Please can someone help me with some installation issues?

[read_ca]

Please can someone help me with some installation issues?

I have been using Windows MCE 2005 since it was released and have been unhappy with it since I first installed it.  I have been using and supporting Windows since the late 80’s and tried to work through it, but even now it is still crashing once a day-ish.  However, I did not know of any alternatives until a friend pointed me at LinuxMCE about a month ago.  I watched the installation video and was amazed!  I downloaded the DVD because, not being proficient with Linux, I thought this was preferable to the CD’s.  After all, I believe Media Centers should be consumer boxes.

The initial installation went OK and I selected UI2 in the video section, when the installation finished I got the error 'Orbiter failed to setup the transparency' and had absolutely no idea where to start!  After about 30 minutes trawling this Forum, it seemed to be something to do the wrong video drivers or resolution.  I set the video back to the minimum and then watched the nice lady as she talked me through the configuration.  Only to discover I could not watch TV, with no indication of what was wrong.  I though it might be something to do with video setup again and managed to find my way to the KDE desktop and system settings to change the video driver.  Being unsure of what drivers supported which chip sets, I selected the ones I thought were the nearest, clicked ‘Test’ and that was the end of that.  I had to power cycle only to get the corrupted display back.

Then I attempted my second install.  This time I accepted the low quality video and thought I would try and get the TV working.  After finding my way to the MythTV setup and the back out to the KDE desktop and the MythTV backend setup, I discovered my TV card was not detected!  Oh joy!  After finding something about Conexant cx88 chip sets not being automatically detected, I started poking around.  I think I got the driver loaded but still could not watch TV.

Then I gave up.  So far I have spent about 8 hours spread over 3 days and I am fed up.  The videos looked so promising.

Please can someone help me with these configuration issues?

This is a list of the hardware I intend to use…

MCEPC01
Motherboard   Gigabyte GA-MA69VM-S2 (AMD 690V)
CPU               AMD Athlon64 X2 4200+ 2.2GHz
RAM               Corsair TwinX 1GB DDR-2 PC6400 c5
Graphics   onboard (ATI Radeon X1200)
Graphics   Hauppauge WinTV Nova-T MCE
DVDR               Sony DWD22
HDD               Western Digital 250GB WD2500JS (SATA2)
HDD               Gigabyte I-RAM GC-Ramdisk (4GB) (SATA2)
VFD              SilverStone MFP51B (OEM iMon VFD + remote)

MCEPC02
Motherboard   AOpen XC Cube EY855 (Intel i855GME + ICH4M)
CPU               P4M 1.6GHz
RAM               Corsair TwinX 1GB DDR PC2700
Graphics   Gigabyte N55128D-P 128MB FX5500
Graphics   Hauppauge WinTV Nova-T MCE
HDD               Maxtor 160GB (PATA/133)
VFD               SilverStone FP54B (parallel interface)

MCEPC03
Motherboard   Gigabyte GA-M55S-S3 (NVIDIA nForce 550)
CPU               AMD Athlon64 X2 5000+ 2.6GHz
RAM               Corsair TwinX 2GB DDR-2 PC6400 c4
Graphics   Gigabyte GV-NX76T256HI-RH 256MB 7600 PCIE
Graphics   Hauppauge WinTV Nova-T 500 MCE
DVDR               Sony AWG170AB
HDD               Western Digital 250GB WD2500JS (SATA2)

MCEPC04
Motherboard   Jetway J7F2WE2G (C7 2.0GHz (VIA CN400/VT8237RP))
RAM               Corsair 1GB DDR2 PC4200 c4
Graphics   onboard (VIA UniChrome Pro AGP + MPEG-2/MPEG-4)
Graphics   Hauppauge WinTV Nova-T MCE
SSD               Samsung 8GB MC8DE08G5APP-0XA
HDD               Maxtor 160GB (PATA/133)
SSD               4GB CF

This could be some long term but I am prepared to give it a go if you are!

Thanks in advance,

Colin.

[teedge77]

the dvd is an image of a computer using well tested hardware. a lot of your hardware hasnt been tested as compatible. most of it seems pretty new. you have 4 PCs listed....is one a core and the rest will be media directors?

i think it might be best to try the CDs instead of the dvd install. after that you will have to check out the wiki for the problems you run into.

i see that you are using ati onboard video for one...ati wont do the transparency so that may be your first problem.

its possible you could still get the dvd to work but it could take lots of configuration and rearranging....could be the same with the cds though. id try to separate your problems to one at a time for each computer you have the problem on. it might make it easier for people to read through and help.

search for display drivers in the wiki. that may help.

im sure a lot more people will be able to help you with the problems youve listed so far.

[read_ca]

Thank you for the very quick reply!

At present all 4 are running Windows MCE 2005 UR2 and connect to a Windows 2003 Server with ~5TB of disk storing recorded TV in DVR-MS and music in WMA.  I was looking to try something else because of some basic missing features and the crashing mentioned before.

I am not sure what the difference between 'core' and 'media directors' is but I intend to set up all 4 PCs as full installations.

If the onboard ATI is an issue I can change it to something more mainstream like Sapphire Radeon X1950GT, (I have not been able to get NVIDIA cards working in this PCIE slot).

I need to try and get MCEPC01 working first as this is the only one I can take offline without the family complaining.

I am OK with trying the CD's but it is a bit of a pain not being able to use the DVD.  So I guess you are suggesting the route should be to get Ubuntu working with the video and TV card and then layer on LinuxMCE?  And herein lies the problem, I have no idea what I am doing with Linux!  I still cannot figure out how to restart the PC from the KDE desktop... last time the video messed up I had to reinstall - there must be a way of recovering to VGA video settings without reinstalling.  This is a very different way of working than Windows.

Regards,

Colin.

[Zaerc]

To save you some trouble: the MythTV frontend does currently not work with the AMD 690V (Radeon X1250) chipset, due to driver problems.  But connected MDs (with suitable hardware) should still be able to show TV.

[tschak909]

read_ca: it is worth noting that with ATI, you will be able to use either the static UI1, or the Masked UI2... UI2 with compositing is only available to NVIDIA and Via Unichrome Pro II devices currently (driver support).

-Thom

[teedge77]

if you read the wiki itll explain more about media directors and the core.
basically a core houses everything and the media director is a pxe booted machine that doesnt require a hard drive. media is then streamed to each media server from the core.
theres no "full installation" other than a core/ media director hybrid. you wouldnt find any advantage to having 4 cores.
are you going to be using any of the home automation or phone features or would it be strictly for watching/listening to media?

[read_ca]

I am pleasantly surprised at all the responses. 

OK.  I have ordered an ATI Radeon X1950GT and can disable the onboard X1250 – will that work?  Also, is there any advantage to using the ATI proprietary Linux drivers?

I think I will go for a 4 core/media director hybrid set up.  The only PC running all the time is the main Win2003 Server that has all the disks attached in the attic.  I assume I can still attach to the network shares using SAMBA?

What is the PXE boot performance like?  With the SSD in am getting button to TV in less than 15 seconds and the I-RAM in about 7 seconds.

I want to use the home automation stuff at some point.  Is there any support for Skype?  I have just paid for a 12 month subscription to SkypeOut and use it extensively.

The idea of controlling the systems from Bluetooth on my mobile greatly appeals to me.

I have downloaded the kubuntu-7.04-desktop-i386.iso and will give it a go on Monday.

Regards,

Colin.

[Zaerc]

OK.  I have ordered an ATI Radeon X1950GT and can disable the onboard X1250 – will that work? 

I haven't tried the x1950 chipset myself, but I think it would be a good idea to check the MythTV site to see if it'll work.  And if you want to use the alpha blended UI2 then you'd probably be better of getting a cheap nvidia 6200 card instead. 

[tschak909]

yeah, no kidding..for now, use the NVIDIA cards.

-Thom

[Hagen]

How is your network?
Are you using cables or Wlan?
If you use cables you can easily test all the others very quickly with network boot, that way nothing gets installed on the media director (the PC) at all and you can just reboot into windows as you used to.
Be aware that the first network boot for any device will take some time.

I ordered an AGP Nvidia 6200, they are next to nothing, and the PCI-E cards are even less.

ATI/AMD should see some drivers updated soon^tm, but I wouldn't put my money on any date this side of Christmas

[Hagen]

Also you should consider the fact the your LMCE install wants to be DHCP server f0r the house
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