Setup Input Connections

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Software-update-available.png This page is up-to-date as of MythTV version 31, the current release is 34.0

This article describes the Input Connections Setup page of MythTV Setup.

In Input Connections associate video sources with capture devices. Each Video Source can have one or more capture devices associated.

If different tuners have different channel lineups they need separate video sources. Also a tuner type that scans for channels must be on a different source than a type which does not support channel scanning. Tuners which use a cable card do not support channel scanning. DVB and ATSC tuners do support channel scanning.

The initial menu presents a list of your capture devices and the name of the video source connected to each. Highlight each row and press enter to configure it.

Don't add a video source to a hardware input if you don't actually have anything connected there. For example, adding "Cable" to the Tuner and to the Composite inputs without having something connected to Composite will lead to blank recordings.

Setting Default Value Settings Page's Description Additional Comments
Connect Source to Input
Input name (None) If the type of card has more than one input (e.g. Analog and` Digital) there will be more than one value, otherwise there may be only one possible value. Choose the appropriate one. Make sure to select a value..
Display name (optional) Blank This name is displayed on screen when Live TV begins and when changing the selected input or card. If you use this, make sure the information is unique for each input. Give each capture device a reasonable name that will make sense in future. You can rename them later.
Video source (None) Select one of the sources you have defined. If you select (None) you cannot use this capture device for recording or watching Live TV.
Use quick tuning Never If enabled, MythTV will tune using only the MPEG program number. The program numbers change more often than DVB or ATSC tuning parameters, so this is slightly less reliable. This will also inhibit EIT gathering during Live TV and recording. The options are Never, Always and Live TV Only. This only applicable to certain tuners.
Use DishNet long-term EIT data Not Checked If you point your satellite dish toward DishNet's birds, you may wish to enable this feature. For best results, enable general EIT collection as well. This only applicable to DVB tuners.
Scan for channels (Button) Use channel scanner to find channels for this input. Select this to use the currently selected device for a channel scan. This is only possible for certain devices that support channel scanning. Do this only once for the selected input even if you have more than 1 capture device. All devices on one input share the same channel list. This has to be done for tuner cards to get the tuning parameters for each channel. After you have done this the channels will have been given numbers that may not match what you expect, and you will have to use the channel editor to fix them.
Fetch channels from listings source (Button) This uses the listings data source to provide the channels for this input. Use either the channel scan or the listings source for channels. Do this only once for the selected input even if you have more than 1 capture device. All devices on one input share the same channel list.
Starting channel Please add channels to this source Starting Live TV channel. This is updated on every successful channel change.
Interactions between inputs
Max Recordings 1

Maximum number of simultaneous recordings MythTV will attempt using this device. If set to a value other than 1, MythTV can sometimes record multiple programs on the same multiplex or overlapping copies of the same program on a single channel.

Values are 1 to 10. Note that if you are selecting "Schedule as Group", you can leave this as 1 and it will automatically be increased as necessary.
Schedule as Group checked

Schedule all virtual inputs on this device as a group. This is more efficient than scheduling each input individually. Additional, virtual inputs will be automatically added as needed to fulfill the recording load.

If you select this option, you can leave "Max Recordings" as 1. "Max Recordings" will be increased automatically when needed. After it has been increased, you will see the increased value here in setup.
Input priority 0 If the input priority is not equal for all inputs, the scheduler may choose to record a show at a later time so that it can record on an input with a higher value. Values are 0 to 99. Set a higher number for tuners that are preferred, either because they give better quality or because recordings are less likely to fail. Setting a lower value for a tuner will cause a program to be delayed to a later time if that episode is rerun during the period for which you have a program guide, and a better tuner is available at the later time.
Schedule Order 1 more than highest number used so far If priorities and other factors are equal the scheduler will choose the available input with the lowest, non-zero value. Setting this value to zero will make the input unavailable to the scheduler. Values are 0 to 99.
Live TV Order 1 more than highest number used so far When entering Live TV, the available, local input with the lowest, non-zero value will be used. If no local inputs are available, the available, remote input with the lowest, non-zero value will be used. Setting this value to zero will make the input unavailable to live TV. Values are 0 to 99. In order to minimize conflicts between live TV and recordings one good option is to set this to descending values across the tuners for livetv but ascending values for schedule order. The scheduler will then start at one end, livetv at the other
Create a new input Group (button) Input groups are only needed when two or more cards share the same resource such as a FireWire card and an analog card input controlling the same set top box. Invoking the button will prompt you to name a group. If you want to be able to prevent simultaneous recordings on certain tuners you must create a group.
Input Group 1 Generic Leave as 'Generic' unless this input is shared with another device. Only one of the inputs in an input group will be allowed to record at any given time. For example you may have a cable box that records some channels via a HD PVR and some via Firewire. In that case you cannot simultaneously record different channels on those two inputs and must use an input group.
Input Group 2 Generic Leave as 'Generic' unless this input is shared with another device. Only one of the inputs in an input group will be allowed to record at any given time.