[mythtv-users] Operating System of choice ?

[Jesse Guardiani]

Andrew Close wrote:

>On 8/5/05, zoiks2004-ivtv at yahoo.com <zoiks2004-ivtv at yahoo.com> wrote:
>  
>
>>If you are interested in saving time and work, then
>>knoppmyth ( http://mysettopbox.tv/ ) is the right
>>choice.  That's the only way you are going to get a
>>good "out of the box" experience in myth right now.
>>    
>>
>
>i'll second the KnoppMyth route.  i've set up three systems using two
>different versions of KnoppMyth and all three were a breeze.  the real
>key is the hardware you choose to use.  just make sure it's being used
>by others before you go spending money on it. :)
>i'm currently using KnoppMyth R5A16 with one PVR-250 card and one
>PVR-500 card.  it works beautifully.
>  
>

Yeah. I'll second the hardware thing. I'm running KnoppMyth with a PVR 
350, and it's
working very nicely too, but since it's a less common setup (and since 
the ivtv driver
is still maturing) it took me literally a full week of my 
[uncharacteristically considerable]
spare time to get it usable. Some of the necessary software wasn't even 
included with
KnoppMyth (like ivtv 0.3.7b, necessary for XV support and playing DVDs 
smoothly,
or libdvdcss, necessary for playback/ripping of commercial DVDs). Other 
times it was
included, but not installed, configured, and/or activated by default.

I think your 1st KnoppMyth install will take a while regardless. Certain 
things like IR
remotes won't work out of the box. After that, once you know how 
everything fits
together, it gets much easier.

I didn't know what to expect from my PVR 350, so I had a very difficult 
time figuring
out where the problem was when things went wrong. Now that I've 
discovered 400
ways NOT to do it, it's much easier to get it right the first time. :) I 
highly recommend
the 350 if you don't need HDTV. The playback/record quality is awsome and it
allows you to use fairly low powered hardware (700mhz P3) and still play 
DVDs.

I could see an integrator making a business out of pre-built KnoppMyth 
systems. There's
a lot to learn, even though KnoppMyth provides an excellent starting point.

-- 
Jesse Guardiani
Programmer/Sys Admin
jesse at wingnet.net