Difference between revisions of "User:Dswimboy"

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MythTV is awesome for my roommates and I. We love the commercial skip! While I always hoped to experiment with MythTV, my roommates endorsed the idea in November 2006. My experiment has become quite a practical establishment in our house.
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My current rig came from newegg for about $600
 +
* Zotac Mini-ITX motherboard with NVIDIA GeForce 9000 and HDMI out (GF9300-K-E)
 +
* Intel Pentium dual-core 3.2 GHz CPU (E6700 Wolfdale)
 +
* 4 GB (2 x 2GB) RAM
 +
* 2 TB Hitachi Deskstar hard drive (HDS722020ALA330)
 +
* Micro ATX case, power supply, fan
 +
* Hauppauge dual TV tuner (WinTV-HVR-2250)
  
== My Setup ==
+
The system is running ubuntu.
Combined Frontend/Backend.
 
  
=== Hardware ===
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I schedule all of my programs through [[mythweb]].
* Cheap Mini-ITX black case from [http://www.directron.com Directron]
 
* VIA EPIA 5000 Mini-ITX motherboard
 
* 512MB SDRAM
 
* 160GB Western Digital 7200rpm Hard Drive
 
* Hauppauge WinTV-PVR-350 Tuner Card
 
  
=== Software ===
+
I haven't gotten the remote on the 2250 working. I was using a corded keyboard for a while, which was a pain. I've since enabled the [[Frontend control socket]] and I'm using the [http://code.google.com/p/mythmote/ mythmote] app on my Android phone as a remote.
* Debian Etch
 
* Kernel v2.6.18-3-486
 
* X.org v7.1.1
 
* [http://www.icewm.org/ IceWM] window manager v1.2
 
* ivtv drivers v0.8.2, firmware v1.18.21.22168
 
* lirc version v0.8.0
 
* MythTV v0.20.20060828-3
 
 
 
== What's working for me ==
 
* XV on PVR-350
 
* Live TV/TV recording
 
* TV Listings from [http://labs.zap2it.com/ Zap2it]
 
* [[MythMusic]]
 
* [[MythGallery]]
 
* [[MythWeb]]
 
* [[Windows Watching Recordings in Windows with MythTv Player]]
 
* Using irexec to restart Myth when something goes wrong
 
* myth2ipod with modifications
 
* MythFrontEnd with X-Forwarding via Cygwin
 
 
 
== What's not ==
 
=== Distributions ===
 
I tried quite a few distros before figuring out how to upgrade Debian to Etch. Here's what I can remember that conflicted with my setup, mainly the EPIA motherboard. See the [[Operating system]] page for more distros and information.
 
* KnoppMyth
 
* MiniMyth
 
* MythDora
 
I think I tried some more, but ran into some other probelms.
 
* Fedora: trouble burning and then installing. I might have been lazy.
 
* AMICUS: I looked into, can't remember why i didn't use it.
 
* PlutoHome: I think it conflicted with EPIA. Also might have been a little heavy for my 500Mhz processor.
 
 
 
=== On-Screen Program Guide ===
 
The On-Screen Electronic Program Guide stopped working for me at some point. The focus seemed to be screwed up. To get Myth working again, I had two options: restart or telnet. the telnet option required a
 
<pre>killall mythfrontend
 
ivtvfbctl /dev/fb0 --globalalpha off --localalpha off
 
mythfrontend &</pre>
 
I haven't spent much time diagnosing the problem though. when watching LiveTV I use comcast's digital cable EPG. I use MythWeb to schedule my recordings. Any suggestions are certainly welcome, though!
 
 
 
== Comments ==
 
I used many resources to help me with the installation. I pieced the story together myself, without following one set of directions and having it work. here's what I used, in no particular order.
 
* This Wiki!
 
* [http://www.wilson-stowe.com/mythtv-information/mythtv-installation-guides/mythtv-installation-guide-for-debian.html MythTV Installation Guide for Debian] helpful for some Debian specific stuff, but not as good as I was expecting.
 
* [http://www-isl.mach.uni-karlsruhe.de/~hi93/myth/mythtv_debian_epia_pvr350_walkthrough Another Debian Guide] once again useful for Debian specific. the guide is down. email me if you want a copy...it is outdated.
 
* [http://wilsonet.com/mythtv/ Jarod's Guide] great for WinTV-PVR info and other mythtv concerns. biggest difference is using apt instead of yum.
 
 
 
The PVR-350 is awesome for this puny system. Before I had tested the hardware mpeg-2 decoder, I tried playing a recorded mpeg-2. the video was very, very, very choppy and slow. I was a little worried that I may have spent money on a useless machine. The reviews on the hardware decoder lived up to everything the should have, though. I am able to record a show, commercial flag two shows, and watch a recording without noticing anything.
 
 
 
Switching to IceWM was a big help on cutting down system overhead. Login time decreased a considerable amount.
 
 
 
MythWeb is pretty darn slow. Searching and TV listings especially.
 
 
 
I'd Love to see MythWeb transcode files ''after'' recording
 
 
 
I don't have any updates/modifications planned.
 
 
 
== Useful config info ==
 
=== Xorg ===
 
 
 
Important xorg.conf excerpts for PVR-350 and TV-Out
 
 
 
Device BusID is in ''hexadecimal''.
 
<pre>
 
Section "Device"
 
Identifier "Hauppauge PVR 350 iTVC15 Framebuffer"
 
Driver "ivtvdev"
 
Option  "ivtv" "/dev/fb0"
 
Option  "fbdev" "/dev/fb0"
 
BusID  "PCI:0:20:0"
 
Screen 0
 
EndSection
 
 
 
Section "Screen"
 
        Identifier "TV"
 
        Device "Hauppauge PVR 350 iTVC15 Framebuffer"
 
        Monitor "NTSC Monitor"
 
        DefaultDepth 24
 
        DefaultFbbpp 32
 
        Subsection "Display"
 
                Depth 24
 
                FbBpp 32
 
                Modes "720x480"
 
        EndSubsection
 
EndSection
 
 
 
Section "Monitor"
 
        Identifier "NTSC Monitor"
 
        HorizSync 30-68
 
        VertRefresh 50-120
 
        DisplaySize 183 122
 
        Mode "720x480"
 
                # D: 34.563 MHz, H: 37.244 kHz, V: 73.897 Hz
 
                DotClock 34.564
 
                HTimings 720 752 840 928
 
                VTimings 480 484 488 504
 
                Flags  "-HSync" "-VSync"
 
        EndMode
 
EndSection
 
</pre>
 
 
 
=== (Re)-Start Myth Frontend ===
 
startmythfrontend script to restart MythTV via irexec.
 
<pre>
 
#!/bin/bash
 
 
 
# (Re-)starts mythfrontend
 
# This script gets executed when the "Go" button on the remote is pressed
 
#
 
# Torsten Schenkel, edited by Matt Burke
 
 
 
# Reset the alpha values for ivtv-fb so we can see the X desktop (not always done automatically)
 
ivtvfbctl /dev/fb0 --globalalpha off --localalpha off
 
 
 
# Kill and start mythfrontend
 
killall mythfrontend
 
 
 
# Restart mythfrontend
 
echo "`date` RESTART" >> /home/burkemw/mythfrontend.log
 
export DISPLAY=:0.0
 
mythfrontend >> /home/burkemw/mythfrontend.log &
 
 
 
</pre>
 
 
 
=== LIRC ===
 
 
 
the .lircrc file (buttons as per the DVICO remote, which I think are now standard in the lirc distribution)
 
<pre>
 
## irexec
 
begin
 
prog = irexec
 
button = GO
 
config = sudo -u mythtv /home/burkemw/bin/startmythfrontend &
 
end
 
</pre>
 
 
 
=== myth2ipod ===
 
 
 
I was getting a floating point exception from ffmpeg. the [[Nuvexport#Bug_Fix_-_Please_Read|Nuvexport - Bug Fix]] details the fix i used.
 
 
 
[[Category:User_Systems]]
 

Latest revision as of 20:57, 4 December 2011

My current rig came from newegg for about $600

  • Zotac Mini-ITX motherboard with NVIDIA GeForce 9000 and HDMI out (GF9300-K-E)
  • Intel Pentium dual-core 3.2 GHz CPU (E6700 Wolfdale)
  • 4 GB (2 x 2GB) RAM
  • 2 TB Hitachi Deskstar hard drive (HDS722020ALA330)
  • Micro ATX case, power supply, fan
  • Hauppauge dual TV tuner (WinTV-HVR-2250)

The system is running ubuntu.

I schedule all of my programs through mythweb.

I haven't gotten the remote on the 2250 working. I was using a corded keyboard for a while, which was a pain. I've since enabled the Frontend control socket and I'm using the mythmote app on my Android phone as a remote.