[mythtv-users] Noise and whether to split the client and server

[James L. Paul]

Darren Hart wrote:
> I have been running a client/server combo myth box for a while using NFS 
> root and recording storage (no local disk) because it was just too darn 
> loud.  Now I am looking at upgrading hardware and was curious what 
> people think about modern disks, power supplies, case fans, etc.  Can 
> you build an "HTPC" with all those things such that you can hear the TV 
> over the hardware noise?  When the house is quiet, does that new box in 
> the entertainment center draw all ears to it?  And I am talking "living 
> room", not "dorm room".

I fought with noise and heat in my living room mythtv box for a couple 
years. I switched PSU and HD and cooling system several times at 
significant cost. A few months ago as I was shopping for yet another 
cooler (this time to replace a waterblock impeller that had grown way 
too loud) I realized that the $80+ price range I was looking at was 
about the same cost as buying a used Xbox console. So this is likely to 
be a non-typical response to request for hardware suggestions. :)

> I was planning on building a server box and leaving it in the office 
> closet, and to hell with the dBs, then building the client with a nice 
> mini HTPC case, CF boot disk (or maybe NFS).  The drawback here is not 
> using the PVR350 for video output.

Contributing factors to my situation:

0. I had a Myth frontend/backend dedicated box running for over 2 years 
in my living room. Heat and noise were always an issue.

1. I was planning to replace my 3 PVR250 cards with 2 PVR500 cards. I 
have replaced a PVR250 card every 6-8 months due to tuner failure, 
probably heat related, and had 1 card that was dead and a second dying 
at the time I was shopping for a new CPU cooler.

2. I don't use HDTV, only SD basic cable.

3. I was not completely happy with the TVout on my GeForce 4MX card, 
though it was mostly acceptable to me. It wasn't enough of an issue for 
me to buy a PVR350, but I did like the idea of having better TVout.

4. I pretty much only used my setup to watch TV, play music, and MAME 
games. I do all my scheduling via MythWeb, so I only used the frontend 
for playback. I never watch live TV. (And if I did, I would likely 
bypass the Myth box and just use the TV.)

> So I'd love to hear experiences on case volumes with modern cases, hard 
> drives, PSUs and case fans.  I'd also be interested in how stable 
> people's separate client / server installations are working out to be.

I originally planned to use a MythTV frontend running under Xebian, a 
Xbox distribution of Linux. I do indeed have that working, but rarely 
use it.

I am using XBMC and XBMCMythtv projects on a hacked Xbox with great 
results. I completely decommissioned my dedicated MythTV box and simply 
added a PVR500 card to my existing AMD64 SuSE93 server.

The Xbox boots in a matter of seconds to XBMC, so I can turn it off 
whenever I'm not using it. The TVout on the Xbox is WAY better than any 
nVidia card I've tried, and the overscan adjustment is perfect. I have 
all the functionality of the MythPlugins that I care about and can play 
videos and music easily. The gaming options as good or better and I have 
all the emulators I care about, plus the ability to play Xbox games if I 
cared to. Plus, I have an Xbox for every TV so I'm not limited to the 
living room. My total cost per Xbox was under $100 and it was the right 
solution for me.

That said, this is not the solution for everybody. For one thing, 
although it's not at all hard to do, it takes some determination. Also, 
if you need HDTV this isn't the way to go. You _can_ schedule programs 
using xbmcmythtv, but it's not working well yet, so if you can't use 
MythWeb that's a consideration. Of course, you can run the Myth frontend 
under Linux on the Xbox, and it can even work pretty well, but I quickly 
found that XBMC made it simple to use the Xbox as an appliance and it 
had all the functionality I wanted and more.

I'm not really trying to advocate anything specific here, my intention 
is to explain what I chose and why. There is no "right" solution, and 
it's important that we keep developing so many great open tools that can 
be assembled into whatever solution each of us chooses.

As for stability, I don't think I've had a failure that resulted in not 
having a show recoded more than twice in a couple years.

> --Darren
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