[mythtv-users] Motorola vip1216 (u-verse STB)

Robert Johnston anaerin at gmail.com
Sat Sep 5 02:01:02 UTC 2009


On Fri, Sep 4, 2009 at 19:54, Michael Starks<mythtv at michaelstarks.com> wrote:
> I currently have u-verse cable and Internet. With all of the
> entertainment options out there, I really don't need to pay for cable,
> so today I called to cancel. The guy on the phone said if I don't return
> the unit I get charged $150. That got me to thinking. This box does HD
> and SD, has all sorts of nice outputs, is network accessible, fits in an
> entertainment center nicely, has a remote and doesn't use much power.
> And it runs Linux. Specs are here:
> http://74.125.95.132/search?q=cache:VOAZOHAi4SkJ:www.motorola.com/staticfiles/Business/Products/TV%2520Video%2520Distribution/Set-tops/IP%2520Set-tops/VIP1216/_Documents/Static%2520Files/VIP1216specsheet_082508_f.pdf+motorola+vip1216+linux&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us
>
> All of the posts I have run across talk about grabbing the stream from
> u-verse to get to a Myth box, but what if this *was* the Myth box? A box
> like this for $150 sounds pretty nice. Do you think it's possible to
> blow away the software on the hdd and install a standard distro? The CPU
> is a 400+DMIPS, which I know nothing about yet. The other potential kink
> is that it advertises an "Integrated Secure Processor" so I don't know
> if that ties into the OS.

I see a few problems. First of which being it's not running Linux. If
you look on the box itself you'll see a shiny sticker proudly
proclaiming it's running Windows CE Embedded.

That aside, while the system may be running a MIPS architecture (Also
unsupported for Myth), finding drivers for everything inside the box,
even if you do manage to get a linux distro on there, would be next to
impossible.

Hence why most (if not all) work has been concentrated on doing away
with the box entirely.
-- 
Robert "Anaerin" Johnston
Sent from Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada


More information about the mythtv-users mailing list