[mythtv-users] How hard is it to build an HD MythTV?

Brad DerManouelian myth at dermanouelian.com
Fri Mar 28 17:30:06 UTC 2008


allene222 wrote:
> I am getting ready to buy a new computer to do this but have a question
> before I spend the big bucks.  How much difficulty am I going to have
> getting this thing running right?  I don't want to buy everything and find I
> can't get it to work.
> 
> I know, it depends.  Background: I have put together a web and email server
> and have maintained it for maybe 10 years.  Problem is it is so stable that
> I forget everything by the time it comes to change anything as I don't use
> Linux otherwise.  For example, changing to Fedora 5 from Red-Hat 7 was a
> huge pain.  I have done a fair amount of C programming, so that isn't an
> issue.  I have also programmed in php and have limited exposure to MySQL. 
> (I coded www.paloaltophoto.com in a text editor for example).
> 
> But I read the solutions posted in this forum and they go right over my
> head.  Oh, just put this patch in some conf file...  Then what, recompile
> the kernel (something I have never done) or just reboot?   Where in the conf
> file???  I can't make heads or tails out of most of the patches I read here.
> 
> So, what is the scale of effort required for someone like me?  How hard is
> this thing going to be to maintain?  Is this easy or another hobby?
> 
> btw, I am looking at a HDHR -> combined frontend/ backend on a new croe2duo
> cpu -> nVidea6200 -> 720p projector and SPDIF audio / SD TV with analog
> audio

Make your life easier and go with a supported pre-build ditribution like 
Mythbuntu, MythDora, Knoppmyth, etc. They offer an install CD that will 
walk you through the installation/setup and configure most of your 
hardware (perhaps all) for you. If you have problems beyond that, just 
post as much detail about the problem as you can and someone will help 
you through.

Most of the problems you're reading about are from advanced setups or 
using pre-released software which can be unstable.

Starting on a combined frontend/backend should be painless with a 
pre-build distro. I started with KnoppMyth, but that was years ago so I 
don't know if it's been updated. I ended up just installing my own stuff 
once I learned enough about how MythTV works as a system but if you're 
not into tinkering all the time, Mythbuntu is probably a good place to 
start. Then again, if you're not into tinkering, Tivo is a good place to 
start, too. ;)

-Brad


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