Archive:Install Kodi for Linux on Arch Linux: Difference between revisions

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'''DISCLAIMER!''' This is a unofficial guide.  Unofficial as in the XBMC Team will not support this type of install, answer your questions, assist you with problems or anything along those lines.  Unofficial means just that, this is not the official install method for XBMC and is not recommend, supported or endorsed by the XBMC Team.  This guide makes no promises that this will work with your system, that it will not break your computer, and that it will not steal your girlfriend.  If you are comfortable will all of this then feel free to continue!
{{outdated}}


This guide was written with the intent of help those who would like to try a different distribution of Linux.  Though there is nothing wrong with Ubuntu Linux some just prefer a choice.  The minimal install and rolling release style of Arch Linux compared to Ubuntu is seen as a benefit to some users. Instead of having to deal with the lag of updating packages in some cases on Ubuntu you can always have access to the latest and greatest at times.  In some ways this is bad and others it is good.  As with anything its all about preference.  Though with this flexibility you lose some ease of use.  If you are not comfortable with the command line and manually editing a config file with vi or nano THIS IS NOT THE GUIDE FOR YOU. This guide assumes you have some basic knowledge of Linux.
{{info|The Arch Wiki might be more complete and up to date for installation instructions: '''https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/XBMC'''}}


Last, if you have questions or problems SEARCH, SEARCH, and SEARCH SOME MORE.  The wiki and forums for XBMC and Arch Linux are full of knowledge. If you have a question or problem chances are someone else has had the same one.  So please search before you ask a question.
The following is a guide on installing XBMC as a standalone app on [http://www.archlinux.org Arch Linux]. This guide assumes that you have basic knowledge of Linux and command line usage as Arch Linux is a very simplistic and small distro that needs quite some work to get it running. If you're not after this, please consider using XBMC Live or read the official Ubuntu installation guide.


This guide assumes you already have a working Arch Linux installation with a configured and running X server. If you need help in achieving these prerequisites, please have a look at the official [http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Official_Arch_Linux_Install_Guide Official Arch Linux Install Guide] or the forums at archlinux.org.


= Introduction =
= Installing the stable releases of XBMC =
 
As stable xbmc releases are already available through the community repository, please make sure you have it enabled in your /etc/pacman.conf.
 
After that it's as simple as using pacman to install xbmc and all of its dependencies:
This guide is intended to be a step by step guide to getting XBMC up and running on a dedicated PC running Arch Linux.  I will walk you through setting up all the hardware that is needed to get you the ultimate media p.c. experience.  I will explain how to get all of my current hardware to work.  Over time I hope to have people contribute to this guide so it will cover a wider array of hardware.  This may seem like a long guide but just stick to it and you will come out on top.
 
'''Please note:'''
* The guide is for using XBMC on a dedicated HTPC, so there is no window manager and/ or any additional applications installed.
* You need minimum 1GB size Flash drive or blank cd to create the install media.
* Since you will use this PC only as a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_center media center]. I assume that you use digital audio pass-through (S/PDIF or HDMI) to a receiver/amplifier with built-in Dolby Digital (AC3) decoder.
* <span style="color:red">'''Please also think twice, if you want to use any of the below sections in it's own, without following the guide step-by-step from the begining'''</span>
 
'''You will get:'''
* A dedicated HTPC which auto-boots directly to XBMC Media Center.
* Latest XBMC SVN version.
* Upgraded ALSA (audio) driver.
* Up to date VIDEO (graphics) driver.
* LIRC (Microsoft MCE Remote will work out-of-the-box, however if you have any other remotes and/or LCD displays then you are on your own to solve the individual LIRC and LCDproc issues).
 
 
= Obtaining Arch Linux =
 
 
So you haven't bailed on me yet!  Now lets us start down the path of Arch Linux.  First we need to
download Arch, we will use [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BitTorrent_(protocol) Bittorent] to acquire the needed images.  If you cant use Bittorrent or
would rather use a more traditional method please reference the [http://www.archlinux.org/download/ Arch download page.]
 
 
== Thumb Drive Installation ==
 
 
ftp://ftp.archlinux.org/iso/2009.02/archlinux-2009.02-2-ftp-i686.img.torrent
 
Download this torrent and load it up into your favorite bittorrent client. Note that an installation on x86_64 is possible, but not recommended as there are still issues with xbmc, like a non-working web interface or segfaults sometimes. Please have a look http://trac.xbmc.org/browser/branches/9.04_Babylon-linux-osx-win32/XBMC/known_issues.txt to learn more about this. Once the download is completed you will have the img you need to write to you thumb drive.  No we need to write that image to your thumb drive. 
 
<span style="color:red">'''This will erase everything on your thumb drive so please back up anything you may need on it.'''</span>
 
 
=== Windows ===
 
 
Download [http://www.chrysocome.net/rawwrite RawWrite.]
 
Run RawWrite and select the image you downloaded and the your thumb drive and then let it do its thing.
 
 
=== Linux / OSX ===
 
 
You should already have [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dd_(Unix) dd] available to you, simply run dd in this syntax:
 
 
==== Linux ====
 
 
<pre>
# dd if=/where/the/image/is/archlinux-2009.02-2-ftp-i686.img of=/dev/sdX
</pre>
 
If you dont know what /dev/ object to use try
 
<pre>
# tail -n 25 /var/log/messages
</pre>
 
You should see Linux detect your thumb drive being detected by Linux and where its assigned to in /dev/
 
 
==== OSX ====
 
 
<pre>
# dd if=/where/the/image/is/archlinux-2009.02-2-ftp-i686.img of=/dev/discX
</pre>
 
If you don't know what /dev/ object to use try Disk Manager and find your thumb drive and in the right pane you should see what device it is.  Make sure to unmount the volume before writing your thumb drive.  It should be mount in /Volumes
 
Now that we have our image on our thumb drive.  Now we need to reboot or boot the computer we are going to install this on.  You will probably have to go into your BIOS to boot of the thumb drive.  This varies by motherboard so just poke around.  On my Zotac Mini-ITX board I just had to set the first boot object to USB.
 
== CD Installation ==
 
 
ftp://ftp.archlinux.org/iso/2009.02/archlinux-2009.02-ftp-i686.iso.torrent
 
Download this torrent and load it up into your favorite Bittorrent client.  Once that is completed you will have the img you need to write to you thumb drive.  No we need to write that image to your thumb drive.  This will erase everything on your thumb drive so please back up anything you may need on it.  Download this torrent and load it up into your favorite Bittorrent client.  Once that is completed you will have the iso you need to write to a blank CD.  This should be pretty straight forward in what ever operating system you are using so I wont go into detail.  You can use [http://www.nero.com Nero] on Windows, [http://cdrecord.berlios.de/ cdrecord] on Linux, and OSX's built in iso burner.
 
Now that we have our CD, we need to reboot or boot the computer we are going to install this on.  You will probably have to go into your BIOS to boot of the cd drive.  This varies by motherboard so just poke around.  On my Zotac Mini-ITX board I just had to set the first boot object to cd.
 
 
= Installing Arch Linux =
 
 
If you would like a more in depth guide please reference the [http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Official_Arch_Linux_Install_Guide Offical Arch Install Guide ]
 
Once arch boots up go ahead and run
 
<pre>
# /arch/setup
</pre>
 
Now that we are in the Arch installer we need to setup a few things. 
 
 
== Package Source ==
 
 
First we need to set the source.  Since we are using the FTP installer go ahead and select the FTP method.
 
 
== Network Setup ==
 
 
Next you need to setup your network.  If you use a static IP you will need that information if not just set it to DHCP and go about your business. 
 
 
== Package Mirror ==
 
 
Now we need to choose a mirror, try to find something thats close to you so you can get the best download speed for obvious reasons. 
 
 
== Clock Setup ==
 
 
You will now need to set your clock.  Most will set their clock to localtime.  If you clock is set to GMT then by all means set it to GMT. 
 
 
== Hard drive Setup ==
 
 
How and what is the best way to do this is up for huge debate but I am not going to really tell you how to do this.  If you know how to do it I am sure you have a way you prefer.  If you just want to get it up and running go ahead and choose auto prepare.  Auto prepare will give you the following setup:
 
    *  32 MB ext2 /boot partition
    *  256 MB swap partition
    *  7.5 GB root partition
    *  /home partition with the remaining space
 
Note that in order to have Suspend-To-Disk working, you need a swap partition of at least the size of your RAM. So if you got 2GB RAM, make your swap partition at least 2GB big.
 
<span style="color:red">'''THIS WILL ERASE EVERYTHING ON YOUR HARDDRIVE!!'''</span>
 
== Package Installation ==
 
 
Now we are down to the big part, what packages to install!  Just leave what it has set to default we will install anything we need later on down the road.  The install will take a few minutes so this maybe the time to get a new bottle of water if need be.
 
 
== System Configuration ==
 
 
This is where we setup some important things, like your network and what services you want running.
 
 
=== Hostname ===
 
 
<pre>
HOSTNAME="whateveryouwantyourboxcalled"
</pre>
 
 
=== Modules ===
 
 
Next setup your Modules.  This is where you setup what modules you want loaded on boot up. 
 
<pre>
MODULES="Whatevermodule"
</pre>
 
If you lead the module name with a ! that will blacklist the module and prevent the system from loading it.  Helpful for pesky audio drivers. 
 
 
=== Network ===
 
 
Ok network time.  Under interfaces you will setup your network.  If you are using dhcp then
 
<pre>
eth0="dhcp"
</pre>
 
If you have a static ip you will need to a bit more.  Here is an example:
 
<pre>
eth0="eth0 192.168.1.3 netmask 255.255.255.0 broadcast 192.168.1.255"
</pre>
 
Also add your gateway if you need one:
<pre>
gateway="default gw 192.168.1.1"
ROUTES=(gateway)
</pre>
 
If you setup a static IP you will need to edit resolv.conf, If you use dhcp you can skip this step.  You will need to add a name server.
 
<pre>
<pre>
nameserver <routers ip address>"
# pacman -Syu
# pacman -S xbmc
</pre>
</pre>


Or you can add any known DNS server.  If you dont do this you wont be able to get out to internet.
You should now be able to run XBMC by using the application shortcut in your menu or by simply by running <code>xbmc</code> from a terminal.
 
=== Daemons ===
 
 
Last in rc.conf you will see DAEMONS, this is where you will setup what services you want to start on boot.  We will leave this alone for now.
 
 
=== Root Password ===
 
 
Last scroll down and set your root password.  Pick what you want just dont forget it! 
 
 
=== Boot Loader ===
 
 
Now follow the on screen steps to installing grub.  After grub is installed its time to reboot into our new Arch System!
 
 
= Installing Software =
 
 
Now we need to go through and install XBMC and all other supporting pieces of software.  Now that we have booted into our new Arch install you must be asking now what?  Ok first lets setup a user account. 
 
 
== Adding the XBMC user ==
 
 
This is the user we will be running xbmc under.  You can run xbmc under root but that is a very bad idea.  To create the user is simple.
 
<pre>
# adduser xbmc
</pre>


= Installing the svn version of XBMC =
Warning: This is not the recommended way of using XBMC as svn version are always on the bleeding edge of development and thus can break sometimes. If you want a stable media center experience, go with the stable releases.


== Installing Yaourt ==
== Installing Yaourt ==


[http://archlinux.fr/yaourt-en Yaourt] is a very handy program. This is a repository tool that wraps around pacman that allows you to easily install packages from the AUR, or what is known as the user repository of packages for Arch. These packages are close to what user/PPA repositories are on Debian/Ubuntu.


[http://archlinux.fr/yaourt-en Yaourt] is a very hand program.  This is a repository tool that wraps around pacman that allows you to easily install packages from the AUR or what is know as the user repository of packages for Arch.  I guess these packages are close to what user repositories are on Debian/Ubuntu.
Add the following lines to <code>/etc/pacman.conf</code>
 
Add the following lines to /etc/pacman.conf
 
<pre>
[archlinuxfr]
  Server = http://repo.archlinux.fr/i686
</pre>
 
Now sync and install
 
<pre>
# pacman -Sy yaourt
</pre>
 
 
== Installing NVIDIA Beta Drivers ==
 
I dont have an ATi video card so hopefully so one can add that to this guide! 
 
You can use yaourt to install the latest beta drivers which are available from the AUR:
<pre>
yaourt -Sy nvidia-utils-beta nvidia-beta
</pre>
 
That way you can assure that there are no leftovers if you intend to update or remove the driver.
 
Not recommended, but possible is an installation directly from the nvidia driver package:
 
First download the latest drivers ( As of 29 May 09 )
 
<pre>
# wget ftp://download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Linux-x86/185.19/NVIDIA-Linux-x86-185.19-pkg0.run
</pre>
 
Once that is done install them
 
<pre>
# ./NVIDIA-Linux-x86-185.19-pkg0.run
</pre>
 
Follow the on screen prompts and it will complain that it cant find a precompiled kernel interface.  Thats fine we want it to compile the drivers to our current kernel.
 
Now lets install the nvidia-utils program (skip this if you installed your driver the yaourt way above).
 
<pre>
# pacman -S nvidia-utils
</pre>
 
== Installing ATI Drivers ==
 
I dont have an ATi video card so this may need some tweaking.
 
<pre>
# wget http://www2.ati.com/drivers/linux/ati-driver-installer-8-12-x86.x86_64.run
</pre>
 
Once that is done install them
 
<pre>
# ./ati-driver-installer-8-12-x86.x86_64.run
</pre>
 
This is incomplete and I really dont know beyond this.
 
== Installing ALSA ==
 
 
Sound is important in a setup like this so lets go ahead install alsa.
 
<pre>
# pacman -S alsa-lib alsa-utils
</pre>
 
Once everything is installed go ahead and edit /etc/rc.conf and add alsa to your daemons line.  Reboot.


<pre>
<pre>
# reboot
[archlinuxfr]
Server = http://repo.archlinux.fr/i686
</pre>
</pre>


Now that you have restarted we need to go ahead and unmute all of the audio interfaces.
Now sync and install yaourt.


<pre>
<pre>
# alsamixer
# pacman -Syu yaourt
</pre>
</pre>


Use left and right to scroll around and press 'm' to mute and unmute.
After that you can install xbmc-svn from the AUR using yaourt:
 
 
=== HDMI Audio ===
 
 
If you are using an HDMI connection to pass audio to your reciever or TV you need to edit your /etc/asound.conf and add the following
 
<pre>
<pre>
  pcm.!default {
$ yaourt -Syua xbmc-git
      type plug
      slave {
          pcm "hdmi"
      }
  }
</pre>
</pre>


This will pull all dependencies, checkout a recent version of xbmc from the SVN repository, patch some files for 64bit compatibility and finally compile, package and install xbmc. Feel free to add your experience or recommendations to the AUR comment page at http://aur.archlinux.org/packages.php?ID=45036.


== Install XBMC ==
= Autostart XBMC (optional) =


We are going to use the SVN version of XBMC because the binary version in AUR has VDPAU disabled and there is no fun in that.  AUR has an SVN package that can be installed via Yaourt:
You can start XBMC at boot using systemd:


<pre>
<pre>
yaourt -Sy xbmc-svn
# systemctl enable xbmc
</pre>
</pre>


This will pull all dependencies, checkout a recent version of xbmc from the SVN repository, patch some files for 64bit compatibility and finally compile, package and install xbmc. Feel free to add your experience or recommendations to the AUR comment page at http://aur.archlinux.org/packages.php?ID=20156.
= Automounting Disks =
 
If you have problems with this version, you could always try the manual way:


First we are going to need to install a bunch of dependcies, easy enough.
To automount disks you need the '''udisks''' package


<pre>
<pre>
# pacman -S curl enca faac freetype2 fribidi gawk glew hal jasper libjpeg libmad libmysqlclient libxrandr lzo2 sdl_image sdl_mixer sqlite3 tre unzip libcdio libsamplerate python subversion autoconf automake boost cmake gcc gperf libtool make nasm patch pkgconfig zip flex bison lirc pmount smbclient unrar avahi
# pacman -S udisks
</pre>
</pre>
Whew that was a lot.  That should pull in everything you need along with any dependencies need by
those packages.  Now lets download xbmc.
<pre>
# svn checkout https://xbmc.svn.sourceforge.net/svnroot/xbmc/branches/linuxport/XBMC
# cd XBMC
# ./configure --prefix=/usr --disable-pulse
# make
# make install
</pre>
All of those will take some time so once one command finishes move onto the next.  Depending on how fast your system is will depend on how long this takes.  If you need another bottle of water this is the time. If not be amazed by the fast scrolling text!
== Boot directly into XBMC ==
Now to get xbmc to start immediately after boot we need to make some changes
<pre>
# yaourt -S minigetty
</pre>
now edit /etc/inittab
Change this:
<pre>
  c1:2345:respawn:/sbin/agetty 38400 vc/1 linux
  c2:2345:respawn:/sbin/agetty 38400 vc/2 linux
  c3:2345:respawn:/sbin/agetty 38400 vc/3 linux
  c4:2345:respawn:/sbin/agetty 38400 vc/4 linux
  c5:2345:respawn:/sbin/agetty 38400 vc/5 linux
  c6:2345:respawn:/sbin/agetty 38400 vc/6 linux
</pre>
to this:
<pre>
  c1:2345:respawn:/sbin/mingetty --autologin xbmc vc/1 linux
  c2:2345:respawn:/sbin/agetty 38400 vc/2 linux
</pre>
<span style="color:red">'''This is a security hole but this is also a media pc so it should be fine.'''</span>
Also we deleted some of 4 of the other virtual terminals.  You wont be using them and it saves a smidge of memory.  If you want to keep them go ahead but I doubt youll use them. 
Now that we have the user logged in we need it to autostart XBMC.
Edit /home/xbmc/.bashrc and add the following
<pre>
  startx
</pre>
Almost there
Edit /home/xbmc/.xinitrc and add the following
<pre>
  exec ck-launch-session /usr/bin/xbmc-standalone
</pre>
Another way of autostarting xbmc (and make sure that it's idiotproof even if it segfaults), you could start xbmc directly from inittab. Add the following line to /etc/inittab and comment out (#) all other lines beginning with "x:5:".
<pre>
x:5:respawn:/bin/su xbmc -l -c "/bin/bash --login -c startx >/dev/null 2>&1"
</pre>
You will also need to edit your /home/xbmc/.xinitrc as stated above.
== Thermal monitoring ==
So you playing some high bitrate 1080p video and you got the sound blasting and everything is great.  Well sometimes things get hot in that box so lets go ahead and setup [http://www.lm-sensors.org/ lm_sensors] so we have an idea of how hot it is in there.
<pre>
# pacman -S lm_sensors
</pre>
Now we need to figure out what sensors you have.
<pre>
# sensors-detect
</pre>
When you run sensors-detect it will spit out a lot of questions, just hit enter.  The last question you will have to type out yes.  Go ahead and do that.  When its all done lets test and make sure that everything was loaded right and we can see the information we want to see.
<pre>
  sensors -u
</pre>
You should see a bunch of info about your system to include temp., voltage, and fan speeds.  Now to make xbmc understand what exactly is going on.
edit /home/xbmc/.xbmc/system/advancedsettings.xml
add the following lines
<pre>
  <advancedsettings>
  <cputempcommand>sensors|sed -ne "s/Core 1: \+[-+]\([0-9]\+\).*/\1 C/p"</cputempcommand>
  <gputempcommand>echo "$(nvidia-settings -tq gpuCoreTemp) C"</gputempcommand>
  </advancedsettings>
</pre>
Now XBMC should be able to monitor how hot things are getting inside of your little media center.
== Speed Up Grub ==
Go ahead and edit /boot/grub/menu.lst
Change this:
<pre>
  TIMEOUT=5
</pre>
to this:
<pre>
  TIMEOUT=0
</pre>
== Boot Splash ==
Lets go ahead and get one of those fancy boot splash thingys going on that all the kids love these days.
<pre>
# yaourt -S initscripts-splashy splashy
</pre>
edit /boot/grub/menu.lst again
change
<pre>
  kernel (hd0,6)/vmlinuz26 root=/dev/sda1
</pre>
to this
<pre>
  kernel (hd0,6)/vmlinuz26 root=/dev/sda1 ro quiet vga=791 splash
</pre>
Your menu.lst may not be exactly the same but it should be close
Now edit /etc/rc.conf and add
<pre>
  SPLASH="splashy"
</pre>
now edit /etc/mkinitcpio.conf
find the "HOOKS" section
<pre>
  HOOKS="base udev autodetect ide sata filesystems ...
</pre>
add splashy before autodetect
<pre>
  HOOKS="base udev splashy autodetect ide sata filesystems ...
</pre>
now before we build the initramfs lets remove the "the loading initramfs" lines from the boot up.  Open up and edit /lib/initcpio/init and comment out line #6.  Now lets install some themes
<pre>
# yaourt -S splashy-themes
</pre>
Now we need to setup what theme.  Go ahead and do
<pre>
# cd /usr/share/splashy/themes/darch-grey/
# mv background.png background.bak
# wget http://img3.imageshack.us/img3/1894/backgroundism.png
# mv backgroundism.png background.png
</pre>
Now we need to tell splashy to use our new theme instead of the default
<pre>
# splashy_config -s darch-grey
</pre>
Last we need to make the splash show up on boot.  Anytime you change the theme or pretty much make any change to splashy you will need to rebuild the initramfs.
<pre>
# mkinitcpio -p kernel26
</pre>
== Antec Mult-Station Premier ==
Now we need to get lirc working correctly before we can setup the lcd screen.  Lirc should have already been installed with XBMC and if for some reason it is not go ahead and install it.
=== Remote ===
<pre>
# pacman -S lirc
</pre>
Now we need to install the modules to enable our device.  This used to take some trickery but with recent versions of lirc this isnt the case.
<pre>
# modprobe lirc_dev
# modprobe lirc_imon
</pre>
For some reason Lirc detects two devices with this screen.  We have /dev/lirc0 and /dev/lirc1.  Some buttons show up on one device and some show up on the other.  So we need to run two instances of lirc and have them talk together.
<pre>
# /usr/sbin/lircd --driver=default --device=/dev/lirc0 --pidfile=/var/run/lirc0.pid --listen=8765
# /usr/sbin/lircd --driver=default --device=/dev/lirc1 --pidfile=/var/run/lirc1.pid --output=/dev/lircd --connect=localhost:8765
</pre>
Edit you /etc/rc.d/lircd script and add those two lines above to the start section when lircd is called.  This why our remote will be setup properly on each start up and or reboot.
Start Lirc
<pre>
# /etc/rc.d/lircd start
</pre>
Now we want this to all start up on boot so go ahead and add "lircd" to the daemons section of /etc/rc.conf and lirc_dev and lirc_imon to the modules section of /etc/rc.conf
=== LCD Screen ===
This is pretty hardware specific but maybe this will help someone out.  Now we need to get the LCD screen working, this is probably the easiest part.
<pre>
# cd ~
# wget http://downloads.sourceforge.net/lcdproc/lcdproc-0.5.2.tar.gz
# tar -zxvf lcdproc-0.5.2.tar.gz
# wget wget http://codeka.com/blogs/imon/lcdproc-0.5.2-imonlcd-0.3.patch
</pre>
Now we need to patch our version of lcdproc.  This will add the small changes need so the screen will function correctly.
<pre>
# cd lcdproc-0.5.2
# patch -p1 < ../lcdproc-0.5.2-imonlcd-0.3.patch
</pre>
Edit server/main.h file, and change RENDER_FREQ from 8 to 2:
<pre>
# cd server
# vi main.h
</pre>
Now we need to build LCDProc.  If you see an error that says "IOWarrior.c' with per-target flags requires AM_PROG_CC_C_O' in `configure.in'" go ahead and ignore it.
<pre>
# cd ..
# aclocal
# autoconf
# automake
# ./configure --enable-drivers=imonlcd --prefix=/usr
# make
# make install
</pre>
Now lets go ahead and setup the LCDProc config file.
<pre>
# vi /etc/LCDd.conf
</pre>
In the [server] section change the line Driver=curses to Driver=imonlcd and the line DriverPath=server/drivers/ to DriverPath=/usr/lib/lcdproc/ ( the trailing / is needed dont forget it.)
Now move down and add this section to the config file.
<pre>
  ## IMON LCD driver added by xxx 5Sept08 ##
  [imonlcd]
      Device=/dev/lcd0
      Contrast=200
</pre>
You can change the contrast settings to your likings.  Now save the file.  Now start lcdproc
<pre>
# /etc/rc.d/lcdproc start
</pre>
Add lcdproc to your daemons section of /etc/rc.conf to have it auto start on boot.
== Samba Server ==
So you have this giant harddrive in your media center pc but how do you get all of your files to it?  With Samba its easy, you media pc will show up as a windows share on your computer and you can just drag and drop your files back and forth.  Now lets install samba.
<pre>
# pacman -S samba
</pre>
Now edit you /etc/rc.conf file and add "samba" to your daemons section.  Now we need to setup our smb.conf file for our share directory.
<pre>
# mkdir /home/xbmc/Share
# vi /etc/samba/smb.conf
</pre>
Now setup your smb.conf file like the following.
<pre>
  [global]
          workgroup = WORKGROUP
          netbios name = Media PC
          server string = XBMC Media PC; Samba Server %v
          encrypt passwords = yes
          passdb backend = smbpasswd
          security = SHARE
          guest account = xbmc
          log level = 1
          log file = /var/log/samba/%m.log
          max log size = 50
          socket options = TCP_NODELAY IPTOS_LOWDELAY SO_RCVBUF=8192 SO_SNDBUF=8192
          read raw = yes
          write raw = yes
          oplocks = yes
          max xmit = 65535
          dead time = 15
          getwd cache = yes
          large readwrite = yes
  [Media]
          comment = Media Files on Media PC
          path = /home/xbmc/Share
          force group = users
          read only = No
          guest ok = yes
          guest only = yes
          create mask = 0666
          directory mask = 0666
          hide dot files = yes
</pre>
Now lets go ahead and start samba
<pre>
# /etc/rc.d/samba start
</pre>
= Credit =
Sadly I cant think of everyone who helped me and I wish I could thank them all.  Here are a few who I know off hand that helped me out.
[http://forum.xbmc.org/member.php?u=46219 CTARWATER] on the XBMC forums who had some good tips that I used.
[http://wiki.xbmc.org/?title=HOW-TO_install_XBMC_for_Linux_on_Ubuntu_with_a_minimal_installation%2C_an_unofficial_Step-by-Step_Guide Who Ever] wrote this guide.  I took a lot of tips and information from there on my install.  I dont who exactly wrote it but if you do let me know so I can give them proper credit.
[http://xbmc.org The XBMC Team] for all of thier great work and great software.  Keep up the great work guys.

Latest revision as of 20:31, 29 August 2020

Time.png THIS PAGE IS OUTDATED:

This page or section has not been updated in a long time, no longer applies, refers to features that have been replaced/removed, and/or may not be reliable.

This page is only kept for historical reasons, or in case someone wants to try updating it.

Notice The Arch Wiki might be more complete and up to date for installation instructions: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/XBMC

The following is a guide on installing XBMC as a standalone app on Arch Linux. This guide assumes that you have basic knowledge of Linux and command line usage as Arch Linux is a very simplistic and small distro that needs quite some work to get it running. If you're not after this, please consider using XBMC Live or read the official Ubuntu installation guide.

This guide assumes you already have a working Arch Linux installation with a configured and running X server. If you need help in achieving these prerequisites, please have a look at the official Official Arch Linux Install Guide or the forums at archlinux.org.

Installing the stable releases of XBMC

As stable xbmc releases are already available through the community repository, please make sure you have it enabled in your /etc/pacman.conf. After that it's as simple as using pacman to install xbmc and all of its dependencies:

# pacman -Syu
# pacman -S xbmc

You should now be able to run XBMC by using the application shortcut in your menu or by simply by running xbmc from a terminal.

Installing the svn version of XBMC

Warning: This is not the recommended way of using XBMC as svn version are always on the bleeding edge of development and thus can break sometimes. If you want a stable media center experience, go with the stable releases.

Installing Yaourt

Yaourt is a very handy program. This is a repository tool that wraps around pacman that allows you to easily install packages from the AUR, or what is known as the user repository of packages for Arch. These packages are close to what user/PPA repositories are on Debian/Ubuntu.

Add the following lines to /etc/pacman.conf

[archlinuxfr]
Server = http://repo.archlinux.fr/i686

Now sync and install yaourt.

# pacman -Syu yaourt

After that you can install xbmc-svn from the AUR using yaourt:

$ yaourt -Syua xbmc-git

This will pull all dependencies, checkout a recent version of xbmc from the SVN repository, patch some files for 64bit compatibility and finally compile, package and install xbmc. Feel free to add your experience or recommendations to the AUR comment page at http://aur.archlinux.org/packages.php?ID=45036.

Autostart XBMC (optional)

You can start XBMC at boot using systemd:

# systemctl enable xbmc

Automounting Disks

To automount disks you need the udisks package

# pacman -S udisks