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1. How do I get a
command prompt for PonkTV?
There are two ways to get a command
prompt for a PonkTV system, log in with
a secure shell from another computer or boot into Safe Mode.
The easiest is using a secure shell,
ssh from Linux or PuTTY from windows.
Logon as ponktv and use the eDonkey
password from installation. To use Safe
Mode you must have a keyboard and
monitor connected. Select Safe Mode at
boot to get a command prompt. Logon as
root and use the system password from
installation. Safe Mode also is
configured to run X-Windows by using
startx.
Note: To run a the mozilla
browser use /opt/bin/mozilla. This is a
separately compiled mozilla browser to
be used in Safe Mode.
2. How do I compile
an application for PonkTV?
PonkTV is based on Linux From Scratch
(linuxfromscratch.org).
The Linux From Scratch site has
detailed instructions for compiling
many applications. These instructions
should work on PonkTV.
3. How do I port a TV
application to PonkTV?
The basics:
PonkTV has two interfaces to every TV
application, the TV interface and the
Remote interface. The TV interface is
used by the TV viewer to control the
application. The Remote interface is
used for anything that is best done
with a computer interface, such as
configuration. It is preferred both
interfaces be developed as HTML pages
served by the Apache HTTPD server. A
HTML page would use a scripting
language, PHP or Perl, to query the
application for the data it needs for
the HTML page. However; some
applications like a video player may
need a X-Window to run in. In this case
you can use a HTML page to start the
application. To configure PonkTV to
send TV-Remote commands to the TV
application you must modifiy the
/sbin/pktvir script. The pktvir script
is executed by lirc every time a
TV-Remote button is pressed.
If you have an application in mind
first search the web to see if their is
a remote interface using HTML developed
for it. For example BitTorrent has
TorrentFlux. This can then be modified
for both PonkTV interfaces. The TV
interface usually has to be simplified
to be easily controlled by the
TV-Remote. The Remote interface may
need very little modification at all.
To add the application into PonkTV HTML
pages modify the appropriate file at
/srv/www/localhost/ponktv (TV) and
/srv/www/localhost/remote (Remote).
If your application needs data files
you can place the files at /home/ponktv
or /usr/share/ponktv/localhost.
/home/ponktv is used for startup and
configuration and
/usr/share/ponktv/localhost is used for
everything else.
4. How do I add my
custom Logo to the PonkTV screen?
A 60x60 custom logo can easily be added
to the PonkTV screen. The upper right
had corner of the interface TV/Remote
HTML has been left bank for this
purpose. Modify the HTML in
/srv/www/localhost/ponktv and
/srv/www/localhost/remote with an img
tag to display your custom logo.
5. How do I configure
PonkTV for a different graphics card?
You can use a different graphics card
by reconfiguring the Xorg X-Windows
configuration files. Directions on
configuring Xorg can be found on the
Beyond Linux From Scratch site
(www.linuxfromscratch.org).
PonkTV Xorg configuration files are:
- /home/ponktv/xorg.conf - xorg.conf
used for TV mode.
- /etc/X11/xorg.conf - xorg.conf used
for Safe/Console mode.
6. How do I configure
PonkTV for a different IR receiver?
You can use a different IR receiver
than IRMAN by reconfiguring LIRC.
Directions on how to compile and
configure LIRC can be found at
(www.lirc.org).
PonkTV use the following files to
startup and configure LIRC. These may
need to be modified according to the
LIRC web site.
- /etc/lircd.conf - lircd
configuration file.
- /etc/rc.d/init.d/lircd - lircd
start, restart, and stop script.
- /home/ponktv/pktv.lircrc - keycodes
for TV-Remote buttons.
- /home/ponktv/pktv.xinitrc -
irxevent start.
- /sbin/ponktv - irexec start.
7. What are the
TV-Remote codes used to control an
application?
The keyboard codes passed to
applications for the TV-Remote are
configured in /home/ponktv/pktv.lircrc.
Review the file for PonkTV current
TV-Remote keyboard codes. The OFF-ON
code is acted on only by the system all
other codes (VOLUME-UP, VOLUME-DOWN,
PLAY, STOP, ...) are passed to the
current X-Window.
8. What are TV mode,
Safe Mode, and Console mode?
- TV Mode runs PonkTV with the TV as
its primary display.
- Safe Mode runs a shell with a
monitor as its primary display.
- Console Mode runs a shell with a
monitor in VGA mode as its primary
display.
9. The PonkTV Install
CD won't install what can I do?
There is no easy solution to this.
First make sure your system is compatible
with the PonkTV hardware requirements -
basically that it is compatible with
Linux. You can find more information on
Linux compatibility at The Linux
Documentation Project web site (tldp.org). If
you still have a problem you can try to
install PonkTV directly from the Install
CD. This requires you to have a basic
knowledge of Linux and setting
up/configuring some standard Linux
software.
On the PonkTV Install CD is an
un-configured tarball image of PonkTV.
Boot up the system into Linux, make or
free a partition for PonkTV, mount the
partition as build, unpack the PonkTV
tarball image,
ponktv-<version>-sys.tar.gz or
ponktv-<version>-devsys.tar.gz in
the parent directory of build, and run
grub-install --root-directory=build
/dev/hda to make it the boot partition.
You can then configure PonkTV to your
hardware.
If nothing else works you can build
PonkTV from the source. Download the
PonkTV
source and follow the directions.
Note: For a good understanding
how PonkTV is built and how the
software packages PonkTV uses are
configured see the Linux
From Scratch web site.
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