[mythtv-users] First frontend only machine

[Greg Mitchell]

> This issue has come up a couple of times so I need to ask about it.
> What's so bad about the power getting pulled on an XBox frontend
> machine? 

It was probably me that mentioned it the other time too :)  I don't 
think it's inherently any worse than pulling the plug on any linux pc, 
but it's running Ext2, so if the filesystem gets corrupted, it can screw 
up the whole system.

Now, if you install to the gamesave partition, you can just backup the 
"rootfs" file and copy it back across in case something goes sour. 
Should be able to do that without having to make a trip down.

In all honesty, that's the first time I've ever had a linux system that 
wouldn't boot up because of a failed fsck after a power cycle, so I 
don't know if it's just a fluke or what.  It did only happen once, and 
my son has hit the power button at least a dozen times without causing 
it since.

If you install a file manager on the frontend, and just leave two copies 
of rootfs on the box, you should be able to do a system restore within 
seconds...Not something I looked into, because it's a pretty quick thing 
to do over the LAN, and I just backed up rootfs to my backend machine.

Greg