[mythtv-users] Laptop Diskless Front End

Brian Wood beww at beww.org
Tue Apr 17 13:11:55 UTC 2007


On Apr 17, 2007, at 6:42 AM, Steve wrote:

> Hi All,
>
> I am a completely new to MythTV and have yet to perform my first
> install so please excuse my ignorance.
>
> I would like to setup up a diskless MythTV front end on one of my 2
> spare laptops. While I have a box running FC6 that I currently use as
> a fileserver, I do not have any TV cards, so I would like todo a
> staggered install of a MythTV system if this is possible.
>
> Phase 1: Existing stored media playback and DVD playback Only
>
> Phase 2: Once I purchase 2 TV cards, use full MythTV recording and
> playback capabilities via backend server.
>
> I have 2 laptops that can be used as diskless front ends, booting from
> either USB key, CD or PXE connected to TV via built in svideo and
> sound card.
>
> I did not come across any setups for playback only in browsing any of
> the MythTV documentation of mailing list archives.. is this even
> possible? If so what hardware/software/OS considerations are there?
>
> Or is this plan to re-use my old laptops just going to introduce me to
> a world of hurt, regardless of phase 1 or 3, and I should just cough
> up the cash for dedicated front end hardware?
>

My first question would be do the laptops have the CPU power and/or  
video hardware to make decent frontends.

You haven't mentioned if you are looking to do HD. Very few "old  
laptops" are capable of good HD playback, and if you are thinking of  
using an 802.11b link to them it would get even more problematical.

But if you are thinking of an SD-only system you could most likely  
make the laptops work. As was mentioned you could just boot them as  
frontends from a Knoppmyth or Mythdora disk, or create a minimal F/E  
system yourself. Most old laptops have small hard drives, but they'd  
be more than large enough to hold an OS and F/E.

Many people use playback only frontends, using everything from Mac  
Minis to XBox units. The Hauppauge Media MVP makes a nice SD frontend  
for under $100US (in the USA). Totally silent, low power drain and it  
comes with a working remote. This is just an example, I'm not pushing  
particular hardware.

The devil is always in the details: getting a remote working might  
require a serial port, which if you don't have might mean a USB  
converter. Cooling is always an issue for laptops running for long  
periods.

You could certainly make it work (for SD), but in the end it might be  
cheaper to go with something like an MVP. It all depends on whether  
you want a working frontend quickly or a "hobby".


Brian Wood
beww at beww.org





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