[mythtv-users] Newbie questions: a digital DVD library

[gonzalo diethelm]

Hullo everyone, first poster here. I have now subscribed to the list,
hopefully this post will make it.

I recently configured a box as a backend and frontend for MythTV, to
experiment how I could go about building a digital library which will
include all my (original) DVDs; TV recording is out (for now). To do my
testing I used a MythBuntu CD.

My plan is to rip the DVDs on a Windows machine using DVDfab HD
Decrypter (version 5.2.3.2), since I believe this is the easiest way to
ensure that I end up with non-protected DVD files that include exactly
the sound tracks and subtitle tracks I want, with defaults defined
according to my needs. Then I will import these movies into MythTV,
probably doing some tests as to whether I will transcode them or not (I
probably will due to space reasons).

I think I have gotten the hang of how things work, but I have some
things I have not been able to make work, and some additional questions.

1. How do I import a DVD movie that is stored on a directory in my file
system, with the typical VIDEO_TS (and empty AUDIO_TS) subdirectories,
into MythTV? I tried going to the Archive Files (whatever the option is
called), which allows me to navigate the file system, but when I
navigate to my ripped DVD directory it doesn't show any files at all and
I can take no meaningful action to start the import... Is it possible to
import DVD movies that have been pre-ripped to the file system?

2. What is the structure used in the file system to store imported
movies in MythTV? Could I devise my own directory tree to group my
movies according to my whims? Could I also add tags to the movies, so
that when I wish to play them, I can search for them independently of
the directory trees I have defined?

3. In order to at least check whether my front-end was working, I
changed the command to watch videos (which was set as "Internal") to a
hard-coded invocation of mplayer pointing to a ripped movie, and yes,
that did open the movie, so things do work, but it leaves much to be
desired...

4. The other thing I have been unable to do is to watch video streamed
from the Internet. I tried watching several different channels (BBC and
NASA) and I could hear the sound off my speakers, but the small box
where it would show the movie was just a blue rectangle. What gives?

5. Eventually, when I set up my definite machine, I will use Ubuntu
Server for the setup. How hard is it to install and configure MythTV on
Ubuntu, WITHOUT using MythBuntu?

That's it for now. If somebody could find the time to push me in the
right direction, I would really appreciate it (and would certainly come
up with more questions in the future).

If possible, please copy me in any answers. Thanks in advance and best
regards.

-- 
Gonzalo Diethelm
gonzalo.diethelm at diethelm.org