Has Anyone Heard of.... Utobia MPEG-2 Card

[foneguy9]

"You chose the path of most resistance, awesome! "

I'm just that type of loony dude!    

I find that I understand a hardware and software solution much better if I put it through its paces!

Knowing what LMCE can do is one thing, UNDERSTANDING How it does it is where I want to be!!!

Now,

I did DELETE the General MD that was created for my laptop (HP DV1000) with a Diskless MD.  Then, I saw an * at the bottom of the Network page on the Setup Diskless MD button.
On the Network page, I decided to press this Setup Diskless MD button after I had deleted the General MD and rebooted the hybrid. 

Afterwards, my HP Laptop would reboot to the Diskless MD and looked like it will work, (screen showed Announced to Router) and an IP address was assigned correctly from the DHCP server(Hybrid).  But, Diskless.sh shows up then, it reboots.

I tried an old Sony VAIO laptop that also booted up the the Diskless MD and was assigned a DIFFERENT IP address than the HP laptop, but its stuck at the Announced to Router.  I let it sit at this screen all night but next morning, it hadn't changed.

So, I am getting the proper IP address after deleting the MD, on my laptops, but am not getting the MD completely up.

I will now try to delete the MD in the Hybrid and try to have the HP or Sony request the Diskless MD WITHOUT pressing the Setup Diskless MD* button on the Network page.

Not sure where to go from here  

Except, I could try to get another basic PC at the office that I have retired at the office and wipe out the HDD and install the MD on it?

Any additional suggestions would be HAPPILY tried!!!

[foneguy9]

Basically, I want to try to get LMCE up in this order(I have a Cat 5e network already deployed in my home):

1) Setup a Core / Hybrid and have it work properly, stand-alone.

2) Upload CD's and DVD's to the Core / Hybrid.

3) Setup (1) test Diskless MD. Stream Audio/Video from Core / FreeNAS.

4) Setup a USB to IR adapter on all devices, Core and MD, and a Windows MCE remote (or Fiire).

5) Buy all hardware for a permanent Core and small footprint Laptop or PC for Diskless MD for 3 Rooms.

6) Add Security connectivity to my home security system and setup notifications.

7) Add Motion sensors and notifications for activations of sensors.

Add PoE network Cameras a few externally and a couple internally.

9) Add X10/11 to power for Lighting control.

10) Setup a remote Backup for All data compiled on this network, Audio, Video, Cameras, etc.


Basically, these are my benchmarks for setting up my LMCE   

Thanks again for your support!!!

[Zaerc]

Except, I could try to get another basic PC at the office that I have retired at the office and wipe out the HDD and install the MD on it?

You don't have to wipe the harddrive if it can boot from the network, that way it's easy to test with just about any machine you have lying around.  And did you check the contents of the files under /tftpboot/pxelinux.cfg/ to see if they have the right ip-number for the core?

[foneguy9]

Thanks for the response Z!   

I have the following in the /tftpboot/pxelinux.cfg default file:

DEFAULT Pluto
LABEL Pluto
KERNEL default/vmlinuz
APPEND root=/dev/nfs acpi=off vga=normal initrd=default/initrd ramdisk_size=10240 rw ip=all apicpmtimer


And that's it.  It doesn't make allusion to a specific IP address range directly.  Unless it is at the end of the APPEND line.

I'll continue searching how to modify this file.

 

[Zaerc]

The file named "default" is only used for booting a new MD initially, you won't have to modify it. 

During the installation of a new MD there will be a file created with the MAC-address of the new MD in the name, this is where I see the "192.168.80.1" ip-address hardcoded.  So I figured you might want to check there.

Are there any directories under /usr/pluto/diskless/?

[foneguy9]

Yes, one directory under /usr/pluto/diskless

That's 55.

Should I delete it and try to have MD try to connect and setup a new file?

[Zaerc]

Well you can check to see if there's any log files under /usr/pluto/diskless/55/var/log/pluto/ maybe you can see an error there.

And aren't there any other files under /tftpboot/pxelinux.cfg/ besides default?

[foneguy9]

I wanted to let you know that I left the Sony VAIO connected to the network and eventually (many hours later) I got the connection screen to setup the Video and Audio Wizards!!!

So, I was able to stream video and Audio content to the bootless MD!!!

 

Giving an update!

[foneguy9]

Now that the Sony VAIO laptop does a network boot, I will need suggestions for wireless remotes, IR or bluetooth?  Wireless Gyro mouse or MS remote?

Suggestions appreciated!!!

[foneguy9]

Has anyone have any experience with the Gyration product line, specifically, the following.

Comes with a Keyboard and Remote.
88KEY WIRELESS IRDA/RF W/ USB
Other products by Gyration

[foneguy9]

Is this a good price/card for the MD? 

http://www.compuplus.com/i-Hauppauge-WinTV-PVR-150-1045-1003550~.html?sid=heaui8472fb4j38&comboid=530

@$70.00 US.

Thanks.