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On 2/19/2012 20:58, Mark Hutchinson wrote:
<blockquote
cite="mid:CAE38GhH5ctcuSaGno8-5VceqqgbSMQFOOCtX63hBo673L1PjVg@mail.gmail.com"
type="cite"><br>
<br>
<div class="gmail_quote">On Sun, Feb 19, 2012 at 5:17 PM, Nick
Rout <span dir="ltr"><<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="mailto:nick.rout@gmail.com">nick.rout@gmail.com</a>></span>
wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0
.8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<div class="HOEnZb">
<div class="h5">On Mon, Feb 20, 2012 at 2:06 PM, Mark
Hutchinson <<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="mailto:markhsa@gmail.com">markhsa@gmail.com</a>>
wrote:<br>
> I hope this gets developed. The amount of 100+ watt
frontends replaced by a<br>
> 3 watt machine would save serious $ overall.
Standardized hardware like the<br>
> pi could be just the ticket. One optimized download
for myth frontend on<br>
> known hardware. Massive advantages.<br>
> I would view this as a critical move forward.<br>
<br>
</div>
</div>
As I think Raymond was explaining, it is not just playback
that is<br>
needed. Myth themes use up a heap of ram. Ram is cheap on
x86/amd64<br>
machines, not so on Raspberry Pi etc.<br>
<br>
I think therefore that R pi is unlikely to make a good
frontend if you<br>
want to run mythfrontend.<br>
<br>
It may work well as a uPnP or xbmc based frontend, in the same
way as<br>
a WD Live or Popcornhour and other STB's can be used as a
front end.<br>
</blockquote>
</div>
<br>
<div>OK. So if XBMC can do it, my can't Myth? Are the themes
that much more intensive and such?</div>
<div>Not being sarcastic at all, I just really don't know. I am
not a coder. I am just really interested in saving power and
optimized software for standardized hardware is always a good
match I would think? Just a possible opportunity.</div>
<div>I know it would take off huge if people could get a $25 or so
fronted for myth. Maybe this is not the device, but you will
see major acceptance of this device I suspect for many projects.
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>
dd an image onto a flash drive for RPi and off to the races. It
would be huge.</div>
</blockquote>
<br>
I don't know if XBMC can do it well. The things I've seen with XBMC
have said to use the 256MB version, meaning it too wouldn't run all
that well on 128MB. The basic issue is that MythTV was never
designed to run on embedded hardware. We use PC hardware, where
512MB of memory was typical a decade ago, so development has been
rather fast and loose with memory usage. MythTV could be tightened
up to run a graphical theme at 1920x1080 with only 256MB of memory,
it's just never had to before, and will require someone with
significant knowledge of the code base spending a long time
optimizing code.<br>
<br>
If this 3W device would be replacing an existing 100W+ frontend,
then all you have to blame for that is poor purchasing decisions in
your past. The Core2 Duo and Athlon II X2 lines topped out at 65W
TDP, and ran considerably lower at idle. Modern chipsets don't take
much, nor does a modest video card, and a dedicated frontend needs
no hard drive. It's not difficult to get one idling under 40W, and
less than double that under load. i3 systems with Intel graphics
can be done for well under 30W. You could even go for a Mac Mini,
or something with similar laptop hardware, that ran under 10W.<br>
<br>
Now sure, 30W is still an order of magnitude higher consumption than
the Pi, but then realize that utility rates in Northern America put
power cost at somewhere around $1/W/yr. That's only $30/yr to run
that comparatively high end i3. Now consider the fact that it is a
dedicated frontend. It does nothing but playback, and has no need
to be powered up except for playback. Turn it on for the few hours
a day you might be watching TV, and then put it in standby or
powered off. Even when you account for the fact that those hours it
is on will be under higher load, and consuming more power, you're
still talking something well under $10/yr. There's a point
somewhere at which that law of diminishing returns kicks in, and
that power consumption cost becomes irrelevant to the argument.<br>
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