[mythtv-users] Trimslice ARM PC

[Raymond Wagner]

On 12/22/2011 13:43, Tyler T wrote:
> I have no complaints or regrets except enduring denigrating comments 
> from certain people on this list that look down on ARM users. You'll 
> get used to it. :)

As a bit of defense against that statement, the denigrating comments are 
from people who look down on users of all underpowered backends.  I have 
no prejudice against the ARM, as I consider Atom backend to be an 
equally poor prospect.

The problem isn't that it can't be used as a backend, as your example so 
clearly shows it can.  The problem is that it is inherently limited.  As 
you stated, transcoding and commercial flagging are out of the question 
without an external jobqueue.  Playback is out of the question without 
some form of hardware decode acceleration, which has not yet been 
written for any ARM platform.  Lack of PCI(e) slots means limitations on 
tuners.  Lack of disk controllers means you have to use port replicators 
or network storage.  However, the biggest issue is the scheduler.

As has been mentioned repeatedly, the scheduler is single-threaded and 
takes a long time to run.  Number of channels, days of data, number of 
rules, number of past recordings, number of tuners, they all affect how 
long the scheduler runs take.  For a typical broadcast market, a low end 
backend would likely suffice.  For a large broadcast market, or a cable 
lineup, it likely won't be enough.  An experienced user who knows 
exactly the role they want MythTV to fulfill, and the performance 
requirements of such, they can choose to use a low powered backend.  For 
most experienced users, and all new users, the lack of adaptability 
makes it unsuitable.