[rbonon]

Hello,

What? Yet Another XBMCBuntu Guide ™?!

I would like to share with you what I did exactly to have my box running perfectly. What I achieved:

- XBMC SVN
- HDMI Multichannel Audio
- VDPAU decoding
- XBOX Dongle + XERC 2 XE + Harmony 550 setup to power on/off the PC independently from any software/driver.
- XBMCBuntu set-top-box behaviour

My specs:
- Gygabyte GA-E7AUM-DS2H Mobo with NVidia 9400 Video/Audio
- C2D E4400
- 2Gb RAM
- XBox DVD Dongle + XERC 2 XE chip
- Harmony 550


The guide is of course heavily based on the XBMCBuntu, with some changes to my particular situation, so kudos to all folks maintaining the XBMCBuntu Wiki.

Here is the link for a PDF version of the guide.

Download PDF Guide

If there is interest I may move this to a Wiki.

UPDATE 13/May/2010: I updated the guide for Alsa 1.0.23, and the PDF document link.

[vikjon0]

looks pretty good.
xbmc live works fine for me on Karmic, not sure why it did not work for you.
unlike the xbmcbuntu guide I setup the xbmc user during install, that way the xbmc-live installation script works correctly and automatically configer the user.
I also have no need to change the sudoer file manually in my setup.

[rbonon]

looks pretty good.
xbmc live works fine for me on Karmic, not sure why it did not work for you.
unlike the xbmcbuntu guide I setup the xbmc user during install, that way the xbmc-live installation script works correctly and automatically configer the user.
I also have no need to change the sudoer file manually in my setup.

vikjon0,

I put xbmc on sudoers to make it easier for installing software and running maintenance tasks later. That way I use xbmc user also to maintain the box. I still do not understand why the live install failed, but anyway, I achieved the same results.

[zosky]

does look good.

i did the same as vikjon0, created xbmc user @ install
... sudo apt-get install xbmc-live worked flawlessly.

the only recomendation i would make is autofs VS puting your NFS's in fstab

Code:

sudo su
   apt-get install autofs
   echo /nfs   /etc/auto.nfs >> /etc/auto.master
   echo homeNAS         homeNAS:/home/zosky >> /etc/auto.nfs
   echo [nasSHARE2]   [server]:[path] >> /etc/auto.nfs
   mkdir /nfs
exit
ln -s /nfs/homeNAS ~/

this way it will handle [re]mounting automatically

but dont be fooled (like i was)
/nfs/ will be empty until it needs to mount one of your shares ...
$ls /nfs/homeNAS/ ... then it wont be empty anymore
( i thought i hadn't done it right till i read that caveat somewhere )

[rbonon]

does look good.

i did the same as vikjon0, created xbmc user @ install
... sudo apt-get install xbmc-live worked flawlessly.

the only recomendation i would make is autofs VS puting your NFS's in fstab

Code:

sudo su
   apt-get install autofs
   echo /nfs   /etc/auto.nfs >> /etc/auto.master
   echo homeNAS         homeNAS:/home/zosky >> /etc/auto.nfs
   echo [nasSHARE2]   [server]:[path] >> /etc/auto.nfs
   mkdir /nfs
exit
ln -s /nfs/homeNAS ~/

this way it will handle [re]mounting automatically

but dont be fooled (like i was)
/nfs/ will be empty until it needs to mount one of your shares ...
$ls /nfs/homeNAS/ ... then it wont be empty anymore
( i thought i hadn't done it right till i read that caveat somewhere )

Zosky, what would be the advantage of autofs in this case? The NFS shares are quite static (meaning they are not removeable drives), so they are available right from boot by using /etc/fstab.

[zosky]

Zosky, what would be the advantage of autofs in this case? The NFS shares are quite static (meaning they are not removeable drives), so they are available right from boot by using /etc/fstab.

should the network bounce on either side or if the nfs server does a reboot you'd need to manually umount & [re]mount all your shares, autofs makes it seamless. i was using fstab for the longest time too. the advantage is the ability for it to self-repair... continuity

Code:

$apt-cache show autofs
...
Description: kernel-based automounter for Linux
Autofs controls the operation of the automount daemons. The
automount daemons automatically mount filesystems when they
are used and unmount them after a period of inactivity. This
is done based on a set of pre-configured maps.

[poofyhairguy]

Thank you very much for the guide. I have always wanted to try to build up from a minimal install and you gave me the tools to do it. Kudos.

Few extra pointers for people regarding getting started:

-when you boot the karmic minimal install cd, type "cli" at the "boot:" prompt and hit enter

-during the install DON'T go for automatic updates. A new kernel could ruin the alsa work.

-after the install is done, log in and type

sudo tasksel

pick the "Open SSH Server" option

Also as suggested above I picked a username of "xbmc" so that way at the end I was able to "sudo apt-get install xbmc-live" and I got XBMC autostart without the sudoers part.

Last thing, I combined all of this with this:

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

And was left with the best HTPC I could dream of...

[neil.j1983]

thanks, this is really helpful.

I'm not going for a minimal, as I want the desktop, but the alsa upgrade script and nvidia drivers thingy will really help.

p.s. - starting out on linux is so much copying and pasting into a terminal it's absurd!

I get the idea of the simple commands, but have to turn to forums every time I run into trouble. You linux 'gurus' must have so many command options stored in your heads it's amazing.

[rbonon]

Thank you very much for the guide. I have always wanted to try to build up from a minimal install and you gave me the tools to do it. Kudos.

Few extra pointers for people regarding getting started:

-when you boot the karmic minimal install cd, type "cli" at the "boot:" prompt and hit enter

-during the install DON'T go for automatic updates. A new kernel could ruin the alsa work.

-after the install is done, log in and type


pick the "Open SSH Server" option

Last thing, I combined all of this with this:

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

And was left with the best HTPC I could dream of...

Nice tips. I will try those on my next install. At the end I suppose it makes it more an unattended install, so that one does not need to keep watching the screen for dialogs and questions correct?

And as you mention, auto updates are enemy number one of ALSA. Never use them.

[poofyhairguy]

Nice tips. I will try those on my next install. At the end I suppose it makes it more an unattended install, so that one does not need to keep watching the screen for dialogs and questions correct?

Hmm, it is about the same. It just prevents as much junk from installing. My boot time is mad fast compared to XBMC Live.

[poofyhairguy]

Nice tips. I will try those on my next install. At the end I suppose it makes it more an unattended install, so that one does not need to keep watching the screen for dialogs and questions correct?

And as you mention, auto updates are enemy number one of ALSA. Never use them.

The best thing by far is the 23.97/59.94 Hz support. Technically my TV shouldn't even be able to do that, but I force it through my receiver and somehow it works.

Just played back my pure Avatar rip on it today and it looked better than off my PS3!!!

[Pvt_Ryan]

does look good.

i did the same as vikjon0, created xbmc user @ install
... sudo apt-get install xbmc-live worked flawlessly.

the only recomendation i would make is autofs VS puting your NFS's in fstab

Code:

sudo su
   apt-get install autofs
   echo /nfs   /etc/auto.nfs >> /etc/auto.master
   echo homeNAS         homeNAS:/home/zosky >> /etc/auto.nfs
   echo [nasSHARE2]   [server]:[path] >> /etc/auto.nfs
   mkdir /nfs
exit
ln -s /nfs/homeNAS ~/

this way it will handle [re]mounting automatically

but dont be fooled (like i was)
/nfs/ will be empty until it needs to mount one of your shares ...
$ls /nfs/homeNAS/ ... then it wont be empty anymore
( i thought i hadn't done it right till i read that caveat somewhere )

I believe the correct syntax for the auto.master is:

Code:

/-        /etc/auto.nfs

[zosky]

I believe the correct syntax for the auto.master is:

Code:

/-        /etc/auto.nfs

i dont claim to be an expert on this
i followed the ubuntu wiki on autoNFS (& noted what's working for me) ...

Add the following line to the end of /etc/auto.master:

Code:

/home         /etc/auto.home

[Pvt_Ryan]

Not getting at you, I was just pointing out what it should be.

last paragraph in the Description
http://www.squarebox.co.uk/cgi-squarebox...o.master.5

Format -> Key
http://www.squarebox.co.uk/cgi-squarebox...r/autofs.5

I run a network of *nix machines..

[Roelio]

Is this pdf file still out there somewhere?