Linux Guide to setup Adalight on XBMC 12.3 using boblight.
#1
First of all I'll asume that you already have and Adalight connected to the tv using and Arduino. if not you can check this guide out:

http://learn.adafruit.com/adalight-diy-a...g/overview

This guide is intended for people with a limited linux knowledge, but I asume that you can open a terminal and are familiar with sudo, for the grammar obsessed folks I inform you that english is not my native language.

My setup:

. ZOTAC ZBOX HD-ID11 with 2 gb ram running Ubuntu 12.04

. My TV is a LG 32"

. Adalight DIY ambilight clone 25 leds

. Arduino Uno REV3

Let's start!

1.Install Boblight ( Boblight is the Daemon that connects the system with the lights)

In a Terminal :

This will install some needed packages.
Code:
sudo apt-get install libx11-dev libgl1-mesa-dev libxrender-dev libxext-dev portaudio19-dev libavcodec-dev libavformat-dev libswscale-dev libavdevice-dev libusb-1.0-0-dev

on Linux mint some packages didn´t istall using apt-get, use aptitude in that case
e.g:

Code:
sudo aptitude install portaudio19-dev

With this we’ll be able to compile it.
Code:
sudo apt-get install g++

With this we can download the source code
Code:
sudo apt-get install subversion

Obtain and download the code
Code:
svn checkout http://boblight.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/ boblight-read-only

Once the code has been download we go to that path ( Home folder)
Code:
cd boblight-read-only/

and we start with the comiling proccess
Code:
./configure --without-portaudio --without-x11 --without-libusb

then...
Code:
make

and finally.
Code:
sudo make install

I needed to run this command due to an error when running the boblight daemon
if that is your case too, juts copy and paste this command in a terminal:

Code:
sudo ldconfig

Success, boblight is installed Smile, we are almost there!

2. Create a Boblight.conf

To be able to work, boblight need this .conf file, it contains the port of your device (the Arduino)
and some other interesting options, for more information about it you can check this article:

https://code.google.com/p/boblight/wiki/boblightconf

For the creation of the .conf file I used this multipaltform program called Boblight Config Maker, I did it from mac but it works the same on ubuntu as well.

http://www.tweaking4all.com/home-theatre...fig-maker/

for a 25 configuration this is my setup:

see screenshot

for 50 leds this is my setup:

see screenshot

and here my boblight.conf for 25 leds:

boblight.conf

depending on which port your Arduino is connected to, you will need
to change the output value on the line 13, mine is

Code:
output          /dev/ttyACM0

to know yours check this explanation of how to:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Irw9mhoL3Vc

3. Copy bolight.conf it in the /etc folder

open the etc folder with sudo rights:
Code:
gksu nautilus /etc

and place the .conf file there.

4. check if everything works

start the daemon
Code:
sudo boblightd

if everything is fine you will see some leds blinking, and on the terminal a
message saying that boblight has successfully been connected!

to be sure that the daemon is working properly lets send the color red to all leds
without closing the previous terminal open a new one an input

Code:
boblight-constant FF0000

If your lights turn on red we are one step closer to succeed!
in the other hand if you see an error on the terminal, try using this command
Code:
sudo ldconfig

and try again.

5. Install the Boblight XBMC addon

Open XBMC and go to Settings/Add-ons/Search and input “boblight"
its gonna be the only result, install it and done! (ok almost)

6. Refine the experience

When I first started a movie I noticed that the bright and the saturation of the leds
were very low and for that reason I needed to change some settings on the Boblight add-on.

Go to Add-ons/Enabled Add-ons/Services/boblight and click on "Configure"
then go to "Movie" and switch the preset from “slow" to “Custom” and then change some variables, this one is working well for me:

see screenshot

speed: 70

interpolation: on

saturation: 2.10

value:1.20

threshold: 15

Try to find the one that works best for you.

7. Run boblight daemon on system’s start

If you don't wanna run the daemon manually on terminal every-time you wanna enjoy a movie, we can tell te system to run
it automatically on start, to do that we need to edit rc.local
Code:
sudo gedit /etc/rc.local

and add this line at the end, but before the "exit 0"
/usr/local/bin/boblightd -f

save the file and restart to verify that the daemon run on start.

If you survive the tedious process of mounting the lights and setting them
with the help of this guide, your recompense is to be able to experience movies
like never before! Take a sit, relax and enjoy!

Extras:

Some videos to try the Ambilight effect

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jV8IFZ5Sa_k

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqFH-NZUfQ4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sr_vL2anfXA

Sources:

http://www.bomski.com/2013/05/adalight-a...-and-xbmc/

https://code.google.com/p/boblight/wiki/boblightconf

https://code.google.com/p/boblight/wiki/...spberry_Pi

http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=145908

http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?pid=1244026

http://www.boblightenigma2.net/documenta...t-it-does/

http://www.tweaking4all.com/home-theatre...11-ws2812/


Update 15.04.14

I just upgraded to 50 lights, here you can download the new boblight.conf

boblight.conf

aslo the new boblight xbmc addon values:

speed: 75

interpolation: off

saturation: 1.00

value: 1.80

threshold: 20

or use this settings file, put on the boblight plugin folder :.kodi/userdata/addon_data/script.xbmc.boblight
if the folder is not there just open boblight on kodi and change some settings and accept.

settings.xml

I didn't need to change anything on the arduino, I just made a new boblight.conf
and thats all, the only problem I had is that the bright and saturation were very low, I just
uncommented the gamma and adjust values and now everything works fantastic!

I'm very happy with the upgrade Smile

Update 27.04.14

When resuming the pc from sleep on Ubuntu, adalight doesn't connect anymore, because I'm lazy
I usually do a sudo reboot to fix it, yes to lazy to unplug and plug again :p, but I found a better solution here:

http://linux.mjnet.eu/post/626/how-to-re...mand-line/

what this do is restart the usb port where adalight is connected to and bring it back to life, I tried to make a script
to run the command on resume from sleep but I failed miserably, If somebody could help me with that I'll really appreciate it.

Update 22.04.15

On Linux mint 17.1 Cinnamon I needed to do a small change on the startup process to make it work

Open
sudo gedit /etc/rc.local

and instead of adding this
/usr/local/bin/boblightd -f

we should change it to this
/usr/local/bin/boblightd

Enjoy!
Zotac ZBOX HD-ID11-U - Lubuntu 13.10 - XBMC Frodo 12.3
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#2
If this guide was helpful to you, don't be shy and say thanks Wink
Zotac ZBOX HD-ID11-U - Lubuntu 13.10 - XBMC Frodo 12.3
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#3
Problem:

after installing kodi 14.2 and installing the newest boblight plugin
the colors appears very saturated when testing with youtube videos or series not
added to the library. Playing with the values didn’t help.

Solution:

actually there is no problem, since the newest boblight addon, they added
presets for many different media types, eg:

Movie, TV Shows, Live TV, Musicvideo and Files.

just go to CONFIGURE and on all vide related presets add this values ( or yours ):


speed: 75

interpolation: off

saturation: 1.00

value: 1.80

threshold: 20


this way we will make sure than any video file reproduced its gonna have this
values.
Zotac ZBOX HD-ID11-U - Lubuntu 13.10 - XBMC Frodo 12.3
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#4
Hello! Sorry for resurrecting an old topic, but I really want to do this and I was curious if there are any cheaper lights on Amazon that would work with this project? Or if you used the neopixel strips, would it complicate things? ( I have never used an arduino)

Also, are the boblight setting in isengard the same? Thanks!
Reply
#5
(2015-08-18, 21:09)Afiedler Wrote: Hello! Sorry for resurrecting an old topic, but I really want to do this and I was curious if there are any cheaper lights on Amazon that would work with this project? Or if you used the neopixel strips, would it complicate things? ( I have never used an arduino)

Also, are the boblight setting in isengard the same? Thanks!

Sorry I don't know much about those lights you mentioned but I must tell you that setting an Arduino is really a piece of cake
There are many tutorials on the internet, look for the adafruit ones!

and yes this settings still works on Isengard.
Zotac ZBOX HD-ID11-U - Lubuntu 13.10 - XBMC Frodo 12.3
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Guide to setup Adalight on XBMC 12.3 using boblight.1