[LINUX] HOW-TO to install Ubuntu and XBMC on Zotac MAG Mini HD-ND01 Ion the easy way

This is a little Guide to install Ubuntu 9.10 on the ZOTAC MAG Mini HD-ND01 and get XBMC running on it. Even if a GDM is not realy needed to run XBMC under Linux I have choosen this installation method, because with a GDM you are able to close XBMC and run your ZOTAC as “normal” PC (plugin a wireless keyboard f.e. with integrated mouse you can even use him from your couch).

If you don`t like it that way look here XBMCbuntu and here XBMC Setup Script - Automatic installation of XBMC for Linux

Downloads needed:
Zotac MAG Mini BIOS pa113.zip
HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool HPUSBFW
USBDos usbdos.zip
Ubuntu 9.10 (32 or 64-bit) http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/download
UNetbootin (Linux or Windows) http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net/

BIOS Update (optional):
(do it on your own risk !!!)

1. Download all the files above
2. unpack the files
3. plug in usb stick
4. start hp tool
5. choose your usb stick, filesystem: fat32, create a dos startup disk and choose the folder with the unzipped usbdos files, click start
6. copy afudos.exe from the unzipped pa113.zip to the stick
7. copy N1210WMA.rom from pa113 folder to the stick
8. plug in the stick to the zotag mag, power on and go directly into the bios
9. choose the right boot order and save the changes and reboot
10. zotac mag mini should now boot from the usb stick
11. on the command prompt type the following command:
12. after successful rom update power off zotag mag, unplug usb stick and power on again

Ubuntu Standard Installation:

1. Download Ubuntu iso (f.e. ubuntu-9.10-desktop-i386.iso) and UNetbootin
2. plug in usb stick (at least 1 GB and not the stick used to update rom ;-))
3. start UNetbootin, choose image and the downloaded iso, choose the correct usb drive and click ok
4. plugin the usb stick to the zotac and power on, the zotac mag mini should now start from the stick (if not, change the bootorder in bios !)
5. in the UNetbootin Boot Menu choose Default, Ubuntu Live should now start
6. Doubleclick on Install Ubunut 9.10 Icon
7. Choose Language
8. Choose Location
9. Choose Keyboard Layout
10. Choose complete HDD for partitioning
11. Choose a login name and password (f.e. xbmx / xbmc), choose automatic login
12. confirm to use a weak password
13. start the Installation (this will last about 5-10 minutes)
14. after installation is finished shutdown the system, unplug the usb stick and power on the zotac mag mini again, your new ubuntu installation should now start
15. install the updates (if not automatically go to System/Administration/Update Manager), reboot
16. install restricted drivers (nvidia), (if not automatically go to System/Administration/Hardware Drivers, click enable), reboot
17. install xbmc like decsribed in HOW-TO install XBMC for Linux on Ubuntu a Step-by-Step Guide
18. install lirc (if you want to control xbmc with a remote, f.e. a mce compatible remote with usb receiver)
in the upcoming dialog choose the correct Remote control configuration (f.e. Windows Media Center Transceiver/Remotes (all) for a mce compatible remote with usb receiver)
in the next dialog (IR Transmitter) choose None
19. now start xbmc (Applications/Sound & Video/XBMC Media Center), configure everything as you like, close xbmc
(the first start of xbmc will create a hidden folder .xbmc in your home folder (Places/Home Folder, hit Ctrl+H to see hidden files) Here you can put f.e. your favourite skin in the skin folder)
20. to start xbmc automatically after the login go to System/Preferences/Startup Applications, click Add, give it a name f.e. XBMC, xbmc is the Command, click Add and close, reboot the system

That`s it !!!

Some other Tasks to do:

1. Connected your Zotac over HDMI to your LCD-TV and no sound over HDMI ?
start a terminal
type with the arrow keys you can choose the muted hdmi channel (iec958)
unmute it with hitting M
close alsamixer with Esc
type start xbmc go to System/System/Audio Output and change the Audio output to Digital and the Audio output device to HDMI
now sound over hdmi should work fine !

2. Changing the Ubuntu BootSplash to XBMC
start a terminal
type type open usplash.conf with the command type in the following lines and save the file, f.e. for 720p:
type reboot system

3. Disable the Ubuntu XSplash
start a terminal
type reboot the system

4. Ubuntu “beatuification” (if you want ;-))
Choose a black (solid color) Desktop Background and f.e. the New Wave Theme
Disable Visual Effects
Set the upper and lower panel to Autohide (rightclick/properties/autohide)
Disable Ubuntu Sound Effects (System/Preferences/Sound/Sound theme:None)

Hopefully everything works !
Greetings from Germany (sorry for not the best english)
spocky184

Wanted to say thanks for this. It helped me get it working and a little bit more understanding of the process. Installed it on two different ZOTACs over the weekend without a hitch on your documentation. However you may want to add the following behind it to get it working over HDMI.
http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid...HDMI+audio

About tore all my hair out trying to get audio working on one TV. The other TV was fine as it went through a compliant receiver first. Just posting that to help anyone else.

just curious,

how many seconds is it taking people for their mags to boot into xbmc (post beep sound to xbmc main menu)?

i'm running karmic/xbmc 9.11/190.53 driver

i did a few tweaks (disabled the splash screens, concurrency=shell, timeout=0, etc..) but it still takes north of 30 seconds for me

i'm also automounting a nas that needs to spin up the drives so i'm thinking that's the bottleneck?

mr.sparkle Wrote:just curious,

how many seconds is it taking people for their mags to boot into xbmc (post beep sound to xbmc main menu)?

i'm running karmic/xbmc 9.11/190.53 driver

i did a few tweaks (disabled the splash screens, concurrency=shell, timeout=0, etc..) but it still takes north of 30 seconds for me

i'm also automounting a nas that needs to spin up the drives so i'm thinking that's the bottleneck?

Mine is closer to 45 seconds. All in all that wouldn't be all that bad if suspend/wake worked a little better with my current setup. One of my main goals is to get that nailed down a little better.

I have ordered a Zotac Mag yesterday and will try this installation guide after receiving my Mag.

Another question:

Does anybody know, which bios smartfan setting is recommended?

uh141 Wrote:I have ordered a Zotac Mag yesterday and will try this installation guide after receiving my Mag.

Another question:

Does anybody know, which bios smartfan setting is recommended?

I`ve palyed around a little bit with the settings but after all i leaved them default. Even if the Zotac Mag is`nt the quietest at the moment i don`t know which temperatures the Chipset and the Cpu can hold out.
I´ve tried to disable the MCP Smart Fan Control and set the CPU Fan Control to "Quiet". Then the Zotac is really quiet (the fan speed is about 2500 RPM). But the mcp temp rises to 70C and cpu temp to 60C (and thats only what the bios said, so thats in idle mode). At the moment i don`t know how high the temperatures will rise if you try f.e. to play a hd video or convert a video.

So at the moment i will leave it default. But i will give it another try :-)

Greetings
spocky184

Thank you for the quick answer, spocky184!

Another question:

Do you get the PCM and Dolby 5.1 sound at the SAME time to HDMI?

Dolby 5.1 is working fine over HDMI, but if I try any "normal" stereo sound, it is routed to the SPDIF connector, not to HDMI.

If I select "Digital to HDMI output" in the ubuntu audio control window, the stereo sound works over HDMI, but then Dolby 5.1 does not work anymore.

Any idea?

Greetings
uh141

Hi uh141,
i think i can not really help you with this problem, because i have connected the Zotac directly to my TV via HDMI. So i am a "Stereo"-User. At the moment i don't have a X.1 Setup.
But i googled around a little bit and maybe that can help you:

http://alsa.opensrc.org/index.php/Playin...28Howto%29

I think the solution is a userdefined .asoundrc file, maybe.
You need an "Upmix-Device" to upmix stereo to 5.1, something like this:

pcm.20to51 {
type route
slave.pcm surround51
slave.channels 6
ttable.0.0 1
ttable.1.1 1
ttable.0.2 1
ttable.1.3 1
ttable.0.4 0.5
ttable.1.4 0.5
ttable.0.5 0.5
ttable.1.5 0.5
}

I cannot test it, so give it a try.

If you have an solution let me know ;-)

Greetings
spocky184

PS: There is a very good German article on ubuntuusers.de about .asoundrc, maybe you can translate parts of it with f.e. translate.google.com. I dont know if it will help.

I cannot seem to get my USB IR Receiver to wake up the Zotac MAG, nor any other USB device (mouse, keyboard). From what I can tell, the USB are not powered.

Has anyone else got this working properly, and if so can you walk me through any steps you took?

I am experiencing the same problem with wake on usb and the zotac mag (hd-nd01) - despite contradictionary statements in other posts. I upgraded bios to the latest release - and although there are 5 wake from suspend options there in the bios (under APM configuration), none of them is related to usb (PME maybe? ...there are some ohci messages about disabled pme in ubuntus syslog when going into s3...). Keyboard & Mouse don't seem to wake the zotac mag out of S3 (i tried every port and multiple devices like keyb&mouse). Is there really somebody out there who managed to wake his mag per usb?
There is also some talk on other post regarding power on buttons on ir/rf remote controls which manage to wake the mag - i ordered one, which will arrive in a few days. Until then i really would appreciate any input/help/comment/feedback on this topic.
Finally i red somewhere, that sometimes (under some os constellations) usb devices have to specially configured before going to S3 or they will be powered down... resulting in a powered down usb port which cannot be used to wake on usb? Could this be the case with a ubuntu 9.10 (64bit)?
There's plenty of guessing on my side and there seems to be no reliably information to be found. Help?