[mythtv-users] Laptop Diskless Front End

[Brian Wood]

On Apr 17, 2007, at 10:32 AM, Steve wrote:

>
> Thanks for the feedback Peter and Steff and Brian, I like the idea of
> trying  KnoppMyth to start with.
>
> CPU power was also my concern, the laptop that I would like to use to
> start is an old Dell Inspiron 7500, 600MHz P3 with a whopping 192Mb
> RAM!

Dell stopped putting hardware MPEG-2 decoders into their Inspirons  
about the time the CPUs hit 500/600 Mhz., at that point the processor  
could handle DVD playback. I wouldn't even think about HD though, and  
it is unlikely that you have any sort of video chipset that could do  
XvMC, so things are going to be a bit marginal.


>
> I was hoping to use wireless for connectivity but is this is
> problematic as you suggest Brian I will skip this to start and hard
> wire the network. (Exactly the kind of tip I was looking for thanks!)

Wireless can be done, especially for SD. One problem might be that  
some of the Linux drivers for older PCMCIA wireless adapters take up  
significant CPU, which you really do not have to spare.

802.11b is plenty fast enough for a single SD stream, given good  
signal level. I was mainly concerned that you were going to try and  
send HD to both laptops at the same time over a wireless link, in  
which case you would definitely be disappointed.

>
> Both laptops have had their HD's fail and I have never replaced then,
> I may have a semi-functional 3.5" HD lying around somewhere I can use
> if necessary although I like the idea of not using one as if its sure
> to be prone to failure not being new..

You can certainly boot from a CD.

>
> Thanks for the suggestion of the Hauppauge Media MVP, are you
> suggesting that this be used as a MythTV Front end or just to be used
> 'As is' ?

There is firmware you can blow into the MVP that makes it a decent  
little SD frontend. Using it "as-is" would require a (shudder)  
Windows server I think.
>
> I Plan to eventually invest in a HD plasma display and to possibly
> build my own HTPV, thus I want to experiment with MythTV and get a
> feel for what it can do with my current hardware (i.e. old laptops ->
> non HD TV) before investing in any new Hardware and deciding on how to
> architect my home system(s).
>
> Also putting otherwise useless laptops to some use would make me a  
> happy chappy!


I have an Inspiron that sounds identical to yours , save I put 256MB  
of RAM into it. I've been trying to figure out what to do with it for  
years, as it is a really well-made unit with a beautiful display. You  
may be able to just barely get it to play MPEG2 files, but it's  
pretty marginal. The problem is that just the cost of a RAM upgrade  
would buy an MVP.

But as I said, do you want a frontend or a hobby?

Brian Wood
beww at beww.org