Smart Home Blog

A few days after LinuxMCE 0810 beta2 was announced the development team released the first update. There are following main changes:

• fixed issue with broken dependencies for packages pluto-orbiter and pluto-mythtv-scripts. Actually it should be added a new repository URL in the /etc/apt/sources.list:
  deb http://www.avenard.org/files/ubuntu-repos intrepid release
• AV Wizard was improved a bit to produce better xorg.conf and better support of audio over HDMI;
• Wake-On-LAN has been fixed;
• web admin has received some stream lining.

All existing installations can be updated via apt-get. Just don’t forget to add repository mentioned above. Please, submit all found bugs and issues via LinuxMCE Trac (be sure that your issue wasn’t already submitted!) and ask help on the forum. Good luck with new beta!

A few days after Ubunru 8.10 was released the Mythbunru 8.10 came out. The main features of that release are following:

• Mythbuntu-log-grabber – This app grabs specific log files into a single area and can upload them to pastebin for easy troubleshooting
• Auto Partitioner now creates a XFS filesystem for recordings
• Mousepad, a GUI editor is now installed by default (similar to gedit)
• Wubi now supports Mythbuntu
• Apple trailer plugin is now packaged and available
• Website now has link to Mythbuntu in the news
• New Mythbuntu-testing PPA at https://launchpad.net/~mythbuntu-testing/+archive (contains some packages for gutsy, hardy, and intrepid)

The full release note for the Mythbuntu 8.10 is available here, download instructions here, bugs can be reported here.

Personally I don’t use MythTV (my favourite PVR software is VDR). But I see that it’ll have at least two competitors in the nearest future: XBMC and Boxee. Both look very attractive. The only one important missed feature is PVR. But it’s gonna be implemented soon.

[via MythTV News]

It seems that LinuxMCE development team is ready to release 0710. The first (and last) release candidate was announced today. I didn’t find the distribution anywhere yet. But when RC will be available for downloading I won’t be able to test it. Because tomorrow me and my wife Maria go to London for four days. So, I’ll install the stable version I hope when we return back.

You can see the full change log between 0704 and 0710 here. The most important things are support for amd64, support for 1080p, adding the latest MythTV packages, integration with VDR 1.6.0, Telecom refactoring, upgrading Xine and nVidia drivers.

To monitor the LinuxMCE 0710 RC news check that forum topic.

Finally LinuxMCE beta 3 is available for downloading via Torrent. There are a version for AMD64 (I’m gonna test it on my 64bit box). It includes the latest Xine and MythTV, VDR, FreeBPX (replaced AMP), latest nVidia drivers etc. Full changes can be found here. Post your feedback here.

There is a way to upgrade existing installation (0704 or 0710) because installation for DVD will remove everything. Just will keep setting (but it’s better to do backup before upgrade). I thought upgrade my Beta 2 but finally decided install from DVD 64bit version. So, tonight I’m gonna be very busy (if DVD will be downloaded fast, of course).

Also, it’ll be possible to get test builds which will be created every six hours. So, now it’ll be much easily to test new versions.

A new update is available for LinuxMCE 0704. It includes a few fixes for Update Media, MythTV Plug-in and the Launch Manager. As usual the system should detect the update automatically and ask you to download and apply it. Personally, I like that approach of LinuxMCE development team to give updates with bug fixes between releases. It makes integrators life easier.