LinuxMCE is great....Kinda

[cirion]

Thanks, I'll give that a shot.  Any idea how I can force lmce to only use those directories I specify in the web admin page?  Perhaps this only works when using the pluto structure??

No, but by using the pluto structure it will not show any other stuff you have outside of the pluto structure... So I guess there should be no need to show/hide folders. You only move in what you want to be shown...

[hari]

[...] If I browse /mnt/device/52 I DO see all my stuff, so ultimately this would work fine assuming the other drive was mounted and stayed that way. [...]

lmce uses an automounter (autofs). That unmounts the devices when not in use (and remounts them again when you access e.g. "ls /mnt/device/52/" (yes, even if you can't see the 52).

best regards,
Hari

[skeptic]

Doh!  I typed up this reply and never hit sent...

Yup, that did it.  I think I'm breaking through the frustration factor..  Fixed 2 issues in the last 5 minutes.  One was the video/pictures would disappear (black screen with just the menu overlay) as soon as I clicked something, never to return.  Switched to UI2 without alpha and it's working fine (grrrr).  Switching to pluto structure for my external USB drive and copying in the stuff I wanted solved the issue of the extra crap showing up.  I also pulled my head out and realized it's using automount, the reason the drives were appearing and disappearing.  I got so hung up on "it's a black box and control devices it's own way" that I spaced on the normal method to do this. 

Now I just need to get my laptop working as a MD and figure out how I want to handle the networking stuff and I'll stick with LinuxMCE instead of going back to a simple MythTV setup.  Of course I don't know how to USE the thing... Music play lists?  Control video (pause, fast forward, rewind) with just a keyboard and mouse? Slideshow of my pics, or using my pics for the "screen saver" instead of flickr?  Those things I should be able to figure out as long as lmce is actually working.

[GamerAyers]

I agree.  I have all my devices on my internal network.  Including a Brother LAN printer, a ps3 and a vonage phone.  I can not get any of them recognized as anything but a file server.  I have yet to figure out a way to set them up other than such except by manual entry.

My problem with copying cds rather than re-ripping is first, the cover art is listed different (while minor it is annoying) and second, when I pull a CD which was ripped in Media player and used in XP MCE, it normally comes in with 12 track (or however many there are) each listed as its own cd.  They all have the same name, and it takes clicking update 12 times to get them to merge.  Then if I have, say American Pie, the name of the soundtrack cd is American Pie, and the name of the Don McLean cd is American Pie, it will actually merge both CDs together if you are not careful.  It just seems that if you re-rip, there are less issues.

A new issue I ran into, I ran the XP orbiter and it does not allow me to play any media, just control VOIP, X10 and security.  Maybe I am missing a setting and don't have time to fiddle with this as I am working out deals on my new house at this point.

A question to that concern, my voip provider at this point is Vonage.  I have searched and searched for a good VOIP in the US which is at least as cheap as Vonage, but I can use it with LinuxMCE.  I would be happy to look into any that people suggest, but I want a local number (Columbus, OH area).  That being said, I could care less to have my VOIP on my LinuxMCE, is there any way to remove the menu in the main screen.  I mean, if I am not using it, it is just clutter. (and also to fix the text so that it doesn't look all funky)

[cirion]

Skeptic, if you are sticking with LinuxMCE I can reccomend getting a Fiire Chief and a few dongles.
http://fiire.com/fiire-chief.php

It's a ugly remote, but nothing beats it when using LinuxMCE. It's actually possible to install the DVD and the MD's with just this remote.... That is if you have the correct HW so that you do not have to install display drivers.
You will need 1 extra dongle pr. MD, and they are worth having
My GF loves the fact that we can start a movie in the livingroom. Then pause it and use 1 press to continue in the bedroom
Follow me works GREAT with this remote!

Using a keyboard + mouse works, but it's not something I like to use. Standard buttons like Play, Stop, Pause, FF, FR does not work, you have to use keyboard shotcuts wich are not very easy to use in the dark. UI1 works great with a mouse, UI2 needs the keyboard.

There are 3 buttons used in the video on the remote plus left/right mouse, and these are F5, F6 and F7. If you have a mouse with 5 buttons you could manually program them to those keys. When using a mouse, left click selects, and right click clears the screen.

UI2 is clearly build for the Gyro mouse from Gyration, but the Fiire Chief (Wich is made by Gyration too but with changes spesifically for LinuxMCE) works even better since it has a lot of direct access buttons for most stuff. It even has a button for the AV Wizard to start (instead of holding Shift at boot after the beeps, you can press this button.)

UI2 does most stuff in combination with Mouse/Gyro and a on screen element brought up by using F5, F6 or F7.

UI1 is point and click, and there is no need for the Fiire Chief there.

[geoffrey]

I have all my devices on my internal network.  Including a Brother LAN printer, a ps3 and a vonage phone.  I can not get any of them recognized as anything but a file server.  I have yet to figure out a way to set them up other than such except by manual entry.

my question here is: why?  maybe I am missing something obvious but why would you want to have anything but the MDs, NAS and perhaps the VOIP phone on the internal LMCE network? 

[GamerAyers]

I have the Linuxmce as my router due to the fact that like having it accessible to the internet, it performs better than any regular wireless/wired router, I can use a wireless access point inside it for all my wireless stuff (since I can't use it as a wireless router), I never have disconnects, the cable company thinks I only have one device and when I call them with a problem and tell them it is hooked to a linux box not a router they will actually help me fix the problem.  I like to have access to all my media on a windows box or on a orbitor/md.

Over all, if I didn't have it, I would either have to go get a wrt54 and do an open wrt to it, or build a different server.  Instead it is my server for everything without any problems (on the network/internet side, other things I still have problems with)

[skeptic]

I have all my devices on my internal network.  Including a Brother LAN printer, a ps3 and a vonage phone.  I can not get any of them recognized as anything but a file server.  I have yet to figure out a way to set them up other than such except by manual entry.

my question here is: why?  maybe I am missing something obvious but why would you want to have anything but the MDs, NAS and perhaps the VOIP phone on the internal LMCE network? 

If you only have one hub/switch....  Personally I will probably end up with a completely separate LAN for LMCE devices, with a separate DHCP server on the non-LMCE LAN, but for now I just have one network.

[GamerAyers]

I do have multiple hubs/switches, but if your house is prewired for only one network connection to every room and you want a media center, PS3, and xbox in the same room, either you make sacrifices or go through the hassle of rewiring, or buy a single 16 port SMC gigabit unmanaged switched.  Yes, I could have paid double the price for a managed one, but if LinuxMCE is stable enough to be a router, I say all the better and then I can save on power a little by not having multiple server or routers or switches.

[1audio]

If you put your media stuff on a seperate network you don't get the benefits of the integration. Even accessing your core will be clumsy and getting access to your content on the other network will be difficult.

My network has a Trendnet router/gateway with the DHCP off connected to a cable modem. I have 2 8 port GigE routers to deal with the reach issues in my house. There are 41 device in the network (per network magic) not all live right now not including the two additional access points. One item, a National Instruments GPIB adapter, I couldn't use without a Linux router that I could load an obsolete protocol in. I have only had networking problems with Windows, which should not be a surprise.

I see no benefits and twice the hassle from setting up two networks.

[skeptic]

The big benefit I see for having part of your home LAN not going through the LMCE router is removing a potential point of failure.  Upgrades, crashes, testing other configs, moving the server from one place to another, etc.  Anytime the LMCE router is offline it would take every other device off the internet as well unless there is a separate LAN for just those important devices.  For people that work from home, this is a much more important issue than those that just browse the web and play World of Warcraft.

[GamerAyers]

Yes and no.  Have you ever used a cheaper router.  Even the Wrt54gc is unreliable.  Fortionately, a computer running linux(granted it is linuxmce) is much more reliable.  I have finally got my USR router converted to a D-link firmware, and it seems to be reliable, but I find the best router I have used (aside from openwrt which I haven't felt like playing with or a Cisco business router) is a computer, and why not let it be Linuxmce.  You can keep a router on hand for downtime, and then whenever you want to refresh the Linuxmce, swap the router in or do it at off hours.  Use addresses that are same from the linuxmce server to the router and swapping should be painless (I do it often when I want to play with the server and I screw something up).