[DecK]

Myrison
I had quiet a few posts here that were lost, most on the Partimage re-imaging process.

Over the last weekend I was able to get through the full process.

I have a copy of the screenshots that thermite451 took and have taken copious notes on how I loaded the image.
Unfortunately all of those are on my home PC. I will get them added back here this evening.

PS, I am not totally in love with my revo

[nergrum]

Deck


I was planning on buying the $200 Revo as a present to myself when i move into my new place. I was then going to load up ubuntu+xbmc or win7+xbmc.

You think it isnt worth it?

I wonder if the win7+xbmc has as many problems/configuration issues as the ubuntu+xbmc direction.

[DecK]

Deck


I was planning on buying the $200 Revo as a present to myself when i move into my new place. I was then going to load up ubuntu+xbmc or win7+xbmc.

You think it isnt worth it?

I wonder if the win7+xbmc has as many problems/configuration issues as the ubuntu+xbmc direction.

I think it is totally worth it. This is a cheap, elegant solution to the HTPC challenge. I've been building boxes for a long time, and none of them have anywhere near the ROI as this one does.

I wouldn't go down the Win7 path. (BTW this is coming from someone who knew Sweet FA about Linux a week ago).
The beauty of Linux + Revo is VDPAU. Handing off so much of the decoding to the graphic chip does make Hi-Def play 'like butter', to quote the OP. Using windows negates that advantage.
When I bought the Revo, the first thing I tried was XBMC in the pre-installed Win7 OS. The performance there was the same as on my other boxes, fine for SD, crap for Hi-Def.

Per my last post, I'm about to write some detailed instructions on how to implement the solutions in this thread. Give them a try.
Worst case, if you don't like the results, you can always reinstall Windows. I will be including a how-to on that also.

[DecK]

A Complete Noob's guide to Implementing this Image

Yes I'm a complete Noob, and this is my guide. I went through this process several times, and hopefully the following will mean that you only have to go through it once. There is no guarantee of success here, I have little to knowledge of Linux, your mileage may vary.

I want to start out by thanking thermite451 for his original guide and for the screenshots he originally uploaded. It looks like they were lost in the crash, so I have made them available for download here.
He is the brains here, I'm just a guy who got through this stuff, is very happy with the results, and want to give something back.
In the how-to, any time you see <<nnn>>, where nnn is a number, that is a reference to the corresponding image in the zip file.

OK, here goes.
The guide is in 5 sections:

1. Preparing the USB Drive
   The objective here is to be able to run an instance of Ubuntu directly from the USB drive.
   The OP suggested using unetbootin to create the image. I ended up using the Universal USB Installer from Pendrivelinux because this solution allowed my to create persistent storage on the USB drive. (we're going to use that later on).
   Steps
   • Download the Universal USB Installer from the link above.
     
   • Download the Ubuntu 9.10 Desktop ISO. The installer doesn't work with 9.04, but that doesn't matter because we're going to blow away our install later on in the process.
     
   • Use the installer to do its thing on your chosen USB drive.
     
   • Make sure that select you a persistence option in step 4. I just chose the one that used the rest of the drive.
     
   
   
   
2. Initial Install
   Steps
   • Plug the USB into the Revo and boot into Ubuntu. ( F12 and select the USB drive)
     
   • Enable the universe Repository
     
   • Launch a terminal window: Applications-->>Accessories-->>Terminal and type in the following command to refresh the list of available software.
     Code:

     sudo apt-get update
   • In the same terminal, install Partimage by issuing the command
     Code:

     sudo apt-get install partimage
   • Create a new directory in the mnt directory. Any name will work, I chose smb because that is what was in the original screenshots.
     Code:

     sudo mkdir /mnt/smb
   • Mount the shared folder where you have stored your copy of Revo_1600_XBMC.000. Use the following making substutions for you share, username and password.
     Code:

     sudo mount -t cifs //192.168.0.100/DKShare/backup /mnt/smb -o username=declan,password=****
   • Copy the file from your share to your home folder on the USB drive. This is where the persistent storage is useful. I also created a text file with the mount command above so I can reuse it (Note to People Smarter Than Me: I tried to edit FSTAB to add the mount, but even with storage, I couldn't get it to keep my changes to FSTAB, any ideas?)
     
     
     
   • Optional If you want to backup your windows partition, now is the time. Type 'Partimage' (no quotes) in the terminal and follow the Partimage instructions here to perform the backup, copying the file to the /mnt/smb directory we just created. If you ever intend to use this backup, please use fdisk to get a description of your current partition table before you go any further. You will need to revert to that partitioning scheme before you can restore the windows image.
     
     
     
   • Click on the 'Install Ubuntu 9.10' icon on the desktop and complete the install. On the partitioning piece, just select the full drive option. We are going to wipe away all that anyway (Note to PSTM: I'm not sure if this is even required, I was just trying to get to the point where I could follow the original instructions. Please let me know if I can remove this step)
     
     
     
   • Once the install runs you will need to remove the USB drive and boot into the 9.10 instance that is now installed on the Revo to allow the install to complete.
     
   • Shutdown and reboot into the USB instance
     
   
   
   
3. Rebuilding the Partiton Table
   In order to 'restore' from the partimage file Revo_1600_XBMC.000 the partition table on the Revo must match that of the image exactly.
   
   Code:

   Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 * 1 19177 154039221 83 Linux
/dev/sda2 19178 19457 2249100 5 Extended
/dev/sda5 19178 19457 2249068+ 82 Linux swap / Solaris
   
   Steps
   • The steps here are best described by thermite451's screenshots.
     
   • Follow images <<009>> through <<018>> to use fdisk to rebuild the partition table.
     
   • Take care with those screenshots that have multiple commands being passed to fdisk in sequence, like <<014>>.
     
   • Once you get through <<018>>, you will need to reboot the revo back into the USB instance. This is the final step in writing the new partition table.
     
   
   
   
4. Deploying the Image
   Steps
   • Did you reboot after using fdisk? Just checking, cause I didn't...
     
   • Once again, these steps are best described by thermite451's screenshots.
     
   • Follow images <<019>> through <<025>> to use partimage to restore from the file Revo_1600_XBMC.000
     
   • Note on <<020>> Your are either going to have to change the path to the image file such that it point to the image you copied over to your home directory earlier. If you didn't copy it over, you will need to remount the /mnt/smb directory again, same mount command as above.
     
   • Reboot into Revo, without the USB and enjoy!
     
   
   
   
5. Post Install
   • So far the only issue I have seen and fixed, still early in testing mind you, was with audio over HDMI. I followed the instructions here under the heading 'This will get you sound/passthrough over HDMI:' and it now works.
     
   • I am having an issue with the Revo not shutting down correctly from XBMC, and as soon as I have a fix I will add it here.
     
   
   

That's it for now peeps.

Later
Declan

[phertiker]

I'd like to thank everyone who put so much effort into this post. It's people like you all that make XBMC even more fun than it already is.

I have to ask, though... I used the 9.11 Camelot Live release to test, and later install XBMC and Ubuntu Minimal, and I don't recall having any issues at all with the stock install on my Revo 1600.

HDMI, WMC remote, certainly 1080p playback, MKV's all worked flawlessly without any desync in A/V...

Did I have some kind of crazy, Twilight Zone XBMC release or is my Revo some ultra-secret government monitoring project? Holy crap, I'm gonna maybe go run a magnet over my machine, be right back...

[myrison]

Phertiker - as I've told some others in the past, go buy a lottery ticket. Clearly you've got better luck than the rest of us.

In seriousness, the reason it worked out of the box for you probably has to do with your display. Because HDMI is so finicky, if your TV doesn't talk nicely to the Revo over HDMI, then it can require all kinds of troubleshooting to get working correctly. If they play nicely together from the beginning, it saves a lot of heartache.

Also, the MKV bug I talk about in the first post that causes MKVs to fall out of sync only affects some MKVs (though in my case it affected almost every old SD DVD rip I had).

Either way, if you don't need this image, then more power to you!

[myrison]

How well does Hulu work on this device running linux? That's the one unknown preventing me from purchasing one of these neat little boxes.

Until Adobe gets its beta Flash drivers working (well), it won't matter if you run Linux or Windows on one of these boxes. The standard Flash requires the CPU to do all of the work in processing video files. Because of this, the only way "around" this problem is to have a dual/quad core processor that can handle the high CPU requirements for live video processing (particularly HD) in flash. The new beta Flash drivers are supposed to do what VDPAU does in Linux (offload processing to the graphics chip), but the last I read, it's not quite there yet.

[myrison]

A Complete Noob's guide to Implementing this Image

Declan, WOW, thanks for the write-up! I'll link back to these instructions from the OP.

PS: Your comment about not knowing "Sweet FA" about Linux before this cracked me up.

PPS: Hmm, so I went back to link to your instructions for applying the image and now realize I no longer have the image linked in the first post. Doh! I don't have the link any more either, so if anyone has the torrent link and can repost it, I'll add it to the first post.

[DecK]

Until Adobe gets its beta Flash drivers working (well), it won't matter if you run Linux or Windows on one of these boxes. The standard Flash requires the CPU to do all of the work in processing video files. Because of this, the only way "around" this problem is to have a dual/quad core processor that can handle the high CPU requirements for live video processing (particularly HD) in flash. The new beta Flash drivers are supposed to do what VDPAU does in Linux (offload processing to the graphics chip), but the last I read, it's not quite there yet.

I agree, Flash and Linux seem to be a bad combo.
There is another soultion, if you have a windows machine on your network. Playon media server runs a UPnP service on windows that can be accessed from XBMC. I have this installed and it works pretty well for Hulu. The browsing isn't as elegant as Hulu Desktop, but the streams play just fine.
As an added bonus, playon also has Netflicks integration. this has definitely helped rasied the spousal approval factor for me.

[DecK]

If anyone has the torrent link and can repost it, I'll add it to the first post.

I am seeding the torrent and will add the link once I get home tonight.


Torrent is now up on Mediafire.
http://www.mediafire.com/?cmwtvwvicwk

Declan

[Th3R00st3r]

Went through the steps picture by picture.. restored the image successfully. When I reboot without the USB drive, I immediately get a GRUB command prompt and it says "File is missing" I am a noob, so be gentle ;0)

Any suggestions?

**I did the process again and it appeared to restore fine, still boots to this:

GRUB is loading.
error:file not found
grub rescue>

[Th3R00st3r]

Found an article on how to fix the grub issue, but it turns out there is not a menu.lst file in the boot/grub/ location..I think I am just going to install ubuntu from the USB stick and install xbmc and lirc...

[jonect]

Continued from the first post....
[*]Incorrect deinterlacing - This affected only a couple of my rips. The primary example is Rush - Snakes & Arrows on BluRay. This was shot in 1080i as opposed to 1080p like every other BluRay I have. XBMC for whatever reason does not correctly identify the stream as interlaced and you have to manually open up the video menu while playing and choose "interlace" as opposed to the default option there. This has affected 1-2 other rips (Harvard Beats Yale BluRay), but not many fall into this category.

Looks like all my previous posts on this were lost in the outage. The interlacing issue that I have been dealing with and may be the same for you appears to just be lack of support for it. All my encoded/ripped media that is progressive format seems to work fine. I looked for ways to fix it but this post is pushing me in the direction of just adding a script to launch MythFrontend when I want to watch live/recorded 1080i broadcast.

[myrison]

Went through the steps picture by picture.. restored the image successfully. When I reboot without the USB drive, I immediately get a GRUB command prompt and it says "File is missing" I am a noob, so be gentle ;0)

Any suggestions?

**I did the process again and it appeared to restore fine, still boots to this:

GRUB is loading.
error:file not found
grub rescue>

Argh! This is one of those things that was really explained here before the data corruption of the form wiped out four weeks worth of instructions.

These are essentially the instructions you need to follow to fix it. It is actually very straightforward and fast, but you have to boot from the 9.04 Ubuntu Live CD to be able to do it.

Give this a try before you give up. I did this myself and it takes <5 minutes. Once done, it should boot right up to the new image.

[myrison]

I am seeding the torrent and will add the link once I get home tonight.


Torrent is now up on Mediafire.
http://www.mediafire.com/?cmwtvwvicwk

Declan

Thanks Declan, OP updated with the link to the torrent and your noob-friendly instructions.