Info: Mythbuntu 14.04 after installation fixes etc.

[mythbuntubox]

The upgrade of my old Mythbuntu 10.04 (due to server version support also finally about to run out) did not go so well. I ended up installing 14.04 from scratch. That certainly had some advantages, e.g. my tuner cards now more reliably stay usable, etc., but some things did not work too well out of the box or to my liking, most of which I have now got more or less working again.

In case it helps anyone else, here are some notes and (non-expert) tips based on my installation experiences. Feel free to suggest improvements if something can be done easier, additional tips and instructions, etc.:

Mythweb:

1. Needs to be configured to use 8080 as port or port forwarding for Mythweb won't work on Android (at least not on my device):

a. Change following in etc/apache2/ports.conf:

Listen 80 to Listen 8080

b. Then open sites-enabled folder and open 000-default-mythbuntu.conf and change:

<VirtualHost *:80> to <VirtualHost *:8080>

c. Reboot Mythbuntu or restart apache

2. Direct download and streaming recordings in Mythweb do not work out of the box.

To fix:

a. sudo ln -s /etc/apache2/mods-available/cgi.load /etc/apache2/mods-enabled/cgi.load
(If this gives you an error message, find the file cgi.load in the first directory in Thunar opened with sudo access (gksudo thunar), click on it, then go to Edit and click on Make link. Right-click the file this creates and Cut. Navigate to the second directory and Paste, and then right-click and choose Rename and remove everything in front of cgi.load, including the space.)

b. Navigate to /etc/apache2/mods-available/mime.conf at the command line

c. sudo nano /etc/apache2/mods-available/mime.conf

d. In this file, search for the "AddHandler" line and uncomment it (i.e. remove # in front of it), then change it as follows and save the changes:

AddHandler cgi-script .cgi .pl

SSH:

3. Do not use privileged ports (e.g. 80) for port forwarding if need to use on Android. See 1. above.

4. For passwordless login, use key named id_rsa.pub in home/<user>/.ssh directory of user used for ssh access on Mythbuntu server and give it Read & write permissions for Owner, and Read only permission for Group and Others. Copy this key into authorized_keys in the same directory and give it Read & write permissions for Owner, Read only for Group and None for Others. Give the .ssh directory itself the permissions Read & write for Owner and None for Group and Others. Use the corresponding private key on the client (under Root home directory .ssh folder worked best for me on an Ubuntu desktop computer).

5. To disable password login:

In etc/ssh open sshd_config and change PasswordAuthentication to "no" and save.

Metadata:

Video folder metadata like posters, etc. did not download out of the box. To fix:

6. touch ~/.mythtv/pytmdb3.cache

This creates the file if it does not exist there.

Menus:

DVD drive eject button did not work out of the box. To fix:

7. Navigate to /usr/share/mythtv/themes/defaultmenu/ and open optical_menu.xml and change the following (making sure you have saved a backup of the original file first) under the last <button entry> in the menu (EJECT):

<action>EJECT</action> to <action>EXEC eject</action>

Play Optical Disc did not work out of the box either. To fix:

8. In Mythfrontend navigate to Setup > Media settings > Videos Settings > Player Settings and change the DVD Drive value from /dev/dvd to:

default (/dev/sr0 may also work)

Mythbuntu Control Centre:

"Optimize" functions under MySQL don't work, e.g. Optimize Tables. To fix:

9. Change the path to optimize_mythdb.pl in:

/usr/share/mythbuntu/plugins/python/mysql_configuration.py

to:

/usr/share/doc/mythtv-backend/contrib/maintenance/optimize_mythdb.pl ("maintenance" subdirectory missing from path)

Xfce issues:

No network status indicator in the toolbar. To fix:

10. Change the 'Exec' line in /etc/xdg/autostart/nm-applet.desktop to 'dbus-launch nm-applet' and reboot the system.

No out of the box Bluetooth support for ALSA (default for Mythtv). To fix and enable a Bluetooth headset for use in Mythtv:

11. If not installed, instal the following (sudo apt-get install): bluez-tools, bluez-utils, bluez-alsa, blueman. Now carry out these steps:

a. Edit the [General] section of the file /etc/bluetooth/audio.conf so that it contains the following entry:

Enable=Socket

b. Reboot (you should then see a Bluetooth icon in the Xfce top toolbar)

c. Switch your headset to pairing mode (see your manual for this) and click on the Bluetooth icon in the Xfce top toolbar and select Adapter > Search. Once it finds your headset, select Device > Pair and enter the PIN when prompted. Right click on the device and select the Bluetooth services Headset Service and Audio Sink. Make a note of the number indicated for the device (xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx format)

d. Create/edit the file asound.conf under /etc with sudo rights, give it the following contents and save:

#/etc/asound.conf

pcm.btheadset {
type plug
slave {
pcm {
type bluetooth
device <enter number noted under c. above>
profile "auto"
}
}
hint {
show on
description "BT headset"
}
}
ctl.btheadset {
type bluetooth
}

e. Reboot

f. In Mythtv navigate to Setup > Audio and change the Audio output device entry ALSA:default to ALSA:btheadset (by editing with the keyboard) and select Test to see if your Bluetooth headset now works. Select Finish > Next > Finish. (To return to previous non-Bluetooth headset operation, reset the Audio output device entry to the one previously selected and select Next > Finish).

In some cases DVD ripping can also be restored to the frontend menu to some extent, depending on the setup, in case anyone is interested:

http://lists.mythtv.org/pipermail/mytht ... 55731.html

HTH

Edit: I subsequently also discovered that MythArchive does not work properly with a cutlist when using Project-X under MythTV 0.27. If you are interested in applying a patch that helps with this, have a look here:

posting.php?mode=reply&f=36&t=832

[amtrakuk]

Many thanks for the post and fixes. I've revisited MythTV after a few years and apart from the problems with the Hauppague remote control which I found a work around by adding a > null in the key mappings the only thing left was the DVD isn't recognized within myth (it is recognized within the OS). I will try your fix of;

In Mythfrontend navigate to Setup > Media settings > Videos Settings > Player Settings and change the DVD Drive value from /dev/dvd to:

default (/dev/sr0 may also work)

Then I will have a fully working system

[mythbuntubox]

You're welcome. Glad to hear I may have helped you in that case