Configuring LinuxMCE

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Note
Once the install process is complete - the AV Wizard should start (after rebooting). If you get a black or blank screen you probably need to change your video card outputs. Instructions on how to do this are available: here


Configuring LinuxMCE

Tell LinuxMCE About Your Home


Setting up your LinuxMCE system consists of 4 steps:

  • Providing some general information, such as what kind of network you have.
  • Specifying the devices in your home (lights, TVs, surveillance cameras, etc.).
  • Creating scenarios. A "scenario" is a group of commands, or tasks, you want executed when you touch a button. Each scenario you create will appear on the Orbiter remote controls as an option button.
  • Scenarios are generally organized into 5 categories: lighting, media, climate, security and telephone. You can create, for example, a lighting scenario called "Entertaining" which turns on all the lights in the house and in the front yard. A button labeled "Entertaining" will then appear on the Orbiters in the lighting section -- touch it to activate the scenario. Any scenario can do anything. For example, just because the "Entertaining" scenario is a lighting scenario doesn't mean the scenario only affects lights. You can make the scenario also play some music, and maybe open the front gate. You can use the "Advanced, My Scenarios" menu option for low-level control over a scenario, to make it do whatever you want. However the Wizard includes pages that make it very easy to create scenarios. For example, when you add a lighting scenario with the Wizard, it lists all the lights in the house and lets you pick the ones you want to change with the scenario.
  • Creating event handlers. This is how you tell LinuxMCE you want it to do something in response to some event. For example, you may want LinuxMCE to turn on the Front Porch light when a motion detector is tripped. Or you want it to play a loud message on the TV when there is a security breach. Perhaps you would like to stop watering the lawn when it rains.



AV Wizard

The Audio/Video Wizard is designed to allow for easy setup of the components (ranging from a simple monitor to an HDTV with HDMI inputs and outputs) to which a Media Director outputs the multimedia content that is streamed from the Core.

House Setup Wizard

This allows you to specify the floorplan of your house and to assign scenarios to each room.


Media Player Wizard

This allows you to specify the location of file shares and other media locations within your system.


Using the LinuxMCE Admin Website

Although there are automated wizards to assist in setup, there are more options provided in the LinuxMCE Admin web page. The user can create and modify any and all devices that LinuxMCE controls through the Admin page. It is displayed by any web browser, such as the ones available both on the Core/Hybrid and on each Media Director.


Scenarios, Events & Security

In the Scenarios page, add the scenarios, or buttons, you want for each room. For example:

  • A Lighting scenario in the Bedroom called 'Go to sleep' can dim the lights.
  • A Security scenario in the Living Room can view a camera.

When you do a 'quick reload router', DCERouter will automatically add Media Scenarios for each room which will include the media devices that are located there.

Your new scenarios will then be visible on the Orbiter remote controls after you regenerate.

Add Events to specify conditional events (such as turning on a light) when something else happens (a motion detector is tripped, the sun sets, etc.). This can be used for security. For example, you want to be notified (by VOIP, a message on a TV, etc.) when certain events happen in the house (motion detector is tripped). Settings will take effect next time you reboot or 'quick reload router'.

Configuring Myth TV

Most of the setup for MythTV is done automatically. For more information take a look at the following link.


Upload Your Media

LinuxMCE is capable of accessing Microsoft Windows-compatible network shares using the built-in Samba network protocol. LinuxMCE also creates a "public" share folder on the Core (or NAS) for storing the files that the whole family can share -- movies, music, etc. A "private" share folder for each family member is also created on the Core (or NAS). These network shares can be accessed from Windows-based PCs on your home LAN by listing the LAN IP address of the Core (or hybrid) as a network share (it is usually 192.168.80.1).

Once you copy your media into the appropriate folder, go to the LinuxMCE Admin web page-->Files & Media--> Media Files Sync and be sure your media is now in the database. You can now add attributes (artist, actor, etc.) and choose cover art.

Configure Telephony

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Advanced configurations and hacks

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Other Items



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Using LinuxMCE



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