Archive talk:Install Ubuntu and XBMC on Asus EeeBox PC EB1501

EB1501 German / Asian Edition

System: Linux HTPC 2.6.31-17-generic #54-Ubuntu SMP Thu Dec 10 16:20:31 UTC 2009 i686 GNU/Linux Remote (see battery slots): RC1974502/00

No MCE USB IR Receiver

There seem to be some specifics with this version of the eeeBox. There was no any MCE USB IR Receiver packaged, instead there was a notice that states:

"The EeeBox PC has a built-in IR receiver designed for the remote control. When you install the EeeBox PC to the back of the monitor and thus block the IR receiver, the remote control may be less sensitive. The USB IR receiver is not included in the product package."

Notes to get build-in IR receiver to work with the remote control

1) rebuild the ITE modules

sudo apt-get install lirc lirc-modules-source module-assistant
sudo dpkg-reconfigure lirc-modules-source

2) edit the following lines in /etc/hardware/hardware.conf

REMOTE_MODULES="lirc_dev lirc_it87"
REMOTE_DEVICE="/dev/lirc0"
REMOTE_LIRCD_CONF="mceusb/lircd.conf.mceusb"
REMOTE_LIRCD_ARGS="--output=/dev/lircd"

LOAD_MODULES="true"

START_LIRCD="true"

3) create /etc/modprobe.d/lirc.conf and add the two lines

alias char-major-61 lirc_dev
options lirc_it87 irq=05 io=0x2f8

4) add a start-up script to activate the receiver (as suggested by amno6)

i) place the script start_ite8713.sh at somewhere convenient, /home/xbmc

#!/bin/bash
/etc/init.d/lirc stop
rmmod lirc_it87
echo activate > /sys/devices/pnp0/00:09/resources
modprobe lirc_it87
/etc/init.d/lirc start

ii) activate the script at startup. edit /etc/rc.local and add

/bin/sh /home/xbmc/start_ite8713.sh 

5) you may need to copy the LIRC over to the XBMC directory

cp /usr/share/xbmc/system/Lircmap.xml ~/.xbmc/userdata

Enabling the Play DVD Button on the Remote Control

1) The original Lircmap.xml and remote.xml does not cater for the DVD button. To rectify that, add an additional entry in ~/.xbmc/userdata/Lircmap.xml under the <remote device="mceusb"> section

 <obc1>DVD</obc1>

2) In the remote.xml file (for my case, this is located at /home/xbmc/.xbmc/userdata/keymaps), add the following outside the <remote> </remote> group

   <universalremote>
      <obc1>PlayDVD</obc1>
   </universalremote>

3) A CD or DVD can now be played with using the DVD button (located just above number 3) 4) Other keys can be remapped according to individual preferences

Startup error

On startup i got the following error message:

nforce2_smbus [...] conflichts with ACPI [...]

I got it fixed by

sudo vi /etc/default/grub

and editing the GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX according to this bugreport

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX="acpi_enforce_resources=lax"

and update the grub again with

sudo update-grub