[mythtv-users] Biggest, baddest MythTV

[Eni Gma]

Shawn wrote:

>On Wed, 2003-06-18 at 18:28, Eni Gma wrote:
>  
>
>>>    2. What's your Video OUT device?
>>>      
>>>
>>F1: ATI Rage 128 Pro
>>F2: ATI Rage II+DVD
>>F3: ATI Radeon 7500
>>first 2 use the ati.2 drivers, I can't remember if #3 does or not.
>>    
>>
>Do you find the ATIs have better Video out? I've heard that but have no
>ATI cards to compare to my GeForce4 Ti 4200.
>
Not really.  IIRC, the right Nvidia cards have much more control of the 
overscan/underscan.  The ATI drivers are "experimental" and AFAIK are 
not actively being developed (at least the branch with TV out, the 
regular Gatos drivers are still going strong).  The reason I use the ATI 
cards is simple: they are the ones I already had.  I have also used a 
GeForce 3 Ti 500, but ended up putting it back into my gaming box once I 
got the ATI cards working.  I was happy with how easy the Nvidia card 
was to set up, but at the time that card did not support overscan 
adjustments (I have seen messages on this list that might indicate the 
latest drivers support it).  

>>>   3. What captures video? Where did you buy it?
>>>      
>>>
>>B1: Hauppague WinTV-Go, 49.99 @CompUSA
>>B2: Generic BT848 (No Tuner) bought long ago with a webcam kit.
>>    
>>
>I take it you have analogue cable on B1.
>
Correct.  I actually have 2 analogue cable feeds, one has all the 
channels but HBO and runs into the tuner card, the other one has only 6 
or 7 channels but includes HBO.  So I picked up an old stereo VCR from 
the thrift store for $10 that I just keep tuned to the HBO channel. 
 Then I pull the full channels via XMLTV for the tuner, and another pull 
with just the single channel for the slave.

>>>    5. What remote control do you have?
>>>      
>>>
>>All 3 frontends have the CIMR-100 serial port reciever/remote combo. 
>> IIRC, they were about $7.00 ea. @ computergeeks.com.  They are natively 
>>supported by LIRC.  With these remotes, a kernel recompile is not 
>>required as they use the standard serial support.
>>    
>>
>So if I grok this (thank you for all the useful info, BTW), the CIMR100
>would be used to control mythtv, and in theory I would need an IR
>blaster to command my "Scientific Atlanta" digital cable box. I believe
>the IR blaster would be twiddled using some sort of script twiddled into
>mythtv?
>
Yes, you will need an IR blaster unless your cable box has a serial or 
"low speed data" port, in which case you can directly run a serial cable 
from your Myth machine to your cable box.  The IR i/o is controlled by 
LIRC (Linux Infra-Red Control, IIRC), Myth has an option to call an 
external script to change the channels.  Lirc.org has directions for 
making the required hardware.  However, I have seen people go through 
many headaches with LIRC, I am glad I got a solution that works out of 
the box.

>>Yes they are, but unfortunately everybody has different ingredients (and 
>>different levels of "cooking" skills).   
>>    
>>
>Yes. I started last night, and I spent a lot of time trying to
>understand the whole picture, playing with xmltv for a while before
>playing with mythtv, etc etc. I'm amazed at how little, in the end, you
>have to actually do.
>
>This is all quite stimulating!
>
Yeah I love it too.  There is quite a feeling of accomplishment in 
getting a running Myth system.  I have a Tivo as well, but I disliked 
how much the new Tivos have been locked down.  Also, if you want to use 
Tivo's method for transferring shows between recorders you must pay an 
extra fee (and have one of the new locked-down boxes).  I finally got 
around to cancelling my Tivo service a couple of weeks ago (although I 
have been loading my own listings for ~1 year).  I still use the Tivo on 
occasion, but really it's more of a third backend since I can access any 
recording on it from any Myth frontend via MythTivo.  

There are still many things I would like Myth to do better (like not 
segfault or freeze as much as it currently does) but at this point I 
would not trade it for the world and it's only getting better.


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