Opensuse 10.3
From MythTV
| Other openSUSE version |
Introduction
SUSE Linux, one of the oldest Linux distributions, was originally developed by a German company. SuSE is an acronym in the German language for “Software und System-Entwicklung” which translates as software and system development.
The openSUSE project is a community program sponsored by Novell. With the launch of the openSUSE project, openSUSE is now developed in an open model—public development builds, releases, and sources will be posted frequently and users will have access to the Bugzilla database for defect reporting.
For rich, reliable and secure home computing like mythTV, there's no better choice than openSUSE 10.3. It features an easy-to-install Linux operating system that includes most of the required mythTV components standard in the box. While the official mythTV documentation attempts to be as distribution-agnostic as possible, this document is geared specifically toward building a mythTV system on the openSUSE 10.3 Linux distribution.
openSUSE 10.3, in combination with the PackMan (thanks Herbert Graeber for building the rpm's) repository, provides you with an easy installation and all the latest packages of the mythTV rpms, ivtv, lirc, xmltv, php, mysql, mplayer, xine and many more that are necessary for a fully functional mythTV box.
While mythTV can take quite some time to install, the result will be a fast box that can do nearly anything to entertain. Furthermore, the system is incredibly reliable, and if you leave it on, you can expect runtimes that last for years with little to no maintenance to be done (aside from updates if desired). We've also experienced that the WAF (Wife Acceptance Factor) for mythTV is enormous. As soon as you start playing with it, you need a second box because it becomes the most mission critical system in your house. I hope this document will help you in your quest for your ultimate mythbox. Remember this: "MythTV can be a time machine; hours can disappear for no reason at all."
- Hardware considerations
Installing mythTV all starts with good hardware. The first requirement is a machine capable of running openSUSE x86 or x86-64 and that can be connected to the Internet. You will also need a decent audio card and a video card, a hard drive with as much storage space as you desire, as well as a TV tuner capable of performing hardware-level video encoding. Many people run mythTV without any problems on older hardware; however, if you are planning on doing anything with high definition video or complex transcoding jobs, you will need to have sufficient memory and processing power. Check this wiki and the mailinglist before you purchase any new hardware.
You might also find it useful to look at http://www.silentpcreview.com/ if you build a machine for your living room, in order to get advice on low power-consumption, low noise setups.
- Join the community and get some help
- Subscribe to the mythTV users mailing list
mythTV user mailing list www.mythtv.org/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users
mythTV user mailing list archive www.gossamer-threads.com/lixsts/mythtv/users/
- Chat with other mythTV users
IRC irc.freenode.net #mythtv-users
Initial system setup and considerations
- ABOUT openSUSE 10.3
Here are some of the highlights of openSUSE 10.3 in relation to mythTV:
- Improved boot time and shutdown
- New one click install for third party add-on packages like LCDProc
- Linux kernel 2.6.22.5
- ivtv and ivtv_firmware 0.10.3
- lirc 8.2-14
- mysql 5.0.45
The openSUSE community creates, edits, and refines comprehensive documentation in the form of a wiki.
A lot of articles, howtos and guides are available, including:
the Support Database (SDB): solutions to problems with openSUSE, as well as more detailed explanations of certain topics
the Hardware Compatibility List (HCL): compatibility of various hardware and full systems with openSUSE
Novell also provides official documentation for the openSUSE distribution.
Partitions and File Systems
openSUSE ships with a number of different file systems, including ReiserFS, Ext2, Ext3 and XFS, from which to choose at installation time. Each file system has its own advantages and disadvantages that can make it more suited to a scenario. Professional high-performance setups may require a different choice of file system than a home user's setup.
Earlier versions of openSUSE used ReiserFS as the default filesystem. From openSUSE 10.3 and on, ext3 is the default file system.
- RECOMMENDATIONS
Use ext3 as your default file system. Consider using XFS for your video data. XFS is very good at manipulating and deleting large files and performs well on high-end hardware.
- ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Configure openSUSE 10.3
Understand your hardware with the following commands:
lspci -v and lsusb and hwinfo
Add the required software repositories
Make sure that the standard openSUSE 10.3 software repositories are configured: If you don't have a dual layer DVD set with the complete OSS and NON-OSS packages on their, the package manager relies on the software repositories on the internet. I suggest you point to the online repositories (tobe sure) and so you don't need you CD/DVD anymore.
Start YaST and look at your software repositories. You can remove/disable the CD/DVD media and make sure you have the following repositories:
Warning: Make sure the standard openSUSE 10.3 repositories are setup correct before you start installing the software.
Check 'Software Repositories' in YaST
- openSUSE 10.3 Main Repository (NON-OSS)
protocol: HTTP
server: download.opensuse.org
directory: /distribution/10.3/repo/non-oss/
To add the repo using the commandline:
sudo zypper ar http://download.opensuse.org/distribution/10.3/repo/non-oss/ "openSUSE 10.3 Main Repository (NON-OSS)" sudo zypper mr --disable-autorefresh "openSUSE 10.3 Main Repository (NON-OSS)"
- openSUSE 10.3 Main Repository (OSS)
protocol: HTTP
server: download.opensuse.org
directory: /repositories/openSUSE:10.3/standard/
To add the repo using the commandline:
sudo zypper ar http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/openSUSE:10.3/standard/ "openSUSE 10.3 Main Repository (OSS)" sudo zypper mr --disable-autorefresh "openSUSE 10.3 Main Repository (OSS)"
- openSUSE 10.3 Update Respository
(this will be automatically added/configured when you select 'Online Update Configuration' in YaST.
If you added the new repos from the commandline and 'disabled the autorefresh', you need to fill the cache once
To update the repositories from the commandline, and update the local cache:
sudo zypper ref
Tip: For you information
1. You need todo the Online Update Configuration in YaST in order to get your Update Repository
2. The content in the main software repositories does not change. Disable the Automatically Refresh for these repositories will increase performance.
Install the required packages
Support for some multimedia formats cannot be included on the openSUSE CDs because they're proprietary, patented, Restricted Formats. Some of these include MP3, MPEG-4(w32codec-all), playing of Encrypted DVDs (libdvdcss), etc. In many cases you can use free formats instead. You can read more about this here
- INSTALL, THE EASY WAY
- Easy (1 of 3)
| Install Restricted Multimedia Formats for KDE user |
| Install Restricted Multimedia Formats for GNOME user |
- Easy (2 of 3)
Install the prerequisite packages with zypper by copying and pasting the following into a terminal (as root)
sudo zypper in alsa audit-libs dvb flac gcc ivtv ivtv-firmware kernel-source libao libdvdread3 sudo zypper in libid3tag lirc mjpegtools mysql php5 python xine-ui xmms fame libcdaudio libfame lame MPlayer sudo zypper in phpMyAdmin pvm transcode xvid apache2 yast2-http-server apache2-mod_php5
Make sure you install all packages (3 lines) If you receive and error, ignore it or update the package list on this page. I can not do everything here ;-)
- Easy (3 of 3)
| Install mythTV from packman |
- INSTALL, THE HARD WAY
Packman offers various additional packages for openSUSE. To add this repository, see the openSUSE Community website.
The following command will add the packman repository:
sudo rpm --import http://packman.unixheads.com/suse/10.3/gpg-pubkey-1abd1afb.asc sudo zypper ar http://packman.iu-bremen.de/suse/10.3/ packman
Packman mirrors for openSUSE 10.3 - Australia Belgium Germany Germany Germany Germany Romania USA USA The following packages are prerequisites to the mythTV packages. Verify that they are either installed or install them through YaST --> Software --> Software Management or use zypper to install at the command line.
The bolded packages are available on the openSUSE 10.3 installation media and can be selected during the OS installation, or can be installed now if your OS is already running. The non-bolded requirements need to be retrieved from another YaST installation source such as the Packman Repository.
- alsa, audit-libs, dvb, flac, gcc, ivtv, ivtv-firmware, kernel-source, libao, libdvdread3, libid3tag, lirc
- mjpegtools, mysql, php5, python, xine-ui, xmms, apache2, yast2-http-server, fame, libcdaudio, libfame, lame, MPlayer,
- phpMyAdmin, pvm, transcode, w32codec-all, xvid, libxine1
You can install the prerequisite packages with zypper by copying and pasting the following into a terminal
sudo zypper install alsa audit-libs dvb flac gcc ivtv ivtv-firmware kernel-source libao libdvdread3 libid3tag libxine1 lirc mjpegtools mysql php5 python xine-ui xmms fame libcdaudio libfame lame MPlayer phpMyAdmin pvm transcode w32codec-all xvid apache2 yast2-http-server apache2-mod_php5
- NOTE
- Make sure you install all packages (3 lines)
- Please update the list if you notice it is not correct
- INSTALL, THE HARD WAY - mythTV packages
These are the base mythTV packages that need to be installed.
- libmyth, mythtv-backend, mythtv-frontend, mythtv-setup, mythtv-themes, mythtv-doc
You can install the mythTV base packages with zypper by copying and pasting the following into a terminal
sudo zypper install libmyth mythtv-backend mythtv-frontend mythtv-setup mythtv-themes mythtv-doc
- INSTALL, THE HARD WAY - mythTV plug-ins
These are plug-ins that are written for mythTV. You can install any you find of interest. If you are unsure of which you want, you can choose to install them all.
- mytharchive, mythbrowser, mythcontrols, mythdvd, mythflix, mythgallery, mythgame, mythmusic,
- mythnews, mythphone, mythplugins, mythplugins-debuginfo, mythvideo, mythweb
You can install all the mythTV plug-ins with zypper by copying and pasting the following into a terminal
sudo zypper install mytharchive mythbrowser mythcontrols mythdvd mythflix mythgallery mythgame mythmusic mythnews mythphone mythvideo mythweb
Currently there is no mythweather mythTV plugin on the Packman repository.
- INSTALL, IF YOU MISS PACKAGES - The following links are your friends
Adding a mythtv user
Create a mythtv user that you are gonna use to run the software.
sudo useradd mythtv -mG users,video,audio,cdrom sudo passwd mythtv
- AUTOLOGIN FOR THE USER
YaST - user management - expert options - login settings - check autlogin
openSUSE 10.3 Manual - Managing users with YaST
Synchronize your system clock (NTP)
To get the correct start and stop times for programming, it's very important to setup NTP (Network Time Protocol). NTP is a protocol designed to synchronize the clocks of computers over a network.
1. Configure the NTP Client
YaST -> Network Services -> NTP Configuration
2. Ignore the warning when selecting Automatically start, there is no significant delay.
NTP daemon -> During Boot -> Check "Use Random Servers from pool.ntp.org" Click Advanced Configuration -> Security Settings -> Check "Open Port in Firewall" -> Finish
Audio setup
Most sound cards are automatically recognized by openSUSE and do not need any specific configuration. Most of the time, everything is auto detected during the installation and usually just works.
- ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Remote Control (LIRC)
Warning: The version of the lirc-kernel module that ships with openSUSE 10.3 (lirc 0.8.2) does not work with the WinTV PVR150. An openSUSE 10.3 package compiled from the most recent lirc CVS snapshot (lirc-0.8.3pre1 13-Oct-2007) is available here which fixes this problem. Download it then install with
rpm -hUv lirc-kmp-default-0.8.3_2.6.22.13_0.3-pre1.i586.rpm
LIRC is the package that allows you to decode and send infra-red signals of many commonly used remote controls.
openSUSE 10.3 ships with LIRC 0.8.2. To use LIRC, you need a configuration file for your remote control. A list of supported remote control is available on http://lirc.org/remotes/
If you can't find a configuration file for your remote control on the lirc page, it does not mean that your remote control is not supported but there is no configuration file for it yet. You don't have to be a developer to create a configuration file by using irxevent and mode2. More info about these LIRC programs can be found on http://lirc.org/html/programs.html
If you have created a new configuration file for a remote control, please send it to the LIRC team.
- REMOTE CONTROL CONFIGURATION FILES
- /etc/sysconfig/lirc = Hardware config file
You must install the lirc kernel modules package that corresponds to your installed kernel.
sudo zypper in lirc-kmp-default
Tip: You can check the kernel version from the command line with 'uname'. The word 'default' in the below example means a default kernel (in most cases the only other possibility is 'bigsmp').
# uname -r 2.6.22.13-0.3-default
You must edit this file so that lirc knows which device to use. For example, if you have a PVR-150 make the following changes:
LIRCD_DRIVER="default" LIRCD_DEVICE="/dev/lirc" LIRC_MODULE=lirc_i2c
See PVR150 Remote for more information.
Tip: If your lirc kernel module is working and detects the card properly you will see the device /dev/lirc appear when lirc is started. If that device does not appear check /var/log/messages and dmesg for clues. Also, it has been reported that a full cold boot is sometimes required to bring the PVR150's IR back to life even going so far as to remove the card from the motherboard for a few moments. Be sure to try this before taking any other drastic steps (such as compiling lirc from source).
- /etc/lircd.conf = LIRC remote control configuration file that maps scancodes to logic functions (like value to play, poweroff, pause etc.)
- lircrc = Application specific mapping of the remote functions (play, poweroff etc) to the app specific functions for mythTV, mplayer and or Xine
- Every application that you want to control with your remote (and has support for remote control) needs it's own lircrc configuration file.
- The lircrc maps the keynames defined in lircd.conf (example: poweroff) to an application specific function (example: exit application). Make sure that the key names in lircrc should correspond with the same button names in lircd.conf.
- APPS AND THEIR lircrc CONFIGURATION
- mythTV = /home/user/.mythtv/lircrc
- xine = /home/user/.xine/lircrc (TODO: check if this is correct)
- mplayer = /home/user/lircrc
Tip: Instead of creating an individual lircrc file for each application, you can create one master file and put symbolic links to this in the appropriate places. The command for creating a lircrc file in your /home/userid/.mythtv directory, symbolically linked to lircrc in your home directory, follows:
ln -s ~/.mythtv/lircrc ~/lircrc
- NOTE
The LIRC deamon (lircd) is not started automatically by default after a reboot.
- As root start 'yast2 runlevel', select lircd and make sure it's started at boot time.
The lirc deamon does not start without a configuration file. Please make sure your create the configuration file before you start lircd.
- CONFIGURATION TIPS
- Visit the http://lirc.sourceforge.net/remotes website and download a setup file for your remote.
- Copy/rename the file to /etc/lirc.conf.
- Start /etc/init.d/lirc deamon and try irw, irxevent, mode2
- TODO: howto get a sample ~/.mythtv/lircrc - google for a lircrc for your remote - try the mythtv remote control wiki pages
- there can be only one, make sure you have 1 lircrc file for mythtv. Create links to it.
- the ~/.mythtv directory is user specific and created in the users home directory when he starts mythfrontend for the first time and ask for an ip address of the backend. If you don't have a ~/.mythtv directory, start mythfrontend first. The directory is hidden, try ls -al.
example: /etc/lircd.conf
Play 0x00007be9
The lircrc is application specific, here your define that the 'Play' key is the same as function 'P'
(P is by default Play in mythfrontend)
example: ~/.mythtv/lircrc
begin
prog = mythtv
button = Play
config = P
end
- ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
- DEVICE SPECIFIC
Integrated LCD or VFD panel (LCDProc)
- STEPS
- Install LCDproc and configure your device
- LCDproc is not part of the openSUSE 10.3 distribution, but a rpm is available:
-
or
LCDproc for openSUSE 10.3 - Configure mythfrontend to use the LCD/VCD
- The mythlcdserver is started automatically when configured in mythfrontend.
- You can find the setup options in Utilities/Setup->Setup->Appearance->LCD device display Check the Enable LCD device.
- TROUBLESHOOT/CONFIGURATION TIPS
Here are some tips that can help you find the best information to configure your hardware specific device information.
- Check (and update) the hardware specific section on the mythTV wiki
- The most important files of the LCDproc package
- /usr/sbin/LCDd - executable can be started with option -c /etc/LCDd.conf
- /etc/LCDd.conf - configuration file
Todo: Don't think LCDproc comes with a startup/init script. Please describe howto create a init script from the skeleton for the newbies
The LCDproc deamon (?LCDd?) is not started automatically by default after a reboot.- NOTE
- As root start 'yast2 runlevel', select (?LCDd>) and make sure it's started at boot time.}}
- ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
[edit]Analogue Video capture card (IVTV)
A TV capture card, also called a TV tuner card, is a device that receives TV signals and converts
them into a digital format. With a minimum of one TV tuner card installed, you can watch and record TV by using your mythTV system. If you install a second TV tuner, you can record or watch TV from more than one channel at the same time.
If you have one TV tuner, for example the Hauppauge PVR-150, you can:- Record TV on one channel
- Watch live TV on one channel
- Watch a recorded show while you record another show
If you have two TV tuners, for example the Hauppauge PVR-500, you can:- Record TV on two different channels at the same time
- Watch live TV on one channel while another show that is on a different channel is recorded
- Watch a recorded show while you record two shows at the same time
mythTV supports a myriad of different video capture cards by utilizing the IVTV driver, a kernel driver for Linux and a driver for X11 for hardware based on Conexant's CX23415/CX23416 codec chip. The recommended analogue Standard Definition Cable (SDC) capture cards are the Hauppauge PVR.
- ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
openSUSE 10.3 ships with IVTV version 0.10.3 and ivtv-firmware 0.10.3, everything is auto detected on the x86 and x86-64 bit version of the OS. Please make sure you install the ivtv-firmware from YaST from the NON-OSS openSUSE repository.
- FIRMWARE
IVTV-based cards are hardware encoders, but the firmware does not exist in the card itself. Instead, you must point your hardware to an extracted version of the firmware on disk. One of the benefits of openSUSE is that it has the closed source ivtv-firmware drivers available in the NON-OSS repository. This Firmware is licensed for use only in conjunction with Hauppauge component products. More info about the license can be found in the license agreement included in the package.
[edit]Configuration Tips
- Check the IVTV console output with dmesg
dmesg | egrep -i '(ivtv|tveeprom|tuner)'
Your output should look something like this example from the Hauppauge PVR500:
ivtv: ==================== START INIT IVTV ==================== ivtv: version 0.x.x (tagged release) loading ivtv: Linux version: x.x.xx.x-default SMP mod_unload gcc-4.1 ivtv: In case of problems please include the debug info between ivtv: the START INIT IVTV and END INIT IVTV lines, along with ivtv: any module options, when mailing the ivtv-users mailinglist. ivtv0: Autodetected Hauppauge WinTV PVR-150 card (cx23416 based) ivtv0: loaded v4l-cx2341x-enc.fw firmware (262144 bytes) ivtv0: This is the first unit of a PVR500 tuner 1-0043: chip found @ 0x86 (ivtv i2c driver #0) tuner 1-0060: chip found @ 0xc0 (ivtv i2c driver #0) tuner 1-0061: chip found @ 0xc2 (ivtv i2c driver #0) cx25840 1-0044: cx25843-23 found @ 0x88 (ivtv i2c driver #0) wm8775 1-001b: chip found @ 0x36 (ivtv i2c driver #0) ivtv0: Encoder revision: 0x02060039 etc..
- The lspci command can give you more information about your card and tuner
lspci | grep -i itv
Your output should look something like this example from the Hauppauge PVR500: 03:08.0 Multimedia video controller: Internext Compression Inc iTVC16 (CX23416) MPEG-2 Encoder (rev 01) 03:09.0 Multimedia video controller: Internext Compression Inc iTVC16 (CX23416) MPEG-2 Encoder (rev 01)
- Check if the firmware is installed in the correct location
ls /lib/firmware -l
- license-end-user.txt
- license-oemihvisv.txt
- v4l-cx2341x-dec.fw
- v4l-cx2341x-enc.fw
- v4l-cx2341x-init.mpg
- v4l-cx25840.fw
- v4l-pvrusb2-24xxx-01.fw
- v4l-pvrusb2-29xxx-01.fw
- Check what version of ivtv is installed
To check what version is installed, issue the command:
rpm -qa | grep ivtv
Your output should look something like:
ivtv-kmp-default-0.10.3 ivtv-0.10.3
- The IVTV configuration is maintained by YaST and it is not recommended to edit the file directly. To see the configuration of the device
cat /etc/modprobe.d/tv
Your output should look something like this example from the Hauppauge PVR500:
alias char-major-81 videodev options i2c-algo-bit bit_test=1 # YaST configured TV card # Uog3.chCB1CyIbw9:WinTV PVR 150 alias char-major-81-0 ivtv # YaST configured TV card # ZvjX.sZc4ePByvkF:WinTV PVR 150 alias char-major-81-1 ivtv alias char-major-81-2 off alias char-major-81-3 off
- Reload the ivtv module manually
rmmod ivtv modprobe ivtv
- Check if the video devices are available to the system
ls /dev/vi* -l
Your output should look something like this example from the (dual tuner) Hauppauge PVR500:
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 6 Dec 29 06:27 /dev/video -> video0 crw-rw----+ 1 root video 81, 0 Dec 29 06:27 /dev/video0 crw-rw----+ 1 root video 81, 1 Dec 29 06:27 /dev/video1 crw-rw----+ 1 root video 81, 24 Dec 29 06:27 /dev/video24 crw-rw----+ 1 root video 81, 25 Dec 29 06:27 /dev/video25 crw-rw----+ 1 root video 81, 32 Dec 29 06:27 /dev/video32 crw-rw----+ 1 root video 81, 33 Dec 29 06:27 /dev/video33
The above is for a PVR-500. Here is what each device corresponds to in this case:
Tuner unit #1: - For your info
/dev/video0 – The encoding capture device (Read-only) /dev/video24 – The raw audio capture device (Read-only) /dev/video32 – The raw video capture device (Read-only) /dev/radio – The radio tuner device /dev/vbi0 – The "vertical blank interval" (Teletext) capture device
Tuner unit #2: - For your info/dev/video1 – The encoding capture device (Read-only) /dev/video25 – The raw audio capture device (Read-only) /dev/video33 – The raw video capture device (Read-only) /dev/vbi1 – The "vertical blank interval" (Teletext) capture device
- Check (and update) the hardware specific section on this page and the dedicated mythTV wiki pages
[edit]Hauppauge PVR-150
- Hauppauge PVR-150
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[edit]Hauppauge PVR-250
- Hauppauge PVR-250
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[edit]Hauppauge PVR-350
- Hauppauge PVR-350
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[edit]Hauppauge PVR-500
- Hauppauge PVR-500
If you are lost; here are some screenshots of mythtv-setup for a PVR-500 in the Netherlands.
[edit]Digital Video capture card (TV-in)
..
[edit]Configuration Tips
- TROUBLESHOOT/CONFIGURATION TIPS
Todo: generic tips for DVB users. What needs tobe checked when working with DVB, where are files stored. See the analogue section for inspiration
1.) Check (and update) the hardware specific section on the mythTV wiki
"Unable to query frontend status"check: http://www.suseforums.net/index.php?showtopic=40881&hl=
[edit]Firewire
A firewire connection to your settopbox
Todo: The standard used to connect FireWire to your computer is IEEE 1394, IEC 1883.
All the libraw1394, libavc1394, libiec61883 are included in openSUSE.
What I suggest you check before you start:1.) What Firewall interface does your PC have. Is it supported, see http://www.linux1394.org
2.) What brand is your settopbox Search on the mailinglist archive on the word in combination with firewire. http://www.gossamer-threads.com/lists/mythtv/users/
3.) Subscribe to the mailinglist and ask if people have experience with the combination (your brand cablebox and your brand firewire interface in the machine)
Please put your info here
[edit]Hauppauge WinTV Nova-T500 PCI
- WinTV_Nova-T_500_PCI
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[edit]Connect your system to a TV
You can use several different types of connections to connect your mythTV frontend PC to a TV. The S-Video cable works well with most standard TVs. The picture below explains the different types of connections that can be used to connect yout TV.
The type of output your PC's video card can do, and the type of inputs your TV can handle are primarily what dictates what you should use to connect them. From highest- to lowest-quality, the order of consideration is: HDMI, DVI (both of which are digital), VGA, Component, S-Video and finally Composite (all of the rest are analog).
.
HDMI digital
DVI digital
VGA analog
Component analog
S-Video analog
Composite analog.
[edit]ATI/AMD
- Install the ATI driver with 1-Click Install
ATI driver from the opensuse-community
- Manual download and install the driver
- ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
[edit]NVIDIA
- Install the NVIDIA driver with 1-Click Install
If you have a new NVIDIA cards If you have a legacy NVIDIA cards List of Legacy NVIDIA cards
- Manual download and install the driver
- ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
[edit]Hauppauge PVR-350
- Hauppauge PVR-350
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[edit]Wireless Keyboard
Once your Myth box has been setup you wont need to use your keyboard that much. Many users will often just SSH into their machine or use a remote desktop such as VNC to get access. Of course its also nice to have a keyboard directly connected, in which case a wireless keyboard is preferred. Have a look at the section on Wireless Keyboards to see which ones work.
.[edit]Network Interfaces
The main reason you will connect your mythTV box to the internet is because MythTV gets its program guide data over the Internet. If you don't happen to have ethernet cables around your house, you could use wireless (WiFi).
To configure your network wired or wireless card in YaST, select Network Devices>Network Card. After starting the module, YaST displays a general network configuration dialog. Choose whether to use YaST or NetworkManager to manage all your network devices. If you want to configure your network in the traditional way with the YaST, check Traditional Method with ifup and click Next. To use NetworkManager, check User Controlled with NetworkManager and click Next.For wireless support openSUSE ships ndiswrapper, madwifi and iwlwifi
openSUSE 10.3 Documentation - wireless LAN
- TIPS FOR INSTALLATION
The chipset is what determines which driver you need, not the manufacturer of the card. Here are a number of ways to find out. All the commands should be run as root.
Try this.
hwinfo --wlan
Otherwise use this command if you have a pcmcia card or an onboard card:
lspci
Or this if you have a usb card:
lsusb
This won't output very detailed information, but it'll give you a unique hardware ID, for example 046d:c01b. Search for it with Google or another internet search engine to find out which chipset is on the device.
- ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
[edit]Configure mythTV server components (mythbackend)
The server components within mythTV are referred to as the mythbackend.
Because the configuration of the mythTV application itself is not openSUSE specific, you find mainly links to the information.
http://www.mythtv.org/modules.php?name=MythInstall mythtv.org Documentation
[edit]Start required services
Make sure all required system services are running on startup: As root start 'yast2 runlevel' and enabel the following services and click OK after popup dialog
- ntp
- mysql
Notice there is a mythbackend option, would suggest that you do not enable "mythbackend" just yet, until you have tried running in a terminal window as below. If all steps below work then enable this to run.
Tip: On openSUSE, you can manually add things to /etc/init.d/boot.local, that should happen directly after booting[edit]Create the database (mysql)
mythTV uses MySQL to store it's settings, listings, recording schedules, and other information. So we have to make sure openSUSE starts MySQL when it boots, and we have to initialize the database with some basic information that mythTV can work with. The database is probably the most important component of mythTV because without it, absolutely none of mythTV can function.
openSUSE 10.3 ships with mysql 5.0.45 (A True Multiuser, Multithreaded SQL Database Server)
- TROUBLESHOOT/CONFIGURATION TIPS
1.) The MySQL deamon (mysql) is not started automatically by default after a reboot. As root start 'yast2 runlevel', select mysql and make sure it's started at boot time.
2.) Create the database If the database is not started, start mysql (as root) by typing
/etc/init.d/mysql start
Watch for errors. Set up a root password by typing
mysqladmin -u root password <yourpasswordhere>
Once MySQL is setup, install the mythTV Database. This is done by running:
mysql -u root -p < /usr/share/doc/packages/mythtv-doc/database/mc.sql
(and key-in the previously entered password) You should see no output - this is a good thing!
By default, the database is named mythconverg and contains a set of tables that interact with one-another. Tip: make the database multi user, so you can access it from more than 1 machine; this will assign a user named "mythtv" with a password of "mythtv " to the "mythconverg" database:
mysql -u root -p mythconverg
You will then be connected directly to the database. Enter the following commands at the mysql> prompt.
mysql> grant all on mythconverg.* to mythtv@"%" identified by "mythtv"; mysql> flush privileges; mysql> quit;
[edit]MythTV backend setup application (mythtv-setup)
.
Todo: a few notes, important things ?
When everything works. The mythserver process (mythbackend) is not started automatically by default after a reboot.- NOTE
As root start 'yast2 runlevel', select mythbackend and make sure it's started at boot time.
[edit]Add TV listings to your system (XMLTV)
The most difficult part of installing/configuring MythTV is getting the data, name and frequency of all the channels in the database. Since there must be more MythTV users in your area, chances are that someone already did this. So check the country specific information and with some luck you can import a setup file to your database.
The program guide in mythTV is a listing of TV shows that you receive over the network.
XMLTV is a set of utilities to transfer and store EPG (Electronic Program Guide) in a XML format for various countries.
It's good to understand the following components before you begin:
- XMLTV Grabber = country specific module to grab EPG (Electronic Program Guide) info from a source and translates it to XML format.
- XMLTV ID = Value that exists in the XMLTV data and in the Channel table. It's the link/mapping to get the information on the correct channel.
- CHANNELS = Your TV channels, with their channel number and frequencies as defined in mythtv-setup
- CHANNEL_ICONS = Bitmaps that are displayed by mythfrontend as a graphical representation of the channel. (example: CNN logo)
- mythfilldatabase = An mythTV application that uses the XMLTV grabber that you defined in mythtv-setup and stores the information in the MySQL database.
The most essential data in your database is the channel mapping: The mythconverg_channel table in the database links/maps the following information channel number frequency name of the channel XMLTV number Without this information the EPG (Electronic Program Guide) can not work.Install XMLTV from pacman For most European countries you need XMLTV and the grabbers.
The first thing you should do to get listings into the database is to set up your channels. In mythtv-setup, after you have set up your card, you can configure a video source based on your geographic location. The video source config page has a field for "grabber"; select your country there and mythTV will be ready to run a program called "mythfilldatabase" that will use XMLTV and tv_grab_XX, where XX is your country specific method. So, XMLTV works by running a custom grabber for your country. This grabber collects guide data from the sources appropriate to your country.
Country specific information Netherlands, North America, UK, more
Tip: For some countries, providers, areas there are channel.sql files available that hold all channels and frequencies for your area and that can be imported directly into the mySQL database. See the XMLTV page for more details about your country specific information.
Different countries and providers have different ways of configuring XMLTV.
to see specifics for your country about XMLTV and the EPG:
- TROUBLESHOOT/CONFIGURATION TIPS
- What user
The grabber for your country may have it's settings stored in the users home directory (~./.xmltv or ~./.mythtv). Normally your should run mythfilldatabase as user and not as root.
- Have a quick look in the database
This will show channel numbers, xmltvid etc.
mysql -u<username> -p<password> mythconverg -e 'SELECT name, freqid, chanid, channum, xmltvid FROM `channel` WHERE sourceid = "1" ';
Todo: generic tips (not country specific) about home/.xmltv and home/.mythtv, the mythfilldatabase process etc,
TV Channels and XMLTV ID
add some links to the important sections on this wiki
- ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
[edit]Shutdown and wakeup the machine
Most mythTV systems do not need to run 24 by 7. To reduce heat, noise and power consumption there are several ways to shut your machine down when it's not doing anything.
Your options:
- Manual shutdown and start your machine
- AC time switch and a script
A simple AC power switch, that you can purchase for a few euros can do magic. Configure a cronjob that shutdown your machine at midnight and set the a AC power switch to start the machine the next day.
- Wake on LAN
Most machines with a build-in Network Interface Card (NIC) can wake up and startup by a simple IP package. Wake on LAN is controlled by another machine in your network that determines when your machines should startup.
- Wake by BIOS
More or less any modern machine should have a function for time-controlled booting in the bios. The problem is how to change the wakeup time for time-controlled power up your mythTV box. There are two ways to this on Linux.
a.) NVRAM - direct poking in the BIOS memory and not recommended
b.) ACPI - a much better and standard way to switch on a computer a a preset time. Your BIOS and motherboard need good support in the kernel.The Real Time Clock (RTC) alarm must generate a hardware wake event when in the sleeping state. The RTC can be programmed to generate an alarm. An enabled RTC alarm can be used to generate a wake event when the system is in a sleeping state.
- ACPI S3, sleep mode 3, also referred to as suspend-to-ram. This is a state of very low power consumption, where most of the hardware is switched off, and only a little energy is used to keep the memory alive during sleep.
- ACPI S4, also referred to as suspend-to-disk. This is a state where no power is consumed. An image of the memory is written to disk, then the hardware is switched off. Booting the system will read the image back and restore all running programs.
Warning: Beginning with kernel 2.6.22, the user-space interface is changed from /proc/acpi/alarm to /sys/class/rtc/rtc0/wakealarm. Looks like this the ACPI Alarm function is currently not working in openSUSE 10.3. Please see the user Experiences.
- User Experiences
MIB.42,November 2007 - Novell admitted it that this is not working in 10.3, but will be in 11.0. The only solution for now is to recompile the kernel with all RTC=n. This way /proc/acpi/alarm is back and working. Details are here on the problem : https://bugzilla.novell.com/show_bug.cgi?id=287539
Moosylog, November 2007 - Alternatively, you could track the HEAD kernel by adding this repository: http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/Kernel:/HEAD/openSUSE_Factory/ Did anyone try this? Please add your experience here.
- ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
[edit]Enable web based database administration (phpMyAdmin)
phpMyAdmin is a tool written in PHP intended to handle the administration of MySQL over the Web.
phpMyAdmin - Verify that all required packages are installed
Required packages:
sudo zypper in yast2-http-server apache2 apache2-mod_php5 phpMyAdmin
You can quickly check if the package is already installed with the following command
rpm -qa | grep phpMyAdmin
- Activate the Rewrite Server Module for the Apache HTTP server
The Rewrite Server Module provides a rule-based rewriting engine to rewrite requested URLs on the fly. By default it's turned off and you need to turn it on. Start YaST and goto the HTTP server menu (commandline: yast2 http-server) follow the menu's by next,next,next,next and click the HTTP Server Expert Configuration, here you see a tab with 'Server Modules' The Rewrite module is disabled by default - Enable this option
phpMyAdmin is installed in
/srv/www/htdocs/phpMyAdmin
- Configure phpMyAdmin's authentication mechanism
cd /srv/www/htdocs/phpMyAdmin cp config.sample.inc.php config.inc.php pico config.inc.php
look for
This is needed for cookie based authentication to encrypt password in cookie $cfg['blowfish_secret'] = 'mythtv'; /* YOU MUST FILL IN THIS FOR COOKIE AUTH! */
and set the passwordOr if you want to remove the password
Authentication type $cfg['Servers'][$i]['auth_type'] = 'cookie';
Changecookietohtmlor set the password in the top of the file
Now start apache2 webserver, YaST or /etc/init.d/apache2 start
Now you can start phpMyAdmin from your browser and login with your user username and password:http://ipaddress/phpMyAdmin/
Todo: We need to say anything about security and howto make this secure when using it outside the firewall, please add
.[edit]Enable web based client (apache, mythweb)
Make sure the following packages are installed
yast2-http-server, apache2, apache2-mod-php5
You can quickly check if the package is already installed with the following command
rpm -qa | grep apache
- Activate the required server module for the Apache HTTP server
The Rewrite Server Module provides a rule-based rewriting engine to rewrite requested URLs on the fly. By default it's turned off and you need to turn it on. The Environment Server Module modifies the environment passed to CGI scripts and SSI pages
Start YaST and goto the HTTP server menu (commandline: yast2 http-server) follow the menu's by next,next,next,next and click the HTTP Server Expert Configuration, here you see a tab with 'Server Modules'
The Rewrite module is disabled by default - Enable this option
The Env module is disabled by default - Enable this option
- Securing mythweb
If you plan to open your mythweb to the internet, you should seriously consider securing it. That and more information can be found here. Follow the section specifically for openSUSE here
- Security Example for mythweb
To secure your Mythweb you can configure the access to it. For example you can set up 'limit access'. It will ask you for an username and password if you try to access the mythweb page. It's very simple:
First make a file where you store the username and password for a user.
htpasswd2 -c /etc/apache2/htpasswd <username>
Type in a password (2x)
Then just add the lines below in your http.conf or default-server.conf
<Directory "/srv/www/htdocs/mythweb"> AuthType Basic AuthName "Mythweb Login" AuthUserFile /etc/apache2/htpasswd Require user <username> </Directory>
Restart apache
rcapache2 restart
If you now access the Mythweb it will ask you for an username and password.
Tip: You can access your MythWeb remotely if you know your IP address. However, if you are a DHCP client, your IP will probably change. To resolve the issue of having an IP address that is constantly changing, you can sign up for an account with a dynamic DNS site (such as http://www.yi.org) and create a unique unchanging hostname that can be forwarded to your IP address - even if it changes.
[edit]Access the filesystem from Windows
- Sharing Files between Linux and Windows with Samba
Samba is the first choice for transferring files between Windows and Linux machines. These are the most common use cases for Samba:
see the openSUSE Samba documentation
[edit]Use and configure mythTV clients (frontends)
[edit]Watch and record TV (mythfrontend)
Don't think you need a manual for this
.[edit]Schedule a recording remotely over the internet (mythweb)
