[mythtv-users] Recovering from Disaster, Rebuild Options?

Sun Feb 8 18:14:35 UTC 2015

So from a video card perspective am I looking for something like:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121641  (GeForce
GT 610)

Or would something like this even work?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130880 (GeForce GT
210)

Or am I looking at something higher/better than this for a good quality
video card for playback?

--Doug

On Sun, Feb 8, 2015 at 12:03 PM, Douglas Wagner <douglasw0 at gmail.com> wrote:

> On Sun, Feb 8, 2015 at 4:22 AM, Stephen Worthington <
> stephen_agent at jsw.gen.nz> wrote:
>
>> On Sun, 8 Feb 2015 02:28:48 -0600, you wrote:
>>
>> >Not to go too far into some of the "fun" I've had over the last week, but
>> >I'm still in the process of recovering from some pretty major corruption
>> >I'm still tracking down.
>> >
>> >That said, I'm looking at what I've got right now and I'm not very happy.
>> >I'd like some comments on some questions that'll help me look farther
>> into
>> >the future of my TV architecture.
>> >
>> >1) What's the "favored" Tuner for MythTV These days?  I've currently got
>> a
>> >pcHDTV3000 and 5500 in my backend at this point but those seem like "old"
>> >solutions these days.  Is everyone pretty much sporting an HD Homerun at
>> >this point?  Is there something better?  What's considered the "best
>> >option" for a small number of Tuners at this point.  What would you
>> >recommend for someone saying "Hey, I want to build a Myth TV system?"
>> >
>> >Backend:  My backend is now running on a Dell Optiplex 740 (AMD X2 5600+)
>> >which is better CPU than I had in my old Backend, but it's running an
>> >integrated graphics card.  The tech specs show "Nvidia Quadro NVS 210S"
>> >(whatever the hell that is) but LSPCI is showing a GeForce 6150 LE
>> >Chipset.  It is an nforce4 based motherboard (I think) so that makes
>> >sense.
>> >
>> >The thing does have an open PCI-E x16 slot (both PCI slots are now taken
>> up
>> >by the Tuner Cards) but I wouldn't know what NVIDIA card to throw in
>> there
>> >since the PS (302 w) doesn't have a connector for the power input on a
>> >modern graphics card...and running a new power supply is way out of my
>> >interest level with this box (Dell's are so custom built).
>> >
>> >2) Suggestions on a PCIE Graphics card I could throw into this thing to
>> get
>> >rid of the onboard and actually get some reasonable playback?  (It's
>> mostly
>> >a backend but I want it to work as a frontend if/when we're trapped down
>> in
>> >the basement for storms..playback is entirely unacceptable at this
>> point).
>>
>> There are plenty of Nvidia cards with no extra power connector.  You
>> need at least an Nvidia 220 or better for full deinterlace to be
>> available.  In the current Nvidia cards, it seems they are all
>> sufficiently capable.  Consider whether noise is a factor - do you
>> want a fanless card?  They are readily available, but ones that do not
>> intrude into the next slot are much harder to find.  The fanless cards
>> normally do not have the extra power connector, as they would be
>> unable to dissipate all the extra power.
>>
>> >Future:
>> >
>> >So lets say I network a NAS Storage Device for the house and move all my
>> >drive space to it, and pick up something like an HD Home Run for my
>> tuner.
>> >At that point the ONLY thing the PC is being used for is the CPU, Memory,
>> >Network and Graphics Card.  Could I technically go down and buy a cheap
>> ass
>> >$300 laptop with some low end CPU and Memory and at least run a backend
>> off
>> >it?  I realize HD Playback would be an issue if it's not an NVIDIA or ATI
>> >card in there (which it won't be, it'll be Intel graphics) but even a
>> $300
>> >cheap ass laptop would be about 3 generations of hardware better than
>> what
>> >I'm running my backend on right now.
>>
>> Recording to a NAS has lots of hazards.  It is possible to run out of
>> network bandwidth when doing multiple simultaneous recordings quite
>> easily, resulting in gaps in the middle of recordings or recordings
>> that stop prematurely.  If someone else in the house uses the NAS box
>> to copy a big file, that may be enough to cause a recording failure
>> also.
>>
>> There are also a lot of commercial NAS boxes that have actual
>> performance that is way below what you might expect, due to, for
>> example, cheap slow processors and bad software.  Building your own
>> NAS is preferable if you go that route, as you can then make sure that
>> you really do have 1 Gbit Ethernet transfer speeds available and that
>> the NAS hard drives perform at full speed.  I would recommend using a
>> dedicated Ethernet connection just for the MythTV traffic, and a
>> second Ethernet for the other household NAS traffic.
>>
>> >3) What's the best "oh crap that hardware just died on me what do I do
>> now"
>> >proofing solution for MythTV at this point?  My largest issue seems to
>> be I
>> >run these MythTV boxes till they die and then am looking at the prospect
>> of
>> >a $1000 Desktop to replace it since the hardware is SO out of date by
>> that
>> >point.
>>
>> I use a combination of various strategies.
>>
>> I generally try to replace my MythTV hardware before it fails, then
>> keep the old hardware in case I need to replace something in the new
>> hardware temporarily.  I have a test PC with a power supply I can
>> borrow if that is needed too, and a spare cheap Nvidia card with a fan
>> (my normal Nvidia card is fanless).
>>
>> All my hard drives have SMART checking enabled, which has saved me
>> from incipient drive failures at least twice now.  I tend to upgrade
>> them fairly often as I am a TV hoarder and run out of storage unless I
>> change them regularly to new bigger drives, so they do not tend to be
>> around long enough for the bearings to go before they get replaced.
>> The oldest drive I have in my MythTV box is reporting 1448 days power
>> on time (3.9 years), but it is a very high quality (and expensive when
>> I got it) Hitachi 7K3000 model.  Almost all Hitachi drives are
>> extremely reliable compared to the other manufacturers, but you do pay
>> extra for that.  My system drive is another Hitachi 7K3000 currently
>> reporting 1330 days power on time.
>>
>> It always pays to have enough cash readily available to replace things
>> in a hurry if needed.  A SMART warning from a drive means you need to
>> be able to buy a replacement and get it delivered within 2-3 days if
>> you are going to be reasonably sure of being able to copy off all the
>> data safely.
>>
>> My mythconverg database is backed up daily to another PC on my
>> network, as well as the default Mythbuntu backup on the same PC every
>> week.
>>
>> On top of that, my laptop is fully capable of running as a MythTV
>> system - I take TV recordings with me on an external hard drive when I
>> am away from home.  So in the direst sort of failure situation, I
>> could use the laptop until I get my main MythTV box going again.
>>
>> And my Windows box has Mediaportal and three DVB-T tuners installed
>> and is also capable of recording TV for me.  I have it set up to
>> record my favourite series just in case I have a problem on the MythTV
>> box.  I hate missing an episode, especially in the series with ongoing
>> storylines.
>>
>> Even with all of that, I am still vulnerable to one of the drive
>> failure types where it just completely dies instantly.  Fortunately,
>> those seem to be pretty rare except in very old drives - there is
>> usually some warning of problems ahead of time.  The only real
>> solution to that problem is to have redundancy eg RAID, or automated
>> backups of all drives.  That is just too expensive for me, but if I
>> ever win Lotto, I would probably do it.
>>
>> And a natural disaster such as a fire or earthquake could kill MythTV
>> also - for that, I would need everything automatically backed up
>> offsite.  Which is not completely impossible either, now that 200/200
>> Mbit/s optical fibre Internet connections with unlimited caps have
>> arrived on my street.  But it is also extremely expensive for all that
>> huge amount of TV data.
>>
>> >Anyone able to help me architect?
>> >
>> >--Doug
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>>
>
> Thanks VERY much for the info.
>
> From the NVIDIA side of the fence, what card should I really be looking
> at?  Noise is not my concern and the box I"m currently using does pretty
> good with noise dampening.  This is in my basement/office so no "living
> room noise" factor to worry about.  Any recommendations would be
> appreciated.
>
> The specs show this is a PCIe 16x capable slot, however given that the
> system is several years old, do I have a "versioning" issue to worry
> about?  i.e. Newest cards won't work unless you have a version 3 slot or
> something like that?
>
> Still looking for recommendations on Tuners?  A network based tuner does
> indeed sound interesting (pulls it out of the myth backend meaning I don't
> have to have PCI slots available and other things of that nature).
> Downsides?  Better options?
>
> I'm not really trying to make a "bullet proof" system.  Everyone in my
> house would tell you TV is NOT a priority for them...till they miss an
> episode of something...then there's hell to pay.  We record very little,
> but what we record we really like/want.
>
> I'll take what you've posted above to heart as I look at what went wrong
> this time around.  Thanks for your time!
>
> --Doug
>
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