Hello all, this is the current release of the Gnomemeeting FAQ, v0.0.2 Feel free to send me (in private) patches, comments. TODO: A good roadmap to get GM functional. To make a Tutorial Put in in the site I'm configuring an ILS server on a server h24 connected, to get used by Gnomemeeting people. Stay in tune. Rafa (aka Tristan on #gnomemeeting irc gnome org) --- ================================================================ Rafael Pinilla M.D. rafa at nerim.fr Linux addict since 1992 ================================================================Title: Gnomemeeting F.A.Q.
Using catalogs: /usr/share/sgml/dtd/catalog, /usr/share/sgml/html/dtd/4.0/catalog, /usr/share/sgml/html/dtd/4.01/catalog, /usr/share/sgml/html/dtd/iso-15445/catalog, /usr/share/sgml/html/dtd/catalog, /usr/share/sgml/html/entities/catalog, /usr/share/sgml/docbook/stylesheet/dsssl/modular/catalog, /usr/share/sgml/entities/catalog, /usr/share/sgml/entities/xml-iso-entities-8879.1986/catalog, /usr/share/sgml/entities/sgml-iso-entities-8879.1986/catalog, /etc/sgml/catalog
Using stylesheet: /usr/share/sgml/docbook/utils-0.6.9/docbook-utils.dsl#html
Working on: /home/rafa/_Datex/FAQ-Gnomemeeting-0.0.2.sgml
1. Generalities1.1. What is & license concerns1.1.1. What is GnomemeetingGnomeMeeting is an H.323 compatible client designed for the Gnome desktop. It is compatible with Netmeeting and other H.323 products. 1.1.2. Is it Free Software ?Yes, it is licensed under the GPL. As Free Software, you dont have to pay for it, it is free as free speech 1.1.3. What is the LicenseGnomeMeeting is licensed under the GPL license and as a special exception, you have permission to link or otherwise combine this program with the programs OpenH323 and Pwlib, and distribute the combination, without applying the requirements of the GNU GPL to the OpenH323 program, as long as you do follow the requirements of the GNU GPL for all the rest of the software thus combined. 1.2. Greatings1.2.1. Who created itThe main creator of the project, and, at this hour (26/10/2001) unique developer, is Damien Sandras <dsandras at seconix.com>. He initiated the project at 25 december 2000, as a master thesis at the "Université Catholique de Louvain" in Belgium (http://www.ucl.ac.be). 1.2.2. Who has made the logo.Carlos Pardo, thanks Carlos. You can visit his website at : http://www.m4de.com 2. Features.2.1. Which audio codecs are supportedAt the time of this writing, as of with the v0.11: GnomeMeeting supports the following audio codecs : LPC10, GSM-06.10, MS-GSM, G.711-Alaw, G.711-uLaw 2.2. Which video codecs are supportedAt the time of this writing, as of with the v0.11: GnomeMeeting supports the following video codecs : H.261-QCIF et H.261-CIF 2.3. Which connecting protocols are supported.At the time of this writing, as of v0.11: GnomeMeeting supports H.245 Tunneling, Fast Start, auto answering of incoming calls, and do not disturb mode GnomeMeeting can register to ILS directories and browse them to search for users following several criteria 2.4. Other GUI oriented features.GnomeMeeting provides an intuitive GUI and is easily configurable. GnomeMeeting provides an advanced personnal settings management, can modify the soundcard and camera settings. GnomeMeeting provides an animated applet that appears in the Gnome panel and that can control it. GnomeMeeting provides internationalization support. 2.5. ILS dirctories concerns?2.5.1. Can I register to ILS directories ?Yes, but some directories can give error messages and deny GnomeMeeting to register. 2.5.2. Will Netmeeting users be able to see me ?No, because Netmeeting asks to the ILS directory to list people using Netmeeting and not other software like GnomeMeeting, but you will be able to see those people and contact them. 3. Hardware concerns3.1. Do I need a webcam to run GnomeMeeting ?No, a working soundcard is enough. 3.2. Which type of camera can I use with GnomeMeeting ?Every camera supported by the Linux kernel and that understands the Video4Linux API (Philips webcams, Creative webcams, and many others...) META: Urls to good webpages, documentation sites 3.2.1. Resources for Philips webcamsPhilips USB webcams: http://www.smcc.demon.nl/webcam/ http://daimon.free.fr/linux/trucs/videocam.html Rafa's own little script to get around the different modules for his ToUCamPro 740k. A lottle script called webcam.sh; located in /sbin, owned by root #!/bin/sh echo Chargement des pilotes USB
# erasing magicaly loaded bad modules
rmmod uhci
rmmod ov511
rmmod pegasus
# Let's load the good ones
modprobe audio insmod -f /lib/modules/2.4.8/kernel/drivers/usb/pwc.o modprobe usb-uhci
echo 'Loading Ended'
3.3. Does it work behind a Network Adress Translation routeur/Firewall ?Yes, but people will be unable to call you. The appropriate module can be found on : http://www.coritel.it/coritel/ip/sofia/nat/nat2/nat2.htm 4. Software concerns4.1. Which libraries do I need to run it ?You will need : the standard Gnome Libraries : http://www.gnome.org the OpenH323 library : see the download section of this site the PWLib library : see the download section of this site the OpenLDAP library : included in your distribution, or http://www.openldap.org 4.2. How can I compile GnomeMeeting ?Simply use the binaries from your distribution, the ones in the download section, or : As root, follow the steps : 4.2.1. Compile pwlibDownload it either on http://www.gnomemeeting.org/downloads Extract it : tar xvzf pwlib_min_1.1.36.tar.gz
export PWLIBDIR=<the directory where you extracted pwlib> e.g. : bjack localhost:~/$
export PWLIBDIR=/opt/pwlib
So, cd into the directory where you extracted it make both (from the directory where you extracted pwlib) And then do the following : localhost:/opt/pwlib/lib# cp libpt_linux_x86_r.so /usr/local/lib
localhost:/opt/pwlib/lib#ln -s /usr/local/lib/libpt_linux_x86_r.so /usr/local/lib/libpt_linux_x86_r.so.1 localhost:/opt/pwlib/lib# ln -s /usr/local/lib/libpt_linux_x86_r.so /usr/local/lib/libpt_linux_x86_r.so.1.1 localhost:/opt/pwlib/lib# ln -s /usr/local/lib/libpt_linux_x86_r.so /usr/local/lib/libpt_linux_x86_r.so.1.1.36
Then, add /usr/local/lib to /etc/ld.so.conf and run ldconfig 4.2.2. Compile Open H323.Download it either from http://www.gnomemeeting.org/downloads or from http://www.openh323.org/code.html extract it : tar xvzf openh323_1.6.0.tar.gz
export OPENH323DIR=<the directory where you extracted openh323>
cd into the directory where you extracted it (from the directory where you extracted openh323) make opt
make install
ldconfig -v
If any problem, please have a look at openh323 FAQ : http://www.openh323.org/ 4.2.3. Compile OpenLDAPCheck if it is installed in /usr/lib/ or /usr/local/lib (ls /usr/lib/libldap*) If it is not, download it on http://www.openldap.org Installation is a bit complicated, so it is behind the scope of this documentation, so, could you look at more specialized documentation on http://www.openldap.org 4.2.4. Compile GnomemeetingDownload it on http://www.gnomemeeting.org/downloads Extract it: tar zxvf GnomeMeeting-0.XX.tar.gz
export PTLIB_INCLUDE_DIR= <the directory that contains the ptlib include files>
export OPENH323_INCLUDE_DIR= the directory that contains the openh323 include files
cd into the directory where you exctracted ./configure --prefix=/usr to install it in /usr
make
make install
You should have the gnomemeeting executable available. 4.3. Can I use another version of OpenH323 and PWlib than the versions provided in the download section ?Yes, if these versions are newer. Don't use old version of the libraries. 4.4. Does it run under KDE ?Yes, provided you have installed the gnome libraries. If you get errors, just disable the applet : use the -a or --noapplet option at startup. 4.5. Is there a CVSYes. It is the Gnome CVS. Gnomemeeting, being natively a Gnome component, you can find it on the GNome CVS: Please, follow the line... (copied from http://developer.gnome.org/tools/cvs.html ) 4.5.1. Login into the CVSFirst you need to setup a few environmental variables. The first command you need is: $ export CVSROOT=':pserver:anonymous anoncvs gnome org:/cvs/gnome'
You might want to put this in a script. cvs login
(There is no password, so just press 'Return'.) You only need to run this command once, not every time you access CVS. Now grab the Gnomemeeting package. $ cvs -z3 checkout gnomemeeting
Then, cvs download the last anonymous public version of Gnomemeeting. Please use the -z3 option to minimize network bandwidth (-z9 eats too much CPU time - please don't use it). 4.5.2. Update the source from the CVSWe assume that you first used all the chapiter 4.5.1 procedure. To update the source, first login to the directory where cvs downloaded the gnomemeeting source $ cvs -z3 update -Pd gnomemeeting
Then you can wait for the completion. Good compilation, dont forget to erase the gnomemtting file: ˜ rm -f ˜ /.gnome/gnomemeeting 4.6. What is the best audio codec ?GSM. GSM is not supported by Microsoft Netmeeting, but you can add it to Netmeeting. Just download the executable in the download section of http://www.gnomemeeting.org 5. Geting it to work...We assume that you have a functional webcam, or at least a working sound card. Please refer to the respective documentation for the installation of the sound driver Alsa Project : http://www.alsa-project.org/ Sound HOWTO: http://www.linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/Sound-HOWTO.html After the Sound Card, you should consider instaling your webcam 6. Toubleshooting6.1. I Don't have /dev/video* device ! What can I do ?Create It at hand, being root: localhost:/dev# mknod c 81 0 /dev/video0 localhost:/dev# mknod c 81 1 /dev/video1 localhost:/dev# mknod c 81 2 /dev/video2 You should create a symlink from /dev/video to the one you want used first localhost:/dev# ln -s /dev/video0 /dev/video 6.2. I have Permissions trouble with /dev/video*You should have the following permissions in your /dev/video* devices lrwxrwxrwx 1 root video 11 Aug 25 02:37 video -> /dev/video0 crw-rw-r-- 1 root video 81, 0 Aug 25 02:37 video0 crw-rw-r-- 1 root video 81, 2 Aug 25 02:18 video2 crw-rw-r-- 1 root video 81, 1 Aug 25 02:18 video1 So, if you haven't done it yet, add your username at the end of the 'video' line in the file '/etc/group'. you should see the line: video:x:44:username Then, give the necessary permissions to the devices: chown root.video /dev/video0 chown root.video /dev/video1 chown root.video /dev/video2 chmod u=rw g=rw /dev/video0 chmod u=rw g=rw /dev/video1 chmod u=rw g=rw /dev/video2 6.3. Gatekeeper/firewall StuffH323 relies on a very special protocol behavior that uses several ports : H.323 uses/relies on the following data streams: Port Description 389 Internet Locator Server (TCP) 522 User Location Server (TCP) 1503 T.120 Protocol (TCP) 1720 H.323 (H.225 call setup, TCP) 1731 Audio call control (TCP) Dynamic H.245 call control (TCP) Dynamic RTCP/RTP streaming (UDP) 6.4. Firewall NAT stuffIf the firewall is natted, and it is certainly is, you have to install the newnat netfilter patch for H.323 : http://www.kfki.hu/˜kadlec/sw/netfilter/ 6.5. God ! Why does-it function so bad ?6.5.1. The camera occasionally starts up in a higher resolution mode and I only see 1/4 of its field of view in the small window mode.Are u sure that your driver support 176x144 as capture size ? Try to look about that in the doc. 7. Using GnomeMeeting7.1. Tuning Questions7.1.1. What the settings for video quality from 1 to 31 means?1 is best quality, 31 is bad quality, but it uses less bandwidth. 7.1.2. what about the settings for update blocks?2 is the best settings, it means that the image will not be blocky because it will transmit all blocks except 2 static blocks. Updated Blocks permits you to choose the number of blocks (that haven't changed) transmitted with each frame. These blocks fill in the background. If you choose to transmit 99 blocks that have not changed with each frame, lot of background blocks will be transmitted with each frame, and the picture will be more often refreshed. So it is the best quality. 7.1.3. I prefer realtime-Sound/Bad-Video than Realtime-Video/Bad-Sound.CVS contains support to set the jitter buffer delay and limit the bandwidth. If you increase the jitter buffer for audio, you should not loose audio frames.
8. To be placed8.1. How can I send a test picture to the remote endpoint if I have no webcam ?You can always select "Enable Video Transmission". When clicking on Apply, you will get a warning but a test picture will be sent to the remote endpoint during calls. 8.2. How can I share my desktop or make a text chat with Netmeeting ?It is impossible. This kind of things is based on the T.120 protocol. GnomeMeeting currently only supports the H.323 protocol for video-conferencing, but it doesn't prevent you to try to implement that protocol or to use dedicated software like VNC or ICQ for that purpose. |