« on: September 13, 2009, 04:51:57 am »

I was able to solve my problem by upgrading to the latest Nvidia driver. Thanks. Baby steps... Now to try to figure out the rest...

42

Installation issues / Re: No Signal with hdmi cable.

« on: September 13, 2009, 04:50:11 am »

I upgraded to the latest Nvidia drivers and that seemed to do the trick!!! 

Thanks to all for the advices. Now, to try to figure out how to add network shares...

Thanks,

Lev

43

Installation issues / Re: Zotac Ion board

« on: September 12, 2009, 11:23:37 pm »

Sorry for the nOOb question, but could you please explain how to enable "nvidia-xconfig"?

Thanks.

44

Installation issues / Re: No Signal with hdmi cable.

« on: September 12, 2009, 11:22:18 pm »

I tried using the 1-5 keys to no avail. Also tried to change the resolution. Zilch... When I am runing the PC connected to a VGA monitor the "number" keys do not work on 810. Maybe its the alpha release issue...

I used this Zotac A-U board with Windows and HDMI out worked...

45

Installation issues / Re: No Signal with hdmi cable.

« on: September 12, 2009, 07:40:00 pm »

I tried holding the Shift key with no change. I see the AV screen while the PC is connected via a VGA cable. How do I "turn on" HDMI output, so that I can see the same AV menu?

By the way, I do not know if this makes any difference, I am using the Zotac A-U board.

Thanks,

Lev