[mythtv-users] Building A MythTV Box

[Galen]

My apologies for not searching. I tried the search and it informed me 
that the list was not searchable or something to the extent which 
implied it was not searchable and was not just a temporary error. Now 
it seems to be very searchable, just a few hours later.

I clearly have some reading to do.

-Galen

On Apr 10, 2005, at 10:47 PM, Cecil Watson wrote:

> Hello,
>
> Galen wrote:
>
>>
>>
>> For the basic equipment, I need a basic but solid PC. I do not have 
>> one that will suffice, nor do I have much equipment that would be 
>> used within one, so I will be purchasing nearly everything. For HDTV, 
>> I think we're talking about a 3 GHz P4 processor. What AMD processor 
>> would be equivalent? What would be the advantages/disadvantages to 
>> more or less CPU? Are there specific motherboard options highly 
>> recommended? How much RAM is suitable/optimal - 256 MB? 512 MB? Cost 
>> is very important to me, but not the only factor.
>>
> While I'm a huge AMD fan, stick with the Intel (for HDTV).  I'd 
> recommend 512 Megabtes of RAM.
>
>> I'm not a noise-nazi, but keeping this system reasonably quiet and on 
>> the more compact end of things would be preferable, if there are any 
>> reasonable yet inexpensive choices I can make in selecting the 
>> equipment, practical advice would be welcome.
>>
> Search the archives (http://www.gossamer-threads.com/lists/mythtv/).
>
>> I obviously also need an HDTV tuner card. It appears my options are 
>> the pcHDTV 3000 and the Air2PC-ATSC-PCI. The prices and features 
>> appear to be quite similar. Can anybody describe any differences 
>> between the two? Any significant difference in RF performance? 
>> Compatibility? MythTV support?
>>
> Search the archives.  Both are equally supported.
>
>> Regarding storage devices, it seems any modern hard drive should be 
>> able to handle HDTV raw streams (20 Mb/s) without too much trouble, 
>> and I will only have one tuner. Even my little 2.5" 60 GB 4200 RM 
>> laptop hard drive can handle it. Clearly, the limiting factor will be 
>> capacity, not performance, it seems. I have been pondering producing 
>> a RAID (probably software-based, RAID5 if possible) on here and 
>> perhaps using this machine for some light home file server functions. 
>> Anybody have experience with RAIDs and MythTV?
>>
> LVM, but not RAID.  Again, search the archives.
>
>> Once the content is tuned in and everything, I need to output it. For 
>> the video card, my understanding is that NVidia may be preferable 
>> because of better hardware acceleration under Linux. I am looking to 
>> run HDTV, and that is all, so other performance is unimportant. I 
>> need good analog out (s-video), and of course VGA. If possible DVI 
>> would be preferable if not too costly, so I could run pure digital to 
>> DVI-equipped projectors, displays, and HDTVs. (At HDTV resolutions, 
>> VGA has noticeable blurring) Can anybody suggest some cards that 
>> would offer solid performance and value? What would be my best 
>> options for sound output? I do not currently need more than simple 
>> stereo RCA-style output, but if multiple channel support can be 
>> incorporated into the system for not too much more, I would love to 
>> include it. What sound cards would be best for Linux compatibility, 
>> good value, and reasonable quality? Should I even think about using 
>> built-in (motherboard) audio out?
>>
> Geforce 5200.  Depending on the motherboard you get, it's onboard 
> sound should be more than adequate.
>
>> So once I get all this stuff hooked up physically, it's time for 
>> software. First and obviously, I'm talking about using MythTV. I am 
>> guessing that running MythTV on top of a Linux distro would be 
>> preferable, as I will probably want to tweak lots of little things 
>> over time and perhaps do tiny other tasks with the machine. Without 
>> starting a holy war, what distro would be the simplest to setup and 
>> use with MythTV? (Yes, I know I will probably get multiple and 
>> conflicting opinions here!) I am aware of KnoppMyth, but I think I 
>> would rather have a little more control over the system than that, 
>> and I think I can manage to setup MythTV manually.
>>
> KnoppMyth gives you all the control you need.   You can install it, 
> get then system up and running then do as you wish.  Remove the MythTV 
> debs, install from source, apt-get update, apt-get install XZY, etc.
>
>> I also will need some sort of remote control apparatus. I need to 
>> further research this topic, but I would find it particularly 
>> interesting if I could use my Treo 650 (bluetooth and IR equipped) to 
>> control my system. I mean, if I already have the device, why not use 
>> it as a remote? This is really a secondary topic, but I know it's 
>> possible, so I'll get there.
>>
> http://wilsonet.com/mythtv/remotes.php or again search the forum.
>
>> Looking forward to a few thoughts from people.... and thank you in 
>> advance!
>>
>> -Galen
>
> Regards,
>
> Cecil
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