Bioshock Infinite now available on Linux

Following the recent news that Steam for Linux now has over 1000 games in its catalogue, Linux gamers can now buy the acclaimed Bioshock Infinite from Steam.

Ok, so it's two years old, having originally been released for Windows, PS3 and Xbox360 in 2013, but nonetheless this is great news for Linux gamers, adding yet another AAA title to the roster of available games.

The Linux version runs in a wrapper as explained here at Boiling Steam which means it has been made to run on Linux in a similar way that The Witcher 2 was. By the look of early reports it appears as if it has been very successful and even modestly specced machines should be capable of running the game at a fair whack.

Steam lists the minimum requirements as needing an NVidia/AMD OpenGL 4.1/DirectX 10.0 level compatible video card, with an Intel Core 2 DUO 2.4 GHz / AMD Athlon X2 2.7 GHz processor.

Recommended specs are an Intel Core i5 3GHz (or similar AMD processor) and
NVidia/AMD OpenGL 4.2/DirectX 10.1 level compatible with 2GB of video RAM.

Elite: Dangerous appears on another platform. Linux next?

Metro UK: Elite: Dangerous exclusive to Xbox One; Windows 10 Cross Buy announced. http://google.com/newsstand/s/CBIw4o-WuyA

Linux kernel updates break TBS TV Tuner driver

Each time the Linux kernel updates, my TBS driver stops working. To get it back in action I need to rebuild it, which takes only about 10 mins, but is a real faff when kernel updates happen regularly.

To prevent this from happening I've placed a hold on kernel updates. So all other security and software updates will still take place, but the kernel will remain on same version. This is fine as long as all your hardware works in the current version of the kernel - for the vast majority of people this will be the case.

Here's what I did to place the hold (Debian-based systems only such as Ubuntu, Mint etc):

(You may need to type sudo su first to run commands with superuser privileges )

Into a terminal enter:

dpkg -l "*$(uname -r)*" | grep image | awk '{print $2}'

This should give you a list of packages e.g. linux-image-3.16.0-29-generic

linux-image-extra-3.16.0-29-generic

Now enter

dpkg -l "*$(uname -r)*" | grep header | awk '{print $2}'

 For each one of those packages and headers you need to do:

echo <PACKAGE> hold | dpkg --set-selections

Change <PACKAGE>  with your package that was output from the first step above, one at a time.

Now type

dpkg -l "*$(uname -r)*"

and you should see output similar to

Desired=Unknown/Install/Remove/Purge/Hold
| Status=Not/Inst/Conf-files/Unpacked/halF-conf/Half-inst/trig-aWait/Trig-pend
|/ Err?=(none)/Reinst-required (Status,Err: uppercase=bad)
||/ Name           Version      Architecture Description
+++-==============-============-============

hi  linux-headers- 3.13.0-46.77 amd64        Linux kernel headers for version
hi  linux-image-3. 3.13.0-46.77 amd64        Linux kernel image for version 3.
hi  linux-image-ex 3.13.0-46.77 amd64        Linux kernel extra modules

The  "hi" before the image and header lines, indicate that the kernel updates will be help, not updated, when you accept security and software updates from your package manager as usual.

Thanks to Tony at http://itslinux.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/how-to-prevent-packages-from-being.html for this tip. 

HTC Vive Linux compatibility

The HTC Vive VR headset has recently been announced.

Until further details arrive, we do not know its full specifications. Some headline features are listed at http://www.htcvr.com/ such as:

• A 1,200 by 1,080 pixel screen in front of each eye
• Refresh rates of 90 frames per second
• Wide field of vision
• Headphone jack on headset
• Gyrosensor, accelerometer, and laser position sensor combine to precisely track the rotation of your head on both axes to an accuracy of 1/10th of a degree
• Ergonomic VR game controllers in each hand allow you to use virtual objects and interact with the virtual world
• HTC and Valve have partnered with Cloudhead Games, Dovetail Games and Fireproof Games
• Expected consumer release date: Holiday 2015 (I've no idea which holiday HTC refers to, but I'm assuming July/August)

What hasn't yet been confirmed is the Vive's Linux compatibility. Of course, assumptions abound when devices such as this are released with partial specs (free advertising anyone?), but part of the fun is guessing how things might work.

At present we know that the headset will use the SteamVR API. As Steam VR supports Windows, Mac and Linux, it's reasonable to assume that the Vive will work with all platforms.

VR-compatible games however are another issue. Each game will still need to be available for the underlying platform. So, for example, Dovetail Games Fishing is, at present Windows only. So this isn't playable on a VR headset plugged into a Linux PC running Steam. Half Life 2 will be though, as this has a VR mode, and is available for Linux.

It will be interesting to see which, if any, currently Windows-only VR games will be released on Linux in the near future. If Steam still has commitment to SteamOS it would be surprising if a good proportion new VR titles aren't released for Linux.

Kodi-PVR-MythTV and mythbackend settings

Sometimes you find a fix for a problem that's so simple you want to kick yourself.

I'd been unable to watch live TV streams on other frontends (OpenElec on Raspberry Pi, Ubuntu laptop, and Windows 8 laptop) around the house for several months. Having searched extensively and posted the problem on forums I could not seem to solve the issue.

Even though mythbackend would serve live TV to Kodi frontend on the same machine, I could not serve these streams across my local network to other machines running Kodi. The error message in the mythbackend log was "Client speaks protocol version 75 but we speak 77!" when attempting to connect from some devices (e.g. Raspberry Pi), and "Client speaks protocol version 8 but we speak 77!" when attempting to connect from others (e.g. Windows 8)

After some prodding around in the mythtv-setup options, I accidentally blanked out the IPV6 field in the "general" settings section. I then blanked out the IPV6 fields in the kodi-pvr-mythtv settings on the frontend client, and hey presto! It worked! Live TV streamed without issue.

What I found amazing was that this was a such a simple fix yet I had been struggling to overcome the live TV streaming for months. The reason it had baffled me is that in mythtv-setup settings the IPV6 field hint suggests that if I will be connecting to the backend from frontends on other machines then the field shopuld not be left blank. I hadn't really given this much thought other than, my Kodi frontends are on other machines therefore the field should not be left blank. In retrospect, I guess this hint refers to MythTV frontends, not other frontends such as Kodi, which is what threw me.

Best Kodi add-ons for use in the UK

There are hundreds of add-ons for Kodi. Many don't work, some give you access to content which is illegal to view in the UK such as copyrighted movies, sport and television series, and some seem to just be too niche to be any use to most people in the UK (Gun reviews in Russian anyone?). Amongst them are some gems. Here is a post to help UK Kodi users find the diamonds in the rough.

BBC iPlayer This essential add-on allows streaming of live and BBC TV and radio and catch-up TV from the iPlayer database. It has a much simpler menu system than the layout on BBC's content-heavy iPlayer website, which is either a good thing or a bad thing depending on your preference. Personally I like its simplicity and aside from Cmyth (see below), this is my most used add-on.

ITV Player Again, another essential add-on for UK viewers. Not quite as slick as the iPlayer add-on in terms of menu layout, but still easy to use, and allows streaming of live ITV broadcasts across ITV1, ITV2, ITV3 and ITV4 as well as streaming catch-up TV from ITV player's database.

USTVnow UK viewers can get live (HD for several months before reverting to SD) access to 6 US channels, for free. ABC, NBC, Fox, CBS, CW, and PBS). OK, this one is a bit of a grey area as it is designed for US citizens living abroad, and requires you to tick a box saying so. However, the only time I use this add-on is when my American pal visits to watch the superbowl. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it! If you visit https://www.ustvnow.com/ and sign up for free registration, you can then add your username and password to the USTVnow add-on settings and the add-on will stream these free to view channels in Kodi.

Youtube Allows quick and easy access to Youtube direct from 

Kodi. Unfortunately, Youtube seems to have limited access to some DRM-protected content such as official music videos, meaning they can't be viewed from Kodi, but you could view them via a browser. Nonetheless, still a useful add-on.

Radio If BBC radio isn't broad enough for your listening tastes (Zouk, anyone?), Radio gives you access to hundreds, maybe even thousands (I haven't counted - let's just say, lots!) of international radio stations, which you can search by popularity, genre, topic, country, city, language, or search for local stations.








FilmOn Allows access to free to air channels from UK Freeview and many others around the world. The picture quality is not particularly good, but this is made up for by the range of channels available.









Spotimc You'll need a premium Spotify account for this to work. If so, installing this add on lets you search for music, browse for music and play your favourite playlists, all from inside Kodi.





This is just a small selection of the Kodi add-ons out there, and these happen to be my most often used ones. I also use a MythTV add-on which connects to my MythTV backend for me to watch and record UK Freeview TV and Radio.

Hope this list has been of some use to other Kodi users in the UK.

Petition to bring Elite: Dangerous to Linux

Have you seen this petition yet?

https://www.change.org/p/frontier-developments-plc-port-elite-dangerous-to-linux-desktop 

Were you a fan of Elite on the BBC Micro, Commodore 64 and Amiga, Sinclair Spectrum, Acorn Electron and Archimedes, Nintendo Entertainment System, Apple II, MSX, Atari ST, PC, amongst others?

Back in the 1980's and 90's Elite appeared on many different platforms and sold hundreds of thousands, maybe even more than a milion, according to Frontier Developments.

What a pity that Elite: Dangerous is only available on Windows at present, Mac in several months, but no confirmed plans for other platforms.

Do add your support to this petition for Frontier Developments to release a Linux version.