Building a Linux PVR Part I - MythTV Setup and Install
by Kristopher Kubicki on September 3, 2004 12:05 AM EST- Posted in
- Linux
Final Thoughts
And finally, after several hours of turmoil and despair, we have installed and tested our Linux device. Its far from perfect - we cannot readily work with digital TV broadcasts, for example. What we do have is a machine that will readily emulate all of the basic Windows MCE or TiVo functionality at a reduced cost - and we can hack/configure/manipulate it to any extent that we wish to in the future. On the downside, it did take us over four hours to set up and install everything.Another item to consider in our cumulative upcoming comparison is that you cannot easily (legally?) scrap together some hardware and install Windows MCE on it. We can do some neat things with programs like BeyondTV and SageTV, but we are not given the full experience of Windows MCE (and certainly not for free).
Other drawbacks of MCE devices include the inability to play back the video content on anything but other MCE devices, and the inability to re-render the recorded files into a different format to save space. With MythTV and Linux, on the other hand, we can capture, re-encode and playback on completely separate machines, even Windows systems. For the truly crafty, Myth allows us to connect the front end of a different machine to the first MythTV system and play video files/streams in that manner.
These are all functionality comparisons that we will get into more in Part II, so stay tuned and get ready to see if our little Linux experiment can take on Microsoft's best.
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- Saturday, October 24, 2009 - link
sell:nike shoes$32,ed hardy(items),jean$30,handbag$35,polo shirt$13,shox$34Edster - Wednesday, September 22, 2004 - link
If you get stuck setting up mythtv then try this web site :[l=PVR Guide - How-to guides for setting up mythtv]http://pvrguide.no-ip.com[/l]
http://pvrguide.no-ip.com
sthes - Wednesday, September 15, 2004 - link
Whatever happened to part two? Anxiously awaiting the review!willy134 - Tuesday, September 7, 2004 - link
You need to mention the mythweb extension. I log into my computer from work and set up recordings. There are also plugins that allow you to view your recorded shows on a windows machine.The web server also has a very nice search feature and lists all the movies playing in your schedule. It's a great way to also find when a show you want to watch is playing again. Much better than looking up the listings on most web sites.
serff - Tuesday, September 7, 2004 - link
Can you guys comment on HDTV support in your follow up feature? I'm very intrested in building a HD DVR for less than $1000 (which is how much all of them are right now.) I'm also intrested in dual tuner solutions as well. Does MythTV support dual tuners? Also, in MythTV, when you go to the guide, can you still see the show you are watching? Like in the corner or something? It would also be cool to know about support for burning shows to DVD as well. Thanks!serff
sasa - Monday, September 6, 2004 - link
The system in the article is a total overkill if PVR-x50 is used.A 677MHz PIII can easily do the job.
Such system can be bought on ebay for $100, then just add 200GB hd for $100, GF4 for $40, PVR-x50 for $100. Total $340.
This system will do both front end and backend.
It is also possible to use very low spec PC for backend (like PII) and xbox as a frontend.
A Socket 370 PIII is consuming much less power than P4, K7 or K8 which is very important if you want to run Myth 24/7. You don't want to save $10 on tivo monthly bills while paying $20 for electricity bills.
Very nice distro for Myth is Debian unstable.
You just add a line into your apt config, run apt-get and it installs all dependencies.
sasa - Monday, September 6, 2004 - link
JohanV - Monday, September 6, 2004 - link
On the one side of the comparison: A windows MCE PC (hardware satisfying certain conditions + specialized preinstalled software)On the other side: A PC with approximately the same hardware with a general purpose SUSE Linux install, hand-compiled/hand-compiled drivers, databases and what not.
Not really a straight forward comparison, it's even worse than like comparing a server cpu with a desktop cpu.
Seems only fair to use handpicked hardware on both machines, and to use specialized OS's in both cases. In other words, use KnoppMyth with hardware that is known to work with KnoppMyth without any headaches.
griffy - Monday, September 6, 2004 - link
Anybody have any personal experience on the Telly MC1200, and how it might compare? I would be interested in a few words in Part II about how this option stacks up, in real terms. (Yes, I've read all the reviews.)Thanks for booting up an interesting area on AnandTech.
lbt - Monday, September 6, 2004 - link
Several people have mentioned KnoppMyth - no-one has said why...You insert the CD and it installs linux and *everything* you need to run Myth. (It aims to make running Myth 'appliance' like.)
For those who care it's a Knoppix (aka Debian) based distro.
Total install time is measured in minutes and you don't need to know linux (well, it's still at the 'not much' stage at the minute ;) )
Checkout www.mysettopbox.tv for forums and help.