Re: Getting started w/ MythTV [was Re: Tivo vs MythTV]

[Thomas Charron]

On 11/8/06, Ben Scott <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Happauge cards are generally a safe bet, as nearly all of them with the exeption> of the 'WinTV' cards are supported.  Now I'm more confused.  Pretty much *all* of their products appearto have "WinTV" in the name.  ???  :-)
  My bad.  I was refering to the old 'WinTV' PCI cards they used to sell.  Looks like they took the idea and ran with it for all their models.  See list below.Hardware known NOT to work and other issues



Hauppauge WinTV-D or -HD (no driver)Hauppauge WinTV-USB seriesHauppauge WinTV-PVR-usb (model 602), or WinTV-PVR-PCI (model 880) cards (no driver - this is not the PVR-250/350
series of cards supported by the IvyTV driver)ATI All-in-Wonder series
___
gnhlug-discuss mailing list
gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org
http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/

Re: Getting started w/ MythTV [was Re: Tivo vs MythTV]

[Ben Scott]

On 11/8/06, Thomas Charron <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

The cost diference between, say,
the PVR-150, 250, 300, 500, etc, is the inclusion of hardware based
encoders.


 That's what I expected, but it's confusing as hell.  Their marketing
department needs to work on product differentiation on their website.
I finally found this:

http://www.hauppauge.com/pages/compare/compare_pvr.html

which explains some things.  The PVR-150 is the same functionality as
the -250, just with new and cheaper parts.  The -350 adds a
decoder/TV-out.  The -500 adds a second tuner/encoder (but no
decoder).


Happauge cards are generally a safe bet, as nearly all of them with the exeption
of the 'WinTV' cards are supported.


 Now I'm more confused.  Pretty much *all* of their products appear
to have "WinTV" in the name.  ???  :-)


A 600 Mhz machine can easily recoder 2 channels when a dual input
board with hardware encoders.  By contrast, a NON hardware encoder based
solution would require 1.6 Ghz processor to handle it.


 That much, at least, makes perfect sense.  And if the hardware is
well supported, I'd much prefer to do the video encoding and decoding
in dedicated hardware.  That general strategy usually works a lot
better anyway, even if you've got CPU to burn.


Other then that, you WILL USE MUCH MOOCHO HD space, as it is VERY easy to
simply save and forget, and soon get 'HD full' messages.  ;-)


 This I can also attest to!  The 240 GB in my TiVo is adequate, but
I've still filled it on occasion.  And that's at standard definition
with somewhat lossy compression.  At high def, I think I'd have about
30 hours.

-- Ben
___
gnhlug-discuss mailing list
gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org
http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/

Re: Getting started w/ MythTV [was Re: Tivo vs MythTV]

[Jeff Macdonald]

On 11/8/06, Dave Johnson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Paul Lussier writes:> So, for these 2 systems, can someone give me a rough list of the> essential-to-have hardware and the cost analysis?Or you could just buy a pre-built system.
http://www.monolithmc.com/Courtesy of Google Ads (note, I haven't actually looked at the website). -- Jeff MacdonaldAyer, MA
___
gnhlug-discuss mailing list
gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org
http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/

Re: Getting started w/ MythTV [was Re: Tivo vs MythTV]

[Dave Johnson]

Paul Lussier writes:
> So, for these 2 systems, can someone give me a rough list of the
> essential-to-have hardware and the cost analysis?
> 
> My main goal here is ease of installation/configuration and minimizing
> as much as possible hardware incompatibility frustration.  I.e., if
> there's a certain MoBo I ought to use or specific hardware combination
> that "just works", tell me.  Cost savings *is* an issue, but time is
> more of an issue.  I don't want to fight with hardware, I want to
> build an appliance that will do it's job with as little interaction
> from me as possible :)

For analog cards, getting one with MPEG2 hardware compression is a
very good idea.  Besides sufficient bandwidth on your PCI bus and
disk controller/disks recording uses very little cpu (read: <2% on a
any modern cpu).

The bandwidth requirements aren't that big. SD should run you about
2-5Mbps, HD about 10-20Mbps. (that's bits not bytes)  As long as you
can sustain the average and not have a congested system that could
cause DMA underruns any motherboard and cpu should be fine.

Note that mythtv, at least IMHO, is quite bloated and the code way too
complicated and confusing to look at.

If you have alot of channels and capture cards the backend database
can get quite large.  Keeping all that in RAM will improve the
performance of the frontend and mythweb especially when getting
channel listings or doing searches. My /var/lib/mysql/mythconverg/ is
about 400MB.  The more memory for the backend the better especially
because it will be doing disk caching.

My frontend is a VIA EPIA SP13000 with 512MB RAM, PXE boots with
nfsroot.  It's plenty fast for SD, but barely fast enough for HD.  I
think this is actually a video dirver problem though.  I'd stick with
a CLE266 based VIA system though as the CN400 graphics is a pain to
get working in X.

CPU requirements aren't that bad for the frontend provided you have
an X driver that supports all the appropriate acceleration extensions,
that's the most important thing to consider.

mythfrontend is using about 120MB of RAM on my frontend computer right now.
Add X and other apps and 256MB or 512MB RAM should be fine.

-- 
Dave

___
gnhlug-discuss mailing list
gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org
http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/

Re: Getting started w/ MythTV [was Re: Tivo vs MythTV]

[Thomas Charron]

  The higher end PVR cards will work with MythTV and work well with nearly all major brand motherboards out there.  The cost diference between, say, the PVR-150, 250, 300, 500, etc, is the inclusion of hardware based encoders.  A 600 Mhz machine can easily recoder 2 channels when a dual input board with hardware encoders.  By contrast, a NON hardware encoder based solution would require 
1.6 Ghz processor to handle it.  Happauge cards are generally a safe bet, as nearly all of them with the exeption of the 'WinTV' cards are supported.  Other cards, such as some ATI All-In-Wonder cards with TV inputs may work as well (Or what it ATI TV Wonder, I forget).
  WHATEVER YOU DO, DO NOT EVER get an MSI TV @nywhere based card.  They are total crap, and while you may manage to get them to work, it'll be a pain in the ass.  Other then that, make sure you have a decent pipe between the backend and front end.  Personally, I'd used a front end over 
802.11b, but it was VERY flakey once you started downloading something on another computer.  Also, the more you wish to do, the faster you'll want to HD's to be.  Other then that, you WILL USE MUCH MOOCHO HD space, as it is VERY easy to simply save and forget, and soon get 'HD full' messages.  ;-)
  ThomasOn 11/8/06, Paul Lussier <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
This has been a very interesting and informative thread, thanks forthe education!I've been "on-the-fence" wrt Tivo for several years now.  I've alwaysloved the idea, but just never gotten around to getting one.  I
thought about setting up MythTV, but at the time it sounded like itsomething you did because you had spare time to burn and a desire totweak and hack things.  The former I severely lack, and the latter Ido all day long already :)
>From the discussion thus far, though, it sounds that MythTV has come along way, and is probably something I ought to re-consider (esp. giventhat a Lifetime Tivo subscription no longer exists, and I don't have
the $16+/month to waste on TV).So, before I get all excited, and go grab the HOWTO (oops, too late :)Can someone give me a basic run down on a) the preferred way to setthings up, and b) what a rough cost estimate will be?
Here's what I think I want to do:I'd like a back-end server with lots of disk space and maybe 2 or 3capture cards that I can stuff somewhere out of site, and a front-endsystem I can use for viewing on my lone TV that is quiet and
unobtrusive.So, for these 2 systems, can someone give me a rough list of theessential-to-have hardware and the cost analysis?My main goal here is ease of installation/configuration and minimizing
as much as possible hardware incompatibility frustration.  I.e., ifthere's a certain MoBo I ought to use or specific hardware combinationthat "just works", tell me.  Cost savings *is* an issue, but time is
more of an issue.  I don't want to fight with hardware, I want tobuild an appliance that will do it's job with as little interactionfrom me as possible :)--Seeya,Paul___
gnhlug-discuss mailing listgnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.orghttp://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/

___
gnhlug-discuss mailing list
gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org
http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/

Re: Getting started w/ MythTV [was Re: Tivo vs MythTV]

[Randy Edwards]

 > I'd like a back-end server with lots of disk space and maybe 2 or 3
 > capture cards that I can stuff somewhere out of site,

   There are a variety of tuner cards available for Myth now.  To me, multiple 
cards are about mandatory, even if you don't watch much TV.  I love the 
PVR-500 (2 tuners on one card, with hardware encoding), though I've heard 
rumors that Happauge changed the chipset on newer 500 models.

   FWIW, an hour or two searching the MythTV users list at 
 will be time likely 
well spent.

 > and a front-end system I can use for viewing on my lone TV that is quiet
 > and unobtrusive.

   Right now I have a noisy front-end/back-end system in my living room.  But 
I'm deaf to computer fan noise. :-)

   What's neat is that with Myth, any computer hooked to your home LAN is also 
a TV -- an old PC in my bedroom suffices as the bedroom "TV".  I'm redoing 
another room as a game/living room, and in that the "plan" (insert standard 
disclaimer about plans!) is to use two 20/21" LCD monitors as "TVs" in that 
room.

 > So, for these 2 systems, can someone give me a rough list of the
 > essential-to-have hardware and the cost analysis?

   A trip to NewEgg should give you some price points, but it's worth 
mentioning that if your backend uses tuner cards with hardware encoding, you 
can get away with an embarrassingly low-powered CPU on that machine.

 > I.e., if there's a certain MoBo I ought to use or specific hardware
 > combination that "just works", tell me.

   What distro will you go with?  Myth had some issues with motherboards with 
Via chipsets, but that may now be a thing of the past.  The KnoppMyth 
 distro is a semi-turnkey Linux/Myth 
distro and has a forum full of hardware reports/suggestions.

 > I don't want to fight with hardware, I want to build an appliance that will
 > do it's job with as little interaction from me as possible :)

   You'll definitely have to sink some time into the setup/play phase.  
However, once set up I think it'll meet your appliance requirements.

 Regards,
 .
 Randy

-- 
Fast fact: If the U.S. had an infant mortality rate as good as Cuba's, we 
would save an additional 2,212 American babies a year. Cuba is one of 41 
(forty-one!) countries that have better infant mortality rates than the U.S.
___
gnhlug-discuss mailing list
gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org
http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/

Getting started w/ MythTV [was Re: Tivo vs MythTV]

[Paul Lussier]

This has been a very interesting and informative thread, thanks for
the education!

I've been "on-the-fence" wrt Tivo for several years now.  I've always
loved the idea, but just never gotten around to getting one.  I
thought about setting up MythTV, but at the time it sounded like it
something you did because you had spare time to burn and a desire to
tweak and hack things.  The former I severely lack, and the latter I
do all day long already :)

>From the discussion thus far, though, it sounds that MythTV has come a
long way, and is probably something I ought to re-consider (esp. given
that a Lifetime Tivo subscription no longer exists, and I don't have
the $16+/month to waste on TV).

So, before I get all excited, and go grab the HOWTO (oops, too late :)
Can someone give me a basic run down on a) the preferred way to set
things up, and b) what a rough cost estimate will be?

Here's what I think I want to do:

I'd like a back-end server with lots of disk space and maybe 2 or 3
capture cards that I can stuff somewhere out of site, and a front-end
system I can use for viewing on my lone TV that is quiet and
unobtrusive.

So, for these 2 systems, can someone give me a rough list of the
essential-to-have hardware and the cost analysis?

My main goal here is ease of installation/configuration and minimizing
as much as possible hardware incompatibility frustration.  I.e., if
there's a certain MoBo I ought to use or specific hardware combination
that "just works", tell me.  Cost savings *is* an issue, but time is
more of an issue.  I don't want to fight with hardware, I want to
build an appliance that will do it's job with as little interaction
from me as possible :)

-- 
Seeya,
Paul
___
gnhlug-discuss mailing list
gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org
http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/