How to set up Linux-based device to run with the Online Monitors AnyWhere

How to set up Linux-based device to run with the Online Monitors AnyWhere

This article was written based on usage of Ubuntu Linux. If you want to use Debian or other distro's based on Debian this article should be straight forward. If you want to use a different distro we assume you are familiar enough with it and Linux in general that you know where to deviate from the precise instructions described here.

Very important Make sure that all drivers and packages are up-to-date, according to the hardware you've selected to use for your player, otherwise a significant loss of performance can be seen while playing video content.

Basic Installation
When you have chosen a Linux distribution, you can start with the basic installation:

      1. Download and install Linux as instructed for that distribution.
      2. Create a separate non-root/non-admin user to run the web browser with your playback channel, let's call this user player. This user is only used at playback, the install and configuration is done as the       root user.
      3. After everything is installed, install additional package The TTF Microsoft Core Fonts package. This will make sure all the fonts you use in your ONMAW pages will be displayed correctly. The package       is called ttf-mscorefonts-installer on most distributions. If this package cannot be found search for Microsoft fonts.

Google Chrome Installation

Depending on the distribution, Chromium (the open source version of Google Chrome's browser) is probably already included and Chrome probably not. It is recommended to install and use Google Chrome instead of Chromium (although Chromium should also work). Firefox in many cases does not perform as well as Chrome when it comes to video and animations.

First see if your distribution has a package for Chrome that you can use to install. If not do the following:
      1. Open your current web browser and go to http://google.com/chrome and then download and install the latest version of Google Chrome as instructed.
      2. When asked, set Chrome to be your default browser.
      3. If Chrome is already installed you can set it as the default browser:
            1. in Chrome, click the button on the top right with the three horizontal lines
            2. click Settings
            3. select Make Google Chrome my default browser
            4. Now make sure that videos with sound can play correctly:
            5. Type chrome://settings/content/sound in the address bar.
            6. In the section Allow press the Add button.
            7. Type [*.]playr.biz and press Add.

Automatically Start Chrome On Startup
To make Google Chrome start automatically when the player user logs into Linux, do the following:
      1. Download this zip file and unpack it to the Desktop of your computer. Place the files start-chrome-for-playr.sh and playr_loader.html in your user's home folder (ie /home/player/).
      2. To make the start-chrome-for-playr.sh file work for your computer you will need to change one line (around line 21) in the file: change the webc in the line                                                                     playr_loader_file="/home/webc/playr-      loader/playr_loader.html" to your username used on this computer, e.g. player.
      3. Save the file.
      4. Make the file executable by opening a terminal window, going to the home folder (ie /home/player/) and typing chmod +x start-chrome-for-playr.sh
      5. Test if it works by double clicking the start-chrome-for-playr.sh file.
      6. Google Chrome should now open in full screen mode.
      7. Press Alt + F4 to quit Google Chrome.
      8. How to automatically start start-chrome-for-playr.sh on startup also on the Linux distribution and its window manager. When you use Gnome, go to System > Preferences > Startup Applications and             add this file right there. If you use another distribution or window manager, please refer to its documentation on how to do this.

Automatic User Login
How to log the player user in automatically, heavily depends on the chosen Linux distribution. On Ubuntu derivatives it can be as simple as:
      1. Goto System Settings > User Accounts.
      2. Check the box for auto login.

Disable Energy Saving Mode To make sure that the screen does not turn black after a few minutes, do the following (in generic wording, since the exact settings depend on the chosen Linux distribution):

      1. Make sure the power management does not turn off the screen after a period of non user interaction.
      2. Make sure the brightness of screen is not reduced after a period of no user interaction.
      3. Make sure the computer is not turned off or put in sleep mode after a period of non user interaction.
      4. Make sure the CPU and GPU are set for maximum performance and not minimal energy use. If energy use is a concern you can save much more money and energy by using a new CPU/GPU in                      maximum performance mode than an old CPU/GPU in minimum energy mode.
      5. Make sure no auto lock is enabled.

These settings can be found under the energy/power and monitor/screen settings of the different Linux distributions. The support forums for the different distributions can be very useful to find the details needed to set this up correctly.

How do you know if everything went well?

You should be seeing this screen when turning on the device:


How to assign a Player from Online Monitors AnyWhere dashboard

On your PC, login with your username and password to the Online Monitors AnyWhere website:

Go to Settings:


Select Players:


Enter the registration code that you see on the TV, name the Player and select a Channel from the drop down list. Press Register to start playing the content on the TV: