HTPC Build Part 2: Putting it all together

[itschris]

Problem solved. I just gave up and drove over to Tiger Direct. I figured there had to be some pimpled-faced nerd who knew what a hard drive was. I got a 5.25 cage and 3.5 to 2.5 cage to fit in that. The I just said screw it, and used one of the 3.5 bays and the one cage. Made more sense at this point.



... and I got some help...



I've spent more time chasing him of the table and picking sh*t up that he keep knocking down then anything else.

Anyway drive cages are going in and getting hooked up. Then we'll see what's what.

 

[itschris]

SUCCESS! I believe anyway. I hooked this up to the TV via HDMI, Hit the power and ended with what is shown below:



So now, I have to create the OpenElec USB. So here's what I think comes next and feel free to chime in and correct me.

1) I make the USB
2) Unplug my 3TB Data drive
3) Go into BIOS on restart and select USB to boot to
4) Let OpenElec do it's thing
5) Plug in the other drive when it's all done and figure out how to format it.

 

[itschris]

Just finishing install OpenElec and XMBC. Guys... I can't tell you how happy I am with this all. The build, the install, everything so far has gone without a hitch.

Thanks for the all the help so far. You guys are the sh!t!!!!!

 

[itschris]

So I tinkered a only a little bit. But I do notice that the output is extending beyond my screen. I went through the calibration where you adjust the scquare, but it didn't seem to change anything. Ideas?

Now I have to get the data drive formatted. Here's where I could use some help because i don't see any option within XMBC to do so.

The other thing is that I don't see the HTPC on my network from my Windows machine in my office. I named it TheatherPC. Should it be showing up under Networks in Windows Explorer?

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Chris,
For display - ya need to enable right resolution - 1080p60 if you tv supports it and there is screen calibration option which should allow you to do adjust screen size manually.

To enable smb share to openelec you need to enable them first in the network options

 

[itschris]

Chris,
For display - ya need to enable right resolution - 1080p60 if you tv supports it and there is screen calibration option which should allow you to do adjust screen size manually.

To enable smb share to openelec you need to enable them first in the network options

That's what I have things set to. I adjusted the overscan, but there's still part of the menus that don't move. It's weird... I'll tackle that some other time. I'm connected to the network just fine. I downloaded new skins. I was able to get the box on my box showing up on my network. In windows, I have to type the I.P. address. It's kind of a pain, but it works. I get a folder listing in Windows.

I've been searching and trying now for the past 2 hours to figure out how to get the data drive up and running. I enabled SSH, downloaded PUTTY, was actually able to connect and get a terminal window, but don't know what to do from there.

This part has been very confusing (and frustrating) because I all the LINUX stuff is foreign to me. I just need to know 1) how to format the 2nd drive and 2) how to see the drive in Windows Explorer once it's done.

 

[itschris]

This officially stopped being fun about 3 hours ago.

So... I'm logged on to my HTPC via Putty from my Windows machine. I'm in the terminal... and from what I read, I use FDISK, however, I get an error that the FDISK command doesn't exit. Also, I'm not sure which hard drive is the unformatted, untouched 3TB drive.

Here's a screenshot:

 

[Grador]

fdisk is a windows command, openelec is linux. I believe you're looking for cfdisk, but I'm far from a linux guru. To get the drives set up nicely it may be a little easier to use a full linux live disk instead of openelec, that way you will have the advantage of having a fully functioning local system instead of having to deal strictly with terminal commands over putty.

 

[itschris]

fdisk is a windows command, openelec is linux. I believe you're looking for cfdisk, but I'm far from a linux guru. To get the drives set up nicely it may be a little easier to use a full linux live disk instead of openelec, that way you will have the advantage of having a fully functioning local system instead of having to deal strictly with terminal commands over putty.

Everything I've read that even comes close to addressing the issue talks about FDISK within OpenElec and using the terminal window. There's some other add-in called GParted which is supposed to handle it, but that's what they said about PUTTY. This was the one fear I had by not creating a Windows machine. You'd think there would be some sort of utility to do this kind of stuff within OpenElec or XMBC. Why should I have to figure out how to do this from a command line in a terminal window on another machine?

Looking at that terminal window screenshot.. it shows SDA (don't know what that is...I've read that is refers to SCSI which is baffling), SBA, and SBA1 and 2. I would have thought SSD would be SBA and the 3TB data drive SBA1. But if SBA2 is the 3TB drive, then I guess SBA1 is the SSD boot drive... but what then is just SBA? Hmmm... too bad there's no basic graphical utility that can show me my system.

I'm sure I'll figure out eventually, but it's pretty pathetic that I can't even figure out what drives are what and how to get the one up and running.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Chris, here is way someone suggested and it worked -
OpenELEC Mediacenter - OpenELEC Forum - Topic: Second HDD won't mount. (1/1)

just make sure to adjust SD? to correct drive letter

is it SBA or SDA?

 

[itschris]

Okay... got it done. Basically 5 hours of f-ing around. In case anyone is doing a fresh HTPC build and doesn't understand nor appreciate the rawness of Linux...I'll do my best to spare you the torture of how to get your second raw drive up and running. The boot drive is simple and perfect by running the OpenElec boot USB. It does everything for you. The second drive.. not so easy so here's what you do.

Forget all the command line, terminal windows nonsense. You need to use a program called GParted... actually GParted Live. You have to make bootable USB drive with GParted Live on it.

It's a bit tricky so here are the steps:

1) Download the GParted .ISO file and save it somewhere. http://gparted.sourceforge.net/liveusb.php

2) You should download a program call TUXBOOT. This executable allows you to select the .ISO and create a bootable USB automatically. It's kinda self-explanatory once you stare at it awhile. This link: Tuxboot - Screenshots was fairly helpful. Just make sure you select the GParted Live distribution because Tuxboot works for other stuff as well. One FYI note here. As with a lot of sites like this, they do a lot of advertising and so there are like 500 million Download buttons. Make sure you're downloading the actual Tuxboot file and not clicking on to a cleverly disguised add like I did in my frustration. I ended up downloading a bunch of stupid little programs that took me about 30 minutes to undo. Don't be like me... pay attention.

3) Insert the USB and turn on your HTPC. Boot to the USB go through a couple quick understandable questions which will then open you up to the GParted menu.

4) From there.. I followed the directions from this link and it worked flawlessly. Partitioning and Formatting a 3TB Harddrive as NTFS within Ubuntu ~ Ridikulouse

Now when I boot up to XMBC which only takes about 22 seconds even after setting the system to delay for the network to lock-in, I can see the 3tb drive in the hardware menu of XMBC.

Now... I have to figure out what to do from here... how to setup the folders... point to the folders... syntax for filenames... all that. Now I'm back to the fun part because about 30 minutes ago I was about to heave the machine into the pool.

ONE SERIOUS ISSUE REMAINS: The image is overscanning on my screen. Even the BIOS screen is being cutoff about a half inch or so on all sides... just enough that I can't make out the text. it's bit problematic. I thought it was something I could fix in XMBC, but I think its some other issue since it's even at the general image output level like BIOS. Definitely need help with that.

Right now I have the HTPC hooked direct to the TV. I don't see any TV setup options to help with the issue. I'm going to button up the machine and get it setup in my cabinet and hooked up the Pioneer. I'll go from there.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Hey Chris, sorry about the OpenElec pains - Every setup is a tad bit different. For me - a) I never used OpenElec on an Intel build b) did not had a chance of adding a secondary storage drive on the same box - since I used very tiny box which doesn't have space for 2nd drive

As for overscan - does it happens in every resolution?
Your TV manual say pressing format you could reduce the image size - http://www.searspartsdirect.com/partsdirect/user-manuals/10110/wd65833-mitsubishi-parts-dlp+television-manual
Page 16

 

[itschris]

Yeah the problem is it's just too big by about an inch. I moved the picture horizontal, but it just move the entire picture. I just need to shrink it down by about 1 or 2%. The "reduce" shrinks it down too much and puts a 2" border around everything. I'll see if I can live with it for now. It's actually the signal coming from the HTPC... not really the TV. Like I said, even the BIOS screen is too big and overscans about an inch all the way around. I'm more inclined now then ever to go get a new TV and replace the DLP. I'm digging the Samsung 75". I'm thinking a more modern TV will work better with all the computer stuff.

Often times you can access the advanced video settings in windows, but I would have no clue how to do that with this setup. I'll see how it goes. For now, I just want to get some folders setup on the new drive and see if I can get a movie or two moved over. I haven't learned how to setup the folders or what the syntax is for filenames and all that. I'm starting to read it now.

 

[itschris]

Since all the data is going to be on the data drive... should I delete all the folders like Video, Music, etc. on the boot drive?