[mythtv-users] Hardware configuration and capabilities of MythTV

Raymond Wagner raymond at wagnerrp.com
Mon Feb 7 20:36:01 UTC 2011


On 2/7/2011 14:40, Reynolds, Brian wrote:
> Thanks Rob.  I checked out the HDPVR.  Only problem with it, besides having to keep the cable company's DVR, is that it wouldn't make very good use of both tuners in the DVR.

Your cable company's DVR only has one video output, and barring some 
excessively complex setup where the computer schedules recordings on the 
DVR, and slowly pulls them off in real time over the component output, 
it will function no different than a dumb cable box.  You would actually 
be better off swapping the DVR for a dumb cable box.  It will be 
cheaper, and will have firewire, which if nothing else will be more 
reliable than IR for remote control.

> Supposedly there is a new product on the horizon called the HDHomeRun "Prime" from Silicondust.  Anyone know how long until this product will be available?  Will it be supported by MythTV?  It is supposed to have three tuners and will accept a cablecard.

The HDHomeRun Prime has been usable in MythTV since before the 0.24 
release.  Several of their employees use MythTV, and they have been 
testing the HDHR with it in the Bay Area for months.  It should be 
usable as soon as Cable Labs certifies them.

> So, basically, it looks like the hardest thing will be to get a cablecard tuner hooked up to make use of both (or all three) tuners.  I signed up on a mailing list at Silicondust's website so I will get notification when the new product is available.

You will be limited to those channels that are marked 'copy freely', 
which will be the same channels you would otherwise be capable of 
pulling off a cable box over firewire.  Effectively, you're trading 
$20-30/mo in box rentals for a $4/mo cablecard rental and a $250 tuner box.

> I guess I'll have to play with the software on my existing hardware to see if I can find anything else to ask questions about.  I have an old machine with an ATI All-In-Wonder card that I can play with.

That depends.  The AIW cards were never well supported in Linux, and the 
older versions were not even capable of capture.  The software would 
define a box on screen, and the graphics card would copy the video 
frames straight into it.  It was for video playback only.


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