Web Orbiter

{810Status=relevant- Use Web_Orbiter_2.0}

A Web Orbiter is any device (such as a laptop, PC, etc.) that accesses the Orbiter user interface (UI) through a Web browser.

There is now a new version of WebOrbiter (WebOrbiter 2.0) please click here for setup instructions.

Setup

The procedure to setup a Web Orbiter is simple but the order of steps is important.

1. First of all, add a new Generic Web Device as a Child Device for your Core:
   1. Goto the LinuxMCE Admin website-->Show devices tree-->CORE. The CORE's detail page should appear.
   2. Click 'Create Child Device'.
   3. In the Description, enter the name of the specific web orbiter.
   4. In the Add child device window, click the button 'Pick device template'. The new pop-up window containing device templates will be opened.
   5. In the 'Device Category' dropdown list, choose 'Peripherals'.
   6. In the 'Device Template' dropdown list, find and select "Generic Web Device" (or just type the template id: 1748 and press go).
   7. Click the button 'Pick Device Template'. The Add Child Device Window will close, and the Generic Web Device will be added to the Core, as the updated Device Tree will show.
   8. A new Generic Proxy Orbiter will also be created automatically. Watch the Orbiter generation process on the Orbiters page: Wizard-->Devices-->Orbiters.
2. Wait till the Orbiter generation procedure finishes. A message on an active Orbiter or on the Orbiter page will indicate when it has completed.
3. Do a "Quick reload router". Otherwise, the Orbiter won't work properly.

Access to the Web Orbiter

From within your home

You can access the Web Orbiter from any web browser (Mozilla Firefox, IE, Safari):

If you are currently using the 810 alpha releases the correct URL is: http://<core_ip>/lmce-admin/weborbiter.php

The current release 710 uses the information below.

• In the browser address bar, type the URL http://<core_ip>/pluto-admin/weborbiter.php.

• From within the "internal" LinuxMCE LAN, for example:

http://192.168.80.1/pluto-admin/weborbiter.php (0710)

http://192.168.80.1/lmce-admin/weborbiter.php (0810)

(This assumes the IP address range set by default at installation.)

• You can also use the network name of the Core in place of the IP address. For example, if the Core was named "dcerouter" during the default installation, you could use:

http://dcerouter/pluto-admin/weborbiter.php

• From the "external" home LAN, the core_ip would be the LAN IP address of the core. If, for example, the core is at 192.168.0.50 on the home LAN, use:

http://192.168.0.50/pluto-admin/weborbiter.php

(Note: To use this method, Outside Access must be enabled.)

From the Internet

You could use the IP address:port for your home LAN, with port forwarding to the Core's LAN IP address (enabled by your home LAN router).

• This is an advanced topic and may not be secure in the current version.

By default, LinuxMCE is not accessible outside your home. This makes the system secure, but it prevents you from accessing the web site via the Internet while away from home. You can turn on Internet access, allowing access to the admin website anywhere. For your own security, however, we recommend you first read about Security & Privacy Issues.

Login page

• A simple login page should be displayed. Input an existing user name and password, then click "Login".
• From the dropdown list of devices, choose Generic Web Device.
• A page that looks similar to this should appear:
  

Troubleshooting

Connect failed

If you try to connect to the Web Orbiter and see this message: "Connect to proxy orbiter failed, please try again", this means that Orbiter generation hasn't finished yet, or that you forgot to do a quick restart of the router.

Size

I was able to change the size of the rendered image in the Wizard-->Orbiters page. Find the Web Orbiter device in the list and resize it. After another orbiter regen, it was the right size for me. (Source http://forum.linuxmce.org/index.php?topic=3833.0)

Problems with rapid refresh rate

Problem: When using the Web Orbiter over the Internet (instead of from within my home LAN), it refreshed every 5 seconds, making it difficult to use. The images were repeatedly downloaded each time.

Solution:

• Go to LinuxMCE Admin Website-->Device tree-->CORE-->Generic Web Device-->Device Data
• Set the Refresh Interval to a higher value (I used 60 seconds for mine).

Changing default room

Changing the default room in the Wizard-->Devices-->Orbiters page has no effect.

Solution:

• Go to LinuxMCE Admin Website-->Device tree-->CORE-->Generic Web Device
• Check the box for the room to control

Screen Deadlock

If the screen of your orbiter becomes "frozen" or stuck and orbiter regens and router reloads do not resolve the issue, run this from the core:

sudo killall -9 Proxy_Orbiter

(Source: http://forum.linuxmce.org/index.php?topic=6844.0)

See also

Another example of a web orbiter is the IOrbiter

WebOrbiter has also been rebuilt from the ground up as Web_Orbiter_2.0