[mythtv-users] Firewire, framegrabbers, and Nvidia (was Re: Current wisdom on PVR-150/250/350/500

Brian Wood beww at beww.org
Tue Apr 18 15:41:13 UTC 2006


On Apr 18, 2006, at 9:01 AM, Scott Doty wrote:

> On Tue, Apr 18, 2006 at 08:41:03AM -0600, Brian Wood wrote:
>> If this machine is only running Myth then a 7800 video card is *WAY*
>> overkill. Unless you can get the capture working and want to use that
>> I'd go with a more conservative video card which will uncover your 5V
>> PVI slot.
>>
>> If you need the video horsepower for something else (and only gaming
>> really requires that, as pro CAD systems usually go with a quadro or
>> similar card), the HD-3000 will function as a framegrabber, though I
>> don't know what sort of PCI slot it desires.
>
> It's my Linux workstation, which lives most of the time in Linux.   
> I do boot
> to Winderz for the occasional game, though...

Ah Ha, caught you. Anybody running a 7800 is more than an  
"occasional" gamer.

Just my opinion, but a Myth system really needs to run full-time if  
it is to be a true full-time replacement for all of your  
entertainment gear. Otherwise you have to watch your recording  
schedule and be certain that the system is up when it needs to be.  
You can even run a "wake from sleep" schedule but I'm not aware of  
any "Wake from the Dead" capability, and if your box is running  
Windows it might as well be dead.

I play the occasional game as well, but on a Linux machine (not my  
Myth box). The 6800 in it works pretty well, but I admit I'd like to  
see what a 7800 would do, now that AGP versions are available.

I run Windows on the Linux machine under QEMU and it runs pretty  
well, but the Cirrus Logic CLGD 5446 PCI card that it emulates pretty  
much precludes any games :-)


>
>> Several cards can receive *unencrypted* QAM, though getting it set up
>> in not trivial. See the MythTV WiKi for more info. Most likely all
>> you will get will be the local off-airs, which you can get via analog
>> on most systems.
>
> I got this working, including for the Comedy Channel...
>
> The secret was using gscanbus to find out the Firewire node for the  
> cable
> box, then setting that in mythtv-setup as the cable box's node --  
> here is
> what it looks like on mythbackend and mythfrontend (changing  
> channels a
> couple of times)...
>
>
> In short:  I'm truly jazzed!  :)
>

You were very lucky, both in your cable operator's choice of  
equipment and the fact so many channels are available that way. Be  
aware that it could change any day though.


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