[mythtv-users] Navigating the hardware mine field

[Joe Henley]

Paul,

I have a Via M6000E running as a front end only.  It has no fans (the 
M10000 has a CPU fan) and no disks.  It runs MiniMyth for the front end. 
  It does fine with SD and with the OSD.  The only time I get any screen 
problems is when I fast forward on a recorded show while I'm recording 
another one.  That's more likely a problem with the back-end than the 
front end.

So I'm reasonably happy with it.  However, I would never recommend any 
Via product to anyone; nor will I ever buy another.  As much as I like 
the small form factor, and the particular hardware Via put on this 
board, the company's tech support is abysmal.  For years they advertised 
as supporting Linux, which was a flat-out lie.  They have recently hired 
someone to work on improving support for Linux, and that person does 
seem to making some headway, but so far the progress is all on their 
newer product lines and none on the older stuff (like the m10000 or 
M6000).  In other words, helping them get new business, but not 
supporting the current customers.

I spent several _months_ trying to get a straight answer from their Tech 
Support about the operation of one of the parameters on their closed 
source drivers and never got a meaningful reply.  For months they would 
say only that they were strong supporters of Linux, but never addressed 
the question I asked.   Maddeningly frustrating.

It is possible their recent efforts may someday lead to decent Linux 
support, but first they have alot of work to do and alot of current Tech 
Support people to retrain or replace.

I'd strongly suggest you look at some of the new Intel boards to build 
your Myth FE.  I find MythTV to be new enough and sufficiently complex 
that it is .... "challenging" to get up, running, and fully tweaked to 
your liking.  I suspect you'll find, as I did, that you don't need any 
additional headaches from the hardware.

Good luck.

Joe Henley