[mythtv-users] (no subject)

Simon Hobson linux at thehobsons.co.uk
Thu Sep 30 23:20:54 UTC 2010


Rafic Gho wrote:
>so if I get the supported tuner,  then does it recocognize the tuner 
>without loading the driver?

I'm guessing you've come from a Windows background and Linux is new 
to you. It takes a fair bit of adjustment to the many significant 
differences.

Generalising and simplifying somewhat ...

In the Windows world, many common devices are supported by Windows 
"out of the box" - they still have a driver, it's just that Microsoft 
supply one and it's installed by default. When you buy new hardware, 
it typically comes with a disk for you to install a driver from - 
either because the manufacturer has a better one than Microsoft 
supply (eg it supports all the hardware features rather than just a 
selection of generic ones) or because Microsoft don't supply one at 
all.
Because Windows is such a dominant OS, no hardware manufacturer would 
consider shipping hardware without a Windows driver.

Now, over in the Linux world things are different. We still need 
device drivers, but the difference is that (in general) you don't get 
a disk with a Linux driver with your new hardware. Things are 
improving, but with a few notable exceptions, most vendors just 
haven't realised that there is any other OS than Windows. Those of us 
that use Macs have a similar problem.

As a result, in the Linux world, it's a case of the "Linux 
Developers"* who have to supply all the device drivers. Thus, instead 
of installing the driver that came on a disk from your hardware 
vendor, you are reliant on a driver for that device being part of the 
Linux you installed. If you have something that's mature enough to 
have a driver, then it may well already be supported by your current 
installation and you have nothing to install. If it's something new, 
then you may have to upgrade and/or reconfigure your kernel to get a 
driver - the latter is, I would suggest, not something for a complete 
newcomer to tackle.

In your case, http://linuxtv.org/wiki/index.php/ATSC_USB_Devices 
shows that the device is supported from kernel version 2.6.26 
onwards. That means plug it in, and the system should recognise it - 
as long as you have a kernel no earlier than that. Most things are 
"plug and play" these days, when you plug in the tuner, the USB 
subsystem will detect the device being plugged in, interrogate it to 
find out what it is, and load the correct driver to operate it. When 
the driver loads, a device file will be created for it in /dev, and 
the device is then 'visible' to any software you run.

That is only half the story - you then have to configure Myth to use 
it. The driver merely makes the device visible to software running on 
your system, you need applications (of which Myth is just one) to 
actually use it.
Someone posted a link to the Wiki earlier where there are step by 
step instructions to install and configure Myth.


* I use the term fairly widely as referring to the very large group 
of developers who contribute to the overall "package". In fact there 
is a group running the Video for Linux section, who look after video 
devices.
-- 
Simon Hobson

Visit http://www.magpiesnestpublishing.co.uk/ for books by acclaimed
author Gladys Hobson. Novels - poetry - short stories - ideal as
Christmas stocking fillers. Some available as e-books.


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