[mythtv-users] Going wireless/diskless, and some assorted hardware questions

[cmisip]

On Wed, 2003-06-04 at 12:54, Latka wrote:
> Greetings, I've been checking the archives, and I've seen a few people
> mention using wireless networking, but I was wondering if anyone has also
> set up a diskless box that is also wireless, and if they'd care to share
> their thoughts/experiences/rants/fears/warnings.
> 
> I've been searching around for quite a while, and just stumbled upon MythTV.
> I was figuring I'd have to use an embedded linux distro with one of the
> boxes on linux-devices.com. The problem with all of those is that they are
> mostly stripped down boxes, and don't quite have that "do every damn thing I
> want" that it looks like MythTV has.

I use Redhat 9.  Very Stable.  The location of qt3 has changed though
but it is qt 3.1.

 
> 
> Anyhoo, I'm in the process of researching this thing right now, to make sure
> I don't buy any parts that turn out useless. So far, here's a few questions
> I have (if they've already been answered, my apologies, just ignore them):
> 
> 1. Most of the setup docs suggest using two cards, one for display, one for
> capture. I just want a sanity check: The capture card can be PCI rather AGP,
> correct? (I've never seen a mobo with 2 AGP slots, and since you are only
> capturing with the PCI card, I assume this shouldn't be an issue.)
> 
The capture card is PCI.  I think you can get ati cards which are both
display and capture device but good luck running them in linux.  I use
an ati tv wonder and ati tv wonder ve for capture and any geforce card
with tv out should work.


> 2. Networking: The mini-itx case/mobo's I've looked at only have one PCI
> slot, which will probably be taken up by the capture card, so I'd be using
> the onboard lan to connect to an 802.11b/g converter. What transfer rate
> would I need if I wanted to go completely disklesss? (I'm trying to figure
> if it's feasable to store everything in one central place, and just boot
> this box, or even multiple boxes from that backend).
> 

I have tried using wireless 802.11b, but the connection is inconsistent
and the video is choppy ( pre .8 mythtv). Maybe the g cards or the
airexpress d link if there are linux drivers might have enough
bandwidth.  I dont know though.    Homepna worked pre .8 ( the 10 mbit
kind) but is now choppy also.  Currently using a 100 mbit connection via
ethernet cable with videos in a central location.   I can access the
videos as if they are local.  My version of myth has problems though if
I enable preview of videos in the remote frontend so I just use pixmaps
there.



> 3. Wireless kb/mice. Wondering if anybody has any luck with these under
> linux. This isn't really MythTV related, and I'll be looking in the usual
> haunts for info on this, but if you do care to share, I'm all ears.
> 

Use a logitech wireless mouse and keyboard. They work fine.  the base
station is hooked up via ps2 port.   Also tried a microsoft wireless
mouse via usb and that works too.  The later the kernel, the better the
support for the devices( especially usb).  You really dont need a
keyboard or mouse if you have finnished configuring your box.  One of my
frontend boxes is like this.  I access it via ssh from my laptop to make
changes to the configuration.  Otherwise I use a remote to navigate
MythTV.


> 4. Mini-itx case/mobo retailers. If you have any online retailers you can
> suggest, it would be appreciated. None of the online comp places I frequent
> have much in this form factor.
> 
> Thanks for any data points you care to share. Here's what I'm considering
> for now:
> Mini-ITX case, AMD based mobo (preferably NForce2 with decent onboard audio)
> AMD XP 2x00 (probably 2600, or whatever is in the $80 - 90 range when I
> jump)
> WinTV capture card (the hauppage seems quite highly recommended here)
> TV Out AGP video card (I have a GeForce 5200 that I can use already, but
> will buy another if need be)
> Wireless eth2wifi adapter
> DirecTV low speed network adapter (from the website mentioned here)
> USB Wireless kb/mouse (optional, but would love to use SSH from the comfort
> of my couch ;p)
> Gentoo linux, probably a minimal windo wmanager (blackbox , IceWM, etc.)

I use WindowMaker, excelent window focus behavior (which is important
for lirc irxevent), and you can autologin and autostart programs.
> 
> I currently have a headless linux box (an old AMD K6-2 350) and a newer dual
> boot (Abit NF7s-v2, XP2600), that I could set up DHCP and file server on.


The current version of myth does not even need an nfs file server.  I
think everything is streamed through the designated mythtv port.  You
can use a nfs server on the main backend if you want your slave backends
to record to it.