So, obviously, for this to work you have to have a central server box in your home network that will be on 24/7. On that box, you’ll need to install MySQL. I’m not going to replicate any of the details of that from the post because I know that I know how to do that. And since I’m my audience …

Next create a new db for xbmc and create/assign a user.

• CREATE USER ‘xbmc’ IDENTIFIED BY ‘xbmc’;
• CREATE database xbmc_video;
• CREATE database xbmc_music;
• GRANT ALL ON ‘xbmc_%’.* TO ‘xbmc’;

The Lifehacker author assumes that you only have MySQL running for this purpose and tells you to use grant all on * to xbmc. Not the best choice if you also have MySQL for other things. MySQL has additional security options if you’re so inclined.

Now that you’ve got the db setup, export the current XBMC Video and Music libraries. Once you’ve got the export, simply modify advancedsettings.xml ( ~/.xbmc/userdata ) and look for the videodatabase and musicdatabase sections. Should be pretty obvious from the tags below what you need to do.

<videodatabase>
   <type>mysql</type>
   <host>***.***.***.***</host>
   <port>3306</port>
   <user>xbmc</user>
   <pass>xbmc</pass>
   <name>xbmc_video</name>
</videodatabase>

<musicdatabase>
   <type>mysql</type>
   <host>***.***.***.***</host>
   <port>3306</port>
   <user>xbmc</user>
   <pass>xbmc</pass>
   <name>xbmc_music</name>
</musicdatabase>

The use of IPs is dumb, I didn’t look too hard, but as long as DNS is working (or a local hosts file) I don’t see why you can’t use a hostname instead. Unfortunately, I’m pretty sure changes to advancedsettings requires a reboot; after that, import your old library and it should write it to the db.

I don’t actually want all xbmc boxes to use the same library. I envision my downstairs wi-fi connected xbmc to be primarily for kids movies and have challenges streaming HD so it’ll be using local storage. But my server running MySQL has three different backup strategies running (I’m paranoid about my digital pictures) so I plan to use this method to always have a backup of my xbmc libraries. The video library easily recreates itself, it’s the music library that’s a pain if I lose it.

This post is outdated after the Dharma release, I will copy relevant info from this post to the newer post.

[Note: There's currently a bug that has been fixed in svn (changeset) that causes Aeon to crash. I compiled and installed from svn and confirm that the bug is fixed; will create an idoits guide to installing from svn soon. Again, like most things XBMC, it wasn't hard but nobody wanted to give up concise, correct instructions.]

Notes
I’m filling in a lot of blanks from this guide on the XBMC.org forums here, or the Lifehacker guide here. Unfortunately a lot of this info is scattered around forum posts and these guides will only get you most of the way there. For instance, don’t mess with adding the nvidia drivers to the iso … I mean you could if you wanted to but why not just do them after install?

Purpose
I need to catalogue all of the changes I had to make so that, in the event I ever need to do it all over again, I don’t spend the six – seven hours it took me the first time digging through random forum posts. For my purposes, I want to install XMBC directly to the revo’s hdd but since it has no cd/dvd rom, and there’s no way I’ll go buy one just for this, it needs to install from usb. I don’t know why this is, but there seems to be a lot of posts asking how this is done, and I think people get confused because of extra random steps mentioned in the thread.

I. Install XBMC Live to Revo HDD

1. Download XBMC Live.
2. Download unetbootin. [I don't know if this part is correct] For Mac users, like me, it appears easist to run it under a Windows virtual or boot camp even though there’s a Linux version.
3. Plug in your USB drive and [I had trouble getting my USB key to boot until I did this] format it FAT32.
4. Launch unetbootin, select the XMBC Live iso and select the drive letter of your USB key and then let unetbootin do it’s thing.
5. Plug the USB key into your Revo, turn it on and [Optional] hit Del to get to the bios and change the boot priority to removable devices. [/Optional] hit F12 for the boot menu and select your USB key.
   [Note: the guide has you create a file for permanent storage. This is only necessary if you want to run XBMC Live directly from the USB key. If you're installing to HDD then it's pointless.]
6. At the XBMC Live boot menu select the Install to HDD option. You’ll then see the normal ubuntu command line installer and it’ll walk you through partitioning the drive, etc.
7. Remove the USB key, reboot per the installer and make sure XMBC loads. Once it has, immediately shut it down.

II. Install Invidia drivers

1. [I haven't confirmed if XMBC Live 9.11 final contains up to date Nvidia drivers since the install to HDD option was broken when this was written and I had to use RC1 -> apt-get update / upgrade path]Download latest Nvidia ION Linux drivers here. Make sure to check beta releases. Current certified 190.53 appears to be working with 9.11 Live.
2. Copy them over, or easier yet, use [need to verify url] wget http://us.download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Linux-x86/190.53/NVIDIA-Linux-x86-190.53-pkg1.run. Should be obvious from url that you can you just replace the version number with whichever you’re after.
3. Install … sudo sh NVIDIA-Linux-x86-190.53-pkg1.run.
4. Reboot; done.
5. Once in XBMC, you should be fine leaving the Renderer option set to Auto, but if you really feel the need switch it to VDPAU.
6. My Revo 1600 is running 1080p fine with only the stock 1gb, but I still have another 1gb on order. I’ve also noticed the tiniest bit of jitter during playback (about the same as PS3MS to PS3) and am still investigating all of the xorg.conf posts for that solution.

III. Audio over HDMI

1. [Note: this is very dependent on how and what you're hooking your Revo up to. Both guides fail to mention that the audio config they give you only works when connecting directly to screen and only outputs stereo. Wich should be obvious from 'Downmix multichannel audio to stereo - ON', but still, who wants stereo?!?]
2. Set Audio Output to Digital.
3. AC3:on
4. DTS:on
5. Both guides state that both, audio output device and passthrough output device should be set to ‘hdmi’. Unfortunately, this didn’t work for me and all I got was silence. There’s a massive thread about multichannel audio here, but I found that I didn’t need any of it except for one key part.
6. Alt-F2 to bring up a terminal, and login.
7. aplay -l and note the HDMI device; it should be card 0 device 3.
8. Set Audio Output Device to Custom and enter plughw:0,3.
9. Set Passthrough Output Device to Custom and enter plughw:0,3.
10. Downmix multichannel audio to stereo: off
11. You should now get DD5.1 and DTS5.1 [possibly 7.1 too?] out of the Revo’s HDMI. My assumption is that you’re connecting the Revo HDMI to either a receiver with HDMI in, or you’re routing sound through your TV via HDMI in and then Optical out to your receiver (how mine is configured). Since the Revo 1600 has no optical out, that route isn’t covered. I would guess that for the 3600 all you’d need to change would be the approiate card / hardware numbers, but I haven’t done any research into that.
12. And of course, if you want menu sounds create /home/xbmc/.asoundrc and put:
    pcm.!default {
    type plug
    slave {
    pcm “hdmi”
    }
    }
    in it.

IV. Logitech Harmony Remote

1. Get an IR Receiver by purchasing a cheap MCE remote.
2. Verify that the MCE remote works with xbmc-live out of the box (it should).
3. In the Harmony remote software setup the revo as a Media Center PC -> Manufacturer: Microsoft -> Model: manually type in Extender. I had a hell of a time getting my Harmony 550 to work before I found that little tidbit recently. Even manually learning the IR from the other remote wasn’t working.
4. If you also have an Xbox360 that’s sitting nearby, using the power toggle of the MCE Remote/Harmony will also turn it on or off. Go into system setup on the 360 and set it to xbox360 remote only. Don’t worry, the activity for the 360 on the Harmony will still power it on and off … I’d have to guess it won’t navigate menus but I only use my 360 for gaming so the controller is on and that’s what I’m using for navigation. Why would you watch movies on the 360 now that you have XBMC? Netflix?!? Two words … use, net.
5. [Still need to adjust timing, Harmony software on Mac isn't letting me edit the default 200ms setting. Also still need to map back and home to a face button.]

V. Skins from git

1. This is another one of those really easy things that gets more complicated the more people talk about it. For Aeon, use the scripts from here and save yourself some time.
2. Install git client; sudo apt-get install git-core
3. git clone git://github.com/ “/home/xbmc/.xbmc/skin/”
   e.g. git clone git://github.com/HitcherUK/Alaska.git “/home/xbmc/.xbmc/skin/Alaska”

VI. Password protected Samba share to transfer files to the Revo

1. sudo apt-get install samba
2. sudo nano /etc/samba/smb.conf
3. sudo smbpasswd -a [username]. Unlike in the Windows world where the shares use a local account for authentication, samba maintains it’s own user db. I’m sure somebody smarter than me knows how to get samba to look at linux local accounts, but for my purposes simply mirroring the user/pass of the local account in samba works.
4. The tail of my smb.conf file, sharing out two password protected directories.
   [XBMC Skins]
   path = /home/xbmc/.xbmc/skin

   security = user [shared_folder]
   public = no
   read only = no
   guest ok = no
   writeable = yes
   printable = no
   create mask = 0755
   force create mode = 0755
   directory mask = 0775
   force directory mode = 0775

   [XBMC Aeon Backdrops]
   path = "/home/xbmc/Aeon Backdrops"

   security = user [shared_folder]
public = no
read only = no
guest ok = no
writeable = yes
printable = no
create mask = 0755
force create mode = 0755
directory mask = 0775
force directory mode = 0775

VII. Xorg changes

1. sudo cp /etc/X11/xorg.conf /etc/X11/xorg.orig
2. sudo nano /etc/X11/xorg.conf
3. If XBMC boots to a command prompt, you did something wrong. Comment out your change and restart.
4. Gamma: on my TV XBMC is way too dark so I needed to adjust the gamma. On the XBMC forums, somebody posted that gamma was specified in the form: gamma r g b; calling out gamma values for each channel. Turns out with XBMC Live, it needs a single gamma value, e.g. gamma 1.2, or it pukes. [If you have the opposite problem where the gui is bright but your movies are too dark, enable VDPAU studio level color conversion (need to look up where this is located)]
5. Jitter/Judder: [I'm still messing around with these to see if any work, as it stands some of these modifications make my install puke to command prompt]
   From the revouser thread here.
   Monitor Section:
   HorizSync 31.0 – 69.0
   VertRefresh 59.0 – 86.0
   [confirmed the above works and made a large difference visually]
   Device Section:
   Option “DynamicTwinView” “False”
   Option “TripleBuffer” “True”
   [above works, but no visual change that I can detect]
   Screen Section:
   Option “TwinView” “False”
   Option “AddARGBGLXVisuals” “True”
   [untested]
   Add an Extensions Section:
   Section Extensions
   Option “Composite” “Disable”
   EndSection
   [untested, not sure that this would make a huge difference]
6. There is mention that this:
   Screen Section
   Option “UseEDIDFreqs” “False”
   worked too.
   [untested]
7. There’s also a post here detailing how to add your own modelines into xorg.

VIII. Automount USB

1. sudo apt-get install usbmount
2. sudo nano /etc/usbmount/usbmount.conf add ntfs to filesystems string.

IX. Resume from USB

1. I had just assumed that this would be configured by default; I’m increasingly becoming annoyed with all the little fiddling that you have to do for things that should already be configured by default. That and finding all of the information to get stuff to work. Digging through fifty pages of forum postings isn’t my idea of fun.
2. Follow this guide from the wiki.
3. cat /proc/acpi/wakeup | grep ^USB
4. You should see something like this:
   USB0      S3      disabled pci:0000:00:02.0
   USB2      S3      disabled pci:0000:00:02.1
5. sudo su and nano /etc/rc.local and add:
   echo USB0>/proc/acpi/wakeup
   echo “rc.local has completed sucessfully.” >> /tmp/resume.log (optional)
6. [I need to track down the post I found that actually set this as a script to only echo out the enable if it wasn't already enabled.]
7. Don’t enabled USB2 otherwise the computer will wake up immediately after suspend.
8. Now that that’s over with there’s another little bit that isn’t mentioned in that wiki that needed to be enabled on my 1600. Usbcore.autosuspend=-1
9. sudo nano /boot/grub/menu.lst
10. in the first entry (not safe mode) append “usbcore.autosuspend=-1″ (without quotes) to the end of ‘kernel’ line.
11. Reboot.
12. I see a lot of posts about resume scripts and the remote not working correctly after resume. I’m still waiting for my newegg order to show up so the previous instructions were only tested using the keyboard.

X. Upgrading RAM

1. [link to youtube video needed]
2. Needed: philips screwdriver and small standard screwdriver / jeweler’s screwdriver.
3. Where the wobbly stand snaps in, there will be a warranty sticker covering a philips screw, Cut the sticker and remove the screw.
4. Looking at the black top plate, notice the hairline seam on the outer white case. Run your finger nail down that seam to seperate it slightly. Enough that you can get the standard screwdriver in without chunking up the plastic.
5. Wiggle standard screwdriver back and forth to pry the top of the case up releasing the tabs holding it. Top of case will come off as one piece.
6. Insert memory module
7. [personal preference] plug in power, keyboard and monitor; boot into bios and make sure the ram is recognized before replacing top case.
8. In bios adjust [correct term?] video cache from 256mb to 512mb.

Advanced
XI. Compile and Install XBMC from source
This is incredibly easy, but all of the posts I found were kind of wonky; even the wiki is missing some vital info that you need. I’m assuming that you’re already running XBMC Live and want to latest … the pre-compiled PPAs are supposed to do this for you but I never can seem to get them to work.

1. sudo apt-get update (If you haven’t already done this previously when you first installed).
2. sudo apt-get build-dep xbmc
3. Here I’m assuming that you already have nvidia drivers installed from the previous steps.
   sudo apt-get install libvdpau-dev
   This is needed so that you can enable vdpau during configure.
4. sudo apt-get install subversion
5. Either create a directory that you want to download source to, or a ‘trunk’ directory will be created in the current directory.
6. svn co -r http://xbmc.svn.sourceforge.net/svnroot/xbmc/trunk
   I’m probably downloading way too much of the source but the previous posted instructions I’d found called out ‘/branches/linuxport/XBMC’ which doesn’t exist. I should probably spend some time looking to see what branch I should be downloading.
7. cd trunk
8. ./bootstrap
9. ./configure --prefix=/usr --disable-debug --disable-ccache --enable-vdpau
   prefix=/usr to specify the directory to install to; for some reason I found my Live installed to /usr/xbmc instead of the stated default of /usr/share/xbmc. Disable debug, self explanatory. Disable ccache, no idea what this does, copied it from a post? Enable vdpau; this is supposed to be enabled by default but in my first configure run I noticed that it was disabled.
10. make
11. Prepare to wait a long time if you’re doing this directly on the AR1600. Usually takes me an hour or so … don’t have exact time since I walk away and come back.
12. sudo make install

Conclusion
My final hurdle in the next few days, once it arrives from Newegg, is to hook up an ir receiver and get my Harmony remote working with XBMC. From the number of posts on the subject I’m in for a long couple of days.
Aside from the learning curve of open-source software, for $199 the Revo 1600 is an incredible HTPC bargain. Right now my focus is entirely on playing 1080p MKVs but soon I’ll move on to Music and Photos. From what I can gather, XBMC has native ALAC support, as well as UPNP (SimplifyMedia server as a backup) support. iPhoto is going to be a beast and I don’t think I’ll ever get that conquered. I’ll probably have to point XBMC at the iPhoto folder structure where it’s backed up on the server. Or I could just not mess with it. Picture support isn’t that exciting to me.
Current cost:
Acer Aspire Revo 1600 $199
Crucial 1GB DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) 200-pin SO-DIMM $29.98
AVS Gear Certified MCE Remote $25.41
Total $254.39
I probably could’ve gotten a Popcorn Hour for just a little more and been done with it. I do plan on checking out the Boxee beta when it goes public next month.
At first I really wanted the Revo 36xx because of the optical out, dual-core proc, extra gig of ram and the wireless N card. But, turns out, the extra options weren’t necessary. Once I get this one working flawlessly, I’ll probably get another one and stick it downstairs with a wireless extender.

1. If PS3 Media Server is running, shut it down.
2. In %program files%\PS3 Media Server\ find pms.jar.
3. Rename pms.jar (make a copy just in case) to pms.zip and open with Windows Explorer.
4. Find \resources\images\
5. Replace Play1Hot_256 (and probably Play1Hot_32 and Play1Hot_16 too).
6. Close and let Windows Explorer recompress.
7. Change name back to pms.jar and restart PS3 Media Server.

The only thing I’d add is that the instructions only have you change out Play1Hot_256 but there are also resources for 16 and 32 that I changed out. I didn’t leave those as default to see what happened, so if you still have the default small icons that’d be why. Also, the main XMB icon under Video doesn’t preserve alpha.

I’m currently using this icon I found on deviantart.

• black
• green
• purple
• yellow

So far, I have to admit, I’m only using PS3 Media Server to stream .mkv (usually muxed with mkv2vob first. Sometimes .mkv transcodes can have audio sync issues. But next up I’ll look into internet radio, the itunes library integration and web video feeds.

The naming convention for assigning icons is %filename% (including extension).cover.png(or .jpg). E.g. Man On Fire 1080p BluRay DTS.m2ts.cover.png. Folders: create your folder and drop in a folder.png(or .jpg). Image dimensions are 320×240.

[ Finding Artwork ]
• themoviedb.org
  Site is mainly for XBMC / Plex style media center apps but it’s a good resource for good quality artwork. Look in the lower right corner for the movie poster.
• GetVideoArtwork (Beta)
  New one I just found a couple of weeks ago, geared toward iTunes artwork and sometimes slim pickings but really high quality.

[ Creating Icons ]
PSD Templates: I did not create these templates, I found them in a forum thread about PS3MS thumbnails. I believe it was this thread on avsforum. Click on the image to download the PSD.
• FullHD Template
  1080p text, blue case and disc with blu-ray logo. I turn off the blue glow layer. Create a new layer in the CoverArt Container group and paste in your artwork. Use free transform with <shift> to size the artwork in the mask; save for web as png24 and name accordingly.
• Normal Template
  HD text, blue case and disc with blu-ray logo. Same instructions as the FullHD template above. At one time I came across a version of this template with 720p text, which would be useful since I don’t have the font that was used. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to find it again.
• Standard Definition
  SD text, silver box and disc with DVD and Widescreen logo.
• Blu-ray box
  Standard blu-ray box with a bit of alpha on the blue case. Resize to 240×240 for use with PS3MS (haven’t tried throwing the original 512×512 at it to see what it’d do).
• TV Show
  Samsung HDTV for TV shows; great to use as a folder image. I hide the light_retouch and shadow layer.
Applications:
• Thumbnail Generator
  Search Amazon or upload your own image, scale it and then apply it to different templates. Amazing home grown webapp, but I don’t really like the available templates.
• SlipCover (Mac only).
  This is what I’m currently using; they’re larger than the other templates that include the disc, and the case is sharper than the PSD template case. Two big draw backs, Mac only and its output is .icns which requires a couple of extra steps to get to .png.

Scrolling through 320×240 icons on a 1080p display is a little rough. Picking out details in the icons is next to impossible, but it is nice to have them in addition to the standard filename text. Also, it can take awhile for the PS3 to show the icons; supposedly this can be sped up by using the Media Library option, but I haven’t had a lot of luck with it. Regardless, it’s still a lot better than the default PS3MS icon.

Part 3: Changing the PS3MS default icon.

The problem I encountered on Windows 2008R2 was that the provided, ‘Install as a Windows Service’ option didn’t work correctly. It uses Java Service Wrapper and seems to install and start correctly. Netstat even shows it listening on the correct interface and correct port. The only thing I could find, was the debug log showed that it was trying to use a temp directory that didn’t exist. However, even creating that directory and making sure it had permissions, it still wasn’t working. This may also be a problem on Windows 2008, I’m not sure and I didn’t find any mention of it on the PS3 Media Server forums.

The solution was to use good old instsrv / srvany from the Windows 2003 Resource Kit. Go through the normal process of using instsrv, naming your service and then pointing to srvany. Edit the service in the registry, add a key for Parameters and then add two strings: AppDirectory and Application and modify them with the correct paths (self explanatory). Optional: add a key for Description to the service key. I’m not comfortable having an open source dlna server that’s running as Local System, and you can change it to Local Service or create an account to use.

The final step is to create a Windows Firewall exception for %Program Files%\Java\jre6\bin\javaw.exe on TCP 5001. TCP 5001 is the default, if you forced it to a custom port you’ll need to substitute.

I like PS3MS over the competition like TVersity (but to be honest I haven’t checked around for the last 6mo or so) … and this is pretty lame.

Note: if you need to make any changes to the server, stop the service, load the program from the desktop, save your changes – quit, and then restart the service.

Part 2: PS3MS movie / folder thumbnail icons

By itself, as a hollywood behind-the-scenes parody, at first glance it’s standard stuff. But three things made this one for me.

1. Robert Downey Jr. That one’s a given, I mean he’s the big punch line that’s supposed to get everybody to go see it. But he chews up every scene so much, that you begin just watching the movie to see what his next line is.
2. There’s a layer of very subtle humor underneath the obvious schtick. It’s hard to catch, it’ll just a be a line said off screen.
3. Tom Cruise. Yes, Tom Cruise. Wait to see before you judge.

There’s a quote in Fight Club where the narrator is describing insomnia as viewing the world as a copy of a copy. That’s pretty much what KCS is. Everything’s there, it just has no feeling to it; it’s dull and rounded.

The 3rd Indy movie, while still enjoyable, was already milked dry. I’m guessing this is about the time Lucas had strapped on his depends and started shitting on his screenplays. You can start to feel it in the short round character/mine cart chase in Temple of Doom, but for the most part it tries to take itself seriously. By Last Crusade they’d given up and were going mostly for comedy.

I’ll just leave it at this; any movie that uses CG gophers for comedic effect, and is not titled ‘Caddyshack’ probably isn’t going to be so good. # of gopher sceens in Crystal Skull? Three.

I don’t know how they pulled shutting down streets in Manhattan, Rio and Rome to get this commercial shot. Monoco would’ve been easy during gran prix weekend. And there’s no CGI.

Video after the jump.

shell : circuit