I can second KnoppMyth (http://mysettopbox.tv) as being a great resource - the developer is on his forums a ton and is very helpful. It was perfect for me as I'm already a Debian guy (well established here I think) and it's based on Knoppix/Debian. I also already had a box that I used for TV, just watching with xawtv and tvtime before I went with Myth. The box itself was originally a TigerDirect PCCinema which was a line they sold back when Gateway originally released the Destinations with the big monitors way back when. I have had that machine connected up to a 32" SVGA monitor for 7-8 years or so.
So essentially, I had the monitor and computer to make it happen and when I heard how far MythTV had come about a year and a half ago and that is was Debian based ( a feature as far as I am concerned for simplicity), I needed no extra prodding to start. It's a budget box - certainly not top of the line as far as what's possible. I'd love in the future to add another tuner or two, perhaps some of those Linux-specific pcHDTV cards pre-broadcast flag. I've also recently entertained the idea of a Myth frontend on a Mac Mini as the most recent MythTV version can work as a frontend on a Mac and that cute little box would be great in my entertainment center instead of the decade-old PCCinema case. But it should be noted, I have invested very little money into this box, largely because I already had a lot of it. And I don't really have the money to spare now to go further with it now. But the box has been very reliable for about a year now, excepting one hardware failure with lots of blown capacitors on the motherboard. And that's largely with the cheapest hardware I could find most of the time. So that's my experience - if it's useful to someone, I'd be glad to help out. -N On Thursday 24 February 2005 01:12 pm, Ted Roche wrote: > The posting about the broadcast flag reminded me... > > I'm sure at least a couple of the more adventurous on this list have > already hacked together a MythTV. It's one of those things I've been > meaning to do for a while, but, well, you know the story... exploding > children and so forth. I've browsed the web site a few times, but > haven't gotten past that. (http://www.mythtv.org/ and > http://www.mysettopbox.tv/knoppmyth.html are interesting places to > start). > > The EFF has just released a book and is sponsoring "Build-Ins" around > the country (http://www.eff.org/news/archives/2005_02.php#003356) as a > way to draw attention to the upcoming "Broadcast Flag" ban, which will > require some really noxious Digital Restriction Management to be > incorporated into all HDTV tuners, including those used as computer > cards. Anyone interested in this technology should plan on buying a > card before the flag is imposed. While there are some legal rumblings > that the FCC may get shot down on this move, the track record of things > like the DMCA and Patriot Act should raise worries. > > Are there folks here interested in building their own PVRs? Folks who > have done this willing to lend some expertise? I'd welcome a group > effort, with a few of us all attempting to build the same beasts for > mutual support, comparison, etc. Of course, we might also have to deal > with the variations of different machines and some wanting analog > digitization and so forth. But, hey, the EFF will throw in some free > T-shirts and GNHLUG publicity! > > Any interest? > > Ted Roche > Ted Roche & Associates, LLC > http://www.tedroche.com > > _______________________________________________ > gnhlug-discuss mailing list > gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org > http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss _______________________________________________ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss
