LinuxMCE - User contributions [en]

VDR Setup-Wizard

2010-10-28T16:04:40Z

Vestminster:

This page highlights what should be done in the setup wizard.

== Choose transmission type ==
VDR supports
* DVB-S(2)
* DVB-T(2)
* DVB-C

VDR supports a mix of different cards, i.e. you can plug a DVB-S and a DVB-T card into your system.

== Choose Provider ==
There are three options.

# We can either scan for the channels using the selection of the user based on the list of base data in dvb-utils (/usr/share/doc/dvb-utils/examples/scan/).
# We can try to find existing channels.conf on the net.
# We can scan using w_scan, a utility which scans without initial start data.

The advantage of using w_scan is, that we only need the country (for DVB-C and DVB-T), or the satellite position (for DVB-S). The disadvantage is, a scan with w_scan can easily take 30-45minutes.

=== Using the scan base data ===
scanning using the scan base data is done by using the scan utility, which is part of the dvb-utils
scan -e 7 /usr/share/doc/dvb-utils/examples/scan/dvb-s/Astra-19.2E
for the Astra satellite on 19.2degree east.
=== Using existing channels.conf on the net ===
==== DVB-S(2) Provider ====
In theory we should use [http://www.lyngsat.com Lyngsat page] and show the list of satellites from that page, based on the location of the core.
* [http://www.lyngsat.com/freetv/Europe.html Europe]
* [http://www.lyngsat.com/freetv/Africa.html Africa]
etc.

==== DVB-C and DVB-T Provider ====
The channels.conf for the cable companies and the terrestrial broadcast companies is kinda hard to come by. There are examples available on the [http://vdr-wiki.de/wiki/index.php/DVB-T_channels.conf vdr-wiki]

=== Scanning using w_scan ===
An example on how to scan for the channels.conf is described in the [http://vdr-wiki.de/wiki/index.php/W_scan#DVB-S.2FS2_Suche_.28Hotbird_an_DiSeqC_Switch_Port_3.2C_vdr_1.7.x.2C_ab_20090502.29 VDR wiki] and on the [http://edafe.org/vdr/w_scan/ homepage] of w_scan.

==External Links==
[http://mackeeper.zeobit.com/mac-data-recovery data recovery for mac]

How to upgrade linuxmce

2010-10-28T16:03:55Z

Vestminster:

LinuxMCE updates are not relased on any schedule but usually every week or two there are some updated packages. Usually if your system is working well there is no need to do an upgrade. But there may be bugfixes or new features which affect your system (or your enjoyment of it) that you wish to take advantage of.

When you do a package upgrade you should do it on the core first and then on each or your media directors. If you do not upgrade each of your MDs some functionality can break. (MythTV is an example.)

So.. In most situations you want to do the following:

On your core:

'''apt-get update'''

'''apt-get upgrade'''

Then on each MD (after you've completed the core upgrade)

'''apt-get update'''

'''apt-get upgrade'''

Sometimes performing an 'apt-get dist-upgrade' is required to install new packages (like new kernels when they are available) but this is rare and you will know when it may affect you because 'apt-get upgrade' will tell you that 'The following packages have been held back'... or something similar. This is telling you that there are packages that will not be changed with 'apt-get upgrade' and that performing an 'apt-get dist-upgrade' would likely install the new packages. This can sometimes cause problems so be careful if you do. Backups can be very handy.

(Source: http://forum.linuxmce.org/index.php?topic=9524.0)

==External Links==
[http://mackeeper.zeobit.com/how-to-make-your-mac-faster speed up mac os x]

SMB / Samba NAS Configurations

2010-10-28T16:00:29Z

Vestminster:

[[Category: Tutorials]]

[[How to setup Samba with two workgroups?]]
[[How to setup Samba to follow symbolic links?]]

Problem: we have shares for each users. if I want to access it from Windows, I have to enter password. if I don't this on first access, windows won't ask my anymore to enter password and just denies access. How can I force windows, to reenter password for share ???

If your samba password doesn't work then run this on core to update your samba password:
sudo smbpasswd pluto_USER
where USER is your username. For instance to change john's password run sudo smbpasswd pluto_john

== Adding fileserver on the external network ==
The external network does not get scanned for Samba servers. You can easily add a new server by going into the web admin
* Click Show Device Tree
* Click CORE
* On the right hand side, click Create Child Device
* Click Pick Device Template
* In the popup select Manufacturer->Generic and Device Category->File Server from the drop down menus; you can also enter device template ID 1837 in the "Do you know the ID of the device template?" field
* Now, it is important to fill out just the IP field (otherwise the DHCP configuration gets screwed)
* The username and password are only needed if the file server requires them.
* There is currently a bug in the webadmin which causes this file server to not be scanned for shares.
=== Scanning For Shares ===
The good thing about LinuxMCE is, that LinuxMCE routinely scans the internal network for servers, and if found, scans those servers for shares to be mounted and spidered for media. To initiate the scan for shares manually (because of a manually added server) do the following
* Open a terminal
* Execute
/usr/pluto/bin/Configure_1837.sh -d <device-id> -i '<ip-address>' -m '<mac-address>'

This will execute the scan for new shares. The shares will be presented to you on any orbiter.

==External Links==
[http://mackeeper.zeobit.com/mac-security mac security]

Motorola DCT6200

2010-10-28T15:19:54Z

Vestminster:

[[Category: Hardware]]
[[Category: Video]]
{{stub}}
Aparently it works: http://forum.linuxmce.org/index.php?topic=2922.0

If connecting via firewire, you should be able to configure this device via mythtv-setup. Myth supports firewire recording and channel changing directly via firewire. Content varies by provider and many providers (Charter) have encrypted content over firewire, which LMCE and Myth cannot record.

==External Links==
[http://mackeeper.zeobit.com/uninstaller-for-mac uninstaller mac]

Netboot

2010-08-09T14:30:17Z

Vestminster: /* Troubleshooting */

{{versioninfo}}
{| align="right"
| __TOC__
|}
[[Category:Tutorials]]
[[Category:Networking]]
A netboot is the process of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_booting booting an operating system over a network]. The operating system image is stored on a central server's hard drive (in this case the [[Core]]), and loaded into the RAM of the PC which is requesting the netboot.

In many ways, it is similar to booting from a LiveCD or floppy, but the storage media is on the network.

==Hardware enabled netboot==
Many newer PCs have [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preboot_Execution_Environment PXE] built into the BIOS and are able to netboot. Older PCs from the 1990s may not have this capability.

Many current Ethernet NIC cards have a hardware chip ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preboot_Execution_Environment PXE]-ROM) that allows booting over a network. This option is selected from the BIOS configuration on the PC.

Netbooting is more difficult [[Wireless_Networking#Netbooting_Wirelessly|wirelessly]] if the wireless card does not have an embedded PXE-ROM chip. Check the manufacturer's specifications. Some users have used [[Wireless_Networking#Netbooting_Wirelessly|wireless bridges]] to enable wireless netboots.

If the PC has both an active wireless and a wired Ethernet card, or multiple active wired NIC cards, it can be tricky to set which card to use for PXE netboot.

In general, direct netbooting from the BIOS is more successful over a single wired connection.

==Software enabled netboot==
Alternatively, a netboot can be specified using a boot loader on the local PC's hard drive, such as GRUB. See [[GRUB_PXE_network_boot|this discussion]].

This can be configured to use different Ethernet cards and allows for greater flexibility, but there is a certain amount of configuration and Linux knowledge required.

==Netbooting in LinuxMCE==
LinuxMCE can automatically configure itself to allow the [[Media Directors]] to do a "[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_booting Network Boot]". In the past, network booting has been used mostly by Apple computers, and Windows generally hasn't supported it. Nevertheless, nearly all modern computer are capable of doing a network boot, offering some significant advantages.

When a computer does a network boot it means that it does not use its internal hard drive at all. Instead it boots up off the Core. This allows you to leave your current computer system on your local hard drive untouched by LinuxMCE, and you just hit a button on the remote to indicate if you want to use your computer like a normal PC (normal boot) or as a media director appliance (network boot). When it boots up as a Media Director, you don't have any computing issues to worry about. It functions just like an appliance -- no start menu, no software to install, nothing to configure, no viruses to worry about. This solves one of people's biggest complaints with media PC's (like Windows XP Media Centers) -- when they just want to watch TV, listen to music, or play a DVD they don't want to mess with a computer. They just want an appliance. With network boot you get the best of both worlds--it's a computer when you want to do computing, and an appliance the rest of the time.

Best of all there's no software you need to install to make it work. When you first turn your computer on, just press the key to enter the BIOS or setup program. There is normally an option to enable network boot, sometimes called "PXE". (This is an embedded Linux netboot protocol.) There will also be an option for boot order. Put the network boot option before the hard drive boot option -- that way the Core can tell the computer whether it should do a network boot or boot like normal.

If you can't figure out how to set this in your computer, you should contact the manufacturer's tech support. You can also try LinuxMCE's support and forums.

Normally, once you enable network boot in your BIOS, every time you turn on your computer it will show you this MAC Address for a few seconds.  There is also an Advanced / IPs and Mac's page in the LinuxMCE Admin site that will show all the Mac Addresses in use in your home.

DHCP must be enabled on the Core to use netboot. You can do this by checking the box in the installation wizard, or after the fact from the LinuxMCE Admin web site.

===Disadvantages of netbooting===
Netbooting can be slower than booting from the hard drive -- depending on network speeds, it can be much slower.

In addition, if there is limited memory on the client, swap time is potentially slower over the network. The hard drive used by the peripheral PC remains on the central Core, so in effect, the effective "bus speed" becomes the data transmission speed of your network.

Lastly, unique hardware drivers and configurations for the client may not be recognized by a netboot, potentially causing a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kernel_Panic kernel panic] (i.e. the hardware can't be recognized well enough to netboot the OS).

===See also===
See also: [[Automatic diskless boot of media directors]]

===Troubleshooting===
*[[MDs Do Not Network %28PXE%29 Boot]]
*[http://mackeeper.zeobit.com/secure-delete-mac secure erase mac]
*[[Automatic_diskless_boot_of_media_directors#Troubleshooting|Troublshooting an automatic diskless boot]]