Messages

31

Users / Re: Improving network proformance

« on: January 18, 2012, 04:13:48 pm »

4000 x 1MB files take longer to transfer then 1 x 4GB file .........

You hit the nail on the head my friend.  It's funny how many people don't know that. 

We havn't even dove into the configurations of his router, switch and nics.  Jombo frames, auto speed vs locking in a speed, QOS, etc.  All the fun stuff!

32

Users / Re: Improving network proformance

« on: January 18, 2012, 03:09:11 pm »

The network and it's components aren't always the root cause of poor network performance.  Cat6 and gig nics only mean you have the potential for high speed data transfer but other factors can  and usually are the bottle neck.  To be completely thorough we'll also need to know:

The system specs of your core?
Are you using IDE drives for some reason?
Are you using raid and if so what type? Is your controller on board or a add-on card?
How much Ram do you have and what is your bus speeds? What's the processor speed?
Are you having speed issues from multiple clients on the network or just one? 
Are they connecting over wireless? 
What's your wireless AP speed? What are the client speeds? If you answer wireless N to the speed, are there any devices on your network that is not wireless N? How many?
What encryption are you using?
What are the client specs? Quick over view.   
How many client are accessing the shares at any given time?
How long is the cabling between each of your network devices? Are you using pre-made cables or did you make them yourself? How old are the cables? 

Most importantly:
What is the current transfer speed?
How are you getting these number?
What's the transfer size?
Are you testing with a large file or a bunch of small files that equal a larger number?

Any single one of these areas I asked about can diminish network performance.  The last 4 goes to the simple fact that sometimes people are not realistic about the performance they're going to get.  I'm not trying to insult you but it is what it is, just have to make sure.

33

Users / Re: New User Question

« on: January 16, 2012, 10:31:01 pm »

I think ceton 4 is an awesome option.   I did contact their customer support regarding use on Linux and this is the reply I got back

 So while I am excited about using the Ceton card with LinuxMCE, it is a bit worry some incase Verizon decides to drop the support.

I have Fios and got the exact opposite response when I asked them this same question.   

First, They told me that a setup box was absolutely necessary.  A regular old tv tuner card wont work.  The ONT that verizon installs on site only converts fiber to coax and/or CAT.  The coax is still carrying an IP signal after the conversion which I guess is different than the cable companys signal over coax.  The verizon setup box and network is an all IP base system.  The stb gets an IP address from your fios router and that's how it gets guide data and the extra digital content which includes video on demand.  I can confirm that much to be true.  The Cable content comes from a IP network that is hidden from the end user.  I guess if you can hack into the ONT you might be able to see it, but they also told me it's an unmanaged device so there isn't really anything to hack.  You'll need to know a little bit about IP networking to configure Lmce and the fios router to work together and give you all the features of both systems.  I ended up putting my fios router in it's own vlan, configured nat and called it a day.  My fios routers only client is the stb and the wireless is turned off, and it's setup as it's own little network hanging out outside my firewall. That was the easiest solution, espeacially considering talking to verizon support about IP networking is like speaking to a brick wall... or maybe a 1 year old, either way you wont get much help there.   The tech guys best help was pointing out where the backup and restore feature was in the router... f'ing idot...

Second, They told me i'd have to use thier PCI card for getting channels on my computer and that none of thier PCI cards is supported in linux.  It support Windows and media center only. 

I suggest reaching out to Verizon tech support.  Tech support can also be a waste of time however.  At least you'll hear yes it will work or no it wont striaght from the source.  I've asked them twice already, but post back or send me a PM if you get a different answer.  I'd love to plug my fios directly into my core.  These people are idiots though, they're just reading scripts, it's very possible you're going to waste $300 on a Ceton card.  Just an example, they told me that my stb couldn't be controlled remotely via IR, that I can only use the IR reciever built into the front of the STB.  So I asked "well, why is there a remote IR port on the back of the box?", they told me to hold, then the ass cames back on the phone and says "that port is for plugging in a remote IR reciever"... WHAT?!?  After I pointed out his contradiction he tells me that they don't sell or offer the IR reciever.  Long story short, they do have and sell the IR reciever but I got mine for free.  Just one of many brain cell killing conversations i've had with verizon tech support. 

Good luck.

34

Users / Re: Prevent other users to delete files

« on: January 09, 2012, 08:31:36 pm »

Is it me, or should this feature work oob? Maybe put it in feature request or make ticket?

You're absolutle right, this should be implemented.  It'll have to be done at the samba level somehow so some one couldn't "accidentally" delete the file from \\dcerouter.

35

Users / Re: Prevent other users to delete files

« on: January 09, 2012, 06:54:22 pm »

If you have windows shares you can do what I did.  I gave the user that lmce uses to access the shares read and write permissions but NOT modify.  This allows lmce to create cd, dvd rips, and add id tag information but doesn't allow it to delete anything.  I think this is along the same lines as what Pointman is recommending but with his recommendation lmce might not be able to add or change content.  Pointman correct me if i'm wrong.

Also, if you're using a windows share, depending on your OS version, you can setup snap shots of your data and auditing.  This way if something was deleted or changed you can easily restore it after being notified by the auditing.  I have a 21.5TB storage solution so snap shots are easy for me.  Video files, depending on compression, are generally large files (as you already know) so you will require a decent amount of addition, unused space for snap shots.  How much space depends on how often you snapshot, how long you keep a snapshot and the over all size of your data.

36

Users / Re: Dianemo: NAS not being detected?

« on: December 23, 2011, 06:17:58 pm »

Hello,
  My NAS share is not being detected.... I ran: /usr/pluto/bin/MessageSend dcerouter 0 -1001 2 65 52 3 53 2 5 "X" 28 "Y" with the proper data... then I ran  "/usr/pluto/bin/MessageSend dcerouter 0 -1001 2 65 52 3 53 2 49 1837", then I ran "/usr/pluto/bin/MessageSend dcerouter <device id> -1001 2 65 52 3 53 2 49 1768" The system found my NAS and it found the share, but it didnt really detect anything.... after double checking ... it just now detected the file system and free disk space, but there have been no media files detected. I'm at a loss. Thanks.

_nate

Try these instructions instead. http://wiki.linuxmce.org/index.php/Dianemo_S10.10#Detecting_Shares_when_adding_a_NAS.  I would delete the device from the system and recrete it using these instructions. 

Good luck...

37

Users / Re: Showtime Scenario still active after I have disabled

« on: December 12, 2011, 10:43:40 pm »

If it helps, if you want to know what I did, I created a room called "server room" (because I actually have a server room) and I created most of my scenarios under that room.  Mostly scenarios that I'd want on multiple orbiters that will perform the same function.  Evening lighting, that scenario is in 3 rooms for the entire house but I didn't want to create the scenario 3 times or if I change it, have to change it 3 times and make sure they all match.  I created it once in detail under server room.  For the other rooms I created evening lighting but the action is "execute a command" and the scenario number for "evening lighting" in the server room instead of "living room ceiling on" and "Wall Sconce 40%" etc....  I then hide the server room from the orbiters so you don't see all these random scenarios from the orbiters.

So back to this topic I have a "blank lighting" scenario for my server room that has all lights unassigned.  This is what I use for events that wants to call a lighting scenario like watching media and stopped watching media.  Plus it's an actual scenario that does exist so I should not have any weird problems when events or other scenarios call on it.  So far it's been working pretty well as far as I can tell.  As I grow the system and add or remove lights i will only have to modify one scenario vs every room that I want to have access to that scenario.

Just throwing that out there...

38

Users / Re: Showtime Scenario still active after I have disabled

« on: December 12, 2011, 10:23:41 pm »

Thank you Seth and klovell, very helpful indeed.

At this moment in time I don't want a showtime event at all, but I don't want to delete it either, so I have put "00" in the field, in the hope that "00" isn't tied to anything, and that it will do precisely nothing. Seems to be working so far.

Out of interest... I understand this section executes a command, as you've explained Seth, but where are the details of this command stored? Or is this hidden deep in LMCE's belly?

Cheers,
Matt.

It's in the scenarios dude.  pick any scenario or create a new one and you'll see to the top left what scenario you have selected (indicated by a number).  What ever actions you define in the selected scenario is what is going to execute when that scenario number is called by "execute a command". 

I'm pretty sure that if you use the drop down for "Edit scenario using wizard" and choose "advanced" it will show you all the actions configured for that scenario from all categories (lighting, media...). 

Sorry if I misunderstood your question and didn't answer it.

39

Users / Re: climate control

« on: December 12, 2011, 07:01:42 pm »

Ups, It works Posde!!! 

Yea, but Thom was right.  I tried this and it worked but It got really funky.  I would turn it off using Lmce not knowing that my wife already did so in reality I turned it on, so now it's just sitting there cooling a room that no one is using.  It sat there running for 3 days one weekend becuase of a mix up like that.  I guess if the AC is in a room that you're always in and you don't plan to automate it at all and just use Lmce as a over complicated remote control, it works.   

40

Users / Re: Showtime Scenario still active after I have disabled

« on: December 12, 2011, 06:51:17 pm »

Hey there. I may have an answer to your question.

There are really 2 ways to resolve this issue.
One completely removes the lighting function from Showtime event, or any event. This is kind of an ugly hack.
The other will allow you to further customize what it does, when the Showtime event is fired.

To start either way, to modify how an event is responded to, go to:
Advanced > Configuration > Scenarios     from the top of the webadmin:
Then in the left hand column, you will see a list of nested scenarios, the one you want to expand is:

"Scenarios for Event Handlers" and then click the "Watching: <insert room here>"

*** See image below ***

After that the window on the right will show you:

*** See image below ***

Here in this image we see it executes command 245, which is the auto-generated Showtime scenario for my Living Room.

You can either delete this command - Kinda hacky, but possibly not. Or you can modify that scenario by scrolling up in the current left pane, to "Lighting Scenarios" and modify the existing scenario.

Or, you can create a whole new lighting scenario. I did this option, because I wanted to create a lighting scenario that would only fire at NIGHT.
After creating this new scenario, I just changed the number in the "Watching - Living Room, Living Room" scenario, and then I made another one to do nothing with the lights, for use in DAY scenarios. I did this for both "Watching - Living Room, Living Room" and "Not Watching - Living Room, Living Room"

If you play with the scenarios and the call functions, you can do all kinds of crazy stuff.

But the short answer is option One. Either delete the command group from the "Watching - <insert room here>", or modify directly the appropriate Lighting Scenario from the same portion of the web admin page.

Hope this helps. I intend on doing a Wiki entry for advanced scenarios, while on Holidays next two weeks.

Best Regards,

Seth

FYI - maybe it was just a coincidence but I deleted that "Watching: <insert room here>" event once and it caused serious problems for the rooms I deleted it for. 

The second suggestion works like a charm, create a new scenario and change the execute command for "Watching: <insert room here>" from what ever the showtime scenario is to the new one you created.

41

Users / Re: SSD Is it worth the money?

« on: August 25, 2011, 06:40:22 pm »

Here's the deal.. you may not realize it but at the end of the day your core is a server.  The intention should be for this device to just sit there 24/7/365 with no direct interaction unless necessary (ex. making a repair).  Two of the top ten absolute worst mistakes you can make while building a server is to under spec the system and go cheap on hardware.  16 GB is ridiculously low and I wouldn't recommend that even for a hybrid with no md's and external storage.  Eventually you're going to eat up that space then you have to worry about imaging your system onto a new drive.  Just do it right the first time.  You may need to turn on extensive logging at some point to pin point an issue, are you going to have the space?  Besides, thumb drives are extremely limited on writes.  How long will it be until you have to replace that thumb drive?  I personally wouldn't go any less than 60GB with external media storage.

I understand not everyone is made of money, and I am by no means made of money, but you get what you pay for.  Statistically, you have a lower chance of failure using ssd vs a conventional HD.  IMO since you're most likely not using server grade hard drives, you're core or hybrid is not in a temp and humidity controlled room, you don't have systems in place to control dust and other environmental influences, and your core will be powered off and on due to power failures and maintenance, a ssd will definitely out last a conventional HD. If you're intentions are to one day have a core that you're not rebuilding every other month, it would be a good idea to invest in the SSD or a decent raid setup (preferably hardware raid).

To the OP, I've already said this in another post but I don't mind saying it again.  I saw an increase in performance when I switched to a SSD.  My boot times and regen times dropped after I switched.   I use SSD in all my home servers but one and I will replace them all with a hardware raid if I had the cash.  IMO it's totally worth it, especially since you can get a SSD now for around $100.  Look at it this way, even if it's not much faster with LMCE it should be much more reliable than a conventional drive.  IMO that alone makes it worth it.   

42

Users / Re: Workgroup Wiki/Manual

« on: August 25, 2011, 05:47:10 pm »

I'll help out. 

However, Between my 9-5 (which is more like 7-6), my clients on the side, my new born, and most importantly my wife, I don't know how much time I'll be able to commit.  I'll give it a shot but this will come after all the above.  I know everyone has a story but I'm just setting your expectations for me.

How will we be coordinating our efforts (email, PMs, IRC, or posts)?

43

Users / Re: OMG, why do you make this so difficult?

« on: August 22, 2011, 04:29:35 am »

Frustrated, just take a break dude.  Sometimes you have to just walk away and regroup.  I was ready to climb a bell tower with a scope until I had to leave town.  I was gone for a while with no LMCE, forums, or home network but when I came back I had new appreciation and a higher level of patients towards LMCE.

When I first started with this i shared more of your views.  As an IT professional I can appreciate your structured way on thinking.  No offense guys but my CIO would have scrapped this project a long time ago.  She sure as shit wouldn't be thinking about 10.10 when 8.10 hasn't been released.  But I work for a company who needs to turn a profit and as it's already been pointed out you didn't pay for this.  You're going to have to roll up your sleeves and get dirty, flex those IT muscles and figure some shit out.  Life with LMCE got a lot easier for me once I accepted that.  I haven't seen another product that does what LMCE can do for a better price (excluding Dianemo :-)) so trust me it's worth the head aches. 

My only issue is the wide spread belief that coding is this easy task that any dummy can just do.  If you don't come from an IT background and you learned to code well good for you.  I've been solely charged with multi million dollar datacenters and server rooms for years now and I'm usually dancing circles around co-workers technically, but I couldn't code my way out of a paper bag.  I can read some of it but only enough to break it or hack it to suit my needs.  If you're like me and can't help the dev technically the way they need it start cleaning up the wiki so the next "Frustrated" isn't so Frustrated.

That's my 2 cents.... I love LMCE! 

44

Users / Re: All MDs are down

« on: August 17, 2011, 08:55:37 pm »

Does your internal network function correctly?

You could try going into web admin, and under Wizard -> Restart, select "Net" for one of the MDs. Then try booting the MD, see if that works. Long shot, but it won't hurt.

Cheers,
Matt.

Definitely try this!!

I've rebuilt a couple md's before and this was the problem. 

45

Developers / Re: 2nd display as Touchscreen

« on: August 17, 2011, 08:47:44 pm »

With the windows xp, CE, android and web orbiters you can get pretty creative.  My kitchen is sporting a webdt 515, awesome device running windows xp embedded.  I also have a Xybernaut Atigo M in my living room running windows CE.  Google them for specs and pictures.  I have them both connected to my 2008 r2 terminal server since my terminal server has more horse power than these embedded devices.  However if you scale it down a little these devices can do the same on it's own.  I created GPO's to create the desktops, icons and user enviroments automatically.  All I need to do is get a low powered windows device and a touchscreen, plug it into my network, join it to the domain and it's ready to go.  Since it's Windows almost all... all touchscreens will work. 

This is what the screens look like.

WebDT 515
http://home.lovellfam.net/pics/lmce/home.png
http://home.lovellfam.net/pics/lmce/lmce.png
http://home.lovellfam.net/pics/lmce/internet.png
http://home.lovellfam.net/pics/lmce/system.png

Atigo M
http://home.lovellfam.net/pics/lmce/atigo.png

Just an example...