[mythtv-users] Architecture Idea - Raspberry Pi, VM, XBMC

[Mark Gardner]

-----Original Message-----
From: mythtv-users-bounces at mythtv.org
[mailto:mythtv-users-bounces at mythtv.org] On Behalf Of Fred Watt
Sent: 05 January 2013 13:18
To: Discussion about MythTV
Subject: Re: [mythtv-users] Architecture Idea - Raspberry Pi, VM, XBMC

On 05/01/13 12:42, Mark Gardner wrote:
> Hello,
>
> Apologies if this topic has come up before, perhaps in its component 
> parts, but I would appreciate the thoughts of the group on the 
> following architecture idea for a new Myth implementation.
>
> - DVB-S2 USB tuner on a Raspberry Pi running a MythTV Slave backend
> - DVB-T2 USB tuner on a (second) Raspberry Pi running a MythTV Slave 
> backend
> - MythTV Master backend (with no tuners of its own) running in a VM
> - Data storage to be on a NAS
> - XBMC Frodo PVR as MythTV Front End running on dedicated hardware
>
> Both tuners would be dual tuners ideally, but I've not seen any 
> suitable yet.
>
> - Is Pi man enough to run a backend?
> - Is a master backend (no tuners) in a VM a viable option?
>
> Any comments / thoughts / suggestions would be appreciated.
>
> Thanks!
>
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Personally I can't see why people are so interested in the PI as a
solution but do remember you need arm drivers for the S2 usb cards. Do
they exist?  I don't understand why you have a VM environment which must
run on a powerful'ish computer, then want an underpowered computer for a

slave.   I personally am interested in arm... and therefore looking at 
the cotton candy or samsung arndale.

Personally I use local disks (on a slave) for recordings.  You can store
on a nas - but do think about performance if you have a few nas clients
around the house.  You could end up stuttering during play back of HD. I
have RAID devices in my linux server for data I do not wish to loose, if
I loose my recordings disk, it really isn't the end of the world.

Best frontend for Mythtv ... guess what..... it's mythfronend... I have
had a play with Frodo (out of curiosity) and came back immediately.  
Just doesn't work as well, the features in MythFrontend are not
replicated.  Have a play see what you think.

I would recommend you either stick with a low powered intel solution or
looked at an Arm board with sata for a slave.  You've outlined an
architecture which could be challenging - not where I would go.


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Thanks for the comments Fred. The architecture is just an idea :-) But
to answer your questions...

Pi is cheap and low power consumption, hence the interest. I'm thinking
about two as (in the past) I have had have huge issues with a backend
that was running with two different tuners. (My current set up is a
BE/FE with a single tuner which is rock solid).

I already have a VM server, but didn't think a VM running a BE with
tuners was a good idea.

I've not used a master / slave config before so am unsure how storage
(or in fact anything else!) works in this config, but unless I add
powered disk to Pi (which defeats the low consumption aspiration) then
NAS seemed the logical storage. I take your point about HD stuttering.

I've also not tried a separate Myth front end, but as I already have a
box for XBMC, then the PVR front end works for me. Although I accept
that the Myth FE is potentially better.

Yep - a challenging architecture - maybe too challenging! Its just an
idea for now.

Any other comments welcomed.

Cheers