[mythtv-users] mythtv on Raspberry 4 4GB with 64 bit OS's

[Jim Abernathy]

On 8/27/20 12:17 PM, Jim Abernathy wrote:
> I got mythbackend and mythfrontend working on a RPi4 4GB running from 
> a SSD using both Raspberry Pi OS (aarch64) and Ubuntu 20.04 aarch64.
>
> However, to my eyes it made no difference. To me the RPI4 is still a 
> marginal frontend for USA OTA mpeg2 video.  If the scene motion 
> increases the picture gets more jerky. Maybe at some point ffmpeg on 
> aarch64 can make improvements.
>
> So for now for a cheap system but great video quality, I'd pick RPI4 
> 4GB, USB3 SSD, with HDHR Quatro tuner for the backend and FireTV 4K 
> for the frontend.
>
> Jim A


I may have to update my thinking on the RPI4 as a mythtv-frontend. I 
found the 8-20-2020 Raspberry PI OS 64bit lite version and installed it 
on an SATA SSD on USB3. I then put xserver-xorg with no-recommends 
installed and then xfce4 minimum.

I installed my dependencies without ansibe because of the missing 
packages in 64 bit. And then compiled mythtv from source.  Version v31-0-91.

Not thinking I ran it in the Desktop environment and it worked a little 
better than it did previously on the same saved recordings.

When it dawned on me to run from the console without a desktop 
environment, I installed pi-utils and ran ./run_mythfrontend.sh on a 4K TV.

The horizontal tearing that I had experienced before was gone on MPEG2 
recordings and liveTV.  So I don't know if it's the move to 
fixes/v31-0-91 or whether raspberry PI OS 64 has improved.

I also noticed that VLC on H.264 and streaming from HDHR tuners was very 
good. That's what got me to try mythfrontend on a 64bit PIOS on the RPI4 
4GB again.

I used the OpenGL Normal profile with Standard, 4 CPUs, Medium 
deinterlacer quality.

Jim A