[mythtv-users] HD Homerun Prime with MythTV

[lists.md301]

On Wed, Aug 18, 2010 at 3:36 PM, Robert McNamara
<robert.mcnamara at gmail.com>wrote:

>  The Prime will tune by virtual channel, and will allow "fetch channels
> from listings source" as a means to avoid scanning at all.  This is
> basically all that was necessary short term to make the Prime work.  longer
> term (but still probably pre-.24) we spoke with the HDHR guys about offering
> a capabilities API to detect whether a given HDHR was CC-capable, and indeed
> whether that HDHR has a cablecard installed, so that we can activate or
> disable those UI functions as necessary.  That's what we're still waiting
> on.  But from a baseline *functional* level, the HDHR prime would work right
> now.
>
> As far as how the channel changing will work, it will be basically
> transparent to the user (and indeed, to myth itself)... it'll just tell the
> HDHR "give me this channel" and the HDHR will stream it as ever.  The only
> difference will be that on the HDHR Prime, the request will be for a logical
> channel number.
>
> Anyhoo, should be fun regardless.  We MythTV devs were wondering if the
> Silicondust guys would shortcut us to the front of the line for being such
> awesome people. ;)
>
> Robert
>
> Thanks for the follow up, Robert, what you describe is how I understood it
will work.  You guys are awesome, so Silicondust will have no choice but to
put you at the front of the line.  Seriously, since they used your software
for their development, it's the least they can do.  And it's in their own
interest to do so, to broaden their customer base.  And in my interest, as I
want you guys to go through the pain of getting your M-card installed, so
you can tell the rest of us exactly what to do and expect!  ;)  I know it
was a challenge for me to get my original CableCard installed in my TV circa
2003, and it only worked after several tech visits, card swaps, and Toshiba
firmware updates on the TV.  Trying to talk to someone who understood the
technical details was perhaps the most difficult part of the process.  I'm a
little apprehensive of going through that again to "prove" that a Prime
should be working but isn't because of something upstream.  Having the Prime
function in a non-CC mode (where automagically or by manual config) will
certainly be helpful if there is a problem.

It's amazing, that from 8 months ago, when CableLabs initially relented and
removed the onerous OEM hardware requirements (at Microsoft's prodding, I
guess, so a grudging thank you is owed) and these new tuner products being
announced around CES, I held out the faint hope that in a couple of years
maybe some way would be found to eventually get this to work (legally) with
non-Windows platforms.  I was thinking that maybe a protocol would be
developed like what SageTV people were floating, where an app runs on the
Win7MC box and takes in external recording schedules and network shares the
directory of unencrypted recordings.  And now, we're on the brink of it all
being seamless, for those lucky enough to have service on a well-behaved
cable head-end.
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