Converting an ISO DVD image to a bootable usb flash drive for the Linux Player

Convert an ISO DVD image to a bootable usb flash drive for the Linux Player

The following are instructions for converting a StrandVision Linux Player bootable ISO file to work on a USB flash drive. You need to use a Windows pc to download the ISO file and make the bootable USB thumb drive. It is easiest if that is your normal workstation. If you have a USB DVD drive, you can also create a bootable DVD using your favorite dvd burning software.

Download and Prepare USB Thumb Drive

• Download the ISO file to your hard disk. The current version is at svplayer_112_20130802.iso.
• Insert your USB flash drive into your windows pc. It should pop up a window allowing you to explore the contents of the thumb drive.
• Right click on the drive letter for the flash drive and click on format. A Quick format is ok and it should be formatted using the FAT or FAT32 type.
• Download unetbootin from http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net/ and save the Windows version to your desktop. If you cannot read it, the current version is here.
• Run that program (it does not need to be installed).
• Pick your thumb drive from the drive selections at the bottom
• select ISO and browse to the DVD ISO image file that you downloaded.
• Start the process.
• At the end, it will ask if a file should be overwritten. Say no if you happen to see it. If you wait too long, it automatically overwrites it - which also is fine.
• When all done, click exit (not reboot).
• If you know how, eject the drive or use the hardware detection tool to remove the disk. Otherwise, wait a minute or so to be sure that everything is written
• Remove the thumb drive.

Rebuild the Linux Digital Media Player Operating System

Your thumb drive is now ready to upgrade your StrandVision player.

• Turn off the strandvision linux digital media player
• Attach the thumb drive to a USB port
• Turn on the digital media player
• Press the delete key several times until it says "entering setup"
• Select the "Boot" menu by pressing the right arrow twice
• Select "USB Drives" with the down arrow and press enter
• Find the USB Flash device and position on it
• If it is not the top item in the list, press the minus key on the keypad to move it to the top
• Press escape to go back
• Select "Boot Device Priority"
• Find USB Flash and position on it
• If it is not the top item in the list, press the minus key on the keypad to move it there
• Press F10 to exit. Save the settings if it asks
• The system will reboot using the flash drive
• A CloneZilla screen will appear. Press enter to continue.
• Confirm that you want to overwrite your hard disk twice.
• The image will be restored in about 10 minutes
• When it is done, reboot and disconnect the usb drive

Set Your Screen Size

• Open terminal or press Ctrl-F1
• type su
• Log in as the root user with password "strandvision" (all lower case)
• run sax2
• configure the screen resolution as desired

Configure Your Network

• Once the system comes up, you will see the desktop.
• Click on the "Configure PC" link (this is actually a link to YAST)
• Enter the root password "strandvision" (all lower case)
• Select "Network Devices", "Network Settings"
• Press Tab to highlight your active network card. Configure the network with Alt-I. In most cases, DHCP is appropriate.
• Press Alt-G to select the general preferences tab. Press Alt-D and select "On Cable Connection" to activate the device. Press Alt-Z and set the zone to the external zone.
• Quit out of yast and verify that you can browse to an outside web site now
• To set a static ip address, follow these instructions.

Activate StrandVision

Once the StrandVision player restarts, it must be re-initialized to communicate properly with the StrandVision Digital Signage network.

• Open up FireFox and type "localhost" on the web url
• Locate your pc’s model number and serial number. It is a bar coded label on the back of your pc. It is also on the original box that came with the pc (a little larger print).
• You will see a place to enter your pc's part and serial number. Enter that in the format specified. If the last character is not numeric, enter '9' as the last character.
• The system will configure the databases and set the root password to the last 12 characters of the serial number.
• When it asks, enter your digital signage username and password. If you have multiple screens on your account:
  • go to StrandVision.com
  • log into your signage account
  • Click on Signage Pages / View Signage
  • Select the appropriate screen from the drop down list at the top of the screen
  • use the username and password that appears in the "Play your Signage on a TV Display" section
• When the digital signage username and password has been verified by the StrandVision servers, it will show a status of the installation progress which can take up to 30 minutes to fully complete
• Once the system has enough information to start, the signage will appear in full screen mode
• If you ever need to keep this from being full screen mode, click on the screen to give it focus and press the "W" key (window) to toggle full screen and window mode.