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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>All,<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'> Since,
for my budget, I was unable to make MythTV “wife-proof,” as it has
been called here, (actually, I was unable even to make it work at all), I
thought I would give some suggestions that will help others looking to make a
MythBox more successful. So, here it goes…<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-indent:.5in'><font size=2 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>First, if you want your computer to
be next to a TV, then you have a few options:<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:119.25pt;text-indent:-47.25pt;mso-list:
l0 level1 lfo1'><![if !supportLists]><font size=2 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>a)<font
size=1 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'>
</span></font></span></span></font><![endif]><font size=2 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Don’t care about the noise and
the look of a computer outside of your <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName
w:st="on">Entertainment</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">Center</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>
(any spot in an entertainment center with less than the front and back removed
will make the computer heat up too much.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:119.25pt;text-indent:-47.25pt;mso-list:
l0 level1 lfo1'><![if !supportLists]><font size=2 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>b)<font
size=1 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'>
</span></font></span></span></font><![endif]><font size=2 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Be ready to modify your
entertainment center to allow for plenty of air circulation. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:119.25pt;text-indent:-47.25pt;mso-list:
l0 level1 lfo1'><![if !supportLists]><font size=2 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>c)<font
size=1 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'>
</span></font></span></span></font><![endif]><font size=2 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Get a VERY cool box with VERY quiet
fans with VERY quiet hard drives. It would be very difficult to spend too
much money on quiet hardware for the Myth box.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=2 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=2 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Secondly, you should probably not
try to use your Myth box for standard computing, UNLESS,<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:1.25in;text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l1 level1 lfo2'><![if !supportLists]><font
size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'><span
style='mso-list:Ignore'>a)<font size=1 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></font></span></span></font><![endif]><font
size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>You don’t
care about actually reading text. This goes for both HDTVs and Standard
Television sets. Normally, you can read the text if you have standard
out, but this is simply because the text is so big and the resolution so bad. Keep
in mind that Standard TVs only have around 525 scanlines (something like a 480
visible vertical pixel dimension). This is probably unacceptable for most
people trying to double the Myth box with standard computing. The only
way to actually get a decent resolution is to modulate the high resolution to a
NTSC signal. This can be done using a standard RF Modulator (usually used
for changing video inputs from digital [svideo, composite, etc] to analog [coax
RF]). However, if you do this, you will not be able to read the text on
screen (unless it is scaled larger like Myth does in its frontend). With
HDTV, while much sharper, many TVs only support 720p which is also much lower
resolution than most people are used to. This lets you use the HDTV to do
standard computing (like word processing, etc), but you are very limited on
screen real estate. Just don’t be surprised if you can’t
double the Myth box as a computing station.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:1.25in;text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l1 level1 lfo2'><![if !supportLists]><font
size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'><span
style='mso-list:Ignore'>b)<font size=1 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></font></span></span></font><![endif]><font
size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>You have
something like VNC that you can use to remote into the box. However, this
requires another computer, so it kind of defeats the purpose.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:1.25in;text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l1 level1 lfo2'><![if !supportLists]><font
size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'><span
style='mso-list:Ignore'>c)<font size=1 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></font></span></span></font><![endif]><font
size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>You set up
the computer, connect it to a Monitor (Variable sync rates) and keyboard and
make the primary setup be used for standard computing. You can still hook
up your cable or antenna to it and use it to record video. The recorded
video / live tv could then be watched on the monitor or over a network to a computer
that can be hooked up to a TV.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-indent:.5in'><font size=2 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>With that said, if you are
dedicating the box to be *<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>just</span></b>* a
Myth box (and nothing else), you’ll probably be alright, but be prepared
for some work. If you aren’t using KnoppMyth, or something similar
(which is curious, because KnoppMyth didn’t set up the pcHDTV 3000 card
correctly either), then expect some work ahead of you. Most of the hardware
that I got seemed to work well and without problems. I did struggle with
the Chaintech AV-710 7.1 Surround Sound card, but most people on this list
seemed to have an easy time with it. Also, I was using the pcHDTV card to
capture TV. A few suggestions… Fedora Core 3 compiled and
loaded the pcHDTV V4L drivers without a problem. This was also true for
Suse 9.2 and Suse 9.3. However, for whatever reason, while I could record
video with the bundled command line utility for the pcHDTV, I could not get
MythTV to recognize the device correctly. With Fedora Core 4, the DVB
drivers were included with the distro and were much easier to get working the
the V4L drivers, mostly due to the fact that MythTV actually recognized them.
Also, I was using the ndiswrapper package with a D-LINK Extreme G PCI Wireless
card (and the latest D-LINK driver) and I was able to 108 Mbps wireless. This
was great, because I could basically watch LiveTV, DVD, even some HDTV over the
wireless network (but not in Myth). <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-indent:.5in'><font size=2 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Anyway, my plans for my Myth box is
still to keep Myth running but set it up as a standard computer that runs the
Myth backend so that video can record, but if I want to watch Live TV it will
have to be on the monitor not my 32” HDTV. If I want to watch a
recorded video, I can watch it on the monitor, or I can copy the recording to a
USB 2.0 external harddrive (2.5”), plug it in to my laptop, connect my
laptop to the HDTV and be ready to watch. So, while I am not decommissioning
my Myth box, I am changing it’s place in the house… away from the
entertainment center and into the office.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-indent:.5in'><font size=2 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Sorry about the long email, but I’ve
seen a number of people asking about building Myth boxen lately and I thought
that these suggestions would be helpful. Let me know if you have any questions.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-indent:.5in'><font size=2 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Thanks,<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Brandon<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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