System Too Complex

[yoda2nd]

I originally looked at LinuxMCE because I needed a media center that was cheap, reliable and not M$.  However after my horrendous installation experience, I am only left with the option to use a windows based media center app.  I thought I should provide some feedback, in the hopes that maybe something can be changed in the future.

1.  The User Manual is horribly generalized, and provides no detailed information on may of the features.  This left me to pretty much experiment with trial and error to get things to work.

2.  The system is too damn complicated.  If you are just trying to setup a standalone media center on a network, your in for a heck of a time trying to get it to work.  Perhaps during the installation process it might be a good idea to allow users to configure the media center as a purely standalone machine running on a network.  Both the DHCP Server and the Firewall would not be needed in this case.

3.  If I do not have any Lighting, Climent Control, VoIP or Security System why does it appear on the home menu?

4.  I am not sure why but I could only get MythTV and Firefox to work about 50% of the time on my first install and not at all on my second install.  Very difficult to get the system to work when you can not get to the administration interface.

I hope that some of these suggestions help, and in the future I can come back to LinuxMCE.

[nevware]

I agree that LinuxMCE is complex - but for your purposes, it's simply not the right solution. If all you want is a media center, look at Mythbuntu or similar - LinuxMCE only comes into its own when your circumstances match the intended use, with the home automation and multiple extenders.

As for the documentation - it's open source. Help document the trial and error you went through so others have a better experience.

[Zaerc]

Most of these issues have been discussed many times over now, so why don't you have a look around before stirring all that up again.  To make a long story short and like nevware said, either feel free to help out or alternatively you'll probably be better of using something else because all the features that make lmce way superior are not going to be taken out simply because individuals like you don't need them.

[rrambo]

The system is only as complex as you make it to be... I am not a linux noob, however I basically was looking for the same thing that you were...  a linux based media center..  nothing to do with microsoft...  I started out about 2 years ago with myth..  more precisely knoppmyth...  it worked for my purposes at the time, it allowed me to play media that I had stored on an external usb drive...  it was kinda ugly..  nothing really elegant about it, but it worked for my purposes..

Since then, my needs and wants for a home media center have grown...  my movie collection has grown tremendously, I have a fairly elaborate home network, a central nas for storing my movies, pictures and audio...  and a fairly nice setup with regards to a flat screen and a/v receiver....  from knoppmyth I went to geexbox..  then to mythbuntu...  again, it worked, but I wasn't happy with it...  next I went to xbmc for linux...  this was as close as I got to the type of UI that I wanted, but if you know anything about the xbmc port for linux, you know it's still very early and there is a lot to be done with it....

So after reading about lmce and watching the video, I knew that was what I was looking for...  right now I'm not concerned with the home automation aspect, but after seeing what the system can do, I'm fairly confident I will be adding some of these features in the future...

I've had my problems with lmce installation..  but mostly out of my stubbornness with regards to trying to NOT follow instructions...  NOT letting lmce be my dhcp server, NOT letting it be my firewall, NOT letting lmce install the way it was designed to....  well, after realizing that lmce works awesome the way it was designed...  changing my home network and letting lmce be the core of the network...  it works...  it works really well....  there are still some kinks...  I THINK most of these will be worked out with 7.10...  some of the kinks are related to my hardware choices....  some are due to my media types....

LMCE can be complex..  but it can also be simple...  just depends on how you approach it...  I will tell you there is nothing else out there like it.... m$ crap doesn't even come close to what lmce can do...  the first time I got UI2 working on my hybrid machine...  had a movie playing from it on my flat screen, then netbooted a MD and played a DVD that was across the house in the hybrid...  I knew I had found what I was looking for...  I have high expectations of 7.10 (sorry Zaerc, hope I don't get dissapointed)..  my only issues now are getting my remote control working and getting some media files recognized...  the latter will definitely be fixed with 7.10..  I'm having issues with my graphics card... transparency is not working on my geforce 6150, so I'm having to use the medium UI...  even if this doesn't get worked out with 7.10, I can definitely live without transparency...

LMCE is far ahead of anything out there...

[totallymaxed]

The system is only as complex as you make it to be... I am not a linux noob, however I basically was looking for the same thing that you were...  a linux based media center..  nothing to do with microsoft...  I started out about 2 years ago with myth..  more precisely knoppmyth...  it worked for my purposes at the time, it allowed me to play media that I had stored on an external usb drive...  it was kinda ugly..  nothing really elegant about it, but it worked for my purposes..

Since then, my needs and wants for a home media center have grown...  my movie collection has grown tremendously, I have a fairly elaborate home network, a central nas for storing my movies, pictures and audio...  and a fairly nice setup with regards to a flat screen and a/v receiver....  from knoppmyth I went to geexbox..  then to mythbuntu...  again, it worked, but I wasn't happy with it...  next I went to xbmc for linux...  this was as close as I got to the type of UI that I wanted, but if you know anything about the xbmc port for linux, you know it's still very early and there is a lot to be done with it....

So after reading about lmce and watching the video, I knew that was what I was looking for...  right now I'm not concerned with the home automation aspect, but after seeing what the system can do, I'm fairly confident I will be adding some of these features in the future...

I've had my problems with lmce installation..  but mostly out of my stubbornness with regards to trying to NOT follow instructions...  NOT letting lmce be my dhcp server, NOT letting it be my firewall, NOT letting lmce install the way it was designed to....  well, after realizing that lmce works awesome the way it was designed...  changing my home network and letting lmce be the core of the network...  it works...  it works really well....  there are still some kinks...  I THINK most of these will be worked out with 7.10...  some of the kinks are related to my hardware choices....  some are due to my media types....

LMCE can be complex..  but it can also be simple...  just depends on how you approach it...  I will tell you there is nothing else out there like it.... m$ crap doesn't even come close to what lmce can do...  the first time I got UI2 working on my hybrid machine...  had a movie playing from it on my flat screen, then netbooted a MD and played a DVD that was across the house in the hybrid...  I knew I had found what I was looking for...  I have high expectations of 7.10 (sorry Zaerc, hope I don't get dissapointed)..  my only issues now are getting my remote control working and getting some media files recognized...  the latter will definitely be fixed with 7.10..  I'm having issues with my graphics card... transparency is not working on my geforce 6150, so I'm having to use the medium UI...  even if this doesn't get worked out with 7.10, I can definitely live without transparency...

LMCE is far ahead of anything out there...

Just add some real world feedback on specifically the claim that LinuxMCE is complex/difficult to install;

As a commercial concern we would not be building a business around LinuxMCE if this were true... not unless our business was selling expensive support to unknowing customers (which it is not). We do at least 10-15 installs of lmce-0704 a week and the basic Core install takes about 20 mins... and an MD takes about 10 mins from scratch. This is with known hardware of course... but if you review the reasons most people have problems its because they have chosen to use non-tested hardware in some respect. Now sometimes that is part of the enjoyment of LinuxMCE... the skill, effort and eventual success in making a new hardware config work.

However with stable know hardware I can honestly say that getting LinuxMCE installed and working is far far easier than Windows XP... let alone Vista ;-)

[Matthew]

As a commercial concern we would not be building a business around LinuxMCE if this were true... not unless our business was selling expensive support to unknowing customers (which it is not). We do at least 10-15 installs of lmce-0704 a week

Do you know of anyone in that business servicing the NYC area?

[totallymaxed]

As a commercial concern we would not be building a business around LinuxMCE if this were true... not unless our business was selling expensive support to unknowing customers (which it is not). We do at least 10-15 installs of lmce-0704 a week

Do you know of anyone in that business servicing the NYC area?

Nope... sorry... maybe thats an opportunity for someone though ;-)

[tschak909]

I'm offering my services for the Boston/Cambridge area, and am currently trying to get a full information site designed for the 80-100K/annum demographic.

-Thom

[Matthew]

I'm offering my services for the Boston/Cambridge area, and am currently trying to get a full information site designed for the 80-100K/annum demographic.

This is starting to sound like a wiki article about service providers, with threads promoting it appropriately in the "Compatible Products & Services" forum or something.

[blackoper]

heh.. fun stuff after I get my house up and running I may look at doing something like you guys... got to have a show place first though. My family owns a custom cabinet company and also makes high end pool tables among other things so it's more of just branching out...

[ddamron]

Heh, I come from the other end... I'm an IT guy.. and with all I'm learning about linuxmce, I'm thinking of branching out too... hehe
Anyone want a smarthome system in Canada?  Lemme know!

Dan

[tkmedia]

I am in the Hartford CT area let me know if someone needs help here.
Building some prototypes and cant wait to try them with 07010


Tim

[ddamron]

I really don't think the system is too complex... considering what you can do with it...

I'd like to see a bit more in some areas..

 

Dan

[dukat]

I agree that LinuxMCE is complex - but for your purposes, it's simply not the right solution. If all you want is a media center, look at Mythbuntu or similar - LinuxMCE only comes into its own when your circumstances match the intended use, with the home automation and multiple extenders.

As for the documentation - it's open source. Help document the trial and error you went through so others have a better experience.

I think there's still a valid point. First, LMCE is called Linux Media Center Edition, and not Linux Home Automation and Entertainment System. So, no wonder people get attracted to it and then they discover these advanced features commonly not known in Multimedia Systems.

I personally like LMCE, but I'd also would like to have an option to turn off all the things in the UI that I don't need right now,  but I might use in the future. So the question is still: Why are there elements in the UI that aren't configured yet?

Kind regards
/Sven

[tschak909]

simple answer? because Orbiter does not have allowances for turning on and off design objects on a screen.

There are plans for a complete rewrite of Orbiter, however.

-Thom