newbie installation woes

[BelSean21]

In my case I dont think it was a NIC issue. I'm currently using a SMC 1211TX, which is by no means a recent card and has had kernal support as far back as 2.2.x (possibly earlier). It works fine with Knoppix 4.0.2, 5.10 & 6.4.4. I've also used it with ubuntu server 10.10 and assorted other linux flavours over the years without any hassles.

Immediately after completing the ubuntu 810 installation, I was able to browse these forums and the wiki. However Adept & apt-get failed to work until I changed the repository server from the local Australian mirrors to the main Canonical server.

After that, running the LinuxMCE script would fail immediately after the ksudo error came up and I did anything with the error message. After seeing the posts above I reran the script and ignored the error and after nearly 4 hours it installed.

Now all I have to do is solve this blank screen on reboot issue and I'm away. Something for tommorow night methinks.

Sean

[Techstyle]

BelSean21,

It sounds like you are nearly there.  the blank screen after reboot and before AVwizard usually means that the video is being outputted on the wrong adapter to select a different adapter press the number keys.  Start at 1 and press the key and then wait 5 seconds.  If you do not see anything go to the next number (3 was good for me).  this is described in section II of http://wiki.linuxmce.org/index.php/AV_Wizard_Step_by_Step, however which number is which may have changed a little, it is safer to try all of them.

Good Luck

[l3mce]

You do not by chance have a copy of the bad sources.list do you? I wrote the script that should have rewritten those to correct repos when you clicked the install button. As kubuntu 810 is end of line, the sources supplied on the DVD lead nowhere, and the prefixes should have been rewritten to (appropriate country).old-releases.ubuntu.com etc. If you happened to back up the incorrect sources, it would be helpful for me to see what went wrong so I can correct it. Even if you did not consciously make a backup, you might look in /etc/apt for other iterations. I thank you in advance.

AVWizard wants to be run on vga1. Assuming you are displaying over DVI/HDMI chances are pressing the number 3 will output correctly for AVWizard. Make sure if you are going to try and run UI2 with overlay, that you choose the "test" button first to avoid further frustration. UI2 alpha should also only be run on a recent nVidia card.

[BelSean21]

All,

It would appear that, when the script failed with the ksudo problem the first time. It never got as far as rewriting the sources file. After the initial failure, I went to a CLI to run my favourite filebrowser, discovered its absence and attempted to apt-get install. Thats when I discovered the sources issue. apt-get was displaying what looked to be similar errors to the script. I ran Adept and played around with various mirrors till I got it working. Rerunning the script still failed, but reading the earlier posts in this thread about the ksudo problem has gotten me past that.

Now, to the black screen I was getting during the AVwizard stage appears to have been caused by the presence of an analogue TV capture card (Winfast 2000 XP). After removing it from the system it, the AV wizard ran without a hitch.

Now all I have to do is get it to talk to my Dynalite lighting system   :-)

Thanks for all the advice.
Sean.

[JonH]

Hi to all,
Sorry not been back on to reply to your responses. Haven't had time lately to get back on the forum so haven't done anything further with trying to install again.
Might get some time next week to give it another go, will let you know how I get on.
Cheers
Jon

[JonH]

OK so got an hour or so to myself & having another go. Re-installing from scratch & just noticed as it is booting from the DVD it comes up with the line "not starting internet superserver as no services found"
Is this the culprit as to why I have no internet?
The network manager shows a green globe but then reports etho 0 no carrier.
Jon

[JonH]

OK so some progress of sorts.
I started from scratch & booted from DVD but this time choose install kunbuntu instead of linuxmce & hey ho it installed with a working internet connection (on the pc card nic not the onboard nic)
clicked linuxmce file & it started to install.
I did get quite a few could not connects during the install and a few fails when starting services including domain name service and upnp server but it did get to the setup screen.
Just going through setup at the moment, only issue so far is no sound from the onboard audio out but not worried about that.
keeping going

[Marie.O]

Even though you probably will not believe me, but selecting Kubuntu instead if LinuxMCE at the start of the install should NOT give you better results for the initial install, and, without additional manual work, should not have installed LinuxMCE. just a reminder to other people hitting your thread to always select LinuxMCE on the boot menu of the DVD.

[JonH]

 OK, so I have achieved a basic setup, all be it with no sound but I guess thats because I'm using an onboard audio output. I've got a sound card kicking around somewhere so next time around I'll install that & see what happens. So thank you for the encouragement.
A little question about network setup if I may.
In the diagram on the wiki it shows the core going between the router and the switch, however like most home users this is all in one box supplied by BT. Do I need to reconfigure things or can I plug both nic's of the core into 2 of the 5 ports in my BT hub? If not can I go BT hub-----core-----5 port switch or do I NEED to replace the BT box with a dedicated router?
I might not be able to see the light at the end but at least I can see the tunnel now.

[l3mce]

The DCE router needs to be the ONLY thing spitting DHCP on your internal network, or nothing will ever work correctly. So to answer your question, you will want a GB switch which everything is plugged into, being provided DHCP and internet by your core.

Internet ---- core external nic+core internal nic ---- switch ---- everything else

Onboard sound SHOULDN'T be an issue. As posde said, not choosing LinuxMCE install does not setup some very important things, and I would expect problems.

You are not going to be able to get around having an internet connection for install. I mean, you can install kubuntu without a connection... but you will have to then run pre-install-from-repo.sh in /root/new-installer... You should do yet another fresh install. There are pieces missing from yours which need to precede your install. I recommend, for you, because of your issues... following the "Internet installation" instructions here http://wiki.linuxmce.org/index.php/Installing_0810

[JonH]

Hi L3mce,
Don't know why but doing it that way seems to have installed things nicely, I now have an internet connection & LCME has installed and does something at least.
So just to confirm, can I keep my 2 wire hub supplied by BT, then go to my core, then go to my 5 port hub and then onto everything else?

[l3mce]

Yes... that is correct. I would recommend a switch over a hub, but... that is nitpicky.

[Techstyle]

JonH,

Hub, Switch, Router which is it?  it should be configured as a switch if possible

[JonH]

my bad with terminology.
The router is a 2wire bt2700hgv router with built in switch & wireless AP (the sort of thing you get from your broadband supplier) and I also have a couple of Dlink 5 port switches about as well.
The problem I am going to have setting it all up is that the core is in a different building to the router. I've got cat 5e connection over there but getting it back again could be difficult, need to think a bit.
Cheers

[purps]

Correct me if I am wrong, but I don't think that BT router thing is a switch.

LMCE _IS_ a router; what you are aiming to do is plug your Internet directly into the core, and let it handle all the DHCP witchcraft and firewall settings etc. The only thing between my core and the wall is a simple cable modem - cable in, Ethernet out (and this Ethernet cable goes straight to eth0 on my core). And of course, the second NIC/network card in the core connects to your internal network, which is where you would put your D-Link switches.

You might be in a situation where that BT router has it's modem built in - are you using DSL for example? If this is the case, I would have thought (although I have no experience of this, so please correct me if I am wrong somebody) that DHCP would need to be disabled and you'd have to set up a static IP or something for eth0 on the core.

Whatever the method, before you start with the DVD installation, start with everything off. Then, switch things on one by one, in order (starting from the wall), waiting 30 seconds between each.

Did you burn the DVD on its slowest speed?

Cheers,
Matt.