XBMC on Ubuntu Server, minimal install with no GDM

Topfs2 Wrote:You could always try the bootable usb image. I would imagine it might work to burn on CD aswell.. but I haven't tested it and might be dead wrong.

LiveXBMC on a CD is doable, it's just a matter of adjusting the initrd script. Not easy if you don't have the complete build environment. The question is: why would you prefer running off a CD when you have a bootable, persistant USB setup?

Giving this a crack now. Haven't installed ubuntu before, but it's pretty straight forward so far.

Just grabbing xbmc from the repository...

I'm doing it on a 2.4Ghz P4 with 512mb ram (got more at work i can throw in if needed) and an Intel AGP card i think (on board):

[ 23.258905] agpgart: Detected an Intel 865 Chipset.
[ 23.259016] agpgart: Detected 32636K stolen memory.
[ 23.270918] agpgart: AGP aperture is 128M @ 0xf0000000

I skipped the envy step since there is no nvidia card in there - any problems with that?

ok XBMC is running, but i'm getting like 1FPS... I assume because of the video card, is there anything that can be done? Or do i need a nvidia card?

00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation 82865G Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 02)

ferni Wrote:00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation 82865G Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 02)

See if there are any proprietary drivers for your card that you can install. I think your card needs to support open gl 2.0

l.capriotti Wrote:LiveXBMC on a CD is doable, it's just a matter of adjusting the initrd script. Not easy if you don't have the complete build environment. The question is: why would you prefer running off a CD when you have a bootable, persistant USB setup?

I wouldn't prefer it, just an idea. Still when thinking long term a downloadable CD might be neat for first timers trying it. Although the USB does a better job if your gonna build a real one later on. Actually showed your build to a friend and he went out buying hw immediately just to get one

Ubuntu 8.04 Hardy Heron Minimal Install, Auto Login with gdm.

[for Linux beginners]

1). download Ubuntu 8.04 mini.iso and install basic configuration

2). Install xorg

3). - Install and svn, checkout xbmc svn, build xbmc using dependencies from README.linux for Hardy Heron. (easier than it sounds).

4). Install your system video drivers. ( I am using amd 780g /ati radeon 3200 so I downloaded and installed proprietary driver for 3d acceleration support and all that good stuff).

5). add '~/XBMC/BUILD/XboxMediaCenter -q to .xinitrc
this allows us to auto launch xbmc as soon as xorg starts.

6). add 'startx' to .bash_login
this allows us to auto launch xorg as soon as you log user in at command line.

7). install gdm
we'll use this to autologin user at command line.

8). reboot. set user auto login. select session gnome. will boot to terminal in xorg.
select security and enable autolig and select user.
change default session failsafe terminal. while you are here you might also want to change the background color to black so you don't see beige for the millisecond before XboxMediaCenter launches.

side notes:

on system boot it should boot directly into to xbmc-linux. go to video settings and set your resolution to match desktop in order to boot to full screen permanently.
I have not figured out how to get the shutdown button to shutdown the system right now shutdown reverts back to the gnome login screen

If you do not want to set default session to failsafe terminal (in gdmsetup) .xinitrc will not load and instead it will look for ./xsessions to circumvent this you can just sys link .xsessions to .xinitrc using this command


for ir remote support you will need to install lirc and get it to run as daemon and if you are using a serial receiver and a unique remote you can use irrecord to build a lirc.conf for that specific remote.

next step besides getting shuitdown in xbmc to shutdown the system, is to maybe build a splash screen. I think Ubuntu usually uses usplash but I have no idea where to start on that.

special thanks to Althekiller for helping me with some of the commands and the rest of the xbmc-linux community for all your hardwork in making the best media center ever.

test hardware: amd 780g/ ati radeon 3200 hd (onboard hdmi/dvi/vga) , amd dual core 5000+ BE (not overclocked) 2gigs ram.

In case anyone cares and has the 865G intergrated video card, then it seems to be working now for me after i got direct rendering working ( run glxinfo inside x windows, it should say direct rendering: yes)

I got this working by installing this:

sudo apt-get install libgl1-mesa-dri

cornbell Wrote:I have not figured out how to get the shutdown button to shutdown the system right now shutdown reverts back to the gnome login screen
.

next step besides getting shuitdown in xbmc to shutdown the system, is to maybe build a splash screen. I think Ubuntu usually uses usplash but I have no idea where to start on that.

Have you tried the method described here:

http://forum.xbmc.org/showpost.php?p=172...stcount=16

?

ekurin Wrote:Have you tried the method described here:

http://forum.xbmc.org/showpost.php?p=172...stcount=16

?

yep tried that didn't work. I used the DialogButtonMenu.xml in the pal folder. There were two <onclick>XBMC.ShutDown()</onclick> I may have missed something.

Has anyone gotten this to work successfully?