#245186 - 02/01/2005 19:43
MythTV: hardware advice?
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 18/01/2000
Posts: 5683
Loc: London, UK
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So, inspired by all the Linux HTPC talk on here over the last couple of days, and partly (OK, mostly) influenced by the fact that I was up on Tottenham Court Road this afternoon with Hugo, I accidentally slipped and bought a PVR-350 card.
I'm going to install it in my big Linux PC tomorrow, and was a little daunted by the size of the installation document.
That, however, isn't my problem. My problem is this: my Linux box is currently built around an Asus A7V motherboard, which uses a VIA chipset. Given the fact that this is supposed to be a bit dodgy, what kind of problems can I expect? Should I just get a new motherboard?
On that note, if I do get a new motherboard (he says having just disposed of an old PC case that would have been ideal), how much can I reuse? Having just dropped the cash on the encoder card, I can't really justify an entirely new PC.
So, I've currently got an A7V (the original one) with an Athlon T900 on it, and 1Gb of RAM. Do I need a new board, and if I do, what should I replace it with?
I'm not bothered about flash things like built-in RAID or stuff like that, just the basics.
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-- roger
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#245187 - 02/01/2005 22:22
Re: MythTV: hardware advice?
[Re: Roger]
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pooh-bah
Registered: 12/01/2002
Posts: 2009
Loc: Brisbane, Australia
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Having never experienced the VIA issues, I can't say for certain but I think it would be general instability, random lockups etc. You could always just try it. It can be a fair bit of work getting a MythTV machine running especially if you're trying to add it an existing box due to all the dependencies. Have a look at Jarod Wilson's guide if you are willing to set up a Fedora machine from scratch - it's very good and has a lot of PVR350 info. You could try and just get the PVR350 going with out Myth (you can jast cat /dev/videoxx or whatever to a file and then play it back with mplayer since it outputs MPEG2) Personally I use the cheapest nForce1 board I could get (an Asus A7N266-VM and it's been rock solid for at least 18 months no PVRx50 though). You should be able to re-use everything - not sure on the T900.
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Christian
#40104192 120Gb (no longer in my E36 M3, won't fit the E46 M3)
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#245188 - 03/01/2005 05:45
Re: MythTV: hardware advice?
[Re: Roger]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 20/12/1999
Posts: 31600
Loc: Seattle, WA
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Quote:
I was up on Tottenham Court Road this afternoon with Hugo, I accidentally slipped and bought a PVR-350 card.
Funny how people like Hugo make us prone to those kinds of accidents. Strange how the credit card flies perfectly out of one's pocket and into the reader...
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#245189 - 03/01/2005 07:25
Re: MythTV: hardware advice?
[Re: Shonky]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 18/01/2000
Posts: 5683
Loc: London, UK
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Quote:
...if you are willing to set up a Fedora machine from scratch...
Nah. I'm going to use Debian unstable. I'll be sure to write up what I did -- I'm going to start with a blank 40Gb disk and go from there. I've just got to retrieve the PC from behind the Christmas tree (which Jen is insisting on leaving up until 12th night).
_________________________
-- roger
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#245190 - 03/01/2005 07:35
Re: MythTV: hardware advice?
[Re: Roger]
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pooh-bah
Registered: 12/01/2002
Posts: 2009
Loc: Brisbane, Australia
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Well if you need help you can ask myself or the few others here I'm sure. I don't have a PVR350, but I know a fair bit about MythTV in terms of most other things including setting things up from scratch and not from at-rpms. Geographical locations can make a difference too.
Also the MythTV-users list has a pretty low signal to noise ratio (yes bad), so probably best asking here first or direct to me.
Good luck. Trust me, you'll need it.
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Christian
#40104192 120Gb (no longer in my E36 M3, won't fit the E46 M3)
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#245191 - 03/01/2005 09:16
Re: MythTV: hardware advice?
[Re: tfabris]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 19/05/1999
Posts: 3457
Loc: Palo Alto, CA
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Quote:
Quote:
I was up on Tottenham Court Road this afternoon with Hugo, I accidentally slipped and bought a PVR-350 card.
Funny how people like Hugo make us prone to those kinds of accidents. Strange how the credit card flies perfectly out of one's pocket and into the reader...
I want a copy of his MythTV setup when he's got it all finely tuned, which means the purchase was for a greater good than just Roger's TV viewing pleasure 
Honestly, I didn't make him do it. He was dead-set on a 400GB external firewire drive in most of the shops.
Hugo
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#245192 - 03/01/2005 13:43
Re: MythTV: hardware advice?
[Re: Roger]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 17/01/2002
Posts: 3996
Loc: Manchester UK
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Having used Myth for well over a year now it's only recently with the purchase of a new machine have I come across any problems with the VIA chipset. The new nforce board that I've got seems to be behaving itself and machine is stable again.
I started out with a PVR card but I quickly dumped it, well actually sold it on ebay to some chump that paid well over the RRP for it. For me, DVB-T was the way to go. It meant more channels, better picture quality and cheaper hardware. In fact, after spending new years at my parents I'm seriously considering getting a DVB-S card and CA adaptor. The video out on the 350 seemed like a waste of time for me, the old machine would quite happily decode MPEG in software leaving plenty of compute cycles for other things as well.
I'd say try and get it working with your existing motherboard and if things don't work, try swapping the board. My two previous machines worked flawlessly despite having VIA chips.
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Cheers,
Andy M
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#245193 - 03/01/2005 14:16
Re: MythTV: hardware advice?
[Re: andym]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 24/12/2001
Posts: 5528
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DVB-S? For Sky Digital? If so then you can't as they won't release a compatible CAM.
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#245194 - 03/01/2005 17:00
Re: MythTV: hardware advice?
[Re: andym]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 18/01/2000
Posts: 5683
Loc: London, UK
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Quote:
For me, DVB-T was the way to go. It meant more channels, better picture quality and cheaper hardware.
Oh, it'd be the way to go for me if it weren't for the fact that we can't get digital TV here -- Alexandra Palace isn't broadcasting it, apparently.
Once we've moved somewhere we can get DVB, then I'll see if I can find a chump on eBay for the PVR350.
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-- roger
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#245195 - 03/01/2005 17:35
Re: MythTV: hardware advice?
[Re: tman]
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old hand
Registered: 14/04/2002
Posts: 1172
Loc: Hants, UK
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DVB-S? For Sky Digital? If so then you can't as they won't release a compatible CAM.
It will work on all the FTA channels, although at the moment that is just the BBC channels and a few others. Hopefully ITV will ditch Sky and go FTA - the new ITV3 is FTA and ITV2 has just gone FTV so it looks promising.
Gareth
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#245196 - 03/01/2005 20:05
Re: MythTV: hardware advice?
[Re: Roger]
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pooh-bah
Registered: 31/08/1999
Posts: 1649
Loc: San Carlos, CA
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Nah. I'm going to use Debian unstable. I'll be sure to write up what I did.
Please do share when you are done. I've been contemplating a debian myth box for a bit, but haven't gotten around to actually doing it.
-Mike
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#245197 - 03/01/2005 20:29
Re: MythTV: hardware advice?
[Re: g_attrill]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 24/12/2001
Posts: 5528
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It will work on all the FTA channels, although at the moment that is just the BBC channels and a few others. Hopefully ITV will ditch Sky and go FTA - the new ITV3 is FTA and ITV2 has just gone FTV so it looks promising.
Dunno... Might as well just use Freeview for that though... Saves having to install a dish, LNB etc...
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#245199 - 04/01/2005 15:05
Re: MythTV: hardware advice?
[Re: andym]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 24/12/2001
Posts: 5528
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Although I thought the DEC3000 had a compatable module.
Afraid not. It's got a CI slot to plug in a CAM but NDS won't release one which supports VideoGuard. The only way you can get Sky Digital is to buy a digibox and use that.
I've looked into it before because it'd be great to make a MythTV box that could record Sky Digital without an analog conversion step and the transcoding. There is sort of work around. Some of the Sky+ boxes allow you to mod them to have a SDI output which you can then plug into your PC via the appropriate card. You still have the transcoding issue but you don't have the analogue conversion step anymore.
You can decode any FTA channel which doesn't use VideoGuard however. Most of the free ones use VideoGuard still so you won't be able to watch them. Stick with the Freeview card IMO. Top Up TV apparently works with the Freeview cards.
I would have Freeview here but I don't actually have a TV antenna! Got all the wiring in the walls, just no aerial on the roof. Bought the house new and it didn't come with one and I've got Sky Digital so never bothered.
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