[mythtv] Multi-Purpose box , Myth and Wireless questions

[Hirendra Hindocha]

Hi, 

Kudos to the Myth development team. It is a very interesting and
impressive project. 

I have a new PC with the following configuration - 
- 2.4GHz P4 
- 2 x 80 GB Maxtor 7200 RPM HD
- Ge4 Ti 4200 w 128 MB Ram and S-Video out
- SB Live
- Win TV Go 190
- 10/100 
- 512 MB DDR Ram
- RH 8.0
- Myth 0.7 

I'd hate to devote this PC to be only a Mythbox. I'm trying to
see how I can use this as a general purpose PC as well as a Myth
box. 

I've been reading the list for a few weeks now and here is what
I've tried so far - 

1. I have the Web Cable Plus 
2. I also acquired the PC2TV wireless upgrade kit

With the above combination I'm able to play myth on the PC and
watch it on my TV on the first floor. There are a few
problems currently with this setup and I'm hoping the experts on
this list can help me out. 

Although the above setup works, it doesn't work well enough. 
For example when I watch recorded shows, there is static and a
background buzz. Has anyone used the PC2TV wireless kit ? If so,
please share your experience. Any suggestion on what I can try to
improve the quality ? 

In my quest to use the PC as a general purpose box, I want to use
high resolution output on my monitor while displaying 800x600 on
the TV out ? Is it possibile ? i.e can I have Myth start at
800x660 on the TV out of my card, while I have a 1280x1024 on the
monitor ? I want the ability to browse and check email etc while
simultaneously displaying myth on the TV . Is it possible ? 
Also, I have a 54" TV. What resolution should I use to get max
quality for recording and playback ? I see there is a project on
SF - nv-tv-out. Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be much info
on how to use it the way I've described above. 

I had Alsa drivers working then I changed something, rebooted and
now I can't get it to work. I went back to OSS and am much
happier with it. What if any are the drawbacks in using the OSS
drivers ? 

Also, I want the ability to burn VCDs and I read on the list that
there is a patch to MPlayer which will allow the use of mencoder
to transform the Myth format into something more standard. Would
this patch need to be applied to every new release of Mplayer or
has this patch been officially accepted by the MPlayer team ? 

Is the quality of sound output differen/better/worse using OSS or
Alsa ? I would like to store my MP3's on the PC and have the
audio transmitted to my home entertainment system. 

If I do manage to get the above setup working, I still need a way
to remote control the PC while watching TV/Videos or sharing
photos. Given the distance (1st floor , second floor) I assume
that IR will not work. Am I right in my assumption ? Is there a
RF solution ? I see that the new ATI All-in-wonder's remote uses
RF instead of IR. Is a solution like that possible for Linux+Myth
? 

Any help, suggestions, pointers to URLs is greatly appreciated. 

TIA,
-- 
Hiren
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