Latest revision as of 20:38, 11 January 2013

LinuxMCE setup - currently on hiatus

For now, all the gear is in one room. so the Location info below will be location in that room.

Core / Hybrid - dcerouter

• Location: Closet
• System: ZOTAC ION ITX-G
  • GPU: On-board nVidia ION of some sorts
  • CPU: Intel Atom 330 @ 1.6 GHz, dual-core
  • RAM: 2 GB 800 MHz DDR2 SDRAM, 240-pin (2x 1 GB)
  • Ports: The usual; HDMI, DVI-D, audio, USB2, gigabit network etc.
  • PXE: Works
  • Extra NIC: Don't remember the details, think it might be the one I got from lmcecompatible.com, but I'll have to check.
  • Notes;
    • Audio through HDMI worked flawlessly when I tried to test a snapshot while using my TV instead of a old VGA-connected monitor.
    • Considering the age, small formfactor and low wattage, even re-generating orbiters ain't that bad if you remember rule #1 for LMCE, but I think I might change my mind when I get better hardware for the Core/Hybrid, and see the difference.
    • My new hardware, Ivy Bridge, did not work as a Hybrid... so this ION will have to do for now.

Desktop MD 1 - ZBOX ID41

• Location: Test-bench
• System: ZOTAC ZBOX ID41
  • GPU: On-board nVidia Next Generation ION, 512 MB DDR3 SDRAM
  • CPU: Intel Atom D525 @ 1.8 GHz, dual-core
  • RAM: 4 GB 1333 MHz DDR3 SDRAM, 204-pin (2 x 2 GB)
  • Ports: The usual; HDMI, DVI-D, audio, USB2, gigabit network etc. Also has 2 USB3 ports.
  • PXE: Works
  • Notes:
    • On-board network was disabled in the BIOS by default for my device for some reason beyond my comprehension. After enabling it, reboot and go into the BIOS again to see it as an alternative for the boot priority.

Desktop MD 2 - old ION

• Location: Will re-purpose for LMCE (it's initial purpose when I bought it) soon.
• System: ASUS AT3N7A-I
  • GPU: On-board nVidia ION, GeForce 9300
  • CPU: Intel Atom 330 @ 1.6 GHz
  • RAM: 2 GB DDR2 SDRAM, 240-pin (2x 1 GB)
  • Ports: The usual; HDMI, VGA, audio, USB2, gigabit network etc.
  • PXE: Works

Laptop MD 1 - Acer

• Location: Test-bench
• System: Acer Aspire 5741G
  • GPU: nVidia GeForce GT 320M
  • CPU: Intel Core i5 430M @ 2,26 GHz
  • RAM: 4 GB
  • Ports: USB2, HDMI, VGA, audio, gigabit network
  • PXE: Works

Laptop MD 2 - Asus

• Location: Test-bench
• System: Asus A53S
  • GPU: 1 - on-board.
  • GPU: 2 - nVidia GeForce GT540M
  • CPU: Intel Core i7-2730QM @ 2 GHz
  • RAM: 8 GB (2x 4 GB)
  • Ports: USB2, DMI, VGA, audio, gigabit network
  • PXE: Works
  • Notes:
    • L3mce is doing some excellent work for dual-GPU handling.

Orbiters

• 2x WebDT 366 - probably won't be used.

Automation

I have not played with any of these yet. Currently I only have Z-wave automation hardware, all of it bought from lmcecompatible.com.

• 1x Aeon Labs Z-Stick Z-wave USB Adapter-S2
• 1x Aeon Labs Minimote
• 2x HomePro 2-Wire Wall Dimmer, ZDW232 - 25-500 W.
• 1x HomePro Appliance Module, ZRP200
• 3x Aeon Labs Smart Energy Switch

Other hardware

• 2x USB-UIRT
• Misc USB dongles for IR, BT and WiFi, not tested yet.
• Wireless routers to be used as APs within the network when I roll it out.
• 1x 8-port gigabit dumb Linksys switch.
• 1x 8-port gigabit dumb Netgear switch
• Logitech QuckCam Pro, will test with LMCE though I probably should get a proper IP camera.
• 1x Nokia N9.... lots of bugs with this phone, but I hope that will be resolved and I can eventually use it as an Orbiter.
• 1x Logitech DiNovo Mini
• 1x Logitech DiNovo Edge
• Plenty of old IR remotes
• Plenty of 22" monitors to test machines on.
• PlayStation 3, won't be on the internal network but DLNA seemed okay for photos, except the annoying thing that thumbs also showed up. Have not tried other media, as I presume my current Hybrid isn't juicy enough to transcode on-the-fly.

Command snippets and useful files & locations

Aka, shit that might come in handy.

Stuff I usually install

On all (or at least most) MDs:

sudo apt-get install pastebinit screen nano libdvdcss2 w32codecs

Only the Core/Hybrid:

sudo apt-get install irssi

Files and locations

Files and locations that can come in handy.

/home/public/data/
/etc/X11/xorg.conf
/usr/pluto/diskless/
/usr/pluto/bin/RebootWithAVWizard.sh

zsync dowonload for Snapshots

Incremental download for snapshots can save some precious time and bandwidth if you already have an .iso. This is done by first renaming your old .iso so that the name matches the new one, and then use the zsync command to download the new .iso.zsync file. For example, if the old iso ends with 987.iso:

mv LMCE*987.iso LMCE-1004-20120602141526029.iso
zsync http://linuxmce.iptp.org/snapshots/LMCE-1004-20120602141526029.iso.zsync

Disable / Enable UpdateMedia

Sometimes UpdateMedia wants to crawl files and folders before they are completely transferred, borking things up in the process. In the Web Admin:

On the top menu go to Files & Media -> Media Files Sync, and untick the UpdateMedia checkbox to disable it.

At the command-line:

/usr/pluto/bin/UpdateMediaDaemonControl.sh -enable|-disable

Turn off monitor via commandline

Panic button when watching porn? Might be useful someday.

xset dpms force off -display :0

To do

This list will basically never be completely checked-out.

• Figure out ir remotes using the USB-UIRT, and learn how to create Device Templates for them
• Create a Network topology map and add to the Wiki.
• Create Floorplan screens.
• Do some more testing.
• Try and get dynamic DNS to resolve to dcerouter/lmce-admin instead of the modem-page.
• Play a bit with dcerouter -> wireless AP -> (bridged to another) -> wireless AP -> MD.
• Learn the system better.
• Break the system in ways not thought possible, to try and get it idiot-proof.
• Get more MDs up and running.
• Get Orbiters up and running.
• Get a faster Core / Hybrid.
  • New hardware didn't work as hoped... need to get fast but older hardware.
• Test the WebCam and try to create Security Scenarios.
• Figure out how to allow e.g. port 22 while LMCE firewall is enabled.
• Get Z-Wave stuff up and running. Need an electrician to do the wall-switches.
• Properly tag my media.
• Learn to script and code.

Done / Fixed

• Figure out why the IONs perform so badly for 1080p, tearing issues etc (UI2 with alpha blending, tearing when watching media).
  • Silly me only tried changing the acceleration setting, not at all noticing the Graphics Card drop-down, which should have been on the GeForce option, alongside with the vpdau acceleration, 1080p mkv works flawlessly on my Hybrid. Hybrid and ID41 seem to peak at 5% CPU for 1080p.
    • Hmm, my current Hybrid jitters with the media... need to investigate more.
      • New mesa packages updates fixed some tearing, still slight tearing issues.

More to come as I remember / find / steal stuff.