HOW-TO: XBMC Installed on the Zotac AD12 running under Xubuntu 12.10
#1
Leaving Boxee Box for my new love, XBMC
2012-02-09

I’m heading for the exits on Boxee Box and was casting around for an alternative. Boxee Box was so easy but, sadly, the new direction took actual effort.

After some searching around I decided on the Zotac AD12 and XBMC Frodo/12 running under Xubuntu 12.10. This post is about how all the pieces fit together.

Setting Up XBMC
If you’re not familiar with XBMC there is a bit of a learning curve compared with Boxee Box though the BB software is a fork of XBMC originally. The most irritating part is that after XBMC is first installed and run you find yourself in a full screen app with NO CONTENT and no access to your googler.

Yes, that’s right, XBMC has no content out of the box and furthermore it’s not obvious how to get content. Once you get *some* content installed you will relax a bit so here’s how to do that.

For XBMC to get content you must download a zip file and install it. These zip files are called “repositories” in the XBMC universe and there is a page of links to the at: http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=Uno...positories
If you google for “XBMC best repositories” you can get an idea of which zips you might want to get.

Download one of these zip to subdirectory nearby. You will have to exit XBMC, if it’s running, then download the zip then restart XBMC and then install the zip. Get used to this cycle you’ll be using it quite a bit, XBMC only operates in full screen mode.

Back in XBMC you need to go the far right under System then to “settings/add-ons/install from zip”. At this point click on “install from zip” then navigate to your zip file and click on it.

The file will then install automatically but beware, with new versions zip files may not work. Keep an eye on the bottom right hand side of the screen to confirm that your chosen zip installed correctly.

Once the repository is installed you may or may not then have to enable the “add-ons” that you want. You can do this in “system/settings/add-ons/get add-ons” where your installed repositories will be listed. Click on one of them and then click on the addon that you want to enable.

It’s a clunky and weird process but worth it in the end.




Setting Up The Zotac AD12
Why the AD12? My use is strictly for media playing, either online or downloaded. For this the AMD E2-1800 processor is well suited since the video side has plenty of capability and the CPU is not heavily taxed and it’s cheaper than the intel based Zotacs. For gamers this might not be the best choice.
Zotac says that Win7 is the only supported OS for this box but it runs fine under Xubuntu 12.10 .

The bare unit does not come with memory or a hard drive so you if you don’t have extra lying around then get these when you get the unit.

Installation of the hardware, unlike the software, is quite easy. Access is through the bottom of the case. The legs, cutely, are also the screws just unscrew the legs, pop off the lid and stick the memory and drive into the obvious locations.

Install the OS
Once the hardware is in place the OS is quite a bit trickier to install. First download Xubuntu 12.10 from the web and create a bootable USB version using the “Startup Disk Creator” utility in Ubuntu.

Connect a keyboard and monitor to the unit via HDMI and then stick the flash drive in one of the two USB 2.0 slots IN THE BACK OF THE UNIT. The usb 2 slots on the front of the unit did not work for me at all and neither did the usb 3 slots on the back.

Turn the unit on and it should boot from the USB flash and eventually give you the option of installing the OS. Choose that and install to the hard drive.

(Note: There is no setting in the bios to set the boot order of devices so the logic appears to be: If there is a bootable media in the usb 2 in the back and if the hard drive is not bootable then boot from the usb 2 in the back.

At one point, I had a partial install on the hard drive and wanted to install and the unit would not boot from the flash drive. I had to take the physical drive and use gparted to reformat the hard drive partitions before the AD12 would boot from the flash drive again.)

* Please check the note at the bottom regarding WIFI.

Putting The Pieces Together
Once Xubuntu is installed then google for “install xbmc” and, for me, it led to a page with a few terminal commands to execute to install the most recent version of XBMC. By the time you read this it maybe that the process is easier since at this time XBMC is a very new release.

Once XBMC is installed, run it and use the instructions above to get your first zips installed.

At this point I found out that no sound would come out of the HDMI cable. To fix this you need to install the AMD video driver, reboot. In my case at this point sound would still not come out of the HDMI cable under the normal OS but XBMC could be configured to work.

The required settings in XBMC are in “system/settings/system/audio output” - yes two “systems”. Once there the needed settings are:
Audio output : Analog
Audio output device: Playback/recording through the Pulse Audio sound server.

(EDIT: After trying to install VNC on my unit I borked the entire install and had to start over. During the second setup the right settings for audio over HDMI were different. I think the best way to debug is this is to start a song playing under XBMC and then, with the song playing, change the settings in audio output until you hear the sound)


Once the settings are correct sound should start coming out the speakers right away (If some media eg a song is being played).

I don’t have a remote for my unit but I just use a wireless mouse (and keyboard) from the sofa and it works fine.

Bon Voyage
I’m quite pleased with the final result. BB has been end of lifed’d so there’s no long term future with that and XBMC has much more content in any case. Good luck to those who chose to follow down this perilous but rewarding path to media freedom.


* Note WIFI doesn't appear to be working though I haven't tried to activate it. If WIFI is crItical to what you want to do find a resource showing how this is possible before buying the AD12.

(EDIT I did get the WIFI working but it's a download/make/install process and does not survive kernel upgrades. Hope this driver will come builtin some time soon)
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#2
Use this guide if you want to set it good and combine it with bram77 script.
http://youresuchageek.blogspot.com/2012/...linux.html

If you are on ssd do also same tricks to make ssd long life proof.
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HOW-TO: XBMC Installed on the Zotac AD12 running under Xubuntu 12.100