[mythtv-users] 18.1 frontend on OS X (localhost:6543 regardless of mysql.txt)

[chris at cpr.homelinux.net]

On Mon, Nov 14, 2005 at 06:11:35PM -0500, James Howison wrote:
> It was asking for config where the  
> hostname="MinistryOfInformation.local" which is indeed my laptop.  As  
> an experiment I changed the "LocalHostName" in mysql.txt to "quahog"  
> which is the hostname of my backend.  Now the frontend seems to  
> communicate fine, the right theme comes up.

Were there any records in the settings table for the long hostname?  If 
not then I'd suspect you have read-only access to the table and are not 
saving the settings after running through the first stage of the client 
configuration.

> So now the question is how does the hostname stuff work, the  
> LocalHostName=backendname hack doesn't feel right.

It's not right.  Myth usually uses the machines FQDN as the hostname 
value in the settings table.  There's a setting in the initial setup 
page that allows you to indicate that you want to use a specific client 
name.  It's intended as a way of working around dynamic hostnames for 
DHCP clients, but can also be used to force a shorter hostname.  
Really, all you need is a unique identifier.

When you specified the backend as your hostname, all you really did was 
piggy-back on the existing configuration from the last time the 
mythfrontend software was run on the backend.  Down that path lies 
madness.

> Should I delete  
> all the hostname="my laptop hostname" settings from the database?  Is  
> there a way to reset it, or should I do it manually? (This seems to  
> suggest that I shouldn't alter the database directly: http:// 
> www.mythtv.org/docs/mythtv-HOWTO-23.html#ss23.15)

The rule about never touching the database is more concerned with how
the backend tracks the recordings.  It shouldn't hurt to clean out the
settings table manually.  Just make sure you only delete the frontend
settings (the ones that have a hostname) and leave the backend settings
(the ones with no hostname) alone.

-- 
Joke reduction: Three guys walk into a bar. One of them is a wee bit
stupid, and the whole scene unfolds with a tedious inevitability.