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kfoss

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Everything posted by kfoss

  1. Good Day, I have been amazed at the abilities of some small hand held media players that can play DivX files and HD content on bright little touchscreens with small (< 1GHz) processors inside. I have also been amazed to read that many of these players are Linux-based. I also understand that most of them have been built from the ground up to be able to play multimedia. However, should it not be possible to use "excess" processing power on larger boards and achieve similar results? I am interested in building a version of MDV2010 that uses a kernel that is optimized for multimedia playback on lower-end PCs. Specifically, I would like to be able to play DVDs and DIVX files on Via EPIA motherboards. Most (if not all) of Via's motherboards have Via CPUs on them such as their C3, C7 and Nano processors, and processor speeds are usually in the 500MHz to 1.5GHz range. Some of these boards also have MPEG2/4 hardware acceleration however, the support for this in Windows and Linux is really spotty and limited to boards with the CLE266 chipsets (a few others, but none of the newer models). However, I do not want to use the stock versions of most distros as they have kernels that are made to run on most hardware and contain tons of unneeded apps and services. I've recompiled kernels before however, I've never gotten to the point of changing major parts of the kernel configuration for optimization. Can anyone provide some recommendations on how to optimize a kernel for multimedia playback on Via processors?
  2. Just burned the XBMC Live ISO. Will try it when I get home after work.
  3. Just burned the XBMC Live ISO. Will try it when I get home after work.
  4. Jim, This is exactly my point, something is wrong if having one part of the distro (KDE) "advance" (I know this is all relative) means that the users take a step back. If Mandriva is going KDE-only in the future, then I'm going to be looking for another distro, as I like options. I've installed XFce versions of Mandriva on some experimental computers, as well as E17-based as well. Other Mandriva-based distros like PCLinuxOS and TinyME may be the way to go.
  5. AI, Thanks, I'll give it a try, though I've dismissed it in the past since XBMC doesn't really support Via/S3 graphics.
  6. As a further addition, there is one site that contains most of the details of what I tried, though I found it after I completed it. If you have similar problems, read the last post on the forum at this: Link to possible Akonadi fixes.
  7. Well, it's funny how you grasp at anything to solve a problem. Yesterday, after leaving the original post on the forum, I spent a bit of time re-Googling the problem. I then took any recommended solution and cut/pasted it into a spreadsheet. I was going to grasp at "everything"! When I got to my computer, I started implementing them one by one and checking the results. Here are some of my results: 0. Recommendation: I have to mention that at some point during the past few days of trouble-shooting, one recommendation that I can across (not listed below) was to set up MySQL with an "external db". What this meant was actually doing a basic configuration where "root" gets a password for MySQL and I set up a regular user called "akonadi". It then meant creating a new database called "akonadi" followed by granting access to the database. Akonadi (through the tray) was configured to use this database. Results: However, changing akonadi to use this external database did not solve the problems. 1. Recommendation: comment out the "slow-query" lines from ~/.local/share/akonadi/mysql.conf as well as /etc/akonadi/mysql-global.conf Results: akonadi test/start still failed. 2. Recommendation: Activate nepomuk. This actually required some work. Starting with the installation of the "systemsettings.xxxx.rpm". Then enabling nepomuk under the desktop search. (There are clearer explanations of enabling Nepomuk on the net) Results: nepomuk check in akonadi test/start succeeded. However, Akonadi start still failed. 3. Recommendation: install mysql-core. Results: already installed during original setup. Nothing changed. 4. Recommendation: (re)moving the akonadi config files. Akonadi rebuilds at next start up. Results: No change. The rebuilt directories and files are the same as the original ones(...flawed). 5. Recommendation: Create a new user and setup KMail again. Results: No change. Same failures. 6. Recommendation: install kdemod-kdepim-runtime. Results: The MDV2010.1 equivalent was already install. Hence, no change. 7. Recommendation: Create an akonadi resource for both contacts and calendars using the "KDE Resources" under System Settings. Neither of these existed and the "Add" button in the System Settings application was missing the label. Each creation caused the Akonadi server test to be performed and both times failed. However, I continued to "Apply" and "Close" and the resources were created. Results: The "resource agent" sub-test for akonadi succeeded, where it had previously failed. One more check! 8. Recommendation: Change the akonadi server SOCKET option in the server configuration to /var/run/mysqld/mysqld.sock. I used the akonadi tray to change this setting. However, the only way to change it is to use an external database (which I previously attempted in 0). I re-entered the database name, user name, password and then filled the Option field with "/var/run/mysqld/mysqld.sock". This field is normally filled with something that looks like "UNIX_SOCKET=/home/xxxx/.local/share/akonadi/db_misc/mysql.socket". Results: The akonadi server started, KMail launches and sends without crashing. Now I get to rant a bit. Why is it that so many (and I mean lots) of people have had this problem with KMail? A lot of people have either used a different mail client, changed Desktop Environments or even left Linux. It's not specific to Mandriva, just to the implementation of KDE. As I noted in my original post, the issue is with "setup dependencies". All of the correct packages were installed. I guess that during the upgrade from 2010.0 to 2010.1, the parts of KDE relating to KMail, Akonadi, MySQLd, etc were updated, but the configuration from 2010.0 stayed. As the 2010.0 configuration was based on a different interactive relationship between the various components, it all failed. The major problem with the implementation of some of the applications (like KMail) is likely that an assumption that Akonadi was running properly. Akonadi also assumes that some database like MySQL is running and that Nepomuk is enabled. If KMail absolutely needs Akonadi to run, KMail should ensure that Akonadi is running properly and make recommendations if it is not. If Akonadi requires a running MySQL database and non-ROOT user, then it should help us make that happen. I definitely got frustrated that I needed months to sort out a problem like this. I've been using Linux since "Slack96 " and Mandriva since Mandrake 8.0. I've got multiple degrees in computer science and computer engineering, so I've got decent background to sort these things out. I personally use KMail just for mail. I don't use it for the address book or calendar (my iPhone and iTunes on my Mac Book Pro are for that). I don't need the capabilities of Akonadi, Nepomuk and Strigi, nor do I use MySQL. However, I spent hours setting them up, each one requiring specific configurations. I just hope that when the next upgrade to 2011 comes along, these issues will be avoided. If not, at least I've got my work log (this post) to be able to fix the broken stuff.
  8. G'Day, Well not really a good day. I've been fighting for months with KMail and the crashes that occur when I try to send a message. I tried a few recommended fixes in September, but to no avail. I got to a point that I would always check my mail on my iPhone and respond there, so I could send messages. KMail became my storage box for received messages. However, I have no record of sent messages in the iPhone, and I'm not tieing up another message by including myself on the sent messages. Anyways, it seems that the major problem with KMail is that it crashes after I upgraded from 2010.0 to 2010.1. And when starting from the application menu, I have no idea why. When I start from the CLI, I find that there is a problem with the Akonadi server. Seems that it is not starting. When I try to start it, I get other faults that deal with MySQL not running and that the Akonadi server is not registered with the D-Bus service. I'm really at my wits end here. I've tried attacking things one step at a time. I've managed to get MySQL running and this is clear in the Akonadi start up (a couple of less "red X's"). However there are still three problems with Akonadi Control, Akonadi Server and Nepomuk not being registered at D-Bus. My original installation of 2010.0 was pretty well stock. I upgraded to 2010.1 based on the system indicating that Spring was here. I don't understand why KMail (which I've been using for years) now crashes. We've got one application (Kmail) that is reliant on a second working (Akonadi) which itself is reliant on some registration with another application (D-Bus). I've spend hours/days on Google trying every little recommendation to resolve this and none really address this last D-Bus issue. My wife is getting tired of me spending hours in my "NASA" room. Any hints to resolve this very well known problem? Any way to update out of it?
  9. Good day all, I've recently put together my most recent pet project which is a Nano-ITX computer complete with WiFi and TV tuner. My intent was to have this little computer attached to our second LCD TV in the rec room to allow guests and family at Xmas to surf, watch TV, watch movies, etc. I've installed Mandriva 2010.0 and this works well running KDE even on the Via C7 1.5GHz CPU. I've given some thought and have tried Enlightenment E17 as it claims to be relatively configurable. My goal is to have a UI that allows people to complete the above mentionned tasks without needing to feel confused over learning a new OS. I've noted some installable applications/UIs such as Moblin which is in the right category. However, Moblin 2.0 is really slow and almost impossible to use. I prefer to use something that runs on top of Mandriva 2010, and not a brand new OS. The TV tuner and WiFi both need specifically compiled drivers and I don't want to mess with some optimized distro with no ability to build from scratch. Any recommendations?
  10. All, Thanks for the responses. Just knowing I'm not the only one that has issues with updates eases the pain a bit :) I will continue to update my system as recommended and hopefully I won't run into any new issues.
  11. Hi, I've been running Mandriva for years and up until recently I've been avoiding doing updates to the currently install OS. Normally I wait until a new version comes out, wait a few more months and then do a complete upgrade. However, since installing 2010.1 I've been listening to the "alerter" and installing the updates. Why...mainly because it's annoying to keep getting messages that I have updates available. Now I've been noticing that when updates occur, that sometimes there are unforeseen complications. In early September after an update that affected KMail, I have no longer been able to send messages. This is a known problem within Kmail, but has yet to be fixed through another update. Similarly last night I let the system update the glibc packages. After reboot, I had to restart the system four (4) times and finally let it sit for 30 minutes before I could get to a login. Are the updates really worth it? It's not like I can look through a list of updates to see if they fix problems I'm experiencing. Comments...discussion?
  12. Tux99, Thats good to know. I recently pulled an old Epia 5000 with a C3 533MHz processor out of a box (it still posts!) and was wondering what I could do with the board. I'm going to have to cut down some of the high-end desktop graphics, but I'll give it a whirl.
  13. kfoss

    Via Epia MII

    Ah yes, Geexbox...how could I have forgotten. I've used this before and even got to the point with it that I added FM radio support to the distro which is still part of the baseline. There have been major improvements to Geexbox with recently versions looking really, really slick!
  14. boatman9, There's a number of problems these days getting TV tuners to work under linux. I personally started with my HCW Win-TV PCI, upgraded to a HCW PVR-150, then tried an HVR-950 (similar to your HVR-850), and finally turned back to another Win-TV PCI. Once I recently upgraded to a new AMD Athlon II 235e, I had adequate performance to pull out my HVR-950 again and get it working. The issue comes with the path that the video and audio follow and how they are encoded/decoded. The old Win-TV was rather simple as the audio was separated and patched from the tuner's audio out to the sound card's line in. Lexicon's recommendation is based on the audio following this path. With the HVR-850/900/950/950Q USB tuners, the audio and video are being received as a digital stream, meaning that the audio and video components are truly integrated. To watch the TV, you need an application that decode the stream into the audio and video components and play them. Kaffeine has been programmed to do this which is why you get the audio (notice there is no "Play Analog TV" in Kaffeine). TVTime is designed to play analog TV and this normally means that the audio comes from the sound card and hence the mixer. Because the audio from the HVR-850/.../950Q tuners don't have the audio path through the sound card, you can't hear the sound. Now there are a number of work arounds. You can use MPlayer, which is what I use. (I don't have the command line with me as I'm at work). You can also use TVTime with a "pipe" (|) command that uses both "sox" and "arecord" to get the sound and picture; there are numerous pages explaining the methods if you Google "tvtime sox arecord". I have personally had problems getting this to work at all, and those people that do complain about the voice sync. I'd stick with the mplayer option for overall watching quality, though the ease of the TV experience is not there. Please let me know if you want my MPlayer command and I'll get to the forum.
  15. It's been a while since I've posted, but as I recently started a process of upgrading my computer and trying to install 2010.0 on my new PC just like the old one, I ran into a number of these similar install problems. First of all, I did have some problems with using my original 2010.0 DVD which had a number of small scratches from normal wear and tear. I made a new DVD burned slowly to do the install. I was able to make it further through the process but still failed to make it far. In the end I had luck by setting the kernel option of "no apic" during the initial choice screen for the install. I believe you need to press F5 or F6 and then select the "no apic" option. Some software/hardware configurations still have issues with automatic interrupt setting. Once the install was done, I left the bootloader at the default which has APIC enabled and everything works. May want to give this a try if burning a new copy doesn't work.
  16. Tux99, I also wanted to say thanks for packaging up this application. I've installed it and I really like the interface, probably one of the best I've seen so far.
  17. I'm curious about the DeVeDe application you are referring to. I've been onto their website and I can see that it is possible to make special discs using DIVX/AVI as the source, but it's not clear that if it will re-encode the Divx files into MPEG2 as is needed for DVDs. "Kieth" wrote that he wanted to put a seasons worth of AVI files onto one DVD. Past experience tells me that each season would require multiple DVD discs as the MPEG2 encoding is so much less efficient and ends up with very large files. So what kind of discs can this application make?
  18. I've had some significant issues as well with the whole Intel graphics drivers. I just finally upgrade from 2008.0 to 2010.0. Under 2008.0 my Intel 945GM graphics worked well with no video issues. MPlayer, Xine, TVTime, etc. all worked properly. I was using the default "Intel" driver. If I look at MCC, the displayer driver was listed as "Intel 810 or later". In my xorg.conf file, the driver was listed as "Intel". After my upgrade, nothing really worked. I had problems running MPlayer, no TV application worked, Xine would only work using X11 as the output. I decided to look into newer Intel drivers and was about to build them myself, but I decided to use the MCC and using the "XOrg" version picking "Intel". Reboot and everything now works properly. It's a problem not knowing what drivers do what. I wasn't trying to do anything out of the ordinary. Just videos and TV. I shouldn't have to spend 4 to 5 hours of downloading, compiling, rebooting, etc. to get these basics to work. All I needed was XVideo support, and up until yesterday, I thought that this was a basic thing found in all drivers. I should be able to know clearly by the driver I'm using as to what it can do, ie. XVideo, 2D, 3D acceleration, XvMC, DGA, etc. We should not have to find a specific driver that supports these types of basic capabilities in order to play a simple video or DVD. I hate saying that things are better in Windoze, but at least those drivers contain all the capabilities which you can turn on or off in an associated application. With the prevalence of Intel GMA in PCs, we shouldn't have to spend so much time getting something as simple as video working.
  19. Mittfh, I did an upgrade last night from 2008.0 to 2010.0 and I had the same blank screen with only the desktop background. Rather frustrating. :( I will try your path tonight to "restore" a proper desktop. On a side note, when I ran into this problem, I switched out of X and logged in as root. Although I know it is not a good idea, I always allow Root logins into KDE (never caused any problems in 10 years!). It required changing a field in the "kdmrc" file, and after restarting X, I logged into KDE as root and had my old 2008 desktop sitting in front of me. It's odd, as if I try to log in as my regular user...nothing still. Upgrades shouldn't be so complicated, but they always cause some headaches which is why I stayed at 2008 for so long. Kev
  20. I've been through this before the Intel value boards. I ended up using the VESA driver and it sucks. Yes you can see the screen with no distortion, but at a poor resolution. Moreover, by using the VESA driver, you can't get access to the necessary 2D/3D accelerations needed to play any kind of video/DVD. Unless you want this little PC to just surf the net, I'd get a Mini-ITX motherboard with either an nVidia graphics chipset or as a minimum with an Intel 945 graphics chipset.
  21. I'm looking forward to an update on this. I have a number of Epia boards with C3 processors and would love to install 2008.1. As a side note, I have installed 2008.1 on an Alix 3c3 embedded PC that has a Geode LX800 (500MHz) which is supposed to be i586 and it worked. So it must be specific to the C3 and not because it is < i686.
  22. Hi, I would recommend checking the IDE cable just like daniewicz recommended. It may be hard for a laptop. I seen many desktops that seem to be failing but just needed a new IDE cable.
  23. Hi, I've installed XUbuntu 8.04 on my little Alix3c3 and because Elotouch has a pre-built package for Ubuntu, it works perfectly. So I know that the Elotouch drivers work, and they are pretty accurate. I just need to have the drivers work with Mandriva 2008.1. I'm still looking for a solution to the module loading order problem.
  24. Mindwave, It's possible that generic drivers would work but at this time, no one, either Via or the Unichrome developers have a properly working driver. I think it is possible to get limited 2D support, but not 3D, XvMC, DRI, etc.
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