[mythtv-users] PVR-350 Configuration questions

[Intense Red]

   Does anyone poing me at a newbie-level guide to configuring Myth-TV with a 
Win PVR-350? I'm lost and am wandering in the wilderness and no amount of 
docs or mail archives I've found so far has helped.

   The setup: I installed Kubuntu GNU/Linux on a box as per the instructions 
<http://www.abarbaccia.com/> (setup using ivtv driver). This is a simple 
install, both backend and frontend on the same box with the PVR-350 connected 
to analog cable TV.

   At one time, I had the "Watch TV" function working fine, but videos would 
record as blanks. I read a warning in the MythTV docs about having "Cable" 
assigned to both the Tuner and Composite inputs, and figured that was my 
problem so I redid the mythtv-setup. Since then nothing has worked.

   Despite the problem, I'm fairly confident in the software install, kernel, 
ivtv driver and that side of things -- all seems well there. I think my 
problem is simply the configuration in MythTV itself.

   Here is my configuration; if anyone can whack me with a clue-bat and 
explain where and why I'm making a mistake, I'd greatly appreciate it.

* In mythtv-setup I have the Capture Card Setup configured as an MPEG-2 
Encoder Card (PVR-250, PVR-350), using /dev/video0, and a default input of 
Tuner 0. That seems straightforward.

* In mythtv-setup's Video sources I have my cable/zap2it set up, and this is 
working fine as I can see the proper channels and listings in the front end. 
(I've also tried both the "default" and "us-cable" options for the Channel 
frequency table with no luck -- it's presently set to default.)

* The Input connections setup is baffling to me.  I have "/dev/video0 (Tuner 
0)" set to my Cable system and nothing else set. Is this correct?

   In the front end side of things, in the setup's "TV Settings" I have many 
questions:

* In "Playback", under "Hardware Decoding Settings" should I have the "Use the 
PVR-350's TV out/MPEG decoder"? Right now, I'll be watching TV on my 
computer; in the future, I plan on using the TV out to pipe stuff to a TV. 
(Right now, that item is not checked.)

* The "Recording Profiles" section is a mystery. Under "MPEG-2 Encoders 
(PVR-250, PVR-350)" like in other things, I've opted to change as little as 
possible. Under "Default - Video Compression" it lists a Codec of "MPEG-2 
Hardware Encoder" with a stream type of "MPEG-2 TS", and "Default - Audio 
Quality" of "MPEG-2 Hardware Encoder" with all the other default settings. 
The "Live TV" settings are similar.

* The "Recording Profiles" section's "Transcoders" is also a mystery to me and 
I've no clue as to how to configure this so I've left the defaults in place.

   The little plugins -- News feeds, weather, web, etc. -- seem to work fine, 
but at this point those are just annoying teases reminding me of my failure 
to configure the big feature: TV.

   Anyone have any advice or whacks with a clue-bat? TIA.


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