[mythtv-users] Newbie: A few questions

Michael T. Dean mtdean at thirdcontact.com
Wed May 18 10:27:30 UTC 2005


On 05/15/05 22:38, Michael Tiller wrote:

> 1) I've been using the IR port on my PVR-150.  It worked great with 
> the Hauppauge remote but then I came to find out (after spending way 
> too much time on this) that it only understand "RC-5" remotes.  I was 
> hoping to use my TiVo remote for this machine.  What is the cheapest 
> way to put in an IR port that will work with the TiVo remote?

Depends whether you consider your time cheap.  Cheapest in terms of 
dollars is probably http://lirc.org/receivers.html .  Cheapest in terms 
of time would be a solution like a) a wireless keyboard, b) a USB remote 
(possibly RF, like the ATI Remote Wonder or X10 Lola) using either 
kernel "keyboard" drivers or LIRC, c) a commercial receiver like IRTrans 
( http://www.irtrans.de/ ) or d) a ready-made LIRC homebrew receiver (  
http://www.zapway.de/scr/partnerlink.php?ref=1 ).

> 2) I have a PVR-150 and an old WinTV card (bttv drivers).  Picture is 
> pretty bad on the WinTV card even though both tuners are getting the 
> same signal.  Is there anything I can do to try and punch up the 
> signal quality for bttv?

It's more likely the quality of the capture card (since you're getting a 
good picture on the PVR-x50).  Replacing the BTTV card with a PVR-x50 
would probably give you good results.  If you really want to spend time 
on the frame grabber, check out 
http://www.gossamer-threads.com/lists/ivtv/devel/17953#17953 for some 
approaches to consider for cleaning up your signal (although I wrote it 
about a system using PVR-250's, the same info applies to other cards).

> ...
> 4) On the TiVo, it is constantly keeping the ring buffer filled.  This 
> is kinda nice.  Is there any option for this in MythTV?

And here I see this as a benefit of Myth over the TiVo...  (Why would I 
want to waste power/cycles/whatever recording the channel my tuner 
happens to be on when my MythTV records every TV show I might possibly 
want to watch, so I have enough recorded programs that I *never* watch 
LiveTV?)  Chances are, once you get your recording rules set up 
properly, you won't miss this feature.

> 5) I read somewhere that MythTV should be smart about DPMS stuff.  It 
> would be nice if it was at a menu if it could go into powersafe mode 
> (but obviously I don't want it doing that while it is playing).  Is 
> there a way to do this?

You can use the EXEC action to execute an external command.  Therefore, 
if you set up a script to put your system in the mode you desire (i.e. 
with xset, hdparm, etc.), you simply add a button to the menu to call 
the script.

> ...
> 7) I've created a couple of recording groups.  But I haven't been able 
> to find a way to organize recorded programs by these groups under 
> "Watch Recordings".

Set the recording group on the recording rule.  If you have recordings 
you would like to move into a group, press "Info", select "Recording 
Options", then "Change Recording Group".  To sort by group, press 
"Menu", and select either "Change Group Filter" or "Change Group View" 
as desired.

> ...
> 10) When I pause, it would be nice if either play or pause caused it 
> to start again.  It is a bit odd that play causes it to mark the position.

The default key mappings use "P" for the Play/Pause toggle (i.e. one key 
for one action), and mark position is "Select" (either "Enter" or 
"Space"--assuming you've chosen "Alternate Clear Saved Position" in TV 
Settings|Playback|General).

Therefore, it sounds like your remote configuration maps the play button 
to "Select"--which causes the selected video to play in the PlaybackBox 
but not when playing a video.  Usually this is done for remotes that 
don't have buttons to waste (i.e. mapping both the play and pause 
buttons to the letter "P").  So, either change your remote configuration 
(and lose a button since two will send the same command) or learn to use 
the remote the way you have it mapped.

> Well, that is probably enough for now (although I'm sure I could 
> easily think of 10 more questions).  I apologize in advance if you 
> don't think I've RTFM but really, I've waded through quite a bit.  
> Thanks for any help.

Sounds like you've done some homework.  :)

> Mike

Mike, also


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