[mythtv-users] Motorola vip1216 (u-verse STB)

[Michael Starks]

I currently have u-verse cable and Internet. With all of the
entertainment options out there, I really don't need to pay for cable,
so today I called to cancel. The guy on the phone said if I don't return
the unit I get charged $150. That got me to thinking. This box does HD
and SD, has all sorts of nice outputs, is network accessible, fits in an
entertainment center nicely, has a remote and doesn't use much power.
And it runs Linux. Specs are here:
http://74.125.95.132/search?q=cache:VOAZOHAi4SkJ:www.motorola.com/staticfiles/Business/Products/TV%2520Video%2520Distribution/Set-tops/IP%2520Set-tops/VIP1216/_Documents/Static%2520Files/VIP1216specsheet_082508_f.pdf+motorola+vip1216+linux&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us

All of the posts I have run across talk about grabbing the stream from
u-verse to get to a Myth box, but what if this *was* the Myth box? A box
like this for $150 sounds pretty nice. Do you think it's possible to
blow away the software on the hdd and install a standard distro? The CPU
is a 400+DMIPS, which I know nothing about yet. The other potential kink
is that it advertises an "Integrated Secure Processor" so I don't know
if that ties into the OS.