[mythtv-users] Navigating the hardware mine field
Joe Henley
joehenley at kc.rr.com
Tue Sep 2 14:38:11 UTC 2008
Paul,
I have a Via M6000E running as a front end only. It has no fans (the
M10000 has a CPU fan) and no disks. It runs MiniMyth for the front end.
It does fine with SD and with the OSD. The only time I get any screen
problems is when I fast forward on a recorded show while I'm recording
another one. That's more likely a problem with the back-end than the
front end.
So I'm reasonably happy with it. However, I would never recommend any
Via product to anyone; nor will I ever buy another. As much as I like
the small form factor, and the particular hardware Via put on this
board, the company's tech support is abysmal. For years they advertised
as supporting Linux, which was a flat-out lie. They have recently hired
someone to work on improving support for Linux, and that person does
seem to making some headway, but so far the progress is all on their
newer product lines and none on the older stuff (like the m10000 or
M6000). In other words, helping them get new business, but not
supporting the current customers.
I spent several _months_ trying to get a straight answer from their Tech
Support about the operation of one of the parameters on their closed
source drivers and never got a meaningful reply. For months they would
say only that they were strong supporters of Linux, but never addressed
the question I asked. Maddeningly frustrating.
It is possible their recent efforts may someday lead to decent Linux
support, but first they have alot of work to do and alot of current Tech
Support people to retrain or replace.
I'd strongly suggest you look at some of the new Intel boards to build
your Myth FE. I find MythTV to be new enough and sufficiently complex
that it is .... "challenging" to get up, running, and fully tweaked to
your liking. I suspect you'll find, as I did, that you don't need any
additional headaches from the hardware.
Good luck.
Joe Henley
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