[mythtv-users] Shuttle SK41G & PVR-250 - experiences?

[Adam Lydick]

I've been happy with mine. I still don't have everything working quite
yet, mostly due to lack of time to hack on it. But I've gotten all of
the hardware working individually under Debian/Testing without many real
problems. 

Quick overview:

I got my hardware from http://www.newegg.com.

1x TV TUNER ATI|TV WONDER VE PCI RTL
1x CPU AMD|1800+ 1.5 ATHLONXP TBRED RT
2x DDR 256MB|32X64 PC2100 CL2 2I D-E
2x HD 120GB|MAXTOR 6Y120L0 72R 2MB
1x BRBN PC SHT|SK41G W/FAN RETAIL

NOTE: If you get a processor, be sure to get the OEM processor. The
SK41G comes with the groovy heat pipes and you don't need the fan+sink
that comes with a retail processor box.

NOTE: The SK41G comes with a very small packet of thermal paste. Look
carefully for it before you bother purchasing more ;)

NOTE: On second thought, I wouldn't get the TV Wonder. I'd prolly get
the MPEG encoder card that you suggested, however, at the time the only
thing I saw about hardware encoder cards was "what a silly waste of time
when we have so much CPU power to waste". Go figure. I'll probably get
one once the drivers get a bit more stable and just live with software
encoding for now. (Because, well, I do have a lot of CPU power to waste
;)

Software:

Distro: Debian/Testing

The video card was the only tricky part. I needed to add to my
/etc/apt/sources.list a private X 4.3 package repository:

deb http://penguinppc.org/~daniels/sid/i386 ./

If you connect a TV to the SVideo out and do not connect a monitor to
it, it seems to work automagically (for X and console.) I didn't need to
use S3switch. (In fact, I never got it working, and quit trying after I
got it to work this way).

I had to use the latest alsa drivers to get my onboard sound working.
I'm still playing with the different options, it looks like a neat card
if I can get 5.1 working in linux. (And if I ever get a real stereo
system to try it with. Heh.)

I also got a Siemens Wireless USB Adaptor (Model# SS1022) to avoid
having cables running all over the house. (My wife might kill me, and
even I find it a bit cluttered). It works well enough with linux-wlan-ng
drivers (and is even integrated with hotplug). I max out around
250-450KB/s so that might not be fast enough for most people.

Open Issues:

I still haven't gotten around to getting a remote working. This should
just require some hackery and a trip to radio shack. It awaits a span of
spare time.

I need to tweak my bttv driver settings. I also need to figure out how
to adjust the output levels for audio passthru on my TV Wonder VE.
Although I may circumvent this problem (and the fact that it is
mono-only) by running audio directly from my digital cable box to my
sound card.

I also need to get an IR blaster working for my digital cable box.

I don't know what CPU you should get. Depends on what you would like to
do. I generally just pick the CPU that is most cost effective for the
speed (inflection point on the cost/speed curve).

Hope that is helpful.

Adam