VDR Installation Guide for Lucid (VDPAU,xineliboutput,vdr-sxfe)

This is an Installation HOWTO for VDR with HDTV support for Lucid Lynx (Ubuntu 10.04 LTS).

I’m starting VDR from inside MMS (My Media System, a lightweight media center for Linux [wiki][forum][bug]), so it’s actually a HOWTO about installing a whole Media Center PC (HTPC). Continue reading “VDR Installation Guide for Lucid (VDPAU,xineliboutput,vdr-sxfe)”

Cyrus2.2 after Lucid Upgrade doesn't start.

I’ve got running a Cyrus IMAP mail server with an EXIM4 as MTA [1]. Unfortunately after an system upgrade from Ubuntu Karmic Koala 9.10 onto Lucid Lynx aka 10.04 LTS Server my Cyrus refuses to start. It prompts at the console:
Continue reading “Cyrus2.2 after Lucid Upgrade doesn't start.”

HOWTO: Migration from VMWare to KVM (Linux)

migrating from vmware to kvmIf you’re not satisfied with VMWare’s support regarding Linux, and your VMWare Server 2.0.x doesn’t behave reliably, it’s time to migrate to KVM, if you are on Linux. I’ve done this, and I am quite happy. It’s working better, than I thought.
Although there are quite a few HOWTOs and Migration instructions, nevertheless none of them met my needs. This is a step be step migration guide for an Ubuntu Karmic (9.10). (Should work for SuSE, Gentoo and Fedora with a few mods, too) Continue reading “HOWTO: Migration from VMWare to KVM (Linux)”

HOWTO: Adding Multimedia Keys to MMS

This little HOWTO is nothing special, and have been mentioned at http://forum.mymediasystem.org before, but actually every second year I need one special command in order to teach MMS about the new Multimedia keys of my new keyboard. And guess what – I have alwas to look for it. To be precise, there are two such commands. To retrieve keycodes or scan codes from your keyboard use one of these: Continue reading “HOWTO: Adding Multimedia Keys to MMS”

Linux: Getting Information About Your Video Device

I was about to teach Skype about how to use HQ video transmission, means a transmission where your video resolution is more than 176×144 or 352×288 (PAL). I’ve read, that adding these lines into your $HOME/.Skype/<your skype user name here>/.config.xml

<Video>
<CaptureHeight>480</CaptureHeight>
<CaptureWidth>640</CaptureWidth>
</Video>

into the <Lib> section, would Skype make HQ Video transmission. But it didn’t for some reasons. Some mentioned to use also the <Fps> tag, but also gave the advice to check if the hardware even supports such frame-rates and resolutions. Continue reading “Linux: Getting Information About Your Video Device”

Linux Administration: The Top of the Tops

top 5 Linux top commandsIf you are a Linux beginner and want to look like a pro instantly, this is the right article for you!
Joke aside – it’s actually not for beginner only, these are my tools I’m using on a every-day basis. And I can’t imagine to live without them anymore. I’m going to show You my top 5 Linux command line top tools. This is actually a word pun, or a recursion, because the tools I’m talking about, do have the word ‘top’ in them. Here goes my extremely helpful collection: Continue reading “Linux Administration: The Top of the Tops”

Windows 7 on a RAID

This is a documentation installation of a Windows 7 x64 on a Asus P5K motherboard using a RAID0. First of all I must say, that I’ve managed this RAID0 installation and the speed increase was very impressive, and I’d like to share my experiences on how to set up a hardware based RAID0 with Windows 7 x64, since it was all, but straight forward.
In advance: I do not use a RAID anymore, because I’ve noticed some ugly side effects, which urged me to drop this RAID idea again. FarCry2 and Crysis Warhead simply didn’t work on my RAID system. Maybe more titles are affected. Feedback welcome. Continue reading “Windows 7 on a RAID”

[HOWTO] Workaround for a broken AVCHD playback with VDPAU on Karmic

The release of Karmic Koala inspired me to upgrade to this new Ubuntu 9.10 version and also to install the latest My Media System (a light Media Center for Linux), wich is version 1.1.2 actually. All was fine, beside the playback of AVCHD footage from my Canon HF100 FullHD camcorder. I’ve noticed already some time ago, AVCHD footage doesn’t work with the ‘-fps 50‘ switch anymore. The solution for the problem, so I wrote, was to use ‘-correct-pts‘ instead. Continue reading “[HOWTO] Workaround for a broken AVCHD playback with VDPAU on Karmic”

Theme Update for My Media System 1.1.2 (Midnight- and Ocean-Theam)

My Media System, the light Open Source Media Center for Linux, is going to be released the next couple of days. The new thing about it is, as far as I know, the rip plugin from Lutz Thielmann (forum name: Magicamun) and many bug fixes. The rip plugin does, what you suspect it to do, it rips audio CDs onto your hard disk. Few month ago I’ve provided already an appropriate icon for the standard theme, but now it’s time to update my other two themes as well. Here we go: Continue reading “Theme Update for My Media System 1.1.2 (Midnight- and Ocean-Theam)”