[mythtv-users] Pundit mythtv

[Scot L. Harris]

On Tue, 2005-08-02 at 10:47, Neale Swinnerton wrote:
> > So which epia boards are you using as front ends?  I looked at several
> > on the mini-itx.com site and they do look interesting.  I assume you are
> > using the video output from the epia board and do not have any encoder
> > cards installed in such a front end.  What speed CPU is needed to handle
> > decode of mpeg2?
> 
> I've got a Epia MII 12000 and a fanless Epia ME6000. Video out is via the
> built in driver. Both can play back mythtv recordings easily, 'cos the
> MPEG2 decoding is handled in hardware, using the built in mythv xvmc-vld
> support. (the work on this lately has made this pretty solid for me). I
> play MPEG4 avi's on both machines. The ME6000 can 'just' (>90%cpu) cope
> with most MPEG4's
> 

Ah! So those boards have on board mpeg2 decoding that works with stuff
recorded using a PVR-350 or PVR-250.  I'm not really interested in using
this for avi's, just for the TV recordings.

> In the UK we don't have any HD content broadcast yet, so I haven't got
> into that, you might want to investigate different boards if you want to
> decode HD in hardware, there has been discussion on this list about this
> sort of stuff.
> 

Currently not interested in HD stuff either.  :)

> >
> > Are you using the atrpms packages on the front end systems or some other
> > distribution?
> 
> I tend to build from SVN head when I see something interesting in the
> Changes. Both my frontend machines are diskless, Knoppmyth is your friend
> for that sort of stuff, although I use gentoo.
> 
> 

I will take a look at knoppmyth.  Currently running FC3 with mythtv from
atrpms.  I believe I am one version behind on mythtv at the moment.  Why
mess with something that is working just fine.  :)

> >
> > While I was hoping to get a third capture card in the mix finding a good
> > relatively cheap frontend only system is a goal.
> 
> I found that with 3 cards I'm pushed to be able to watch all the stuff I
> record. I can rapidly fill my disks!!

After the initial flood of recordings things have settled down to a
reasonable rate of recordings.  Other than the huge block of Twilight
Zone's during the marathon they ran a few weeks ago it is fairly easy to
keep up with the box now.   Of course having 1 TB to store them on makes
it easier to keep things until you watch them.

I found that two encoder cards resolve most conflicts.  A third should
take care of the few remaining conflicts that occur from time to time.

The idea of using a diskless system for the front ends is appealing.  Is
knoppmyth the best option for this?  Or would setting up a bootp server
be the way to go?


-- 
Scot L. Harris
webid at cfl.rr.com

Hi Jimbo.  Dennis.  Really appreciate the help on the income tax.  You wanna
help on the audit now?
		-- "The Rockford Files"