[mythtv-users] (no subject)

Rafic Gho rghoogas at gmail.com
Thu Sep 30 23:31:20 UTC 2010


Thanks Simon for a detailed explanation. Yes I am a window guy, although I
have taken some Linux classes in the past, I have forgotten the how to
environment. I will try to learn more as I dig in to it.

On Thu, Sep 30, 2010 at 4:20 PM, Simon Hobson <linux at thehobsons.co.uk>wrote:

> Rafic Gho wrote:
>
>> so if I get the supported tuner,  then does it recocognize the tuner
>> without loading the driver?
>>
>
> I'm guessing you've come from a Windows background and Linux is new to you.
> It takes a fair bit of adjustment to the many significant differences.
>
> Generalising and simplifying somewhat ...
>
> In the Windows world, many common devices are supported by Windows "out of
> the box" - they still have a driver, it's just that Microsoft supply one and
> it's installed by default. When you buy new hardware, it typically comes
> with a disk for you to install a driver from - either because the
> manufacturer has a better one than Microsoft supply (eg it supports all the
> hardware features rather than just a selection of generic ones) or because
> Microsoft don't supply one at all.
> Because Windows is such a dominant OS, no hardware manufacturer would
> consider shipping hardware without a Windows driver.
>
> Now, over in the Linux world things are different. We still need device
> drivers, but the difference is that (in general) you don't get a disk with a
> Linux driver with your new hardware. Things are improving, but with a few
> notable exceptions, most vendors just haven't realised that there is any
> other OS than Windows. Those of us that use Macs have a similar problem.
>
> As a result, in the Linux world, it's a case of the "Linux Developers"* who
> have to supply all the device drivers. Thus, instead of installing the
> driver that came on a disk from your hardware vendor, you are reliant on a
> driver for that device being part of the Linux you installed. If you have
> something that's mature enough to have a driver, then it may well already be
> supported by your current installation and you have nothing to install. If
> it's something new, then you may have to upgrade and/or reconfigure your
> kernel to get a driver - the latter is, I would suggest, not something for a
> complete newcomer to tackle.
>
> In your case, http://linuxtv.org/wiki/index.php/ATSC_USB_Devices shows
> that the device is supported from kernel version 2.6.26 onwards. That means
> plug it in, and the system should recognise it - as long as you have a
> kernel no earlier than that. Most things are "plug and play" these days,
> when you plug in the tuner, the USB subsystem will detect the device being
> plugged in, interrogate it to find out what it is, and load the correct
> driver to operate it. When the driver loads, a device file will be created
> for it in /dev, and the device is then 'visible' to any software you run.
>
> That is only half the story - you then have to configure Myth to use it.
> The driver merely makes the device visible to software running on your
> system, you need applications (of which Myth is just one) to actually use
> it.
> Someone posted a link to the Wiki earlier where there are step by step
> instructions to install and configure Myth.
>
>
> * I use the term fairly widely as referring to the very large group of
> developers who contribute to the overall "package". In fact there is a group
> running the Video for Linux section, who look after video devices.
> --
> Simon Hobson
>
> Visit http://www.magpiesnestpublishing.co.uk/ for books by acclaimed
> author Gladys Hobson. Novels - poetry - short stories - ideal as
> Christmas stocking fillers. Some available as e-books.
>
> _______________________________________________
> mythtv-users mailing list
> mythtv-users at mythtv.org
> http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mythtv.org/pipermail/mythtv-users/attachments/20100930/2715b901/attachment.htm>


More information about the mythtv-users mailing list