[mythtv-users] New user - low level hardware and software seem to work, but...
Mike Perkins
mikep at randomtraveller.org.uk
Mon Jan 12 12:19:09 UTC 2009
Brad DerManouelian wrote:
> On Jan 11, 2009, at 6:29 PM, A. F. Cano wrote:
>
>> On Sun, Jan 11, 2009 at 05:13:52PM -0800, Brad DerManouelian wrote:
>>> On Jan 11, 2009, at 5:00 PM, A. F. Cano wrote:
>>>
>>>> Hi,
>>> <snipped a bunch of stuff I'm not going to answer>
>>>
>>>> I propose a startup test: if mythtv-setup, mythtv or any other
>>>> mythtv program
>>>> for that matter is started from a console the current way is fine,
>>>> but if it
>>>> is started from an xterm/kterm/konsole/etc... or from a menu in kde/
>>>> gnome/X
>>>> it should start in a small window (not take over the whole screen).
>>> bderman at mythtv:~$ mythtv-setup --help
>> Well, yes, that's how I found out about the geometry option.
>>
>>> Valid options are:
>>> -display X-server Create GUI on X-server, not localhost
>>> -geometry or --geometry WxH Override window size settings
>>> -geometry WxH+X+Y Override window size and position
>>>
>>> Why guess at what "small window" is appropriate when you can just
>>> pass
>>> it the exact size you want?
>> My point was that, as a newbie, it was confusing to have the whole
>> screen
>> taken over and to have no apparent way to resize the window (no
>> borders) or
>> any way to use any other part of the window system. What you
>> propose is
>> fine, assuming you know beforehand that you must pass the geometry
>> parameters
>> in order not to lose the whole desktop. Plus, no other X/kde/gnome
>> program
>> that I've used takes over the screen without warning. Of course, it
>> might
>> help to know that I'm not installing mythtv on a dedicated HTPC,
>> it's on
>> a laptop that I use for other things, so keeping the desktop
>> available is
>> valuable. Yes, I know I can create a script that calls mythtv-setup
>> with
>> the proper geometry options. As to what a "small" window is, all
>> other
>> programs I use start with some default size (usually sufficient for
>> what they
>> need to display) and location, and if they're desktop-friendly, they
>> can
>> also have those parameters saved and receive start/restore and end
>> messages
>> from the desktop, but that might be beyond the scope of mythtv.
>> Mplayer
>> for instance uses the f key to toggle between full-screen and
>> regular-size
>> window that suits the resolution of what's displayed. But of
>> course, I've
>> just barely started using mythtv, so maybe I'm being naive. I only
>> offer
>> these suggestions so that others unfamiliar with the peculiarities
>> of this
>> program might have an easier time in the future.
>
> You'll soon find that features that help newbies but not of much use
> to developers don't make it into the code because developers, not
> newbies write the code. I can give you the two answers that everyone
> seems to hate: a) submit a patch or b) write as feature request and
> hope that one day someone has nothing better to work on.
>
> MythTV does run in a windowed mode, but that is not the default since
> most people want to run in full screen and it makes most sense for the
> most people to default to full screen. However, you will find that the
> window is not resizable and to that I say, "patches to add this
> feature are welcome". No one has taken the effort to make that happen
> because of the minority who would benefit from this feature, none have
> provided code to do so. I'm not judging or suggesting you get to work
> on providing things that you aren't happy with. Just stating the fact.
> No one has cared enough to add the feature, so it's not there and
> clearly for the majority of users, it's working just fine without it.
> Otherwise, someone would have gotten frustrated enough without it to
> write it.
>
I had the same problem when I first started using Mythtv, but since I'm in the
UK my problem was worse because the schedules grabber works in a different
fashion. I couldn't work out why mythtv-setup 'hung' at a certain point.
The simple answer is to use Alt+Tab to switch to your other window/desktop.
Gotcha (for me): for this to work, you must have more than just mythtv-setup
running (ie another xterm or a mail client, etc).
--
Mike Perkins
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