[mythtv-users] Frontend only box for my daughter's PC...

Ray Olszewski ray at comarre.com
Mon May 5 12:05:13 EDT 2003


The big source of uncertainty in whether this will work is the video 
chipset, not the CPU. Based on my experience with xine, even low-power 
equipment of the sort you describe can handle video playback (NOT 
recording) ... -IF- the video card uses an X server that supports xv 
(xVideo). But this CPU will, most likely, be too wimpy if it has to use 
xShm. So the first thing to check on this candidate system is its video.

If the video works ... most "big name" Linux distros can be installed in 
lightweight form. (The Debian mini-HowTo that Dennis is drafting, for 
example, describes a nice, lightweight install of Woody. My installations 
of Sid look heavy because they include kernel source and the associated 
compiler stuff, but without them they would be quite small.)

Because you need fairly up-to-date libraries and a recent X to get good 
performance from Myth, I'd discourage you from moving away from this top group.



At 01:47 PM 5/5/2003 -0400, JC wrote:
>Hi,
>
>My daughter has as lightweight PC (P2 350) in her bedroom that she'd love to
>be able to dual-boot into Linux to watch the shows she's recorded on the
>main Myth box.  She doesn't need (or have) a TV out card, tuner, remote,
>etc.
>
>Is there a simple ISO / RPM that I can install that will give her a basic
>front-end?  It seems like once you eliminate the tuner, lirc and video out,
>plus only have the front-end, shouldn't that be pretty generic across boxes?
>
>If not, or if it might take too much CPU for her h/w, then maybe I should go
>with converting the recorded videos to AVIs that she can play by booting
>into her existing Windows box and playing from there?







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