[mythtv-users] Some questions before I breakout the Mastercard

Kevin D. Snodgrass kds.mythtv at cox.net
Wed Mar 17 06:44:41 EST 2004


Jarod C. Wilson wrote:

Thanks for the quick reply.

> Quickie? That looks like it took some time... ;-) Good work though. 
> Should be fine with that setup.

At one time (25 years ago) I thought about becoming an 
architect.  Doing basic schematics like that one is not very 
time comsuming for me. :-)

>> 1) On a PVR-250, can I have two inputs, one coax cable and the other 
>> S-Video or composite?  The pics look like it, but the online docs 
>> don't answer diffinitively.
> 
> 
> Yes, you can.

Excellent.  I like it when my assumptions turn out to be 
correct.

>> 2) Would I be better off using a video card for playback?
> 
> 
> Maybe. For standard-def TV, the PVR-350 output has the highest quality, 
> though there are some stability issues (most of which are either now 
> fixed or getting fixed). It doesn't work so hot for anything *but* 
> standard-def TV though. And it'll never support output of a High-Def 
> signal if you're thinking about going that route in the future.

Well, if/when I get an HDTV I'll have to refactor.  Right 
now I have a very nice Sanyo DS27910 (32" flat) standard def 
TV.  Some day I may get a plasma, but that will wait till 
more toys get acquired. :-)

>> 2a) If so, what video card(s) will give me the highest quality playback?
> 
> 
> A GeForce 4 MX is more or less the de facto standard. Both my production 
> systems use one (one uses SVideo out, the other VGA->Component video 
> adapter to my HDTV).

I've always used ATI cards.  But, the newest one I have is 
in this laptop, a Rage Mobility M3.

> I'm rather happy with my nForce2 board, w/onboard GF4MX.

I think I'll try to get something like this.  No use 
spending money on a video card if onboard video works...

>> I see several people using Fedora, but am dubious about using Fedora 
>> because of the short lifespan.
> 
> 
> Don't be. Fedora is excellent, and so is the community support.

I didn't say Fedora wasn't good or anything.  It's the short 
lifespan that I don't like.  Support for FC1 will dry up not 
long after FC2 is out.  I'm still running RH 7.3 and 7.1 on 
my machines bacause I didn't need anything from the newer 
releases, these work.  Now that RH isn't supporting these 
older releases I'll have to look elsewhere.  (I'm an old 
NetWare guy, I install it, config it, and leave it alone for 
years. <G>)

> RHEL3 WS? There's really no need. And nobody maintaining all the 
> required packages for it, so you'd have to build lots of stuff yourself, 
> which is somewhat counter-productive for an RPM-based distro, if you ask 
> me. ;-)

OK.  That idea is nuked.

>> Suse 9
> 
> 
> Asking for trouble. One of the most problem-plagued distros for MythTV.

Too bad.  Suse 9 is at the top of the list for my server, 
after this project is done.

> 
>> Debian unstable
> 
> 
> That's what many of the core developers use. It works, and I've used it 
> myself, though I got annoyed with the differences from Red Hat (been on 
> RH since 4.x also).

I've been on various *nix platforms since about 1985.  They 
all seem more alike than different.

>> KnoppMyth (is it installable?)
> 
> 
> Yes.

That might be what I use.  Seems many people get it working 
straight away.  Big bonus is having everything on one 
install CD.  I assume, since this is Debian based, apt-get 
is used to update and install?

>> and Gentoo are also up for consideration.
> 
> 
> My second favorite distro behind Red Hat/Fedora. (#3 is SuSE, not that 
> it matters). Lots of folks use it, and it works great, but you'll be at 
> it for a while.

I'm somewhat attracted to the idea of Gentoo.  (Re)Compiling 
everything specifically for my system after it is installed 
ain't my idea of fun, so compiling during install seems like 
a good idea.  At the least I would recompile from source the 
kernel (I guess there is a specific kernel from Axel Thimm) 
and all of X and KDE.

> Patches exist for 2.6.x. There's really no need to go 2.6 though, and 

The improvements in the scheduler (both process and IO) and 
the new driver model are big things for me.  I guess using 
the hardware [en|de]coders on the PVR-x50 cards means that 
won't be so important.  The CPU just runs the UI and does 
disk IO.  But doing commercial cuts might be a different 
thing...

> definitely no need for SATA. But to each his own. I use a single ATA/100 
> drive for a 3-capture-card setup, and a 2.4-series kernel.

Are you capturing at high bit rates?  Most of what I'll be 
recording I will want to be archive quality.  If not I'd 
just keep using my VCRs.  (Of course the trip to Canada 
means someone would have to change tapes all the time, which 
won't be an issue with a PVR.)

> nForce2 is my personal favorite. Problems only crop up with APIC-enabled 
> kernels, though I understand there's now a patch to remedy that. My 
> master backend system is on an nForce2 running Fedora Core.

I've looked and looked, but cannot find the answer.  What is 
the advantage (bug free advantage) of an APIC-enabled 
kernel?  From my early days on PC-type hardware I did MS-DOS 
ISR hacking, so I dealt with the AT-type PICs all the time. 
  I assume the APIC is and Advanced PIC.  If the kernel 
doesn't have APIC support that sounds like this advanced 
feature set (more IRQs I would guess) won't be available, right?

>> 6) From what I read the PVR-[23]50 cards embed the sound in the MPEG2 
>> stream, so if I use a 350 for playback I don't need a soundcard, correct?
> 
> 
> Not for TV, no. For everything else, yes.

I don't think I'll be using very many of the other features 
of MythTV.  Not a gamer, don't download MP3s, don't give a 
rip about a picture gallery, don't even know what RSS feeds 
are, don't own a DVD and won't ever rent one (virtually all 
movies bore me or worse).  I really need a VCR (X4) 
replacement with the ability to burn the important recordings.

> Most standard-def TV signals don't have spiffy audio anyhow. Though you 
> definitely want something good for HD and/or DVD/Divx.

Something to consider in the future then.

> You're talking about possibly wanting 4 capture cards, so you'd want to 
> get a 6PCI/1AGP board, which would leave two free PCI slots for whatever 
> you like, even if you have 4 capture cards and a video card. The only 
> other route would be a micro-ATX board with 4 PCI slots, but most of 
> them have garbage onboard video...

Most of the mainboards I've been considering have 
5xPCI/1xAGP and onboard sound.

>> 7) If I use a PVR-350 for playback I would like to locate this machine 
>> in a different room.  What output formats does it provide?  I think I 
>> have read that it has S-Video and composite outputs.
> 
> 
> Correct.
> 
>> What is the max distance for these?
> 
> 
> I have no clue.

The more I think about this the more I think a 
frontend/backend solution might be best.  I'm guessing the 
max distance for S-Video is much less than the distance from 
my spare bedroom to the other end of my apartment.  Ethernet 
doesn't have those constraints...

> Probably, but nothing comes to mind right now. I'm tired, time for bed. ;-)

Thanks for all the help!  And sleep is over rated. :-)  I 
never accomplish anything useful during those 5 hours...

>> My plan is to get at least a 3GHz processor
> 
> 
> Optimal for HD.
> 
>> 1GB RAM
> 
> 
> Overkill. 512MB should be plenty, but RAM is cheap. Both my Myth boxes 
> have 512MB (but my workstation has 2GB now =).

512MB costs about US$80 for Kingston.  Another $80 won't 
break the piggy bank.  And I figure Linux can cache the hell 
out of everything to reduce the amount of work the hard 
drives will need to do.

>> 2 large SATA disks
> 
> 
> SATA is overkill, though cable management and airflow is much better. 
> But the drives are also hotter, which is detrimental to quiet operation...

Thats why I was thinking about locating this machine in a 
different room.

> 
>> and a DVD burner.  Might even go with SATA RAID 5, if I can get 4 
>> disks attached.
> 
> 
> Are your TV recordings really important enough to want to use RAID 5?!?

I want the storage space AND the reliability.  I also expect 
this machine to handle this task for several (5+) years. 
Outside of a server room I've had quite a few hard drive 
failures.  And yes, the Stanley Cup Finals are that 
important to me. :-)

>> I'm not afraid to spend money to get what I want
> 
> 
> Me neither. Just don't tell my wife. =)

Ok, I won't. :-)




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