Linux, linux and more linux.
Back to trying to play DVDs. So, kernel installed, lets me use the make command. ./configure seemed to to the trick complete with spawning a makefile. So I ran make and it all seemed to work. Followed it up with make install and that seemed to work. Rebooted and tried to launch a dvd using kaffeine, no go. Same error. Installed VLC, no error message, but no playing either.
More searching on the ‘net turned up a reference to a fortran complier that might be causing the problem by it’s absence. So, install that package and try the ./configure command again. This time it doesn’t even get as far as it did with the regualar gcc-c++ package alone. Grrrrr. So, I uninstalled both and reinstalled the gcc-c++ package on its own and then I was at least back to where I had been.
In the process of looking up the libdvdcss package, I had seen references to something called the Penguin Liberation Front or plf. The plf is a repository of packages that aren’t exactly “official”. As libdvdcss by it’s very nature falls into this category, I decided to give these guys a go. To add a repository you need to use a command called urpmi. Conveniently there is a website Easy Urpmi where you can plug in your information, select the kind of packages you want and what mirrors you would like to use, and it outputs the correct code for you to use. First go failed, frustrating me more than a little bit, but after stopping for lunch I tried it again choosing a different mirror and lo and behold, success!!!!
Repositories configured, I used the Configure Your Computer panel to add the libdvdcss package and then rebooted. Probably not too much of a surprise to anyone who knows me, I popped in a Star Wars DVD and after all this hassle, it finally played in both Kaffeine and VLC. YAY!!!!! I’m a little disappointed that I was unable to install it manually but for now it is working and once I have it all working as I want then I may try a less sophisticated distro and work on more linux skills.
Next up external display via the svideo port. Not much difficulty here to start anyway. S3switch is the program I need and a simple search in the available packages locates it quite readily. Couple of clicks and it was installed. First problem comes up when I try to figure out how to use it. Sure it is installed but then what. Ahhhh after digging up some problems some other people have had it becomes apparent that it’s a simple script from the command line as a superuser. No biggie. It probably says something to that effect in the install file that I would have access to if I had installed it the manual way, but given all the trouble I had with trying to libdvdcss that way I wasn’t inclined to try it here. So, terminal, su, password, s3switch tv and presto changeo, display on the tv.
There is a problem though. When I play a an avi using kaffeine there is this large border around the picture. Damn. Tried changing the resolution from 640x480 monitor and display to 800x600 for both. Bingo video played great.
At this point I figured I’d pop back in the 256Mb dimm. After doing that, I get a KDE ksplash sigsbrt error on logging in and the resolution looks like it is back at 640x480 and, yup the border on the video playback is there. I mess around with the resolutions again and by kicking it back up to full display on the laptop alone, it all loads fine. Try putting it back and ksplash crashes again. Next I tried a different session, IceWM. Unfortunately this interface doesn’t give me access to the fat32 partitions that have the movies on them. So as an experiment, I copied one movie onto the desktop via the KDE session and then started an IceWM session and tried playing it on the tv no difference. Arggggg. Time for a break.
So a whole lot of playing around has probably taken it’s toll on this build. I was hoping to get everything working well, then go back to the beginning and use everything I had learned. Well, I went ahead and did it early. Now I have a full install of Mandriva Free. Updated via the program manager, changed the package distribution sources using easiurpmi.zarb.org, downloaded and installed the wireless driver using the ndiswrapper, adjusted the resolution to 16 bit, and lastly installed the libdvdcss and s3switch package via the software manager. One difference in this build was choosing the Gnome desktop instead of the KDE. Having gone through all I have before, this process ended up being fairly straight forward. There is still a problem with playback of video files via the svideo out. Only mplayer has consistently good output, but unfortunately, when I close a program, the svideo seems to cut out, leaving me with no visible desktop on the laptop or the TV. No choice then but to do a forced log out (ctrl+alt+bkspace). Funnily, it seems that after doing this, about half the time video will play fine with Kaffeine or any other player. Odd, I’ll have to see if I can get any input from the forums on this one. That and also see if anyone has gotten the A revision the Dlink DWL g630 wireless card to work with the native Linux madwifi drivers.
New problem, the Gnome desktop doesn’t give convenient access to the NTFS partitions of the drive. I can build a desktop link to access the files but it seems to need root access to write to the drive. As the plan is for this to be a media station, I shouldn’t need to write to these drives from this station but I will need to be able to access and modify them from other computers in the house. That may be a problem.
Right, turns out one of the NTFS partitions has some bad sectors. Fixed with some drive tool action curtesy of the Ultimate Windows Boot Disk. Moved all the information over to the good partition, re partitioned the space, and now time for yet another Linux install, this time with all my hard won knowledge.
Wow, that was actually quite easy. I used the Mandriva Free distribution, partitioning about 9Gb for the linux file system, 1Gb for the swap area. I chose the KDE desktop and the laptop kernel to add mainly for the easier access to the NTFS partitions. Did the updates when prompted in the installation. Used the built in Firefox to download the drivers for the wireless card and then added them through the ‘configure your computer’ control panel. Removed all but the Mandriva build references for software packages. Added in the new resources generated by the easyurpmi site, including the Penguin Liberation Front resources. Added the libdvdcss and s3switch packages. Changed the resolution to 16bit 800x600, and bingo! It all seems to work just fine. Even plays video in Kaffeine without the earlier problems.
So, what have I learned from this whole adventure?
Linux has changed a lot in the last couple of years and it seems as if there is not a lot of information out there that wants to tell you this. Most of the resources out there talk about configuring and building programs and all sorts of complex lines of code. The reality is that most any useful piece of programing will already have been added to one of the software resources and chances are if you search for the package name, as long as you have set up the resources correctly (see easyurpmi for this one) you are good to go and can probably even get by without using a terminal window for much of anything.
Well, maybe this will be of use to someone, if not, it was still quite the learning experience and beside the frustration, kind of fun.
Will out.
More searching on the ‘net turned up a reference to a fortran complier that might be causing the problem by it’s absence. So, install that package and try the ./configure command again. This time it doesn’t even get as far as it did with the regualar gcc-c++ package alone. Grrrrr. So, I uninstalled both and reinstalled the gcc-c++ package on its own and then I was at least back to where I had been.
In the process of looking up the libdvdcss package, I had seen references to something called the Penguin Liberation Front or plf. The plf is a repository of packages that aren’t exactly “official”. As libdvdcss by it’s very nature falls into this category, I decided to give these guys a go. To add a repository you need to use a command called urpmi. Conveniently there is a website Easy Urpmi where you can plug in your information, select the kind of packages you want and what mirrors you would like to use, and it outputs the correct code for you to use. First go failed, frustrating me more than a little bit, but after stopping for lunch I tried it again choosing a different mirror and lo and behold, success!!!!
Repositories configured, I used the Configure Your Computer panel to add the libdvdcss package and then rebooted. Probably not too much of a surprise to anyone who knows me, I popped in a Star Wars DVD and after all this hassle, it finally played in both Kaffeine and VLC. YAY!!!!! I’m a little disappointed that I was unable to install it manually but for now it is working and once I have it all working as I want then I may try a less sophisticated distro and work on more linux skills.
Next up external display via the svideo port. Not much difficulty here to start anyway. S3switch is the program I need and a simple search in the available packages locates it quite readily. Couple of clicks and it was installed. First problem comes up when I try to figure out how to use it. Sure it is installed but then what. Ahhhh after digging up some problems some other people have had it becomes apparent that it’s a simple script from the command line as a superuser. No biggie. It probably says something to that effect in the install file that I would have access to if I had installed it the manual way, but given all the trouble I had with trying to libdvdcss that way I wasn’t inclined to try it here. So, terminal, su, password, s3switch tv and presto changeo, display on the tv.
There is a problem though. When I play a an avi using kaffeine there is this large border around the picture. Damn. Tried changing the resolution from 640x480 monitor and display to 800x600 for both. Bingo video played great.
At this point I figured I’d pop back in the 256Mb dimm. After doing that, I get a KDE ksplash sigsbrt error on logging in and the resolution looks like it is back at 640x480 and, yup the border on the video playback is there. I mess around with the resolutions again and by kicking it back up to full display on the laptop alone, it all loads fine. Try putting it back and ksplash crashes again. Next I tried a different session, IceWM. Unfortunately this interface doesn’t give me access to the fat32 partitions that have the movies on them. So as an experiment, I copied one movie onto the desktop via the KDE session and then started an IceWM session and tried playing it on the tv no difference. Arggggg. Time for a break.
So a whole lot of playing around has probably taken it’s toll on this build. I was hoping to get everything working well, then go back to the beginning and use everything I had learned. Well, I went ahead and did it early. Now I have a full install of Mandriva Free. Updated via the program manager, changed the package distribution sources using easiurpmi.zarb.org, downloaded and installed the wireless driver using the ndiswrapper, adjusted the resolution to 16 bit, and lastly installed the libdvdcss and s3switch package via the software manager. One difference in this build was choosing the Gnome desktop instead of the KDE. Having gone through all I have before, this process ended up being fairly straight forward. There is still a problem with playback of video files via the svideo out. Only mplayer has consistently good output, but unfortunately, when I close a program, the svideo seems to cut out, leaving me with no visible desktop on the laptop or the TV. No choice then but to do a forced log out (ctrl+alt+bkspace). Funnily, it seems that after doing this, about half the time video will play fine with Kaffeine or any other player. Odd, I’ll have to see if I can get any input from the forums on this one. That and also see if anyone has gotten the A revision the Dlink DWL g630 wireless card to work with the native Linux madwifi drivers.
New problem, the Gnome desktop doesn’t give convenient access to the NTFS partitions of the drive. I can build a desktop link to access the files but it seems to need root access to write to the drive. As the plan is for this to be a media station, I shouldn’t need to write to these drives from this station but I will need to be able to access and modify them from other computers in the house. That may be a problem.
Right, turns out one of the NTFS partitions has some bad sectors. Fixed with some drive tool action curtesy of the Ultimate Windows Boot Disk. Moved all the information over to the good partition, re partitioned the space, and now time for yet another Linux install, this time with all my hard won knowledge.
Wow, that was actually quite easy. I used the Mandriva Free distribution, partitioning about 9Gb for the linux file system, 1Gb for the swap area. I chose the KDE desktop and the laptop kernel to add mainly for the easier access to the NTFS partitions. Did the updates when prompted in the installation. Used the built in Firefox to download the drivers for the wireless card and then added them through the ‘configure your computer’ control panel. Removed all but the Mandriva build references for software packages. Added in the new resources generated by the easyurpmi site, including the Penguin Liberation Front resources. Added the libdvdcss and s3switch packages. Changed the resolution to 16bit 800x600, and bingo! It all seems to work just fine. Even plays video in Kaffeine without the earlier problems.
So, what have I learned from this whole adventure?
Linux has changed a lot in the last couple of years and it seems as if there is not a lot of information out there that wants to tell you this. Most of the resources out there talk about configuring and building programs and all sorts of complex lines of code. The reality is that most any useful piece of programing will already have been added to one of the software resources and chances are if you search for the package name, as long as you have set up the resources correctly (see easyurpmi for this one) you are good to go and can probably even get by without using a terminal window for much of anything.
Well, maybe this will be of use to someone, if not, it was still quite the learning experience and beside the frustration, kind of fun.
Will out.