[mythtv-users] (no subject)

Jos Hoekstra joshoekstra at gmx.net
Thu Sep 30 23:32:26 UTC 2010


  Op 1-10-2010 1:20, Simon Hobson schreef:
> 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.

It's a shame this isn't a forum where you could be awarded reputation 
points, but this post gets a 'thumbs up' so to say.

Jos


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