[mythtv-users] Creating a frontend only

[Albert Santoni]

Well well.

I had a thread a while back, where I posted a crapload of Frontend-only
documentation... I also sent it off to the "MythTV Docs" man, but I haven't
heard back.

Here's what I posted:

Introduction:

Because there are separate components to the backend and frontend of MythTV,
it is possible to run mythfrontend on a computer that does not have
mythbackend running on it, and have it use the available tuner(s) of another
computer running mythbackend. The most common use for this is to centralize
the most powerful hardware in one computer, if multiple frontends are wanted
(eg. The backend machine has 3 tuners, and a huge harddrive.) It is also
possible to have multiple backends computers, with one being the master
backend, and the others being slaves. This guide will not deal directly with
master/slave backend configurations. See "Advanced Backend Configuration" at
http://www.mythtv.org/docs/mythtv-HOWTO-20.html#ss20.13.

To get a better picture of what is needed to run a frontend, note the
following:

- You do NOT need MySQL installed on your remote frontend, if you just wish
to use TV.
- You do NOT need XMLTV installed on your remote frontend.
- You do NOT need to run the MythTV setup program (mythsrc/setup/setup) on
your frontend machine, as the frontend machine uses the backend's MySQL
server to grab the settings.

Procedure:

1. Other than the exclusion of MySQL and XMLTV, [insert info about
mysql-client and qt-mysql here] the MythTV compilation procedure is the same
as when you're setting up both a backend and a frontend.
2. Once MythTV is compiled and installed, you must change your
~/.mythtv/mysql.txt file's "DBHostName" field to point to your
(master)backend's IP address. If this file doesn't exist, copy
/usr/local/share/mysql.txt to ~/.mythtv.
3. Check to see if there is a firewall running on both your frontend and
backend
machines, and disable them if possible. At the very least, make sure the
ports for MySQL (port 3306) and mythbackend (ports 6543 and 6544 by default)
are open. Some distributions come with firewalls installed and
running, without even telling you.
- Run the MythTV setup program on your (master)backend. Under the "General"
menu, change the IP address of the current machine (should have been
127.0.0.1) to the real externally accessible IP address. Change the Master
Server IP setting to the same IP address as well.
4. That should be all there is to it. Now just fire up mythfrontend, and you
should be timeshifting in no time.

Troubleshooting:

1. My Mythfrontend/Mythbackend/Setup program won't run!
If the mythtv setup program, mythfrontend, or mythbackend don't run on your
frontend, try telnetting to the MySQL port from your frontend machine. ($
telnet [backendIP] 3306)
If you get any characters back at all, then you can connect to the MySQL
server, and the problem could be a internal MySQL permissions/access
problem.
To troubleshoot this issue further, see the bottom of the page at
http://www.mythtv.org/docs/mythtv-HOWTO-6.html#ss6.5
(Snippet from link above:
    $ mysql -u root mythconverg
    mysql> grant all on mythconverg.* to mythtv@"%" identified by "mythtv";
)

2. I can run Mythfrontend, browse the playback recordings screen, and
schedule programs, but I don't see any video!
This problem is caused by your recordings directory probably being messed
up.
See "I'd like to use NFS." at
http://www.mythtv.org/docs/mythtv-HOWTO-20.html#ss20.11.






----- Original Message -----
From: "John Wells" <jb at sourceillustrated.com>
To: <mythtv-users at mythtv.org>
Sent: Monday, September 15, 2003 9:23 PM
Subject: [mythtv-users] Creating a frontend only


> I know I've probably overlooked it, but are there any docs out there that
> tell how to setup a machine as a frontend only?  I've done some searching
> and not ran across it yet, but it's probably right under my nose.
>
> I'm assuming software required by the backend, like MySql, is probably not
> required with a frontend only setup.
>
> Thanks!
>
> John
>
>
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