[firaX]

Hi,

i messed up my xbmc live install several times while playing around with it. I notice the installer creates a /home dir, which is quite reasonable. However, atm i have one large HDD only, which means XBMC + my media should all be on that one HDD. My media will be in /home (sda3), XBMClive in / (sda3).

Now my issue is, XBMClive setup only allows me to choose an entire HDD (sda) for installing. This way, in my case, even the sda3 home folder gets erased.

Is there a way to tell XBMClive to KEEP my /home and only format /? If not i think it would be a nice addition to allow users to either partition themselves or at least give an option to keep the /home partition.

I know i could just install ubuntu and use the XBMC packages for that, however ,i find XBMClive exactly what i need: trimmed down, fast, quiet boot with nice bootsplash.

[hakova]

See here:
http://www.xbmc.org/forum/showthread.php...post430544
Basically I asked the same question got the response above.
Hope this is addressed sooner than later .

[lcapriotti]

short answer is the one linked by hakova, long answer:

- boot from alpha1 cd or usb
- copy alpha1 "live" directory on / of sda1
- edit /boot/grub/menu.lst on sda1 copying the kernel parameters you find on alpha1's grub.cfg
- create the new permanent storage file "live-rw" on / of sda1 with:

Code:

dd if=/dev/zero of=live-rw bs=1M count=<nMB>
mkfs.ext3 -F live-rw

where <nMB> is the size in MB of the file.

Finally, after booting from HDD in safe mode with updated binaries, /etc/fstab needs to be amended by adding the line related to /home:

Code:

"UUID=<sda2UUID>   /home   ext3    defaults,auto 0 0

where <sda2UUID> can be obtained with "blkid -s UUID"

How does it sound? If too complicated you will have to wait for a script doing all these steps for you...

[nanny07]

i think will be very usefull in the future make this as an option in the installation script of XBMClive

[hakova]

...
How does it sound? If too complicated you will have to wait for a script doing all these steps for you...

I agree with nanny07 obviously, since this will enable anybody shorter than a linux guru achieving the task. OTOH, I would like to thank l.capriotti for sharing the method with us, so that
1. we can understand what is going on in the background
2. we can update the system in the mean time manually.

One question though: which is the best way to replace <nMB> for the size of the "live-rw" file? Do we estimate it depending on the size of / partition, or am I missing something?

Edit: One more question , is DVD play from commercial DVDs still intact and functional in the alpha1 version of the new XBMC Live?

Regards.

[firaX]

The "long answer" is doable (i have linux experience), however still a bit annoying. I think i will settle with a small boot drive after all. A 60GB 7200rpm laptop hdd should suffice for xbmc, right?

[lcapriotti]

first of all: these instruction assumes that during the installation "treat as removable drive" was chosen. If not a totally different procedure is needed.

@hakova: yes, you do estimate the free space size and create the file accordingly.
As per DVD, I don't know the current XBMC status with DVD playback.

@firax: given that XBMCLive can be installed on a 2 GB USB flash disk 50 GB is more than enough
Granted, your media should be placed on a different drive or system.

[hakova]

first of all: these instruction assumes that during the installation "treat as removable drive" was chosen. If not a totally different procedure is needed....

When exactly do you make that choice? I installed XBMC Live 9.0.4 recently from the CD, I do not recall being given that choice. I did boot up from the CD and chose to install to the HD at the very first step, if this helps.

Edit: DVD play is working in the latest alpha release BTW, just tested.

[nanny07]

it's the first question when you try to install it

btw I haven't say yes, how can i proced to keep my media?

[lcapriotti]

I'd reformat sda1 (fat or ext3, doesn't matter), copy boot directory from removable disk and then follow the previous instructions.
CAVEAT: this is just a 2-seconds thinking, don't blame me if you loose your media..

[firaX]

I will use a 60GB boot drive + 1,5TB data drive which i will mount as /home/xbmc/Videos.

[hakova]

...CAVEAT: this is just a 2-seconds thinking, don't blame me if you loose your media..

Thanks a lot again. I wouldn't blame you at all . In fact I am thankful that you provided personalized help .