#+TITLE: HDSync Setup Manual #+AUTHOR: Denis J. Roio #+DATE: Version 0.3, September 2010 #+LATEX_CLASS: book-2column #+LATEX_HEADER: \usepackage[english]{babel} #+LATEX_HEADER: \usepackage{amsfonts, amsmath, amssymb} #+LATEX_HEADER: \usepackage{ucs} #+LATEX_HEADER: \usepackage[utf8x]{inputenc} #+LATEX_HEADER: \usepackage[T1]{fontenc} #+LATEX_HEADER: \usepackage{hyperref} #+LATEX_HEADER: \usepackage[pdftex]{graphicx} #+LATEX_HEADER: \usepackage{fullpage} #+LATEX_HEADER: \usepackage{lmodern} #+LATEX_HEADER: \usepackage[hang,small]{caption} #+LATEX_HEADER: [TABLE-OF-CONTENTS] * Background information First of all be sure to read and understand the informations on the [[http://www.wdlxtv.com][WDLXTV]] website. To run HDSync you'll need a *WDTV Live* device for each video channel you are playing. [[file:images/wdhdtv-front.jpg]] Be sure you have the *Live* model: the one with a network port on its back (Ethernet RJ45) [[file:images/wdhdtv-retro.jpg]] Now, before proceeding with HDSync, download [[http://wiki.wdlxtv.com/Main_Page][B-Rad's firmware WDLXTV Live]] and [[http://wiki.wdlxtv.com/Flashing_the_Firmware][flash it]] on your device. Once all this is set you can start follow the instructions below. * Prepare the Usb keys To run HDSync on your WDTV Live device you need one USB stick for each device (and therefore each video channel); the usb stick will contain our software and the video to play. First *format the usb sticks with a decent journaled filesystem like the Linux Ext3* using tools like mkfs.ext3 from a GNU/Linux OS. Then place our application (the *hdsync.app.bin* file) on the USB sticks together with two configuration files, one of them needs to be edited to set how many video channels you are playing. + Copy the *hdsync.app.bin* in the usb stick + Copy the *S00custom-options* conf file in the usb key + Copy the *hdsync.conf* in the usb stick + Edit hdsync.conf according to your setup (set *VIDEO_CHANNELS*) + Create a *videos/* directory in the usb stick, place your video * Prepare the WDTV devices To setup the WDTV devices you need to connect them to a monitor or project and move around with the remote control, reach the settings indicated below and change them with correct values ** Network settings + Set the configuration to *Manual* + Set the ip number of the box to a common C class IPv4[1] + Set the netmask to *255.0.0.0* ** Video settings + Set the *Video sequence* to *Normal* + Set the Browser display to *List mode* [1] The IP is a numeric network address, a C class is determined by the last value of the series of numbers: be sure that the last and rightmost number changes, while all others stay the same. For further information please refer to common documentation on network administration. * Connect your syncstarters HDSync is made so that a complete setup will be extremely simple to activate and deactivate: just using an ON/OFF switch, since that is what works best when you want to leave your installation somewhere like in an art gallery and give simple instructions to people. Once you loaded the WDTV boxes with the HDSync software and got everything configured, you will need to *connect them together via ethernet cables* - and a hub if there are more than 2 channels. Then connect each WDTV box via a video cable (Composite or HDMI) to your monitor or beamer, then connect the audio to the amplifier. Then obviously you need to connect all power cables for all electronic device involved in this setup; we use to set everything on the same power socket so that its *ON/OFF switch* will be the main for the whole installation. At last, make sure that all cable connections are well plugged and... * Switch ON! If everything went well so far you'll see the WDTV boot screens popping up, then arriving at the menu they will automatically select the video playback browser and stop on its first selection, wait half a minute, then start. In this phase you can notice that network leds are blinking: in case you are using an hub you can count as many lights as many devices you have (else there is a problem in the way you connected the network). If you have a computer and want to monitor the sync operation "from inside", you can assign yourself an IP in the range of those you used for the boxes, then log into the devices via ssh and read their log in */tmp/hdsync.log*, realtime updates can be watches with the command: : tail -f /tmp/hdsync.log This way you can also debug the software behaviour for errors; however you won't need this unless you are developing HDSync, if you have any troubles these are likely due to cables and setup of files on the USB sticks. *Happy Hacking*! * Terms and Conditions HDSync is Free Software and you can use it, modify it and redistribute it as you want, provided you read and agree with all terms of the GNU GPL v3 license. If you use this software for your own art projects, this doesn't mean you need to use the same license we use and you can even sell artworks made with it; but you must specify reasonably that you are using: *HDSync, free and open source software developed by Jaromil at the Netherlands Media Art Institute*. * Support If you rely on this software and you wish we develop it further, please express your appreciation with a kind donation. If you need support using HDSync, distributing artworks or producing installations with it, you can certainly *hire our services*: we can offer assistance and development services as a professional art institute with several years of experience in the fields of video and media art. Get in touch: : Denis Jaromil Roio |X| Dyne.org Foundation : software developer |X| Netherlands Media Art Institute : GNU / Linux / *BSD |X| Montevideo / Time Based Arts : ------------------------------------------------------------ : http://nimk.nl/onderzoek ~ ~ ~ http://nimk.nl/eng/research : Tel: +31 20 6237101 121 ( Tue and Fri, 10:30 - 17:30 CET ) : Post: NIMK/Artlab Keizersgracht 264 1016 EV AMSTERDAM : Email: jaromil@nimk.org IRC: irc.freenode.net /msg jaromil : PGP: B2D9 9376 BFB2 60B7 601F 5B62 F6D3 FBD9 [ C2B6 8E39 ] : * Disclaimer This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or (at your option) any later version. This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details. You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with this program. If not, see . : : : HDSync is brought to you by: : [[file:images/nimk-logo-eng.jpg]] : & [[file:images/dyne-big.png]]