[mythtv-users] Hardware list for new mythtv box

[Michael T. Dean]

On 05/23/2013 07:30 AM, LAUKENS Niels wrote:
> On 2013-05-23 13:21, Michael T. Dean wrote:
>
>> On 05/23/2013 07:11 AM, LAUKENS Niels wrote:
>>> * Can I configure Myth with the above 2-pay-channels-max logic, so that
>>> it
>>> knows not to try and decode a 3rd pay-channel, even if a tuner is
>>> available? It used to be simple because I have only 2 tuners, but since
>>> MultiRec (i.e. multiple programs from the same multiplex on a single
>>> tuner) was introduces, that might complicate things...
>> This definitely won't be a problem.  You'll just configure 2 tuners with
>> 0 virtual tuners.  You do this by explicitly lowering the default value
>> of "Max recordings" from 2 to 1 in Capture Card setup.
> But does that still allow a 3rd non-pay-TV channel to be watched/recorded?
>

If you're saying that a given tuner allows you to access one channel 
using the CI/CAM while using the same tuner to watch other non-encrypted 
channels, that would work very differently from any other device I've 
ever heard of.  Either that or the cable company's layout of channels is 
different from any other I've heard of (where I'd guess they wouldn't 
multiplex encrypted and non-encrypted channels on the same frequency).

So, using a single tuner to record an encrypted channel while also 
recording unencrypted channels with the same tuner probably won't work 
in MythTV.  An input with access to encrypted channels would--by 
definition--have a different Video Source from an input that can only 
access unencrypted channels.  (A Video Source is the list of /all/ 
channels--and only the channels--that can be accessed by an input, along 
with information on how to tune them.)  MythTV only allows you to 
associate a single Video Source with a given input, so it wouldn't 
support it, outright.

It's possible that you might be able to force it to
("kind of"?) work by creating 2 separate capture cards that use the 
exact same Linux device and by putting them into the same Input Group 
(where MythTV will only allow a single input in a given Input Group to 
be used at any time).  With this approach, you could assign the Pay-TV 
Video Source to one capture card's input and the Unencrypted Video 
Source to the other capture card's input--and enable multirec on the 
input connected to the Unencrypted Video Source--and place those inputs 
into a single Input Group.  Then, MythTV could either record up to <max 
recordings> shows from the unencrypted channels or record a single show 
from the encrypted side using the CI/CAM hardware.  What I don't know is 
whether MythTV will have problems with initialization when it checks for 
the different capture cards at startup, and such, since they're using 
the same Linux device.

That said, it would definitely work if you got a tuner specifically for 
use with unencrypted channels (and wouldn't need CI/CAM for that tuner, 
either).

FWIW, most dual-tuner (or other multi-tuner) hardware presents to Linux 
as multiple Linux devices, which means they are defined as separate 
MythTV capture cards (even though they're on one physical card).  This 
makes it very easy to configure--as each device can be configured 
differently, depending on how it's used.  It may be that your device 
works the same way, and the confusion stems from not realizing this 
piece of information (that said, I don't know anything about the card 
you plan to use).

Mike