Hello!

Can someone help me to get my server working?

I have a server with MDK9,1 (later 9,2), and I need to get TV-out working.

All contact to the server works through SSH and I have no monitor nor mouse/keyboard attached - only a lan cable + optical cable + s-video is connected.

I have a G400 installed and I use mplayer for audio/visual.

How do I from scratch, step by step, set it up to output mplayer to the second head on my graphicscard to my TV (using an S-video cable). Cables are connected - I just need to setup my server to work this way.

If anything involves some kernel-stuff keep in mind I've never before compiled a kernel on my own - totally newbie on that matter!

So what do I download from where, and how do I install it and in what order and where do I edit what?

Thanks in advance.

Best regards
Martin

Well, first of all, if you're running a multimedia server without mouse/keyboard and only touching it through SSH.... why Mandrake? Not knocking it, it's just that most of Mannie's utilities are GUI based. Might get a sleeker system with RH or Debian.
Just a suggestion.

Next, how do you intend to do display? MPlayer has some direct drivers that would probably be faster, but require some very nitpicky setup (I don't know how hard or how nitpicky; I've never done it before). If you don't mind the additional overhead of running an X server, the config would be done through /etc/X11/XFree86-4.conf, and would probably be a tad easier.

I don't think I or anyone else can provide you with a step by step, blow by blow of what to do and when to do it - it's all going to be hardware-specific, and involve choices depending on what you want to do.
Read Mplayer's documentation on its drivers for your card.
Read Matrox's documentation on XFree86 setup.
Compare the two methods, pick the one you like, try it, and post back here with any problems.

--Rounan

Hello and thanks for your answer of which I'll head right at.. :-)

Mandrake is my choice because I use it on my desktop as well = I know the system.

I already use my server for music @ my stereo, using mplayer so setting it up with video should be possible. Running mplayer on eg. RH won't do much difference the way I use'em = no GUI = same userinterface.

Many users run their system the way I want to, but their guides assume knowledge of compiling a new kernel and there I'm lost.

So the only utility I wanna use for it, is mplayer @ cli. (or some other if it's better, only demand is commandline interface)

I intend to do display this way:

When I remotely play music I just type 'mplayer songname' and it plays through my soundcard within the server. Painless and brilliant from commandline :-)

Here I wanna do the same with movies. 'mplayer moviename'. Here I only need to setup my XFree86 to utilize my second head on my graphicscard + get mplayer to send the visual that way... but how? My TV is already connected.

I've read tons of docs and tons of guides... no luck so far. I seem to get stuck at the kernel part and especially the framebuffer part :-( It really ticks me, especially because I know it's possible and many others use it on a daily basis :-)

Best regards
Martin

So.... you're already running an X server?
Then the easiest thing to do is likely have Mplayer output to X, and X will deal with the video card itself.

Quick google search turned up this:

http://www.matrox.com/mga/support/dr...atest/home.cfm

Download the driver for your card, and read its INSTALL documentation. Somewhere in there, it should tell you how to set up XFree86 to use the card properly. Failing that, there's a link to a user-to-user support forum you can try.

Can't really help you out more than that, my friend! If installing the driver requires recompiling the kernel, well, you have some reading ahead of you. there -IS- no way for anyone here to explain a kernel compile better or more clearly than the Kernel Howto, or the wealth of other documentation available. That's why it's there! :P

Let us know if you hit any roadblocks - we'll do our best.

--Rounan

Yes and no - its installed but I boot into runlevel 3.

I seem to have my MGA drivers installed + a XF86CONFIG-4 file from someone where it's working.

I can get mplayer to recognise my mga 'mplayer -vo mga filename' but nothing pops up on my TV :-(

I'm unable to see in the docs how set it otherwise. Dammit it has to be this difficult - really makes people leave Linux :-(

Maybe it'll be a whole lot easier for me to set it up if I connect a monitor + mouse/keyboard and get it to work that way with graphical tools.

Thanks for your time :-)

Best regards
Martin

Reason is that you're in runlevel 3, no X server running, telling mplayer to use its internal drivers... but the only place you've set up dual monitor status is in the XFree86.conf, which isn't being used since you arent' running X.

I'd be willing to bet that if you hooked up a monitor to your Matrox card, you'd see your movie.

You need to somehow configure Mplayer's drivers to output to the svideo head, not the monitor... might be as simple as passing a commandline option, might take tweaking a config file, or setting a preference within mplayer.
I don't know exactly how, though.

Linux is perfect. its us USERS who aren't.

--Rounan

Ahh... could have saved me ~10 hours of greef is I'd known that from the start :-)

So you believe that if I mount a monitor and boot into eg. KDE I'll see some output on my TV ?

I'll look into that mplayer conf one more time and if no luck I'll set my server to boot into runlevel 5 if it works that way.

Last resort will be a chip in my XBOX, but I really wanna get this to work first :-)

Agreed Linux is perfect, but noway I am LOL.

Best regards
Martin

If the XFree86 config has your default device as Matrox, and sets up the default monitor as the Svideo head on that driver, then all you *should* need is to startx, and have mplayer output through X instead of matrox.

I'm actually planning on setting up something very similar, but rather than trying to control it through SSH, I'm going to be running a really basic X server with IceWM, and using Mplayer and XMMS to give us a nice multimedia server that we can control through the TV display - wireless keyboard and mouse complete the picture.
You might want to look into that kind of setup, if it fits the bill. I'd definately recommend IceWM over KDE if that's all you're using it for. KDE is a resource hog.

What hardware are you running this on?

--Rounan

Hmm I don't know what it has anymore since I've edited all over the system :-P

I've layed it on ice so far until I reinstall my server. Then I'll install it with X running and a minimalistic WM, eg. IceVM as you recommend.

Then I can more easily tell where a problem might be.

I run it on a Duron 700Mhz with 256 SD-RAM and a 80Gig drive. It's not an option for me to have a monitor attached nor keyb/mouse.

I control mplayer allready for music so I'm really hoping that booting X will succeed for me when I try again.

Besides that my server runs qmail, apache and httpd so it's not only a multimedia server I have.

Daily I most likely will not be using it for visual output - only when having a party and I need to show funny clips etc on my TV for the guests :-P

So bottomline with the advice you gave me running an X-server with some WM on I hope I can let it boot into that (with no mon attached) and then still control it via ssh and get it to work as long as the server is in runlevel 5.

Right now my only problem seems to be the missing X-server running. Cross fingers :-)

And if it fails I can allways fall back on my XBOX :-P

Best regards
Martin