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

[Jarod C. Wilson]

On Mar 18, 2004, at 17:23, Kevin D. Snodgrass wrote:

>> ATI has mediocre driver support, at least for the particular  
>> functionalities Myth needs.
>
> OK.  I have one ATI card w/TV-out, but I guess another ~$50 for an  
> NVidia won't kill me.

Well worth it, definitely.

> I did a lot of research yesterday and today.  I kinda like the DFI NF2  
> Ultra:
> http://www.dfi.com.tw/Product/xx_product_spec_details_r_us.jsp? 
> PRODUCT_ID=2141&CATEGORY_TYPE=MB

Looks like a pretty decent board, but I *think* (not certain) that the  
nVidia SoundStorm audio chipset isn't yet supported under Linux.

>>> Support for FC1 will dry up not long after FC2 is out.
>>  From Red Hat proper, yes, but not from the community.
>
> I guess I've spent so many years "in the server room". Since this will  
> be a "server", I like the idea of not needing to upgrade all the time.  
>  Once I get it working I would like to leave it, except for basic  
> patches, for a long time.  That's my NetWare background...  (There are  
> STILL some NetWare 2.15 servers running!  Uncle Bill will never be  
> able to match that...)

Very true. I have to admit that most of my servers are actually either  
Red Hat Linux 7.3 or Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3, though if you'd call a  
MythTV system a server, then I guess I have two Fedora Core servers  
also. ;-)

Anybody else see Cisco's web site down earlier this week? Their error  
pages said "apache 1.0"...

>> Which sort of adds a point against SuSE 9, despite Maarten's  
>> objections to my statement that its asking for trouble. Same  
>> situation as RHEL3, nobody maintaining all the packages. (Though  
>> hopefully, that'll change in the future, because yes, SuSE 9 really  
>> is quite nice).
>
> I think SuSE 9 (or the soon to be available 9.1) will get installed on  
> this laptop.

That's what I plan to put on the x86 laptop I'm supposedly getting one  
of these years at work... (Still using my personal iBook right now)

> After the MythTV is setup.

Yes, important stuff first!

> Guess I'll stay with "what works" and play with new stuff later.  Got  
> to make sure things work, everytime.

That's my stance too. I don't put anything into production until I've  
tried it out for a while in a non-critical situation. It'll be a good  
while before I'll run a production server with a 2.6 kernel. (My  
workstation is another matter, of course).

>>> Are you capturing at high bit rates?
>> Oh yeah. Higher than most people. 8Mbps min, 16Mbps peak for  
>> everything I intend to watch on my HDTV. 4.5/6.0 for stuff to be  
>> viewed on a 27" analog TV for my kid.
>
> OK.  I'll just get a single BIG PATA drive.  Maybe use one of my old  
> 3-9 GB drives for an install drive and the big one for the data files.

I'm using a 250GB WD Special Ed (8MB cache) drive that I got for about  
$120 after rebates. Couldn't be happier with it.

>>> Most of what I'll be recording I will want to be archive quality.
>> I'd call what I record archive quality. A bit space-consuming  
>> (3.7GB/hr), but I usually don't keep stuff around for very long.  
>> There's always the option to transcode to mpeg4 as well.
>
> I nothing essentially nothing about DVD formats.  Will standard  
> consumer DVD players play MPEG4?

Yes and no. Many of them are starting to, but not all. And then not all  
mpeg4 formats are supported... :-\

>>> 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?
>> I suppose. Its been a non-issue for me, so I haven't really looked  
>> into it. There were some big discussions on this list about it a few  
>> months back if you want to poke through the archive to absorb some  
>> info from people who seemed to know a fair amount about it.
>
> Maybe I'll search through the archives.  Should be enlightening.

You can learn an amazing amount of stuff just following this list. I  
know I have.

>> So you may be gravy with just a PVR-350 for output.
>
> If it works for me.  I keep reading about problems...

True. I pulled mine out of production because of instability issues. I  
haven't gotten around to trying the new X driver though, which is  
supposed to drastically improve things.

>> Yeah, the 6PCI ones are slightly more rare/expensive. Any of those  
>> have worth-while onboard video? I can't recall ever seeing a good ATX  
>> board with such a thing, only the micro-ATX ones. Though if you go  
>> split backend and frontend...
>
> Server boards often times have 6xPCI and embedded ATI graphics.  I  
> doubt if they have TV-out though.

My Tyan Thunder K7 board has 6x 64-bit PCI slots, AGP 4x and onboard  
ATi video... But yeah, no onboard TV-Out...

>>> 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...
>> Very true. This would mean either splitting off the 350 into the  
>> remote frontend machine, and recording to the local driver or over  
>> NFS back to the master, to be able to utilize its tuner, or foregoing  
>> the 350 and just using a video card in the frontend, without any  
>> capture cards in it. This certainly can lead to a much quieter system  
>> by the TV...
>
> Or trying the XBox thing.

Ah yes, or that. I always forget about that option.

> Not being a gamer I almost never read ANYTHING about XBox.  Solding  
> iron needed?

You do need a mod-chip, I believe, but I'm not certain, and I can't  
recall if there are any that don't require soldering.

> MWave.com has an XBox for about $170 right now, much cheaper than  
> building a dedicated PC for frontend/playback.  No fan noise either.

My XBox is actually sort of on the loud side, if you ask me (though  
mostly when the DVD drive is in operation). I think an EPIA would be  
quieter (but considerably more $).

>> The more I ponder your situation, the more I think a split  
>> backend/frontend setup would be ideal. But then you definitely don't  
>> need the 3GHz CPU in the backend, or the frontend for that matter...
>
> Hmmmm, cheaper Athlon in the backend, XBox for a frontend, ethernet  
> cable running down the hallway to the "server room".  That might work.  
>  I have to get capture working first, though.

Yes, no putting the cart before all the horses, or something like that.  
I've got Ethernet cabling all over the house now...

>>>>> 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. :-)
>> Stereotypical die-hard Canadian hockey fan, are ya? I'm *almost* that  
>> way about baseball, but not quite. ;-)
>
> I am most definitely NOT Canadian!  Lived most of my life in Nebraska.

D'oh, just made the connection with the email you sent me off-list. ;-)

Just assumed from the "I'll be up somewhere-or-another in Canada  
fishing" that you were actually from Canada....

> Hockey and football the the best games to watch

College football, anyhow. I don't care much for pro football...  
(spoiled twits)

> baseball and foosball the best best to play.

The two that I played religiously. I still watch every Mariners game I  
can though (but usually in the background, because yes, baseball is a  
tad... slow... at times).

> And yes, the Huskers will rule college football again.  5  
> championships in 25 years and more to come!

Born and raised in Seattle... Go Huskies! =)

(What is the deal with that Husker mascot? And unis that haven't been  
updated since Eisenhower was in office... ;-)

>>>>> I'm not afraid to spend money to get what I want
>>>>
>>>> Me neither. Just don't tell my wife. =)
>>>
>>> Ok, I won't. :-)
>> Me and my potential future children thank you.
>
> Being single does have certain advantages. :-)

True. I do fondly remember those days sometimes. Distant memories now  
though...

-- 
Jarod C. Wilson, RHCE

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