Installing XBMC on a Zotac ZBOX HD-ID11

Downloads needed files:

Zotac ZBOX BIOS update package pa113.zip
HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool HPUSBFW
USBDos usbdos.zip

http://www.bay-wolf.com/usbmemstick.htm

BIOS Update (optional):

(do it on your own risk !!!)

1. Download all the files above
2. Unpack the files
3. Plug in usb stick
4. Start hp tool
5. Choose your usb stick, filesystem: fat32, create a dos startup disk and choose the folder with the unzipped usbdos files, click Start
6. Copy afudos.exe from the unzipped pa113.zip to the stick
7. Copy N1210WMA.rom from pa113 folder to the stick
8. Plug in the stick to the zotag mag, power on and go directly into the bios
9. Choose the right boot order and save the changes and reboot
10. ZBox should now boot from the usb stick
11. On the command prompt type the following command:

AFUDOS A1400825.ROM /B /P /N /X /C

12. After successful ROM update, power off ZBox, unplug usb stick and power on again

These instructions were gleaned or adapted from the following sources. Some other useful links are included

Step-by-step (although out-of-date) install of Ubuntu and XBMC. http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?t=68653

Speed boot time with minimal footprint linux distribution. http://openelec.tv

To get audio working via HDMI:

Add to the end of the options in /etc/modprobe.d/sound.conf:
options snd-hda-intel enable_msi=0 probe_mask=0xffff,0xfff2

Here are some useful sites about the HD-ID11 in general:
Pieter Viljoen’s Blog: Zotac ZBOX Mini-PC ZBOXHD-ID11
XBMCFreak » Nvidia ION
XBMCbuntu – XBMC

To enable awake from suspend with remote:

I configured XBMC to go into suspend mode (ACPI S3 state), and can normally be woken up by pressing the power button (which blinks red and green in suspend mode). However, since it’s mounted to the back of our TV, the button is hard to reach, so I want to wake it up using my wireless USB remote (Lenovo multimedia keyboard).

Follow these instructions Awake from Suspend with Remote. You have to know the USB port mapping:

USB3: Port on front next to card reader, but maybe it’s the device number assigned. Anyway, USB3 worked for me.
Issue the command

sudo sh -c "echo USBx > /proc/acpi/wakeup"

where x is the USB port station, which will toggle between disabled/enabled for the given device. until suspend/wakeup works via the USB device. The sh -c command extends sudo rights through the whole command in quotes. If everything works correctly, see if /proc/acpi/wakeup is preserved on reboot. Mine was not, so I added the above command (without sudo) to /etc/local.rc (make sure the execute flag is set on local.rc)

I ran into a few problems while installing Ubuntu 10.04 with the alternate CD on an old laptop. Using the CD would never complete the installation so I turned to the USB trick:

1. Using Unetbootin, copy the .iso to the USB (make sure the USB dev is correct before starting)
2. Open the syslinux.cfg file in the USB root directory and add “cdrom-detect/try-usb=true” to the “menu label default” entry after “append … — ” so that it reads:

    label unetbootindefault
    menu label Default
    kernel /ubnkern
    append initrd=/ubninit vga=normal -- quiet cdrom-detect/try-usb=true

3. Boot to the USB and run the default installer. It still had an error after installing the base system, but I just ran the step again (I think I unselected the ubuntu-desktop package, then just installed it from the terminal later) and it worked fine.

The print head on our old printer died. I think it’s because we tried using (really) cheap ink from 123inkjets.com. The blue cartridge leaked everywhere. They say refilled cartridges (even Staples or OfficeMax) will shorten the lifespan of the print head. But, hey, the Canon cartridges cost about $65 to replace, office supply refills about $55, and 123inkjets.com, $25. However, there’s also a diminishing print quality the cheaper you go. We were spending over a hundred dollars a year on ink alone. So I haven’t decided yet if it’s cheaper to just buy cheap ink and a new printer every 2-3 years. In any case, a new print head costs $60-80 and a new Pixma was on sale for $100. “Upgrading” printers is nice, too.

It’s not hard to set up the printer as a network printer (without the included Windows/Mac setup utilities). The MX860 has wireless capabilities so we can put it anywhere convenient within reach of our router signal and a power outlet, which is nice. I found out that only so much network configuration can be done through the printer’s onboard menus. Here’s the general setup procedure I used.

1. Connect the printer’s ethernet to the router
2. Read the DHCP’ed IP address from the printer
3. From any computer on the network, browse to that IP address
4. Set up the wireless settings (SSID, encryption, etc.) to match you network
   Choosing to obtain an address automatically or a static IP address doesn’t really matter since clients will look for the printer by mac address anyway
5. Activate wireless on the printer and make sure you can still connect
6. On the clients (Ubuntu 9.10, AMD64 and i386 CPUs), follow these instructions:
   http://kubuntuforums.net/forums/index.php?action=printpage;topic=3111999.0
7. After the printer is installed via System->Administration->Printing, set the Canon-MX860 to duplex printing (by default) on the Printer Options tab.

But I still had a problem running the scanner from the xsane interface (or, equivically, running scanimage -T from the terminal). I always got:  “FAIL Error: Operation was cancelled”. I found this wonderful post that explains how to fix it:

http://harbhag.wordpress.com/2010/04/09/canon-pixma-mp258-or-any-mp250-series-printer-on-ubuntu-debian-fedora-and-arch-linux/

or

http://mp610.blogspot.com/2008/04/give-your-scanner-new-freshly-sane.html

To get this working, here are the steps to take:

1) You need some usb libraries, so, in a terminal type:

sudo apt-get install libusb-dev build-essential libsane-dev

2) To get the sane backends from git you need git-core. If you don’t already have it, type this (also in a terminal):

sudo apt-get install git-core

3) Now use the git that was just installed to get the sane backends using the following command:

git clone git://git.debian.org/sane/sane-backends.git

That downloads the backends and puts them in a folder called sane-backends in your home folder.

4) Change directory into the new sane-backends folder and compile them:

cd sane-backends

./configure –prefix=/usr –sysconfdir=/etc –localstatedir=/var

make <— this one takes a while

sudo make install

Now everything is installed, but you still won’t be able to scan (except as root) until you set up some permissions.

5) You need to edit a file, but you need to be root to edit it, so:

sudo gedit /lib/udev/rules.d/40-libsane.rules

and add the following 2 lines:

# Canon CanoScan Lide 100
ATTRS{idVendor}==”04a9″, ATTRS{idProduct}==”1904″, ENV{libsane_matched}=”yes”

save the file, exit gedit, exit terminal, reboot, and…

 

Everything works!

About a year ago, I began thinking about how much electricity my computer used. I’m not talking about using my computer, but about not using it. Really, how much of your computer do you really use? I’m watching the resource meter right now as I’m typing and the CPU history rarely spikes above 25%. That’s when I’m “using” it. Most of the time it spends on, I spend in the other room.

Your computer power supply is rated in Watts, just like light bulbs, and is built into the design of the whole computer to handle the maximum power load that all the hardware could possibly require. For average systems, that maximum rating is somewhere between 250-400 Watts. However, higher-end hardware such as hefty video cards for gaming or large monitors, multi-core processors, cooling fans, multimedia encoding/decoding, optical disc drives (say, burning DVDs), multiple or high-speed hard drives, or other power-hungry components can bump that peak demand above 1000 Watts. Most of the day you probably float at less than half your peak power. Even so, your computer can easily draw 100 Watts idling. Did you ever think of your computer as an extra light in your house, one that you leave on when you leave the room, or, like some people I know, while you’re sleeping? Sure, I try to turn off my computer when I don’t need it (I usually get more done then anyway), but sometimes it’s just not practical. When that extra proverbial light bulb needs to be on, wouldn’t it be nice to dim the lights when only need mood lighting or you leave the room, while still enjoy the brightness when you need it? Enter Granola.

Granola is software that does just that. It emerged out of beta on Earth Day 2010 and, best of all, it’s free and runs on Windows and Linux, and may be planned for Mac OSX down the road. Formerly MicroMiser, Granola was renamed to “more accurately capture our goal of making a serious impact on the planet through the reduction of wasted energy,” says MiserWare, the company behind Granola. According to the email they sent me announcement the newest version: “There are over a billion personal computers in the world. Together, they consume hundreds of billions of kilowatt hours annually. If each of these computers ran Granola and reduced their power consumption by even 10%, it would be like taking 7 million cars off the road. Or planting 900 million trees. Or turning off 65 coal power plants.” So far, they claim that the Granola community has saved as much CO2 as tens of thousands of trees. That’s assuming that every download equates to “average saving” of 56.9kWh and runs on a computer 24/7. Even though it seems that reported numbers are best-case scenarios based on assumptions and averages, I think more awareness of green aware computers is needed. And to be honest, if there’s any chance of reducing my home power use, I’m interested.

I have Granola running on three linux computers at home: a newer quad-core CPU computer, an older single-core CPU computer, and a small server with an low-power Intel Atom processor. Granola saves a bit over 45% CPU energy on all three, and claims to save about $25/year each, after setting our local energy rate to $0.10/kWh. Scale that by how often they’re on, and the savings comes to about $40/year. My wife claims to notice her computer runs a bit slower, but I don’t notice much change on mine. Next step is to find a Kill-A-Watt meter to check the power savings.

But Granola can only throttle the CPU power. Other managements are built into your operating system to quell power draw, such as timed monitor power-down, spinning down the hard drive, or hibernating, which are especially appreciated on laptops. The sure-fire hacks to save computer energy still remain: use laptops instead of desktops, turn them off when not in use, and don’t buy higher performing systems than life demands. But if those don’t work for you, Granola can bring some peace of mind and a little green to your CPU.

These posts caught my eye. Maybe I’ll try them out soon.

MicroMiser – an intelligent software power management solution for x86 servers, laptops, and PCs running Linux

Activity Journal – There are so many indexing tools out there. Here’s another.