Re: [H] Any MythTV users out there?

[Brian Weeden]

The only reason that I haven't gone that route is because I am a
satellite user and there isn't a decoder card for PCs yet.  Howver, at
CES DirectTV announced a deal with Microsoft that would result in a
MCE box that would PVR satellite using the same technology as
CableCard for cable.

Sounds great, but I am not putting down 1 cent until I see the DRM. 
And I know its gonna be bad :(

On 1/22/06, Wayne Johnson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> At 10:55 PM 1/21/2006, Chris Reeves typed:
> >*laugh* yeah, I think that too.. but realize, even in the open releases,
> >Vista and other things coming down the pipe require an HDMI interface on the
> >monitor to put out recorded HDTV conent.. *shrug* so, it's almost a "no win"
>
> Makes me glad that I have the MyHD MDP-120 card & the broadcast flag
> was rejected [at least for now].  I know several peeps that bought
> extra MyHD cards when they feared the broadcast flag was going into effect.
>
>
> --+--
> Wayne D. Johnson
> Ashland, OH, USA 44805
> 
>
>


--
Brian

RE: [H] Any MythTV users out there?

[Wayne Johnson]

At 10:55 PM 1/21/2006, Chris Reeves typed:

*laugh* yeah, I think that too.. but realize, even in the open releases,
Vista and other things coming down the pipe require an HDMI interface on the
monitor to put out recorded HDTV conent.. *shrug* so, it's almost a "no win"


Makes me glad that I have the MyHD MDP-120 card & the broadcast flag 
was rejected [at least for now].  I know several peeps that bought 
extra MyHD cards when they feared the broadcast flag was going into effect.



--+--
   Wayne D. Johnson
Ashland, OH, USA 44805
 

Re: [H] Any MythTV users out there?

[Wayne Johnson]

At 11:58 PM 1/21/2006, Brian Weeden typed:

Now, exact digital copies can be made over and over equal to the
source.


What gets me is if I obtain the original video legally then why do 
they care what I do with it in my own home?   Just 
because I have rape tools doesn't make me a rapist no more than woman 
has to be a prostitute. These guys are treating all of us like we're 
criminals when we haven't even been accused never mind charged with 
anything. This whole deal with the RIAA & the MPAA ticks me off & 
it's because of their attitudes that many do all that they can to 
turn the tables on them. 


--+--
   Wayne D. Johnson
Ashland, OH, USA 44805
 

Re: [H] Any MythTV users out there?

[Brian Weeden]

The difference is that the content owners can control (theoretically)
what's inside the box.  Once its out, they cant control it.

The content owners have always hated the consumer's ability to make
copies using a cassette tape or VCR or whatever.  But they were always
inferior to the original so it wasn't a big deal.  The copyright laws
were made with the "copies for personal use and backups" written in,
which was then uphelf by the Betamax decision.  That is why we can do
what we currently can.

Now, exact digital copies can be made over and over equal to the
source.  And at the same time, the content owners now have the ability
to control the format.  So they are now trying to push legistlation to
close the "analog hole" which, coupled with the DMCA, effectively will
lock down the content and put it under their complete control.

Until the consumer backlash and boycott hits, and DVD Jon cracks it :)


--
Brian

RE: [H] Any MythTV users out there?

[Chris Reeves]

*laugh* yeah, I think that too.. but realize, even in the open releases,
Vista and other things coming down the pipe require an HDMI interface on the
monitor to put out recorded HDTV conent.. *shrug* so, it's almost a "no win"

There is nothing, and I mean -nothing- coming down the pike I've seen from
anyone that can capture from component and do spit with it.  I actually
would think there would be a better chance of capturing from DVI, but I
haven't found anything that does that either ;)  Someone just needs to come
up with a nice, external DVI-to-1394 Converter ;)

CW




--
FIGHT BACK AGAINST SPAM!
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> -Original Message-
> From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:hardware-
> [EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Wayne Johnson
> Sent: Saturday, January 21, 2006 9:45 PM
> To: The Hardware List
> Subject: RE: [H] Any MythTV users out there?
> 
> At 08:21 PM 1/21/2006, Chris Reeves typed:
> >Yeah, Time Warner here has told me that have suspended all distribution
> of
> >1394 devices and carry "none".
> 
> Like I stated before I wonder if anyone makes a capture card that
> accepts component inputs then lets see the complaints about copyright
> infringement. ;-)
> 
> 
> --+--
> Wayne D. Johnson
> Ashland, OH, USA 44805
> <http://www.wavijo.com>

RE: [H] Any MythTV users out there?

[Wayne Johnson]

At 08:21 PM 1/21/2006, Chris Reeves typed:

Yeah, Time Warner here has told me that have suspended all distribution of
1394 devices and carry "none".


Like I stated before I wonder if anyone makes a capture card that 
accepts component inputs then lets see the complaints about copyright 
infringement. ;-)



--+--
   Wayne D. Johnson
Ashland, OH, USA 44805
 

RE: [H] Any MythTV users out there?

[Wayne Johnson]

At 08:21 PM 1/21/2006, Chris Reeves typed:

Yeah, Time Warner here has told me that have suspended all distribution of
1394 devices and carry "none".  The tech I spoke to said "copyright issues"
prevent them from allowing units with turned on 1394 ports; therefore, I
have a Scientific Atlanta unit which has firewire ports.. that are dead as a
doornail.


This is what I don't comprehend. Why is ok for me to save to an 
internal HD for playback later & not to an external HD for playback 
later?  Wouldn't both situations be a copyright issue ?  Heck I can 
take the external coax out & plug that into a stand alone dvd 
recorder just as easily as I can a TV. I wonder if we'll still be 
able to that with the new stand alone bluray or hd dvd recorders tho.


--+--
   Wayne D. Johnson
Ashland, OH, USA 44805
 

RE: [H] Any MythTV users out there?

[Chris Reeves]

Yeah, Time Warner here has told me that have suspended all distribution of
1394 devices and carry "none".  The tech I spoke to said "copyright issues"
prevent them from allowing units with turned on 1394 ports; therefore, I
have a Scientific Atlanta unit which has firewire ports.. that are dead as a
doornail.




--
FIGHT BACK AGAINST SPAM!
Download Spam Inspector, the Award Winning Anti-Spam Filter
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> -Original Message-
> From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:hardware-
> [EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Wayne Johnson
> Sent: Saturday, January 21, 2006 5:56 PM
> To: The Hardware List
> Subject: Re: [H] Any MythTV users out there?
> 
> At 05:56 PM 1/21/2006, warpmedia typed:
> >TW was just an easy example that it's being done and the hoops they
> >might may you go through to get it. Notice it says you have to
> >specifically ask for that box and they like stonewall without that info.
> >
> >Not to mention they don't do this in (any?) other TW markets. When I
> >searched a few months ago for info on the Minnesota TW site there
> >was no mention of 1394, period. The site I quoted was for their
> >corporate headquarters region, no surprise they get it 1st.
> >
> >Let us know what happens!
> 
> I called & the gal didn't even know what a firewire or 1394 port was
> for which doesn't surprise me because the installation technician
> didn't even know what size HD the thing had & freely admitted that no
> one had asked before.  The gal that I spoke to wanted to know what
> that thingy was used for & I told her to add an external HD for
> playback later just as it has an internal HD. She sounded amazed that
> one could do such a thing & stated that she would pass it on up to
> her supervisor & that I could expect a call next week. Sure I can &
> I'm holding my breathe as I wait too.
> 
> 
> --+--
> Wayne D. Johnson
> Ashland, OH, USA 44805
> <http://www.wavijo.com>

Re: [H] Any MythTV users out there?

[Wayne Johnson]

At 05:56 PM 1/21/2006, warpmedia typed:
TW was just an easy example that it's being done and the hoops they 
might may you go through to get it. Notice it says you have to 
specifically ask for that box and they like stonewall without that info.


Not to mention they don't do this in (any?) other TW markets. When I 
searched a few months ago for info on the Minnesota TW site there 
was no mention of 1394, period. The site I quoted was for their 
corporate headquarters region, no surprise they get it 1st.


Let us know what happens!


I called & the gal didn't even know what a firewire or 1394 port was 
for which doesn't surprise me because the installation technician 
didn't even know what size HD the thing had & freely admitted that no 
one had asked before.  The gal that I spoke to wanted to know what 
that thingy was used for & I told her to add an external HD for 
playback later just as it has an internal HD. She sounded amazed that 
one could do such a thing & stated that she would pass it on up to 
her supervisor & that I could expect a call next week. Sure I can & 
I'm holding my breathe as I wait too.



--+--
   Wayne D. Johnson
Ashland, OH, USA 44805
 

Re: [H] Any MythTV users out there?

[warpmedia]

TW was just an easy example that it's being done and the hoops they 
might may you go through to get it. Notice it says you have to 
specifically ask for that box and they like stonewall without that info.


Not to mention they don't do this in (any?) other TW markets. When I 
searched a few months ago for info on the Minnesota TW site there was no 
mention of 1394, period. The site I quoted was for their corporate 
headquarters region, no surprise they get it 1st.


Let us know what happens!


Wayne Johnson wrote:

At 11:11 PM 1/19/2006, warpmedia typed:

"What is Time Warner Cable required to do to support 1394?
Effective April 1, 2004, Time Warner Cable can replace any leased high 
definition box, which does not include a functional 1394 interface, 
with one that includes a functional 1394 interface.  This new box is a 
special version of the Scientific Atlanta 3250 HD box and must 
requested by name."


Unfortunately my cable co is not Time Warner & the box is a Motorola 
DCT6412iii 


What you reference is old & the link from slashdot goes to a FCC doc 
that is dated June 17, 2005 not April 1, 2004 as the article claims. 
 but I see the quote word 
for word about half way thru that document & from what I can tell there 
is nothing to the contrary in that document so I'll be giving my cable 
company a call.


Thanks.

--+--
   Wayne D. Johnson
Ashland, OH, USA 44805

Re: [H] Any MythTV users out there?

[Wayne Johnson]

At 11:11 PM 1/19/2006, warpmedia typed:

"What is Time Warner Cable required to do to support 1394?
Effective April 1, 2004, Time Warner Cable can replace any leased 
high definition box, which does not include a functional 1394 
interface, with one that includes a functional 1394 interface.  This 
new box is a special version of the Scientific Atlanta 3250 HD box 
and must requested by name."


Unfortunately my cable co is not Time Warner & the box is a Motorola 
DCT6412iii 


What you reference is old & the link from slashdot goes to a FCC doc 
that is dated June 17, 2005 not April 1, 2004 as the article claims. 
 but I see the quote 
word for word about half way thru that document & from what I can 
tell there is nothing to the contrary in that document so I'll be 
giving my cable company a call.


Thanks.

--+--
   Wayne D. Johnson
Ashland, OH, USA 44805
 

Re: [H] Any MythTV users out there?

[warpmedia]

Well, there is supposedly a law that forces the cable co to give you a 
box with 1394 enabled.


http://www.timewarnercable.com/nc/products/cable/firewire.html

"What is Time Warner Cable required to do to support 1394?
Effective April 1, 2004, Time Warner Cable can replace any leased high 
definition box, which does not include a functional 1394 interface, with 
one that includes a functional 1394 interface.  This new box is a 
special version of the Scientific Atlanta 3250 HD box and must requested 
by name."


http://ask.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=04/09/20/1943207&tid=129&tid=185&tid=126&tid=4

http://www.fcc.gov/mb/engineering/part76.pdf

"(4) Cable operators shall:
(i) Effective April 1, 2004, upon request of a customer, replace any 
leased high definition
set-top box, which does not include a functional IEEE 1394 interface, 
with one that
includes a functional IEEE 1394 interface or upgrade the customer's 
set-top box by
download or other means to ensure that the IEEE 1394 interface is 
functional.


(ii) Effective July 1, 2005, include both a DVI or HDMI interface and an 
IEEE 1394
interface on all high definition set-top boxes acquired by a cable 
operator for distribution

to customers.

(iii) Ensure that these cable operator-provided high definition set-top 
boxes shall comply

with ANSI/SCTE 26 2001 (formerly DVS 194): "Home Digital Network Interface
Specification with Copy Protection" (incorporated by reference, see 
§76.602), with
transmission of bit-mapped graphics optional, and shall support the 
CEA­931­A:
"Remote Control Command Pass-through Standard for Home Networking" 
(incorporated
by reference, see §76.602), pass through control commands: tune 
function, mute function,
and restore volume function. In addition these boxes shall support the 
power control
commands (power on, power off, and status inquiry) defined in A/VC 
Digital Interface
Command Set General Specification Version 4.0 (as referenced in 
ANSI/SCTE 26 2001

(formerly DVS 194): "Home Digital Network Interface Specification with Copy
Protection" (incorporated by reference, see §76.602)). "

Wayne Johnson wrote:

At 12:53 PM 1/19/2006, Stan Zaske typed:

Does your cable box have Firewire output? @:D>


Mine has several but the cable company has disabled them. How 
considerate of them.



--+--
   Wayne D. Johnson
Ashland, OH, USA 44805

Re: [H] Any MythTV users out there?

[Wayne Johnson]

At 12:53 PM 1/19/2006, Stan Zaske typed:

Does your cable box have Firewire output? @:D>


Mine has several but the cable company has disabled them. How 
considerate of them.



--+--
   Wayne D. Johnson
Ashland, OH, USA 44805
 

Re: [H] Any MythTV users out there?

[Stan Zaske]

Does your cable box have Firewire output? @:D>


Ben Ruset wrote:
How does one build one if you need to have a set top box to decode 
digital cable signals? Can it change channels with some sort of IR box?


I have a HDTV PVR through Comcast digital. $9.99/mo which isn't bad at 
all. I would like the ability, however, to archive my recordings and 
be able to watch them on my laptop.

Re: [H] Any MythTV users out there?

[Stan Zaske]

Thanks for the links and your experience. I've downloaded KnoppMyth 
myself and I'm just waiting on the purchase of a capture card to begin 
installation. I'll probably get a PVR-150 because I only want to 
time-shift @ this point. Thanks for the links below. @:D>



Neil Davidson wrote:

You are right, if you are using hardware based capture cards then you can
build a system with relatively old components. If you use software based
capture cards and record in MPEG-4 you will need a beefier system,
especially if HDTV is involved.

I've been trying to get a MythTV system up and running for the past year on
and off. What made it more complicated for me was trying to get DVB-T cards
running under Linux. The drivers are still very immature for a lot of these
cards, and the Support in MythTV has been completely re-written since I
started. My latest install has been with Knoppmyth (which can be installed
to hard drive if you want) and it actually recognises all three cards first
time and tunes brilliantly. I just need to get the remote working using LIRC
as my IR receiver and controller are not directly supported.

Hopefully I'll get time for this in the next few weeks.

I've been following the development list for Myth for a long time now and
there are some major updates planned for the next couple of releases. The
LiveTV system has been re-written for the next release, 0.19, along with the
handling of digital tuner cards (Both DVB and ATSC I believe). 0.20 should
see the UI migrated to a new custom set of APIs enabling more flexibility
for plugins, easier coding and better response times, from what I understand
at least.

Building a MythTV system isn't that easy, especially if you have no or
limited Linux experience (like myself) but for a standard system using a
PVR-150/250/500 it should be a lot easier than trying to get DVB/ATSC
running.

Here are a few links that might be useful:

http://wilsonet.com/mythtv/fcmyth.php - Fedora Myth(TV)ology  HOWTO
http://mysettopbox.tv/knoppmyth.html - Knoppmyth
http://www.mythtv.info/ - unofficial WiKi that is on hold as the data is
moving across to the main MythTV site soon.



  

-Original Message-
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Stan Zaske

Sent: 19 January 2006 05:45
To: The Hardware List
Subject: [H] Any MythTV users out there?

Hey guys, I've recently been reading a lot about MythTV and 
how you can take relatively old and obsolete PC components 
and build a PVR that will time shift your favorite programs 
so you can watch them @ your convenience.  Many people seem 
to have successfully built MythTV boxes with little more than 
old Celerons and Durons with inexpensive PVR 150's and such.


Has anybody on the list done this as I would be interested in 
your hardware setup and the Linux distro you used and the 
hoops you had to jump through to get it up and running. Some 
people have actually taken old Xbox's and gotten Myth to work 
that way. Its really cool what some people have succeeded in 
using to record and view SDTV @ home in their living rooms. 
Appreciate your feedback. @:D>







  

Re: [H] Any MythTV users out there?

[Stan Zaske]

Cool, its like a video Podcast. Thanks for the link and your experience. 
@:D>



Brian Weeden wrote:

Here is a good place to get started:

http://revision3.com/systm/mythtv/

Kevin Rose and the guys have a 45 min video about how to get a MythTV
box running.  Not completely in depth, but a good starting point.

Knoppmyth tends to be the easiest distro.  It is a Linux Live CD - you
pop it in, reboot, and boom it does all the work itself.  A little
configuration and it is up and running.  Kevin uses it and there is a
link on the systm page to it.

Personally I don't use MythTV or MCE to do PVR right now.  I use my
HTPC simply for playback of DVDs and Xvid files.  This is because I
use Satellite and there isnt a really good solution for doing PVR of
that just yet.  I have found that the beefiness of the hardware
required is directly related to the res of the video.

The higher resolution the video and the higher the compression, the
more CPU power you will need.  HDTV playback using WMV9 or H.264 needs
a 3Ghz P4 to run really smoothly.  But, MPEG-2 compression and
playback (what TIVO uses and DVDs) works just fine.  But then you have
1GB per hour of video as opposed to 350MB for MPEG-4.

My box is a nForce 2 mobo with a 1.6Ghz Tbird and 512MB of DDR.  I am
using an Geforce4 Ti4400 for video playback and have a 1.5 TB RAID 5
array for storage.


On 1/18/06, Stan Zaske <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
  

Hey guys, I've recently been reading a lot about MythTV and how you can
take relatively old and obsolete PC components and build a PVR that will
time shift your favorite programs so you can watch them @ your
convenience.  Many people seem to have successfully built MythTV boxes
with little more than old Celerons and Durons with inexpensive PVR 150's
and such.

Has anybody on the list done this as I would be interested in your
hardware setup and the Linux distro you used and the hoops you had to
jump through to get it up and running. Some people have actually taken
old Xbox's and gotten Myth to work that way. Its really cool what some
people have succeeded in using to record and view SDTV @ home in their
living rooms. Appreciate your feedback. @:D>





--
Brian



  

Re: [H] Any MythTV users out there?

[Ben Ruset]

i haven't even begun to research capture cards yet.

Wayne Johnson wrote:

I don't know of any capture card that accepts component cable as an 
input, do you ?

Re: [H] Any MythTV users out there?

[Wayne Johnson]

At 11:11 AM 1/19/2006, Ben Ruset typed:
Well, from what I understand CableCard does not yet allow for 
OnDemand, which I make use of a lot.


As for archiving -- well as long as there is High Def over component 
cable, I don't know how they can stop you from archiving. It's an 
analog signal after all...


I have an HDTV PVR supplied by my local cable company as well & I 
have taken the coax out which is suppose to go to a tv & put that as 
an input for my Samsung stand alone DVD recorder. This works ok but 
it certainly is NOT HD.


I don't know of any capture card that accepts component cable as an 
input, do you ?



--+--
   Wayne D. Johnson
Ashland, OH, USA 44805
 

Re: [H] Any MythTV users out there?

[Brian Weeden]

On 1/19/06, Ben Ruset <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Well, from what I understand CableCard does not yet allow for OnDemand,
> which I make use of a lot.
>
> As for archiving -- well as long as there is High Def over component
> cable, I don't know how they can stop you from archiving. It's an analog
> signal after all...

Unless the bill to eliminate the "analog hole" passes Congress, after
which the only video connections we will have are HDCP or other copy
protected forms where the content owner can dictate if we can record,
fast forward, or keep their programs.


--
Brian

Re: [H] Any MythTV users out there?

[Ben Ruset]

Well, from what I understand CableCard does not yet allow for OnDemand, 
which I make use of a lot.


As for archiving -- well as long as there is High Def over component 
cable, I don't know how they can stop you from archiving. It's an analog 
signal after all...


Brian Weeden wrote:

On 1/19/06, Ben Ruset <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

How does one build one if you need to have a set top box to decode
digital cable signals? Can it change channels with some sort of IR box?


In the future HTPCs are supposed to support CableCard which means you
should be able to get rid of the cable box.  But I am guessing there
is going to be some heavy DRM with it and restrictions on what it
works with (like only MCE).

Right now, yes you still need to tune through your cable box and you
can get IR adapters to do it.  Or, get a combined RF/IR remote and map
the channel keys to control your cable box.


I have a HDTV PVR through Comcast digital. $9.99/mo which isn't bad at
all. I would like the ability, however, to archive my recordings and be
able to watch them on my laptop.



Wouldn't we all :)  Too bad the media companies, do not want us to
have that.  We can pay to watch it now, pay to watch it later, and pay
to watch it again in the future.

--
Brian

Re: [H] Any MythTV users out there?

[Brian Weeden]

On 1/19/06, Ben Ruset <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> How does one build one if you need to have a set top box to decode
> digital cable signals? Can it change channels with some sort of IR box?

In the future HTPCs are supposed to support CableCard which means you
should be able to get rid of the cable box.  But I am guessing there
is going to be some heavy DRM with it and restrictions on what it
works with (like only MCE).

Right now, yes you still need to tune through your cable box and you
can get IR adapters to do it.  Or, get a combined RF/IR remote and map
the channel keys to control your cable box.

> I have a HDTV PVR through Comcast digital. $9.99/mo which isn't bad at
> all. I would like the ability, however, to archive my recordings and be
> able to watch them on my laptop.
>

Wouldn't we all :)  Too bad the media companies, do not want us to
have that.  We can pay to watch it now, pay to watch it later, and pay
to watch it again in the future.

--
Brian

Re: [H] Any MythTV users out there?

[Ben Ruset]

How does one build one if you need to have a set top box to decode 
digital cable signals? Can it change channels with some sort of IR box?


I have a HDTV PVR through Comcast digital. $9.99/mo which isn't bad at 
all. I would like the ability, however, to archive my recordings and be 
able to watch them on my laptop.

RE: [H] Any MythTV users out there?

[Neil Davidson]

You are right, if you are using hardware based capture cards then you can
build a system with relatively old components. If you use software based
capture cards and record in MPEG-4 you will need a beefier system,
especially if HDTV is involved.

I've been trying to get a MythTV system up and running for the past year on
and off. What made it more complicated for me was trying to get DVB-T cards
running under Linux. The drivers are still very immature for a lot of these
cards, and the Support in MythTV has been completely re-written since I
started. My latest install has been with Knoppmyth (which can be installed
to hard drive if you want) and it actually recognises all three cards first
time and tunes brilliantly. I just need to get the remote working using LIRC
as my IR receiver and controller are not directly supported.

Hopefully I'll get time for this in the next few weeks.

I've been following the development list for Myth for a long time now and
there are some major updates planned for the next couple of releases. The
LiveTV system has been re-written for the next release, 0.19, along with the
handling of digital tuner cards (Both DVB and ATSC I believe). 0.20 should
see the UI migrated to a new custom set of APIs enabling more flexibility
for plugins, easier coding and better response times, from what I understand
at least.

Building a MythTV system isn't that easy, especially if you have no or
limited Linux experience (like myself) but for a standard system using a
PVR-150/250/500 it should be a lot easier than trying to get DVB/ATSC
running.

Here are a few links that might be useful:

http://wilsonet.com/mythtv/fcmyth.php - Fedora Myth(TV)ology  HOWTO
http://mysettopbox.tv/knoppmyth.html - Knoppmyth
http://www.mythtv.info/ - unofficial WiKi that is on hold as the data is
moving across to the main MythTV site soon.



> -Original Message-
> From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 
> [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Stan Zaske
> Sent: 19 January 2006 05:45
> To: The Hardware List
> Subject: [H] Any MythTV users out there?
> 
> Hey guys, I've recently been reading a lot about MythTV and 
> how you can take relatively old and obsolete PC components 
> and build a PVR that will time shift your favorite programs 
> so you can watch them @ your convenience.  Many people seem 
> to have successfully built MythTV boxes with little more than 
> old Celerons and Durons with inexpensive PVR 150's and such.
> 
> Has anybody on the list done this as I would be interested in 
> your hardware setup and the Linux distro you used and the 
> hoops you had to jump through to get it up and running. Some 
> people have actually taken old Xbox's and gotten Myth to work 
> that way. Its really cool what some people have succeeded in 
> using to record and view SDTV @ home in their living rooms. 
> Appreciate your feedback. @:D>
> 

Re: [H] Any MythTV users out there?

[Brian Weeden]

Here is a good place to get started:

http://revision3.com/systm/mythtv/

Kevin Rose and the guys have a 45 min video about how to get a MythTV
box running.  Not completely in depth, but a good starting point.

Knoppmyth tends to be the easiest distro.  It is a Linux Live CD - you
pop it in, reboot, and boom it does all the work itself.  A little
configuration and it is up and running.  Kevin uses it and there is a
link on the systm page to it.

Personally I don't use MythTV or MCE to do PVR right now.  I use my
HTPC simply for playback of DVDs and Xvid files.  This is because I
use Satellite and there isnt a really good solution for doing PVR of
that just yet.  I have found that the beefiness of the hardware
required is directly related to the res of the video.

The higher resolution the video and the higher the compression, the
more CPU power you will need.  HDTV playback using WMV9 or H.264 needs
a 3Ghz P4 to run really smoothly.  But, MPEG-2 compression and
playback (what TIVO uses and DVDs) works just fine.  But then you have
1GB per hour of video as opposed to 350MB for MPEG-4.

My box is a nForce 2 mobo with a 1.6Ghz Tbird and 512MB of DDR.  I am
using an Geforce4 Ti4400 for video playback and have a 1.5 TB RAID 5
array for storage.


On 1/18/06, Stan Zaske <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Hey guys, I've recently been reading a lot about MythTV and how you can
> take relatively old and obsolete PC components and build a PVR that will
> time shift your favorite programs so you can watch them @ your
> convenience.  Many people seem to have successfully built MythTV boxes
> with little more than old Celerons and Durons with inexpensive PVR 150's
> and such.
>
> Has anybody on the list done this as I would be interested in your
> hardware setup and the Linux distro you used and the hoops you had to
> jump through to get it up and running. Some people have actually taken
> old Xbox's and gotten Myth to work that way. Its really cool what some
> people have succeeded in using to record and view SDTV @ home in their
> living rooms. Appreciate your feedback. @:D>
>


--
Brian