[mythtv-users] MythTV - help please!

[Brad DerManouelian]

On Dec 25, 2007, at 12:14 PM, Steve Cooke wrote:

> Brad DerManouelian wrote:
>
>> It sounds like you need to start from the beginning.
>> What guide are you following?
>>
>>
>
> Hi Brad,
>
> I'm following no one particular guide, as the guides I've used have  
> all
> left me with unusable installations. The guide I originally followed  
> was:
> http://wilsonet.com/mythtv/
>
> This was helpful as far as the kernal changes from memory - we are
> talking 12 months ago though.

That's a great place to start. Unfortunately, it's hard to help with a  
generic problem like, "It just won't work" or "my installation is  
unusuable". I would recommend starting from scratch. Reformat the  
drive, install the OS again, start at the beginning with the guide and  
when you run into a problem, ask a specific question about that  
particular problem to get you through to the next step.

The problem with guides is that they are just that - a guide. It was  
correct at the time it was written, but software is continually  
changing and what did work before might not work exactly the same way  
now. For instance, I know ivtv commands changed since the time the  
guide you mentioned was written. However, checking the -help for  
command syntax or searching the archives for the error message or  
asking on the list "When I type this command, I get this error. What  
should I do?"

When I started using MythTV a couple of years ago, I started with that  
guide and I ended up reinstalling the OS a couple of times and  
uninstalling/reinstalling all my packages 2-3 times before I got a  
combination that worked. I learned a lot in that process and now  
understand how to resolve dependency issues and how to configure my  
system to do what I want it to do rather than what someone else wanted  
their system to do that I am now copying.

Now that I think about it, the first time I installed, I used  
KnoppMyth because I saw a video about how easy it was to set up. It  
really was. I had it up and running in about 30 minutes after I  
installed and hooked up my PVR-350. If you're getting frustrated with  
setting everything up yourself, try one of the Myth-specific distros  
like KnoppMyth. More popular ones have come along since then like  
Mythbuntu and Mythdora. There are others, but these are the ones I  
hear about the most. There are good discussions about them in the  
archives, as well. Like here: http://www.gossamer-threads.com/lists/mythtv/users/198511

Stick with it. You will soon learn the joy of turning on your TV and  
browsing through a list of programs you want to see waiting for you on  
demand without commercial interruption. :)