[mythtv-users] MythTV - help please!

[Dewey Smolka]

> The first problem I had with the guide was talk of static IP addresses. I
> KNOW what IP addresses are - but why do we need them for a TV content machine?
> I have ADSL delivery of internet and email content to my home, so ip addresses,
> static or otherwise, really have no place in the scheme of things. That is
> all handled 'magically' (read invisibly) for me.

If you've got a combined FE/BE that you're not going to be connecting
to from any other machine, and you're not planning on using Mythweb,
then no, you don't need a static address.

The point of setting one up is so that your Myth box is at a fixed
location on your network and is not going to have its IP address
randomly changed by DHCP. You basically need a fixed address if you
have remote FEs, if you want to use Mythweb, or if you want to be able
to ssh into the box from another machine -- very useful for those of
us who don't have keyboards attached.

Still, setting a static IP is not a difficult thing to do,
particularly on a home network. Depending on your distro, there are
most likely GUI tools for setting this up. Just give your Myth machine
whatever address you want, (e.g. 192.168.1.201), put in the subnet
mask (255.255.255.0), and point it to the address of your
gateway/router (most likely 192.168.0.1 or 192.168.1.1).

> Ok. I'm not going to reinstall the OS again - that has been done at least
> 10 times over the past year. I am over OS installs. ANd the attandent lib
> updates.

You can do things the hard way, by installing everything from scratch,
breaking things, fixing some of them, losing track of what's been
broken and what's been fixed and how, updating selectively, trying to
use incompatible kernels and modules, and insisting on trying to patch
the damage with duct tape and a hammer.

Or you can do it the easy way. I can definitely recommend both
MythDora and Knoppmyth, though I lean towards MythDora simply because
I have more experience with RH/Fedora. Assuming you have standard,
supported hardware, you should have everything installed and running
within about 25 minutes.

As Brad said earlier, if you run into problems, just come back here
with the specific problem or question. Folks are happy to help out.
Generalized bitching, however, won't get you much help.