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PostPosted: Sun Dec 10, 2017 8:53 am 
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Hi, I'm new to this forum & I'm considering using linhes/MythTV to setup a HTPC (PC-PVR)

Ultimately:
I will probably need to set this up on a new PC,
but for starters, I was considering setting it up on my old Pentium P4 PC,
(eg: Medion Titanium MD 8080 3GHz PC) which is currently running Windows XP.

I don't want to disturb this PC's setup so I was considering installing it as a 'virtual machine'
But I don't know if this PC is suitable, so I would welcome advice on how to asses this PC & and how to install linhes/MythTV

I have just downloaded 'LinHES_R8.5.iso' which I assume is the correct software ?

Many thanks.


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PostPosted: Sun Dec 31, 2017 12:59 pm 
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So...Does anyone have any advice ?
Thanks


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PostPosted: Mon Jan 01, 2018 5:54 pm 
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Location: Lexington, Ky
Crank up your virtual machine and install it would be a good next step.


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PostPosted: Wed Jan 03, 2018 10:43 pm 
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Location: Orlando FL
Welcome to LinHES.

I'm a little confused as to what you currently have and where you want to end up. Are you using XP Media center on your PC to record shows currently and you are asking if that hardware is suitable to run LinHES?
Are you asking if you can run LinHES In a virtual machine on your XP computer?

I am currently running my LinHES in a virtual machine on my Win 10 computer and my frontend is a Raspberry pi 2. I can tell you video playback from VirtualBox is terrible but it does a rather good job as a server. If you happen to have a spare hard drive I would suggest installing to it on your XP hardware to test things out.

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PostPosted: Fri Jan 05, 2018 11:11 am 
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tscholl wrote:
Crank up your virtual machine and install it would be a good next step.

OK:
So on my Windows XP PC: I've installed VirtualBox: VirtualBox-4.3.40-110317-Win.exe
...which seemed to install OK.

So I then installed the OS (LinHES_R8.5.1.iso) into VirtualBox,
...which also seemed to install OK, but then I got the following Dos-type-Window-Popup,
...eg: Light Blue Header Bar, with Black-Page-Area beneath it

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Light Blue Header Bar, says: LinHES [Running] - Oracle VM VitualBox
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Then in the Black page area beneath, it had the following message...

This kernel require an x86-64 CPU, but only detected an i686 CPU,
Unable to boot - please use a kernel appropriate for your CPU
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I've seen this mentioned by many people online, hence my earlier questions relating to my PC's suitability.

So is it the OS (LinHES_R8.5.1.iso) that needs a 'x86-64 CPU' ?
if so, is there a 32bit version of LinHES ?

Thanks


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PostPosted: Fri Jan 05, 2018 11:17 am 
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mattbatt wrote:
Welcome to LinHES.

I'm a little confused as to what you currently have and where you want to end up. Are you using XP Media center on your PC to record shows currently and you are asking if that hardware is suitable to run LinHES?
Are you asking if you can run LinHES In a virtual machine on your XP computer?

I am currently running my LinHES in a virtual machine on my Win 10 computer and my frontend is a Raspberry pi 2. I can tell you video playback from VirtualBox is terrible but it does a rather good job as a server. If you happen to have a spare hard drive I would suggest installing to it on your XP hardware to test things out.


It's has I've described in my original post !
I'm starting from scratch, and want to build a PC-PVR: (ie: one PC) to record and watch TV programs.

So I want to test out LinHES on my old Windows XP PC first.


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PostPosted: Fri Jan 05, 2018 5:51 pm 
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Joined: Tue Aug 15, 2006 11:14 am
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Location: Orlando FL
So a couple of things.
1. I believe LinHES only has a 64bit version (I believe)
2. If your XP machine is a 32 bit version it may be too old to run LinHES (or many modern OSes)
3. You may have accidentally set up VirtualBox as a 32 bit host. When you create a new virtual machine you can select Linux Arch Linux (64 bit)
Attachment:
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4. If you are new to MythTV you should know that it technically has two parts which you can think of as a server and a client.
_a. The "server" is called MythBackend and it is responsible for actually recording shows and serving the video files to the frontend.
_b. The "client" is called MythFrontend it is the GUI you see. It displays the video playback and the interface to the backend recording scheduling.
_c. The backend and the frontend usually run on the same computer, however they can be seperated.
5. If you are trying to test MythFrontend in a VirtualBox virtual machine then you are going to be disappointed with the results.

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PostPosted: Sat Jan 06, 2018 7:23 am 
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When I google that machine the results appear to be in german, but it appears it was sold in 2003 and by the look of it 64 bit p4s were not released until 2004. LinHES became 64-bit only with the release of R8, so you could try one of the 7 releases with 32-bit. There could be a number of issues due to the age of mythtv in those releases, though. Any chance you could virtualize it on a newer machine to get a better overall experience?

Also, there are a number of remote frontend options since virtualized playback will be poor. We can cross that bridge once you get the backend online, though.


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PostPosted: Mon Jan 08, 2018 9:32 am 
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mattbatt wrote:
...1. I believe LinHES only has a 64bit version (I believe) ...

knappster wrote:
...so you could try one of the 7 releases with 32-bit.

Thanks: mattbatt & knappster

OK, I found this post: The end of 32 bit
here: http://forum.linhes.org/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=22305

...which states that:
'The LinHES Release 7.x series will be the last 32 bit version of LinHES.'
So I downloaded and installed the last version, eg: LinHES_R7.4.iso

This seems to have installed OK, eg:
a: This time I DON'T have the black-dos-type screen with error message, Instead...

b: Initially I had a bright yellow Splash-Screen
but the mouse wouldn't work in this Guest-Window, only the tab (and/or down-arrow) key.
And I wasn't sure what to do next !

c: Eventually/Somehow: The screen changed to a Mid-Blue-Screen, that lists various links, and a wide blue [ OK ] button at the bottom.
But I cant click it because the mouse still wont work on this Guest-Window (only on my host)

d: I tried to follow the install-info on page: http://www.linhes.org/install
but that didn't make much sense to me, especially since I'm now stuck on this Mid-Blue-Screen.

e: I get popups relating to the Host-Key:
Which says I can use the mouse in the Guest-Window, by using the 'Right-Ctrl' key, to toggle between Host & Guest Windows.
Clicking the 'Right-Ctrl' key, changes the green-down-arrow-icon (on the bottom-right toolbar) from green to black, but this still wont enable the mouse in the Guest-Window.

f: The mouse-icon-info says that mouse integration needs 'Guest Additions' to be installed.

I tried: Devices > Insert Guest Additions CD image...
...but nothing happens.

NB: I noticed that this file is present, at:
C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox\VBoxGuestAdditions.iso

So do I have to install 'Guest Additions' to get the mouse to work ?
If so, how ?

Many thanks


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PostPosted: Tue Jan 09, 2018 8:16 am 
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Location: Orlando FL
That version is over 6 years old and LinHES has gone through a lot of changes since then. You really should try and find some more modern hardware to install LinHES on.
The mouse is probably working just fine but, LinHES is designed to be a media center PC accessed with a remote control. So all of the navigation can be done with arrow keys and the enter button. I believe in that version there was a box you could check to show the mouse cursor.

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PostPosted: Fri Jan 12, 2018 7:53 am 
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mattbatt wrote:
That version is over 6 years old and LinHES has gone through a lot of changes since then. You really should try and find some more modern hardware to install LinHES on.
The mouse is probably working just fine but, LinHES is designed to be a media center PC accessed with a remote control. So all of the navigation can be done with arrow keys and the enter button. I believe in that version there was a box you could check to show the mouse cursor.

I checked out the 'Required Hardware' page:
http://www.linhes.org/projects/linhes/w ... d_Hardware
but it doesn't show a Min/Ideal PC Spec, but just lists general info, that doesn't help me to decide
what components to buy when building the PC.

But it does say:
'A LinHES system can use most modern and "semi-modern" hardware.
Some users report a fully functional system driven by an antiquated AMD Athlon (800 MHz)/nforce2 CPU/MB.
For HD playback a more powerful CPU (Pentium4 2.8GHz or better)'
and...
'LinHES can also run in a virtual machine (verified to work in Oracle's VirtualBox v3.x and 4.0) if would-be users would prefer to test drive it in a sandbox.'

So my idea was to try it out basically in the XP, and then build a new PC to the ideal spec.
Rather than build a PC to a spec that may not be ideal.

Currently: The problem with the current install, seems to be with the VirtualBox, and not with LinHES!
I need to get the mouse to work in the Virtual-Machine Window, so that I can click on LinHES OK button, so that I can continue with the LinHES install.

Please see the 2 LinHES screen shots:
1: The LinHES Yellow Splash Screen
a: I was able use my tab-key to highlight the first option: LinHES (Default)
b: Then I clicked the [Enter] key, which then displayed...

2: The LinHES Blue Screen
a: I now need to click on its [OK] button at the bottom of that page.
b: But the mouse button is not active in this Virtual-Machine window.

3: According to the info I've read about VirtualBox:
To activate the mouse in the Virtual-Machine window, I need to install Guest-Additions'

4: Also, on the bottom toolbar of Virtual-Machine window.
Hovering over the mouse-icon, its popup-info says that mouse integration needs 'Guest Additions' to be installed.

5: So on the top toolbar of Virtual-Machine window.
I clicked: Devices > Insert Guest Additions CD image...
...but this has not enabled the mouse in the Virtual-Machine window.

Many thanks.
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LinHES_Screenshot_Blue_Screen_2.jpg
LinHES_Screenshot_Blue_Screen_2.jpg [ 33.49 KiB | Viewed 19323 times ]


Last edited by JensenInterceptor on Sun Jan 14, 2018 7:32 am, edited 1 time in total.
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PostPosted: Sat Jan 13, 2018 5:58 am 
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Joined: Thu Sep 27, 2007 5:44 pm
Posts: 580
Based on your 2nd screenshot, the OK box looks like it is already highlighted. Have you tried just pressing enter? As mattbatt suggested, the cursor may be purposely hidden so that it is not on the screen when you are trying to navigate with a remote or watching TV or a video. Although moving it around should make it appear briefly I think. I'm not sure about how guest additions will work as I've never installed it on virtualbox. You should be able to unhide the cursor in some of the LinHES/Mythtv settings once you've completed the install. If just pressing enter doesn't work, you could try pressing tab until you see the color of the OK button change, then press enter.


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PostPosted: Sat Jan 13, 2018 10:34 am 
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Location: Orlando FL
Yes that blue page is informational only so the only option is "OK" which is already selected. Just hit enter to start install.
You use the up&down arrows to scroll through options on the screen and the left&right options to change the value of those options
Attachment:
lh2.JPG
lh2.JPG [ 88.27 KiB | Viewed 19338 times ]

as you can see in this photo I used the up and down arrows to select the "Root Filesystem Format" by using the left and right arrows You can change it to Ext4, risersf and others.
I Just tested it and the mouse works however it doesn't show up on screen making it useless. Just use the arrow and enter keys.

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PostPosted: Sun Jan 14, 2018 7:25 am 
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knappster wrote:
Based on your 2nd screenshot, the OK box looks like it is already highlighted. Have you tried just pressing enter? .......

mattbatt wrote:
Yes that blue page is informational only so the only option is "OK" which is already selected. Just hit enter to start install. ....

Guys: Many thanks.
I've now (Badly) installed LinHES / because I didn't really know what I should set things to.
So basically I followed the info on page: http://www.linhes.org/projects/linhes/wiki/Install_LinHES
...but this is for version; LinHES R8.x install

LinHES Install. (above info says...)
'...The default filesystem format for OS (root) and home partitions is ext3.
The default for the data partition is xfs...'
But as I'm using an older version (and I've no clue what this means), I left the latter set to its default of: ext3

Network Settings: Why do I need this?
In this test setup I don't want to connect to the Internet.
So I left those settings blank.

Host Settings:
I set to: Standalone / as I'm only using one PC

After the install, the install page says:
'On first boot mythtv-setup will run for the user to configure MythTV.'

Currently:
I'm stuck on the: Video Configuration ' page

After setting my Video to: Normal
and clicking: Test Standard definition
I got his popup message...

'Could not connect the master backend server,
is it running ?
Is the IP address set for it in mythtv setup correct ?


I cleared that, and then got a popup that's trying to download a video test sample.
but it stays at zero download, and I can't get past it.
Last time, it cleared if I left it alone for some time.

Q: So are there any setup details online?


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PostPosted: Sat Jan 20, 2018 6:23 am 
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Jensen, were you able to make any further progress? Regarding the network settings, I believe that they are crucial for the mysql connection (maybe just 127.0.0.1) as well as the backend IP address so that you can connect a frontend. I don't ever remember seeing anything for downloading a sample video, but that certainly won't work without an Internet connection either.

Unfortunately, I don't think you will find much in the way of setup details for it. The LinHES release is 5 years old and the version of mythtv is 4 revisions behind. You might consider trying to virtualize the latest release on a 64-bit machine if you have one available.


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