README

From GeeXboX wiki

Jump to: navigation, search
        ooooo                     oo     o  o               oo     o
       M"   "Mo                    Mo  oM"  M                Mo  oM"
      M           oM""Mo  oM""Mo    "Mo"    Mo"""o  oM""Mo    "Mo"
      M    """M   MooooMM MooooMM   oMMo    M    "M M    M    oMMo
      "o     oM   M    o  M    o   oM  Mo   M    oM M    M   oM  Mo
       "MoooM"M   "MooM"  "MooM"  M"    "M  M"ooo"  "MooM"  M"    "M


Contents

ABOUT

GeeXboX is a kind of "divx box" software. In fact, it is a stand-alone boot CD which allows you to watch movies or listen to music. It supports many formats, such as avi, mpeg, divx, ogm, rm, mp3, ogg, dvd, vcd and cdda. It also supports some IR remote controllers and TV-Out for some graphic cards. This archive contains the needed scripts to rebuild an iso image of GeeXboX.


REQUIREMENTS

To generate a GeeXboX iso, you will need either :

  • a GNU/Linux system with mkisofs and mkzftree.
  • a MAC OS X system with mkisofs and mkzftree.
  • a windows system.

To install the GeeXboX, you will need :

  • a GNU/Linux system with syslinux.

To build the GeeXboX, you will need some classic tools :

  1. a working GNU/Linux system.
  2. the gcc C compiler.
  3. GNU make
  4. the patch command.
  5. the nasm assembler.
  6. bzip2 and gzip.
  7. mkfs.ext2 and mkfs.vfat
  8. the wget download tool (not needed for the full GeeXboX package).
  9. mkisofs and mkzftree to build the iso image.
  10. mkzftree to compress files on the iso image.
  11. cdrecord (to burn the iso image).

And also 1.2 GB of hard disk free space.

PERSONALIZATION

When the GeeXboX is installed on a hard drive or generated, it is quite easy to personalize it.

You can add some proprietary codecs such a rv9 or wmv9, simply by adding them in the GEEXBOX/codecs directory. You can download those extra nonfree codecs.

You can also modify many options. This can be done simply by editing some text files.

Language

You can easily select your preferred menu language by following the procedure below :

  • GNU/Linux users:

Edit the generator.sh script before running it and change the line near the top: "MENU_LANG=en" to your preferred language. For example: if you're French, change it to "MENU_LANG=fr".

  • Microsoft Windows users:

When started, generator.exe gives you a combo list that allows you to choose your preferred language.

NB : This has no effect on DVD language (see the MPlayer section).

For the list of available languages please see the "language" directory. If your language is not available, you can translate the menu in your own language. This simply involves the creation of language/menu_LANG.conf and language/help_LANG.txt, and adding LANG to language/lang.conf.

Firmware auto-loader

GeeXboX supports many free drivers but unfortunately some of them may require an additional proprietary firmware (non-free and so not included in GeeXboX ISO) to work properly. The firmware is a binary file that is uploaded to the device (PCI or USB) when the driver is loaded. For each driver, the firmware has to be a specific file with a pre-determined name.

If you have reluctant hardware that require additional firmware (in most of the cases, it only concerns WiFi and DVB cards), you'll need to check on the Internet for your Linux driver page to see how to check the firmware file. Most of the time, you'll get a direct download link. Sometimes, you'll need to extract it from your Windows drivers archive that was shipped with your hardware.

Once you get the firmware file, simply put it into the /firmwares directory. You can put in as many firmwares as you want, and GeeXboX will automatically find them and use them with the right drivers if needed. The only thing you then have to take care is to have the good firmwares file and to generate a new ISO.

Please note that you can also use the GeeXboX ISO generator to automatically grab firmwares for you. You can select all of the extra binary firmware files you want the generator to add for you. Simply note that this feature will require you to have an Internet access when using the GeeXboX generator.

MPlayer

This is where you can do most of the configuration and tweaking. The options take place in the file packages/MPlayer/config/mplayer.conf. You may want to modify options such as OSD font size (subfont-text-scale).

You can also add lots of options such as DVD default language (eg: alang=fr,en). The best place to find them is the MPlayer manpage for Linux users (man -l build/MPlayer-*/DOCS/mplayer.1). You should also have a look at the MPlayer documentation (in build/MPlayer-*/DOCS or at http://www.mplayerhq.hu/DOCS/).

Another file you may modify is the packages/i18n-texts/config/menu.conf. You can remove items you don't need, or you can translate it in your own language for example.

Then the last file you can look at is the packages/MPlayer/build which contains the selection of options which are built into MPlayer.

TV-Out

Enabling the TV-Out is achieved with the help of multiple small programs dedicated to different video card brands. Currently we use atitvout for ATI cards, s3switch for S3 cards and nvtv for nVidia cards (and possibly intel i810 and 3dfx cards). The configuration of those programs is done in packages/tvout/config/tvout.

There you can choose the TV standard you want (pal, ntsc...) and you can also modify specific options for nvtv. 

   # TV Output Standard (ntsc/pal/secam)
   TVOUT_STANDARD=pal

Please note that you can also define the output aspect (say 4:3 or 16:9 display) in this file through the line : 

   TVOUT_ASPECT="4:3"

This parameter will be used both for TVOut and regular (CRT/TFT) display. You can also specify the desired height/width values and your display's horizontal and vertical frequencies in case you have unusual screen like WideScreens or videoprojector. This can be done, editing the /etc/mplayer/mplayer.conf file. Default parameters are shown below (please uncomment lines related to frequency if you want to use them) : 

   screenw=800
   screenh=600
   #monitor-hfreq=31.5k-50k
   #monitor-vfreq=50-90

Lirc

You can choose one of the supported remote controller by editing the file GEEXBOX/etc/remote. Also take care to chose the corresponding ir receiver in the same configuration file. If you want to modify the key binding of your remote controller, look at the file GEEXBOX/etc/lirc/lircrc_REMOTE.

Network

You can configure the network in the file GEEXBOX/etc/network. There you can chose the IP address used by the GeeXboX (default is to use DHCP and if it don't work, fall back to 192.168.0.54). You can also specify a login and a password which will be used to connect to windows shares (default will only connect to anonymous shares). You can also declare some NFS mounts in GEEXBOX/etc/nfs.

Wifi

By default, GeeXboX tries to autodetect your network settings. If you have both traditional NIC and WiFi cards, only the latest will be setup. You may have to modify the /etc/network file in order to fit your network's settings.

In this one, 4 lines are related to wireless cards : 

    PHY_TYPE="auto"      # Network physical type (auto|ethernet|wifi)
    WIFI_MODE="managed"  # Wifi working mode (managed|ad-hoc)
    WIFI_WEP=""          # Wifi WEP key
    WIFI_ESSID="any"     # Wifi SSID

These lines let you configure most of the settings. You can let autodetection enable or even force the use of ethernet or WiFi adapters. In the same way, this let you choose between the managed and the ad-hoc mode and let you define your WEP key and SSID.

Gateway

GeeXboX supports access to the Internet. In the case you've got a connection to the Internet, you may share it with your multimedia box, using a router or a gateway. For this, simply define the gateway IP address in the /etc/network file. 

   GATEWAY=""     # Gateway IP ("" for DHCP or no internet connection)

DNS server

If you want to access to the Internet, GeeXboX may require a DNS server IP address. If you're not using a DHCP server that will do this job, you'll have to specify it by hand in the /etc/network file. 

   DNS_SERVER=""              # DNS Server IP ("" for DHCP or none)

TV configuration

GeeXboX supports TV inputs and tuners. The system hardly tries to autodetect the card and the tuner. The file which contains the relevant settings is /etc/tvcard. The following fragment shows the most important options: 

#
# TV Card Options
#
# TV card model (AUTO for autodetection or look at the following urls)
# http://linuxtv.org/hg/v4l-dvb?cmd=file;file=linux/Documentation/video4linux/CARDLIST.bttv;filenode=-1;style=raw
# http://linuxtv.org/hg/v4l-dvb?cmd=file;file=linux/Documentation/video4linux/CARDLIST.cx88;filenode=-1;style=raw
# http://linuxtv.org/hg/v4l-dvb?cmd=file;file=linux/Documentation/video4linux/CARDLIST.saa7134;filenode=-1;style=raw
TV_CARD=AUTO
# TV tuner (AUTO for autodetection or look at the following url)
# http://linuxtv.org/hg/v4l-dvb?cmd=file;file=linux/Documentation/video4linux/CARDLIST.tuner;filenode=-1;style=raw
TV_TUNER=AUTO
# TV Input Standard (ntsc/ntsc-m/ntsc-jp/pal/pal-bg/pal-dk/pal-i/pal-m/pal-n/
#                    pal-nc/pal-60/secam/secam-l/secam-dk)
# Some card (SAA7134) need a special way to set the sub-mode.
# Example for using secam-dk
#TVIN_STANDARD=secam
#TVIN_SUB_STANDARD=d
#
TVIN_STANDARD=pal

As you can see, the initial configuration is to automatically detect the card used and configure it. Since there are a number of different chipset manufacturers, autodetection may fail. So first, check whether your GeeXboX installation can successfully configure your card. If it fails, then you must somehow configure TV_CARD above to a suitable value. The following URLs will be of help:

  • BT8x8-based card list
  • cx88-based card list
  • SAA7134-based card list

Two ways to find the correct setting of TV_CARD:

1. If you know the exact manufacturer and model of your card, browse the links above to find it. IMPORTANT NOTE: cards from the same manufacturer might have almost the same name, but differ on the driver (and, hence, the TV_CARD number) to be used! Make sure you search all three lists!!!

2. If you know the chipset used, search the relevant card list for your own card from the links provided directly above.

Use the specific TV_CARD value in the /etc/tvout file, burn a new ISO image and test whether it "sees" your card. If it does, but display is garbled, you might want to set the value of TV_TUNER as well, in the same file, by consulting the tuner list.

Once done, you should be able to use the TV inputs (Composite and S-VHS) of your TV card. In the same way, you can use the tuner to watch TV. For that, you will have to define the region you belongs to and the frequency of the TV channels you want to watch. Once again, simply edit the /etc/tvcard file : 

   # TV Channels
   # Syntax : CHAN="Channel Frequency:Channel Title"
   # Example :
   # CHAN="26:France 2"
   # CHAN="K08:Canal +"
   # TV Channels List
   # Available : france, europe-east, europe-west, us-bcast, us-cable
   CHANLIST=france

Please be careful when editing channels and simply use the same syntax as described above and TV channels should be present in the main menu.

Audio configuration

GeeXboX supports both analog and digital audio output through regular JACK connectors or RCA SPDIF one. By default, output is set to analog. You can change this, by editing the /etc/audio file : 

   # Output using SPDIF (yes/no), otherwise ANALOG output
   SPDIF=no

Remember that you will need to set your output to SPDIF if you want to connect your soundcard to an external amplifier for decoding AC3/DTS streams (using passthrough mode).

Video post-processing

Post-Processing is a software way to get a smoother and more accurate render of your videos. It however consumes a lot of CPU time to magnify pictures but, as a result, it looks far better. Using MPlayer internal filters, GeeXboX lets you make h/v deblocking, deringing and auto luminance to enhance your image. By default, post-processing is disabled to avoid lagging on small configurations. You can enable it simply by editing the /etc/mplayer/mplayer.conf file : 

   # Set Post Processing (h deblock, v deblock, dering, auto luminance)
   # Consumes CPU power, disabled for low configs, uncomment to enable it.
   #vf=pp=hb:a/vb:a/dr:a/al:a

DXR3/Hollywood+ cards

Users with this kind of hardware decompression card does NOT even need to have a video board and sound card to use GeeXboX. On the drawbacks, only the tvout connector can be used with DXR3 cards (no CRT display).

You may have to set the required image norm (PAL/NTSC) in the /etc/tvout file and the kind of audio output you want to use (Analog or SPDIF) in /etc/audio.

Radio configuration

If your TV-card has built-in FM radio tuner, GeeXboX can support playing the radio. You have to modify the GEEXBOX/etc/radio file to have "RADIO=yes" if you want to use the radio. There is no hardware auto-detection, so setting this to 'yes' without a TV-card-based FM radio will put unnecessary menu items on your GeeXboX screen.

The GEEXBOX/etc/radio file also has the radio station definition. There are a number of examples in the file, which simply include the radio frequency and the name of the station. Please be careful when editing channels and simply use the same syntax as the examples and the radio stations should be present in the main menu under "LISTEN RADIO".

Since the radio application itself is not part of MPlayer, there is separate access to the volume. Please note that the volume that is being increased or decreased is Master volume. Before switching back to TV or video viewing, or music playing, the volume should be re-adjusted.

UPnP File Sharing

UPnP stands for Universal Plug & Play and is a network protocol aiming at providing the autodiscovery of devices and services of your Home Network.

The UPnP A/V (for Audio/Video) norms defines several profiles for devices to easily share multimedia files and lets them being played. The UPnP Media Server profiles represent all of the devices that are able to share files to devices implementing the UPnP Media Player or UPnP Media Renderer profiles.

The GeeXboX embeds a UPnP Control Point software that is able to auto-discover all UPnP Media Servers from your Home network and it simply mounts their contents to a dedicated mount point (/mnt/UPnP).

This way, you just have to share contents using a compliant UPnP Media Server software and they'll be automatically accessible from GeeXboX. For more info about UPnP and some media servers usage, please go to Accessing to UPnP Contents

Network streaming

GeeXboX now gives you the possibility to add some SHOUTcast Radio/TV official playlist as easily as personal playlists (local and remote).

SHOUTcast activation is set in "GEEXBOX/etc/network" config file. As SHOUTcast TV sometimes may contain pornographic and subscription-only streams, you can define a "black list" and a "white list" to allow/deny any streams you choose (default keywords for "black list" are : "adult xxx porn ESS SWCTV SWPTV Subscription"). The black/white lists are case-insensitive.

"GEEXBOX/etc/netstream" config file can be set to create local and remote playlists (some examples are located in this file). "Remote playlists" refer to "Extended M3U" files.

For French users only : You can get "FreeboxTV" thanks to this file, using the following process :

  • uncomment EXTM3U ad hoc entry.
  • use a GeeXboX version that have to be compiled with "LIVE555 library" support (otherwise you won't be able to decode the stream).

DVB cards

GeeXboX has a support for various types of DVB cards (Terrestrial, Cable, ATSC and Satellite) either in PCI or USB. Please note that for now, only one DVB adapter is usable at a time.

Some DVB devices (especially USB ones) may require an external proprietary firmware to be loaded in the mean time as the driver to be usable. You may have a look at the LinuxTV DVB Wiki to see if you're card requires one or not and if so, which one it is.

Some firmwares can be fetched directly from the LinuxTV website, otherwise may be included in the Windows drivers archive. See the GeeXboX firmware loader documentation to see how to get them loaded for you.

For each card, the list of channels is available through the MPlayer's open menu. Nevertheless, there's no way to auto-discover these channels.

Thus, adding the list of DVB channels to GeeXboX can be done in several ways :

1. using an existing channel list : MPlayer needs to have a working channels.conf file to use DVB. This file can be generated through the utilities provided by the dvb-apps package. Simply use a Linux box that has a DVB card configured, download the linuxtv-dvb-apps tarball, compile it and create the config file using the "scan" executable, in "zap" format (which is the default as of dvb-apps 1.1.0). For example, for a DVB-S (Satellite) card using Astra-19.2E as the provider: 

     wget http://www.linuxtv.org/download/dvb/linuxtv-dvb-apps-1.1.0.tar.bz2
     tar jxvf linuxtv-dvb-apps-1.1.0.tar.bz2
     cd linuxtv-dvb-apps-1.1.0/util/scan
     make
     ./scan -x 0 dvb-s/Astra-19.2E > channels.conf
The "-x 0" flag is here to restrict the scan to Free To Air channels only. Please always do so, as MPlayer do not support encrypted DVB channels.
According to your type of DVB card, choose either a file from the "dvb-s", "dvb-c", "dvb-t" or "atsc" directories and ask for a scan.
Then, simply copy the channels.conf file you've just created to the /etc/mplayer directory in the GeeXboX generator tree, and rebuild away.

2. using an existing transponder list : the procedure is highly similar to the one defined just before but with no scan. This time, the scan will be done at GeeXboX boot but this way, you do no more require another Linux system to generate the channels.conf file.

To do so, you simpy have to check at : dvb scan

  • According to your DVB card type (S/T/C/ATSC), check for the good directory and grab the transponder frequency list that fit your needs. Then simply rename the file to dvb.conf and copy it to /etc. Then, rebuild a new ISO using the generator.
  • A bootup, if GeeXboX detects a valid transponder file in /etc/dvb.conf, it will be used to scan for DVB channels and will generate the /etc/mplayer/channels.conf file itself.
  • WARNING : Scanning can be slow according to the number of devices to be scanned and will be done each time you boot GeeXboX if using it as a LiveCD. It is highly recommended that you do it once only, then copy the generated /etc/mplayer/channels.conf file somewhere else and rebuild an ISO using generator, following the first method or to install it on disk.

3. using installator : this is for sure the easiest solution but requires you to install GeeXboX to disk. During the installation process, if a valid DVB device is recognized by the system, the installator script will ask you if you want to scan for DVB channels.

4. The installator contains the complete list of transponders frequencies. That way, you just have to select your DVB device type and the transponder file you want to use for GeeXboX to scan. The channels.conf file will then be automatically generated.

DVD Navigation Menus

GeeXboX allows 2 DVD playback mode:

  1. Direct movie playback (default).
  2. DVD Navigation Menu support (fairly experimental).

The first one can be safely trusted for playing any kind of DVD. Once inserted, the disc is automatically detected and MPlayer tries to play the title it consider as the movie one. The major advantage is that all copyright, advertisement and menu parts are skipped to allow a direct playback. However, in some situations (like DVDs with enhanced menus or most of the series DVD, containing multiple titles to be played) this method is inaccurate and you'll not be able to watch your DVD correctly.

The second one, while still experimental (but has really good chances to works fine) supports the regular DVD Navigation Menus and let you control your DVD the same way you'll do it using a regular commercial DVD player.

You can use the GeeXboX options menu to switch between the DVD playback methods, according to the DVD disc you're trying to watch.

You can also make use of the GeeXboX ISO generator to select the default DVD playback method you want.


GENERATION

First have a look at the personalization section just above.

Then basically you can generate the iso under Linux by launching 

 ./generator.sh

or under windows by launching 

 generator.exe


INSTALLATION

First you need to create a FAT16/32 or EXT2/3 partition with at least 16 MB of free space.

Then you can install the GeeXboX under Linux by launching 

 ./installator.sh

And then responding to all the questions. Be carefull during this step. Read twice each question and stop installing if you don't understand one of the question.

But the easiest way to install GeeXboX is still to boot it from CD and type "install" at isolinux boot prompt.


PXE BOOT

Yes, the GeeXboX is able to boot from the network on a diskless station ! To achieve this you will need :

  1. a DHCP server
  2. a TFTP server
  3. a NFS server
  4. a PXE capable station :-)

Using a GNU/Linux system

First configure your dhcp server to send PXE boot info. Here is an example with isc dhcp : 

  allow booting;
  allow bootp;
  subnet 192.168.0.0 netmask 255.255.255.0 {
    range 192.168.0.128 192.168.0.192;
    option subnet-mask 255.255.255.0;
    option broadcast-address 192.168.0.255;
    next-server 192.168.0.1;
    filename "/tftpboot/GEEXBOX/boot/pxelinux.0";
  }

The next-server option is the address of the TFTP server. Then configure your TFTP server (such as atftpd) to server the /tftpboot directory and copy a full GEEXBOX tree in this directory. For example you can copy the content of a GeeXboX CD from a linux WITH THE CDROM TRANSPARENT DECOMPRESSION ENABLED !! (to verify this, look at the sbin/init file in the GeeXboX tree and verify that it do not contain garbage) If you've built the GeeXboX yourself from sources, you can also generate the GEEXBOX tree with make pxe.

Then you should edit the file /tftpboot/GEEXBOX/boot/pxelinux.cfg/default to set nfsroot to the right NFS path to the GEEXBOX tree.

Finaly set up your NFS to export the GEEXBOX tree with a /etc/exports containing something like this : 

 /tftpboot/GEEXBOX (ro)

and a /etc/hosts.allow containing something like : 

 ALL: ALL

That should do the trick. Boot your PXE station and see what happen.

Using a Microsoft Windows system

In order to boot in PXE mode from a Windows host, you'll need the following software :

  • An TFTP and a DHCP Server (for example "tftpd32")
  • An NFS Server (for example "Allegro NFS server")
  • A computer supporting PXE boot mode.

Download and uncompress (No need to install) the tftpd32 folder somewhere on your disk. In this example, lets assume it is : C:\tftpd32

Copy the complete GEEXBOX tree in the same directory (C:\tftpd32\GEEXBOX)

Start tftpd32 :

  1. Choose the C:\tftpd32 folder for "current directory".
  2. Choose the interface (network card) to be used in "server interface". In the example here it's 192.168.0.1
  3. Go in "setting" and make sure DHCP server is checked (enabled)
  4. In the "DHCP server" tab, fill in all the box using the following example : (Please refer to some documentation about DHCP all around the net in order to understand)
    • IP starting pool : 192.168.0.10
    • Size of pool : 10
    • Boot file : ./GEEXBOX/boot/pxelinux.0
    • WINS/DNS server : 192.168.0.254
    • Default router : 192.168.0.254
    • Mask : 255.255.255.0
    • Domain name : mydomain.net
  5. Click "save" to apply modifications.

First part is done, you can now boot the client computer (the one starting GeeXboX), and will see it loading until the logo appears. After a while it'll freeze because your NFS server is not set yet.

Install "Allegro NFS server" and fill in the boxes following these settings :

Exports tab :

  • Add a "new name" : and call it "/tftpboot/GEEXBOX"
  • In "path" just below : choose "C:\tftp32\GEEXBOX" folder
  • In "allowed host list" , choose "all"
  • "Read write", and "read only user list", choose "root" and "everyone" (if you want some log just check all in the last tab)

Apply settings.

Don't forget to modify the file : C:\tftp32\GEEXBOX\boot\pxelinux.cfg\default and change the IP address "192.168.0.2" to "192.168.0.1" (or the one you've previously setup).

Just start the client computer and now GeeXboX should be running fine.

BUILDING

First have a look at the configuration section just under (at least the global part).

Then basically you can build the iso with : 

 make

Or you can directly burn this iso with : 

 make burn

When done, you can save disk space by cleaning the build tree : 

 make clean

or by doing a full cleaning, even removing downloaded sources : 

 make distclean

There's also more advanced commands if you want to hack around the GeeXboX : 

 scripts/get package          # download the package
 scripts/unpack package       # unpack and prepare the package
 scripts/build package        # build the package
 scripts/install package      # install the package with the $INSTALL prefix
 scripts/clean package        # clean the package build tree
 scripts/clean --full package # clean both the package build and source trees
 make exec                    # launch directly the GeeXboX in a jail
                              # WARNING: this is a highly experimental feature
                              # use it at your own risks.

If you've made a hacked version of the GeeXboX, you can easily build a small tar.bz2 for it with : 

 make dist

or a full tar (containing all sources) with : 

 make fulldist

or a geexbox generator with : 

 make generator

or a geexbox installator with : 

 make installator

or a pxe ready tree with : 

 make pxe


CONFIGURATION

  • Global options : This is the first thing you should take care of before trying to build the GeeXboX. It stands in the file config/options, and it should be self explanatory.
  • Linux : This is a classical Linux configuration (packages/linux/linux.conf). You can edit them by hand, or you can also do a scripts/unpack linux and then a make menuconfig -C build/linux-* (or use the method you prefer instead of menuconfig). Then you should backup your build/linux-*/.config into packages/linux/linux.conf.
  • Lirc : Lirc allows you to control the GeeXboX using a remote controller. First you have to choose the file describing your specific remote in build/lirc-*/remotes (after doing a scripts/unpack lirc) and add it in packages/lirc/install. Then you should choose your device (default is /dev/ttyS0 (COM1)) and the lirc driver and put them in a file called packages/lirc/config/lircd_$REMOTE.
  • Then you can choose your key mapping in the file packages/lirc/config/lircrc_$REMOTE. For each mapping you have to select a button (pike their names in the remote definition file) and associate an action to it. The action is one of MPlayer's actions (you can find a list in the html file build/MPlayer-*/DOCS/documentation.html#commands).

HACKING

The first thing you should look at is the initialization script. In fact there are two initialization scripts. The first one is in packages/initrd/scripts/linuxrc but you shouldn't need to modify it.

The second one is in config/options and that's where you may put some customizations. There you can first choose which is the architecture (i386 or PPC) you want to build GeeXboX for. After that, you can perform finnest tuning by specifying a certain kind of sub arch (386, pentium, athlon) in order to optimize the distribution for your specific CPU and gets the best perfomances off.

Then the next thing which may interest you is the creation of a new "package". A package is just a bunch of scripts which have to follow some rules. All the scripts have to take place in a directory named as the program you want to "package", itself in the packages directory.

Here is a list of the scripts you may create :

  1. url : just a list of urls where to get the program sources.
  2. unpack : what to do after unpacking the sources. For example, you can modify some configuration files. This does not include applying patches.
  3. need_build : called when the package as allready been built, in order to be sure that it don't need to be rebuilt. It should remove the file .stamps/"package name"/build if the package need to be rebuilt.
  4. build : all the steps needed to build the program.
  5. install : all the steps needed to install the program. The installation prefix should be $INSTALL.

In addition, the package main directory may contain extra subdirs :

  1. config : where all config files belong. These files may be used either by the build script to compile the package or by the install script to be put to the system's /etc directory.
  2. scripts : this subdir may contain runtime initialization scripts related to the current package which should be installed by install script
  3. patches : this subdir may contain patches to be applied to the sources of the package, at unpack time.
  4. sources : if files are present here, they will be automatically copied into the package's build tree.
  5. init.d : contains initialization scripts to be launched at runtime.

You also have to remember that software which run on the GeeXboX have to be compiled with the uClibc gcc wrapper. Fortunately, the GeeXboX toolchain is smart enough to automatically build all added packages using the uClibc gcc wrapper itself.

Do not forget to ask for your package's compilation and installation by explicitely asking for it in the scripts/gentree build script.

Finally, the best way to make a package is to look how other packages are done.

LICENSE

All the programs used by the GeeXboX are protected by their respective license. They all are free software and most of them are covered by the GNU General Public License.

The GeeXboX itself, meaning all the scripts which are used in the building process, are covered by the GNU General Public License.

Retrieved from "http://www.geexbox.org/wiki/index.php/README"
Personal tools