[mythtv] Help please!
Derrick Rademaker
mythtv-dev@snowman.net
Thu, 12 Dec 2002 00:13:48 -0500
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John,
Thank you for the links and the time to reply. I am looking over =
the information provided. Again thank you
Derrick
----- Original Message -----=20
From: John=20
To: mythtv-dev@snowman.net=20
Sent: Saturday, January 11, 2003 11:41 PM
Subject: Re: [mythtv] Help please!
Hi Derrick,
Fellow "newbie" here. I've asked similar questions and here's what =
I've garnered...
1) Seems like the most preferred / common systems out here are the AMD =
systems such as the Athlon 2000+. Powerful & inexpensive. If you've =
got an older PC that needs more horsepower, you can get an Athlon 2000+ =
w/heatsink & fan, Motherboard, and 256mb RAM from googlegear.com (or =
tigerdirect.com) from around $175. With it, I believe you'll be able to =
install two tuners and have picture in picture and record one show while =
watching another. Wouldn't start out with that though - get one working =
first. ;-)
2) All kinds of video tuner cards work. I just bought a Matrox G200 =
TV because it has hardware MJPEG encoding which should allow my PIII-800 =
to do the job. If not, I'll upgrade to an AMD setup above. There's a =
list at: http://www.goldfish.org/~mcooper/pvrhw/stats.html which lists =
all the various configs that people have used with MythTV. It will give =
you an idea of what some of your choices are.
3) As you probably know, Linux comes in many "flavors" or =
"distributions" (distos). Mandrake is recommended as a great distro of =
Linux for beginners. I've d/l their ISO's (CD images) and read the docs =
and it's VERY well written. Answers all the basic questions and much =
more. People have advised me to download and play with Mandrake and get =
familiar with it before jumping into the MythTV application. Makes =
sense.
4) The current "official" version of MythTV is .7. There's a CVS =
(read this as compile all the development code yourself) version that is =
the true "latest" but not for beginners, and a .8 version is on the =
horizon - due this month if all goes well I guess. The biggest =
difference with .8 will be splitting the encoding and decoding pieces =
into a "front end" and "back end". Both of these processes can be done =
on the same box, or on different boxes. This will allow slower (I guess =
read "sub-1ghz") boxes to handle each chore. =20
5) The remote control portion works like this: The remote itself can =
be almost any infrared or universal remote with 4 arrow keys and keys to =
use as Enter and Esc, etc. The infrared "receiver" can either be =
purchased for around 35 bucks(?) or you can build it yourself with about =
$13 worth of parts from Radio Shack. It seems quite simple to solder up =
and I'm going to put one together shortly and actually buy a Tivo remote =
control from their online web site ($29) because I've had one before and =
like its ergonomics. If your existing entertainment system has a remote =
it may work fine. Go to http://www.lirc.org/ for more info.
6) There's a member on this list who's working on putting together a =
"MythTV on a CD" distribution. It will work like this: You'll download =
the image, burn a CD and then boot that up on your PC. It will load a =
version of Linux with all the MythTV s/w all configured and =
ready-to-run! Advantage is obviously you can be running in minutes =
without knowing much about what's going on. Disadvantage is that it =
"may" be difficult to customize for your own hardware - especially if it =
strays from whatever is on the CD. I used a SuSE CD like this when =
first checking out Linux a while back and it worked great. We'll see =
when he has it ready, but there's a lot of interest in this option.
Guess that's about it. Like I say, I'm new to it too, but hey, we all =
start somewhere right? =20
Good luck, and thanks again to all the guys who put in so much hard =
work to make MythTV available!
John
----- Original Message -----=20
From: Derrick Rademaker=20
To: mythtv-dev@snowman.net=20
Sent: Wednesday, December 11, 2002 10:20 PM
Subject: [mythtv] Help please!
I have never used linux before in my life, I would like to create a =
new pc exlusively for myth tv and pvr for my television system
What would you recommend for the best idea system to have it used =
only for this and using a remote control with the entertainment system
I am on a budget so I need to keep cost low=20
Thank you for all your help
Derrick
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<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>John,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2> Thank you for the =
links and the=20
time to reply. I am looking over the information provided. Again =
thank=20
you</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Derrick</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE dir=3Dltr=20
style=3D"PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; =
BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style=3D"FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV=20
style=3D"BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: =
black"><B>From:</B>=20
<A title=3Djohnmythtv@crombe.com =
href=3D"mailto:johnmythtv@crombe.com">John</A>=20
</DIV>
<DIV style=3D"FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A =
title=3Dmythtv-dev@snowman.net=20
href=3D"mailto:mythtv-dev@snowman.net">mythtv-dev@snowman.net</A> =
</DIV>
<DIV style=3D"FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Saturday, January 11, =
2003 11:41=20
PM</DIV>
<DIV style=3D"FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: [mythtv] Help =
please!</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Hi Derrick,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Fellow "newbie" here. I've =
asked similar=20
questions and here's what I've garnered...</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>1) Seems like the most preferred /=20
common systems out here are the AMD systems such as the =
Athlon=20
2000+. Powerful & inexpensive. If you've got an older =
PC that=20
needs more horsepower, you can get an Athlon 2000+ w/heatsink & =
fan,=20
Motherboard, and 256mb RAM from googlegear.com (or tigerdirect.com) =
from=20
around $175. With it, I believe you'll be able to install two =
tuners and=20
have picture in picture and record one show while watching =
another. =20
Wouldn't start out with that though - get one working first. =
;-)</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>2) All kinds of video tuner cards =
work. I=20
just bought a Matrox G200 TV because it has hardware MJPEG encoding =
which=20
should allow my PIII-800 to do the job. If not, I'll upgrade to =
an AMD=20
setup above. There's a list at: <A=20
=
href=3D"http://www.goldfish.org/~mcooper/pvrhw/stats.html">http://www.gol=
dfish.org/~mcooper/pvrhw/stats.html</A> which=20
lists all the various configs that people have used with MythTV. =
It will=20
give you an idea of what some of your choices are.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>3) As you probably know, Linux =
comes in many=20
"flavors" or "distributions" (distos). Mandrake is =
recommended as=20
a great distro of Linux for beginners. I've d/l their ISO's (CD=20
images) and read the docs and it's VERY well written. =
Answers all=20
the basic questions and much more. People have advised me to =
download=20
and play with Mandrake and get familiar with it before jumping into =
the MythTV=20
application. Makes sense.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>4) The current "official" version of =
MythTV is=20
.7. There's a CVS (read this as compile all the development =
code=20
yourself) version that is the true "latest" but not for beginners, and =
a .8=20
version is on the horizon - due this month if all goes well I =
guess. The=20
biggest difference with .8 will be splitting the encoding and decoding =
pieces=20
into a "front end" and "back end". Both of these processes can =
be done=20
on the same box, or on different boxes. This will allow slower =
(I guess=20
read "sub-1ghz") boxes to handle each chore. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>5) The remote control portion =
works like=20
this: The remote itself can be almost any infrared or=20
universal remote with 4 arrow keys and keys to use as Enter =
and Esc,=20
etc. The infrared "receiver" can either be purchased for =
around 35=20
bucks(?) or you can build it yourself with about $13 worth of parts =
from Radio=20
Shack. It seems quite simple to solder up and I'm going to put =
one=20
together shortly and actually buy a Tivo remote control from their =
online web=20
site ($29) because I've had one before and like its ergonomics. =
If your=20
existing entertainment system has a remote it may work fine. Go =
to <A=20
href=3D"http://www.lirc.org/">http://www.lirc.org/</A> for more=20
info.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>6) There's a member on this list =
who's working on=20
putting together a "MythTV on a CD" distribution. It will work =
like=20
this: You'll download the image, burn a CD and then boot that up =
on your=20
PC. It will load a version of Linux with all the MythTV s/w all=20
configured and ready-to-run! Advantage is obviously you can be =
running=20
in minutes without knowing much about what's going on. =
Disadvantage is=20
that it "may" be difficult to customize for your own hardware -=20
especially if it strays from whatever is on the CD. I used a =
SuSE CD=20
like this when first checking out Linux a while back and it =
worked=20
great. We'll see when he has it ready, but there's a lot of =
interest in=20
this option.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Guess that's about it. Like I =
say, I'm new=20
to it too, but hey, we all start somewhere right? </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Good luck, and thanks again to all =
the guys who=20
put in so much hard work to =
make MythTV available!</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>John</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE dir=3Dltr=20
style=3D"PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; =
BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style=3D"FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV=20
style=3D"BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: =
black"><B>From:</B>=20
<A title=3Dtechnix@writeme.com =
href=3D"mailto:technix@writeme.com">Derrick=20
Rademaker</A> </DIV>
<DIV style=3D"FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A =
title=3Dmythtv-dev@snowman.net=20
href=3D"mailto:mythtv-dev@snowman.net">mythtv-dev@snowman.net</A> =
</DIV>
<DIV style=3D"FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Wednesday, December 11, =
2002=20
10:20 PM</DIV>
<DIV style=3D"FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> [mythtv] Help =
please!</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT><FONT face=3DArial=20
size=3D2></FONT><BR></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>I have never used linux before in =
my=20
life, I would like to create a new pc exlusively for myth tv =
and pvr=20
for my television system</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>What would you recommend for the =
best idea=20
system to have it used only for this and using a remote control with =
the=20
entertainment system</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>I am on a budget so I need to keep =
cost low=20
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Thank you for all your =
help</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Derrick</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial=20
size=3D2></FONT> </DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>
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