XBMC on Ubuntu Maverick

A small step by step guide to install XBMC on Ubuntu Maverick

1. Install Ubuntu Desktop or from MinimalCD (lightweight).
   • Create user xbmc directly on installation process with password “xbmc”
   • Reboot

   • sudo usermod -aG audio,video,fuse,cdrom,plugdev xbmc

2. Install XBMC from SVN PPA

   • sudo apt-get install python-software-properties -y
     sudo add-apt-repository ppa:team-xbmc-svn
     sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade
     sudo apt-get install xbmc-live

3. Set autostart and disable USB autosuspend
   • Edit /etc/default/grub and set

     • GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash xbmc=autostart,noredir loglevel=0 usbcore.autosuspend=-1"

   • sudo update-grub
4. Fix poweroff / suspend permissions
   1. sudo apt-get install upower
   2. Create a file /var/lib/polkit-1/localauthority/50-local.d/custom-actions.pkla with the following contents:

      1. [Actions for xbmc user]
         Identity=unix-user:xbmc
         Action=org.freedesktop.upower.*;org.freedesktop.consolekit.system.*
         ResultActive=yes
         ResultAny=auth_admin
         ResultInactive=yes

5. Enabling wakeup status for device
   • Follow this guide
6. Using IR remote supported with XBMC
   • Large majority of Media Center Remotes you can find online was supported by the LIRC module lirc_mceusb in Ubuntu 10.04.
     From Ubuntu 10.10 support is moved into kernel module mceusb so setup the remote should be easier and so will be in the future. Unfortunately  sometimes fresh hardware in not yet support by the official mceusb kernel module but there is workaround to make it works with the old lirc_mceusb module without poking with the kernel recompiling it.
     Here a tutorial I wrote to setup my HP Pavilion HDX Remote with the old lirc_mceusb: Default HOW-TO Using old lirc_mceusb in place of new mceusb on Maverick 10.10 for HP remote