LinuxMCE - User contributions [en]

Installation Guide

2013-03-20T22:24:51Z

SumGuyV5: Add a link to the LinuxMCE 1004 Final install. This page should be update for 1004 install instructions or redirect to Installing 1004 in the future.

[[Category:Installation Tutorials| Installation Tutorials]]
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For the most up-to-date Final Release see the [[Installing 1004|'''LinuxMCE 1004''']] install

==About Installation (Version 0810 Final)==

This page covers what we'll call mainstream installation. It shows how to get a LinuxMCE hybrid running with minimum bells and whistles. Once the basic installation is complete, users can look at the other sections of the wiki to learn how to add more advanced features. The basic hardware consists of the computer, display, and speakers. Look at the "Core & Hybrid" section of the wiki for hardware selection articles. Here is some pre-flight advice before installation.

*The computer must be connected to the internet for a successful installation.
*Recommend using a monitor for the initial install. Monitors are better than TVs for adapting to a wacky resolution setting (it could happen). You probably don't want to mess about with xorg.conf on your first install. Also recommend using a VGA cable because that is the default setting when the LMCE wizard pops up. I'd specifically advise against using an HDMI cable and expecting it to pass video and sound to your TV. It might work, but more likely it will require extensive tinkering. Its easy to swap to a different display or connection after things are up and running.
*For sound, you can use computer speakers, or use an spdif connection to an external AV receiver. This is also easy to change later.
*If you have a TV capture card, it will be configured during the installation. The wizard will ask where to get program guide information. In the US this is usually "schedulesdirect.org". Set up your account and know your username and password before starting the install.

==Caveats==

*LinuxMCE is an extremely powerful, fantastic piece of software; have no doubt about that. But, please bear in mind that it is a project, not a product.

*LinuxMCE 0810 is based on Ubuntu 8.10, which means that brand new hardware might not work out of the box. For this reason, if you are buying hardware specifically for your home automation system, you might want to use hardware that is a little older and save yourself some money at the same time. That said, in nearly all cases you will be able to get through any issues with a little patience and some help from the community. Unrecognised NICs is the most common issue.

*<span style="color:#FF0000">Please please please be patient. Some parts of the installation can sometimes take hours. If in doubt, leave it overnight.</span>

==Basic Installation Steps==

I might help to think of installation as a 3-step process.
*Run the DVD. This formats your drive, installs Kubuntu, and preps for LMCE installation. This step finishes by prompting reboot and DVD removal.
*Install LinuxMCE. The reboot will take you to the Kubuntu screen. You'll recheck your internet connection, then click the LMCE install icon. More software will load and it will prompt another reboot.
*Complete the 3 wizards (AV, House Setup, Media). This is where you tell LMCE about your system.

===Run the DVD===

'''<span style="color:#FF0000">Caution: Installing LinuxMCE 0810 Final will wipe your entire drive! It is not designed to be dual-booted!</span>'''

'''If you just want to quickly try LinuxMCE, then consider setting it up temporarily as a virtual machine on your Linux, Mac, or Windows box. [http://www.virtualbox.org/ VirtualBox] will allow you to do this'''

# Download the LinuxMCE 0810 Final ISO from [http://linuxmce.iptp.org/release/LinuxMCE-8.10-final.iso here]. ''Note: Always burn at your DVD drive's lowest speed to reduce the chance of errors.''
# Boot from the DVD.
# Select your language
# Select the top option "LinuxMCE"
# Wait until the installer loads, and then...
## '''Welcome''' - Select your language.
## '''Where are you?''' - Select your location and time zone.
## '''Keyboard layout''' - Select your keyboard layout.
## '''Prepare disk space''' - Set up your partitions as you wish, but the second option "Guided - use entire disk" is perfectly OK.
## '''Who are you?''' - Set up your username, password and the system name (call it whatever you want). This username/password is specifically for the underlying system i.e. Kubuntu, it is NOT for LinuxMCE; this is handled separately.
## '''Ready to install''' - Check everything is as it should be, and press "Install".
# Let installation run through, and then remove disk and press enter when instructed to do so.

===Install LinuxMCE===

# Once the new Kubuntu installation has finished booting back up, check that your internet connections are working. If you have a NIC that is not plug-and-play (like the Intel gigabit card) then now is the time to install the driver and confirm operation. Then click the "LinuxMCE" icon on the desktop. This will start the LinuxMCE installation. You may need to enter your Kubuntu password.
# Wait until the LinuxMCE installation has finished running through. You will see the following message when the installation is complete:

The first phase of the install process is completed
Reboot the system to start the final process.

===Complete the Wizards===

Upon reboot, you will not see Kubuntu. More software will load, then the AV Wizard will start. If you connected the display with something other than a VGA cable, the screen will go black. You will have to press a number on your keyboard (just the number, don't hit "enter") to tell the wizard what connection to use. The default value is 2: VGA.

<pre> Keys for choosing a connector:

1: DVI
2: VGA
3: Component
4: Composite
5: S-Video
Q: DVI-2
W: VGA-2
L: LVDS</pre>

Then follow the wizards as described in the following links.

*[[AVWizard_Step_by_Step|AV Wizard]]
*[[House_Setup_Wizard|House Setup Wizard]]
*[[Media_Player_Wizard|Media Setup Wizard]].

Tip: After LMCE is up and running, the LinuxMCE installation icon on the Kubuntu desktop becomes a hazard. Clicking it will begin a reinstall and ruin your day. Best to right click and delete the icon!
==Links==

*[[:Category:AV_Wizard|AV Wizard]]
*[[:Category:Installation_Tutorials|General Installation Tutorials]]

Installing 1004

2013-03-20T22:10:13Z

SumGuyV5: Add download link for LinuxMCE 1004 ISO

[[Category:Installation Tutorials| Installing 1004]]

Before proceeding its wise to read the FAQ.
Because of the fact that it's a delicate installation small things make a huge difference.

Please see below for details on Internet Installation and DVD Installation methods.

Note: an active internet connection is required for the internet install obviously. The DVD install does not REQUIRE an internet connection, but one is strongly recommended. Without an active internet connection, proprietary GPU drivers will not be installed. PCI IDs cannot be updated, and your install ID will become 1, though the features which require a unique ID are not currently implemented. Once you get to setup wizard, it will be difficult for many devices to be correctly installed without internet. The failure to install mythtv etc will take a very long time before you can start using the system etc. However all of this IS recoverable, except the install ID.

==DVD Installation==

* Download and Burn the LinuxMCE 1004 ISO from http://linuxmce.iptp.org/release/LinuxMCE-1004-final.iso
* Boot the DVD and select install LinuxMCE 1004
* Let LinuxMCE 1004 install run through, and restart when prompted
* Follow the steps in the AV-wizard

The advantage over internet installation it is much more simple installation process, e.g. the "Diskless Image" is already created so no need to run Diskless_SetupTBZ.sh.

The first screen on boot has a prompt that simply says boot:
Press enter and you will reach the install menu.
[[File:Boot.jpg|700px]]

A couple of things about the install menu. The headless install is very experimental. If you are running MythTV, I have NOT come up with a way to configure the backend reliably, so you are better off doing a hybrid install and turning off AutoStartMedia in /etc/pluto.conf by setting the boolean value at 0. The live boot currently loads the desktop. I am working to fix that. It should just dump into AVWizard. For nvidia chipsets this will mean it uses the nouveau driver, as a reboot is required to keep the nvidia driver happy. I have not been able to succesfully modprobe it.

[[File:Menu.jpg|700px]]
[[File:Language.jpg|700px]]
[[File:Time.jpg|700px]]
[[File:Key.jpg|700px]]
[[File:Partition.jpg|700px]]

The Login options make no difference whatsoever on the user info page. In the end they will all exhibit the same behavior.
[[File:Userinfo.jpg|700px]]
[[File:Install1.jpg|700px]]

From here you will get a number of post install messages. Do NOT reboot until you are asked to do so. '''DO NOT remove the usb or DVD drive until the machine is actually rebooting'''... and if you miss it, from install menu choose boot to first hard drive before removing. There is some cleanup which occurs before reboot, and prompting to remove the DVD after cleanup caused some problems on certain chipsets, never dropping the plymouth shutdown splash... so it appeared to hang. This is why the process must be this way.

[[File:Postinst.jpg|700px]]

[[File:Reboot.jpg|700px]]

The next screen will be the first stage of firstboot, do NOT interrupt this. This will download things if internet is available, and configure several aspects of the core, and generate new keys etc. There will be a reboot. Networking etc will be finalized and the next screen you see will be AVWizard.

==Internet Installation==

Installing LinuxMCE-1004 over the network is a fairly easy process that involves:

* Installing Kubuntu 1004
* Updating Kubuntu 1004
* Installing LinuxMCE-1004 on top of the updated Kubuntu 1004

# Install Lucid Lynx desktop and update it. (download Kubuntu 1004 '''desktop''' release from http://releases.ubuntu.com/kubuntu/10.04/kubuntu-10.04.3-desktop-i386.iso
'''Currently, only the 32bit version of LinuxMCE is available. Only download the i386 version of 1004 Kubuntu, even if your system can support 64bit versions.''' Note: If Kubuntu asks whether you would like to install/activate 'Restricted Drivers' for your video card, ignore it and continue to step 2.
# Grab the latest installer script from [http://svn.linuxmce.org/svn/branches/LinuxMCE-1004/src/new-installer/mce-install.sh our servers]. (changed to 1004 user:L3mce)
# Run the following script (as root): mce-install.sh
# Reboot, wait for the activity to stop (see progress on console).

In other words, after installing Kubuntu:
# Run the following:
sudo -i
wget -q http://svn.linuxmce.org/svn/branches/LinuxMCE-1004/src/new-installer/mce-install.sh && chmod +x mce-install.sh
./mce-install.sh
reboot

If you have problems running Diskless_CreateTBZ.sh, check [[Error Running Diskless CreateTBZ.sh|this article]]. Otherwise please log a trac ticket.

If you then have problems netbooting your diskless media directors because you are receiving the error message "Diskless Setup Failed", check [[Diskless setup failed error in 0810 beta|this article]].

== Keeping Up-to-date with updates ==
'''Note''' It is strongly recommended that you do not update/upgrade a stable, working system. Also check /etc/apt/sources.list for accuracy after install. [[user:L3mce]]

Once you have installed LinuxMCE-1004, all you need to do to keep up-to-date with the latest and greatest, is run the following from a terminal on the core and each MD:
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade
Note: You should NOT run apt-get dist-upgrade after LinuxMCE is installed, as it can cause several problems, including having different kernel versions on your core and media directors, and the installation of new Kubuntu packages that can break some features!

== Outstanding issues ==
* The diskless image kernel package has a broken dependency.
* Orbiter and OrbiterGen might race a bit
* at least in one occasion the UI1 Orbiter didn't come back from the screen saver when keys and mouse were pressed