[LINUX] HOW-TO get quickly started with Acer Aspire Revo 1600 - Guide for XBMC Dharma
#1
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I recently posted this on my blog and figured I'd put it here on the forums as well so that someone will actually read & benefit from it. Smile

Dharma: XBMCFreak Quick Setup Guide on the Acer Aspire Revo 1600

Tonight I tested Dharma by installing the XBMCFreak version of the Dharma Beta release. Note that this link is a general one to the XBMCFreak home page as opposed to a specific post as they are very actively releasing new versions of their LiveCD at this point. I'd recommend you use the newest one you can find unless you see a bunch of posts over there saying something is horribly broken in a given download (which would be surprising as they are very careful about what they release). If you're starting from scratch and want the wake from suspend via remote to work, definitely use an XBMC Live version based on Kernel 2.6.32-25. This kernel corrects a Linux bug that prevented wake from usb to work via remote control.

Here are the quick steps for those who want to do the same. You really should be able to do this inside an hour following the steps below, but let me know if you have questions and I’ll do my best.

  1. Download the XBMCFreak iso using the link directly above (or the most current link for an XBMCFreak iso).
  2. Burn the ISO to CD or, easier, to a USB disk using Unetbootin.
  3. Boot your Revo from the USB disk you just created with Unetbootin. (press F12 during the Revo’s boot up to select the disk you wish to boot from)
  4. Select the option to install XBMCLive. You can install to a separate USB key plugged into the Revo or to the Revo’s hard drive. In my case, I installed to another USB drive first as I didn’t want to blow away my primary install until I did quite a bit of testing with the new version.
  5. Once the install completes, remove the XBMCFreak Live CD/USB and boot to wherever you installed the Dharma Beta.
  6. If you are using Analog audio, everything pretty much works out of the box (it did for me at least). If you need HDMI audio, read on.
  7. Open a terminal connection to your Revo using putty
  8. Install wget so that you can download the NVIDIA driver.
    a. sudo apt-get update
    b. sudo apt-get install wget
  9. Grab the most current stable NVIDIA driver. The 256.53 NVIDIA driver is available using this command: “wget http://us.download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Li...56.53.run”
  10. Kill the X display using the command: sudo pkill X
  11. Completely remove all current NVIDIA drivers to ensure you have the most current compatible driver. sudo apt-get --purge remove nvidia-*. [Thanks Balthazaar for the tip]
  12. Reboot for good measure. (not sure this is necessary, but it can't hurt anything)
  13. Install the new driver using “sudo sh NVIDIA-Linux-x86-256.53.run” (follow the prompts until it completes)
  14. Fix the screwed up channel mapping in multi-channel PCM (i.e. FLAC and TrueHD tracks) by downloading these two files (will they ever get this correct?!)
    a. “sudo wget http://pastebin.com/download.php?i=f5f9654bb -O /etc/asound.conf”
    b. ”sudo wget http://pastebin.com/download.php?i=f2e38265 -O /usr/share/alsa/cards/HDA-Intel.conf”
  15. reboot for good measure
  16. Within XBMC, configure Settings \ System \ Video \
    a. Audio Output = hdmi
    b. Custom Passthrough device = plughw:0,3
  17. Enjoy!
Thanks to Roelio for some of this information from this post.

I’m still testing, but so far, most/all of the minor issues I had with the previous versions appear to be resolved by upgrading to this new version. Awesome!

The most ironic thing about how utterly easy this was is all of the steps I had to go through previously to get the last release of XBMC running nearly flawlessly. 11 pages of Q&A not counting the 5 or so that were lost in the lightning storm that year. Compared to the ~1 hour it took me to get this version up and running (apparently) flawlessly, talk about a MAJOR improvement! Thank you to all the devs!

Also, if you're interested in information on how to set up custom remote commands with irexec in XBMC, check out this separate post.

Update: 2010-11-15 -> Note that while this was written for Dharma 1 & 2, the instructions should still be helpful for Dharma 4 as well. Just be sure to grab the most current XBMCFreak ISO from their site.
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Dharma Quick Setup Guide:
XBMC tips on the TechNazgul Blog
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#2
[Reserved...]
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Dharma Quick Setup Guide:
XBMC tips on the TechNazgul Blog
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#3
Will these steps work on a Zotac IONITX-A-U Atom N330 motherboard?
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#4
Great Post! I will be trying these tonight on my Revo. Hopefully it also works with the XBMCRemote app for Iphone.
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#5
Great guide.

I used this one to setup my Zotac MAG:
http://www.mini-itx.com/projects/xbmc-ion/module/1

Any chance someone could add to this w/ a guide how to upgrade Dharma? I'm using a version of of XBMC from XBMCFreak that's about a month and a half old now. I haven't bothered to upgrade to the latest beta though as I'm afraid of breaking something.
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#6
Link for the Nvidia Driver is Dead. use this one instead: http://us.download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Li...256.53.run
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#7
Thanks Blok. I checked the command in putty and the URL above does actually work, but it doesn't work when directly clicking on it from a browser so I just removed the URL link from it above.
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Dharma Quick Setup Guide:
XBMC tips on the TechNazgul Blog
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Reply
#8
Mysteriouskk Wrote:Will these steps work on a Zotac IONITX-A-U Atom N330 motherboard?

I believe so, but please try it and let us know. The good news is that it's such a quick process you're not out much if it doesn't work out. Please post back with how it goes.

hottech956 Wrote:Great Post! I will be trying these tonight on my Revo. Hopefully it also works with the XBMCRemote app for Iphone.

Just tested to confirm and it works fine with the remote app on iPhone for me! Just be sure to enable control via http in the web settings section under network.
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Dharma Quick Setup Guide:
XBMC tips on the TechNazgul Blog
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#9
Sad

After rebooting, I was left with a loop of repeating '... invalid user_id(0)'
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#10
I ran into a few issues when running through this on my Revo 1600.

First issue: I had to manually uninstall the existing nvidia-current and nvidia-settings using 'aptitude remove' otherwise I was getting errors like the following [from kern.log] and XBMC would fail to load:
Sep 11 12:38:22 XBMCLive kernel: [ 427.479426] NVRM: API mismatch: the client has the version 256.53, but
Sep 11 12:38:22 XBMCLive kernel: [ 427.479433] NVRM: this kernel module has the version 195.36.24. Please
Sep 11 12:38:22 XBMCLive kernel: [ 427.479437] NVRM: make sure that this kernel module and all NVIDIA driver
Sep 11 12:38:22 XBMCLive kernel: [ 427.479442] NVRM: components have the same version.

Second issue:
I could put the Revo into sleep mode, but couldn't wake it up via the remote.
This is actually a kernel issue and the fix for it is in this post:
http://forum.xbmc.org/showpost.php?p=594...stcount=58

Both these steps could probably be performed between steps 7 and 8 as you will need to build the nvidia drivers for the new kernel.
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#11
Using an ION based system, I followed the guide. It worked "EXCEPT" for the "Kill X: sudo pkill X" command. It failed. After lots of attempts, trying "sudo pkill X" seemed to work. However, it seems to have killed the X server (whatever that is), and it is NOT started again at reboot. So once passed the xbmc splash-screen I get a login prompt - instead of an auto-boot into the xbmc GUI.

Not sure how to proceed from here.
ZOTAC IONITX-D-E Intel Atom N330 Dual Core 1.6 GHz NVIDIA ION with LIVE on SSD (now updated to Nvidia Shield Pro (P2897)
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#12
Hi Kid - sorry, my instructions weren't clear re: the kill X step. I've clarified in the first step what I meant, which was.... Kill X using the command 'sudo pkill X' (so you did figure out what was required)

If you are booting to a command line instead of XBMC, I suspect that there is a conflict with the updated drivers and your display. So, to confirm, before you upgraded the drivers, did Live boot fine into the XBMC interface? If so, and it broke after installing the drivers, I'm guessing you might want to look into your xorg.conf file and your X logs to check for compatibility or issues that might be causing problems.

Here are a few questions to help troubleshoot:

What type of display are you connecting to?
Also, just out of curiosity, how are you connecting your audio?

If you type startx at the prompt once it boots to the command line, does XBMC start up then?

Also, check this log: /var/log/Xorg.0.log and see if you find any errors in that file indicating a problem with the graphics config on your display.

Hopefully that gives you some ideas... I'll keep trying to help where I can.
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Dharma Quick Setup Guide:
XBMC tips on the TechNazgul Blog
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#13
Thx myrison for the update. The instructions make a lot better sense now to my linux-noob brain Big Grin

I'm not sure the rest of your post is in English - seems like a foreign language to me Laugh

I'm booting straight into the GUI. After trying your guide, booting into the GUI failed like I said. I'm going back and trying it one step at a time.

Display and audio. Currently using a CRT PC monitor - not sure it has audio?? I'm trying to get everything working before migrating it into the living room - although at this stage, I don't see my Xbox being replaced anytime soon.

Last thing - can't get to a command line from xbmc. I've read somewhere to get rid of any excess resolutions in some file and that should fix it. So many dramas it could be a TV soap Big Grin

I'll try some of the commands you mentioned. Can't believe all this stuff can't be done from the GUI.


EDIT: As an afterthought (for those of you with working Resume from Suspend via remote) - does any remote button start it back up or does it have to be a specific button?
(I found the answer while playing. The "Power" button is the correct button to use.)
ZOTAC IONITX-D-E Intel Atom N330 Dual Core 1.6 GHz NVIDIA ION with LIVE on SSD (now updated to Nvidia Shield Pro (P2897)
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#14
KidKiwi Wrote:Display and audio. Currently using a CRT PC monitor - not sure it has audio?? I'm trying to get everything working before migrating it into the living room - although at this stage, I don't see my Xbox being replaced anytime soon.

Re: setting it up in another room and then moving, that probably won't work (well) because when you first set up the NVidia drivers, they are going to set up a configuration based on the display that is connected at the time. If you later switch, it MIGHT work, but it also might create more 'drama,' like you mentioned Smile. In fact, given that a CRT monitor isn't likely going to support standard TV resolutions and it's going to be an RGB connection vs. a later HDMI or DVI connection (I'm assuming?), you might have better luck doing the final install in the living room as opposed to on your CRT first. I'd consider trying the install there if I were you just to try something else 'simple' before going into really detailed troubleshooting on your CRT only to have it not work in your main watching room.


KidKiwi Wrote:I'm booting straight into the GUI. After trying your guide, booting into the GUI failed like I said. I'm going back and trying it one step at a time.

What I meant to ask in my previous post was... if you start from scratch and you stop my instructions after step 5 & 6, did it boot successfully to the GUI at this point?

Quote:5. Once the install completes, remove the XBMCFreak Live CD/USB and boot to wherever you installed the Dharma Beta.
6. If you are using Analog audio, everything pretty much works out of the box (it did for me at least). If you need HDMI audio, read on.

Knowing this much would confirm whether it's a problem with the updated drivers or something else. Either way though, I'd try installing with it connected to the TV you want to use to see if it works there.

It could of course all fail again, in which case I'm going to say you really have horrible luck, but I think it's worth a shot.
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Dharma Quick Setup Guide:
XBMC tips on the TechNazgul Blog
------------------------------------------
Reply
#15
Myrison - thx for the update.

I came to the same conclusion last night while trying to get to sleep. Figured I was passed the point of needing to have the internals accessible etc. It's all software related now, so setting it up under the TV is probably now the best solution - although ssh'ing from another room makes it painful.

myrison Wrote:What I meant to ask in my previous post was... if you start from scratch and you stop my instructions after step 5 & 6, did it boot successfully to the GUI at this point?

Yes. It did boot straight into the GUI have this point.

In fact, I have skipped the other steps trying to get wakeup from suspend working. What a nightmare. Thought I had it all sorted, but discovered that it only works once - that is - it will suspend first time after boot, then wake up successfully with the remote, but then next time when you hit suspend, it'll do the autoresume issue - meaning it wakes up immediately again after suspending. I've worked through the wiki post to rectify this issue, but so far no success. Man it's frustrating! Maybe one day I hope I get it resolved Rolleyes

This is my current mission - the suspend part. Once that is out of the way, I'll get back to the HDMI stuff Nod
ZOTAC IONITX-D-E Intel Atom N330 Dual Core 1.6 GHz NVIDIA ION with LIVE on SSD (now updated to Nvidia Shield Pro (P2897)
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[LINUX] HOW-TO get quickly started with Acer Aspire Revo 1600 - Guide for XBMC Dharma1