[TriLUG] mythtv ramblings and a questions about december mythtv presentation

Tue Mar 22 16:00:07 EST 2005

On mythtv, I've had great luck with nVidia Gforce cards and their TV-out
capabilities.  I use the binary drivers from nvidia.  Or just "apt-get
install nvidia-kernel-2.4.26" (your version may vary) under debian.

-David

On Tue, Mar 22, 2005 at 03:47:37PM -0500, Myrhillion <lug at blackwizard.net> wrote:
> David,
> 
> Thanks for the post, missed this before I made a few new posts.
> I'm feeling more comfortable about my older hardware now.   I think the 
> only obstacle at this point is deciding
> on which PVR-XXX to actually go with...
> 
> However,
> 
> I just spoke to a friend today, that has a pvr-350 and a pvr-250 in the 
> same rig usin ga p4 1.4ghz.
> He had initially used a pvr-250 and had some trouble with getting the tv 
> to display the output properly.
> This is why he added the pvr-350.
> 
> I'm wondering if there are particular graphics cards I should be wary of 
> regarding using in conjunction with one pvr-250.
> yes yes, I should probably be trolling the mythtv forums for this info, 
> but you folks have been so helpful.
> 
> David Rasch wrote:
> 
> >I've recently setup a MythTV machine with a Duron 800Mhz and a WinTV PE 
> >which requires software encoding of video.  This machine functions 
> >perfectly well when recording at a reasonable resolution (352x240).  The 
> >picture is quite nice and the user is very happy.  The only point here is 
> >that I'd be very suprised if this processor were unable to handle a 
> >capture card using hardware encoding since it can handle software encoding 
> >and playback/decoding simultaneously.
> >
> >-David
> >
> >On Monday 21 March 2005 16:28, Myrhillion wrote:
> > 
> >
> >>Hmm, I hadn't realized how "cheap" relatively the athlon xp's have
> >>become (haven't built a rig in a while).   I might just have to build
> >>a whole new computer for this project  (*laughs maniacally*).
> >>
> >>However, I'm wondering if the duron 800 I have will do with a hauppauge
> >>PVR-250.
> >>Do you have any problems recording and watching a totally different show
> >>with your setup, even when it's like
> >>timeshifted to skip commercials?
> >>
> >>Anyway, I'm getting more excited about actually doing this from the
> >>feedback I've received from the list.
> >>I had actually read up on the FC3 mythtv howto you mentioned.  It seems
> >>a bit complicated but doable.
> >>
> >>I may still stick with gentoo for the distro.  I'll have to sign-up to
> >>that myth user list next.
> >>Thanks for info Ken, it's appreciated seeing what other folks are using.
> >>
> >>Doug Taggart
> >>
> >>Ken Mink wrote:
> >>   
> >>
> >>>I just finished building a MythTV box a couple of months ago. I'm now
> >>>using it full time. I'm very happ with it and rarely switch over to my
> >>>TiVo.
> >>>
> >>>I'm using a 2600 Barton processor(overkill) and 512MB RAM. I bought a
> >>>Samsung SP160N HD. The Samsung drives are QUIET. I mean I thought the
> >>>drive was DOA when I installed it because I couldn't even hear it spin
> >>>up. The motherboard is an ASUS A7N8X-VM/400. I'm using it's built-in
> >>>Geforce4 w/tv-out and it's built-in sound. I'm also using a Hauppauge
> >>>PVR-250 as a tuner.
> >>>
> >>>I went with FC3 as a base and used the ATRPMS repostitory for the myth
> >>>installation. There's a great how-to for installing MythTV on FC. As
> >>>long as you read and follow it carefully, you'll have MythTV up and
> >>>running in no time.
> >>>
> >>>As for your question about the PVR-250 vs 350. The 350 has it's own
> >>>tv-out capabilities. This includes a built-in mpeg decode. Both cards
> >>>have encoders. The theory is that with a 350, the card does both the
> >>>encoding and decoding and your cpu doesn't have to get involved. From
> >>>what I've read, the 350's tv-out can be a pain to configure. On the
> >>>myth-users list, I see a lot of people that have 350s, but don't use
> >>>it's output capabilities.
> >>>
> >>>Good Luck,
> >>>Ken
> >>>
> >>>On Sun, 20 Mar 2005 11:50:02 -0500, Myrhillion <lug at blackwizard.net> 
> >>>wrote:
> >>>     
> >>>
> >>>>Hello,
> >>>>
> >>>>I have recently gotten interested in building a mythtv box.
> >>>>I checked my trilug messages and found there was a meeting in December
> >>>>which featured mythtv.
> >>>>Drats, I've missed my opportunity.
> >>>>
> >>>>Does anyone know if the presentation is available online somewhere?
> >>>>I'd like to discuss what people have for hardware too.
> >>>>
> >>>>Here is the basic machine I'm considering.
> >>>>
> >>>>I'm considering recycling an athlon duron 800 with 512 mb ram.
> >>>>I'm thinking gentoo or a debian based distro like ubuntu for the OS.
> >>>>The machine by itself would be too slow so,  I'm going to buy a tv card,
> >>>>probably a hauppage (sp?) wintv 250 or 350.
> >>>>Has anyone seen any benefit of the 350 over the 250 in practice?
> >>>>  Any other tv tuners people have been impressed with to use for this
> >>>>purpose?
> >>>>I'll be adding a larger hard drive, probably 200gb range.
> >>>>A wireless nic so I can save some of the shows I want to keep to a
> >>>>larger file server and to grab the xmltv feed.
> >>>>This will also make it simple to keep downstairs with the stereo tv 
> >>>>etc..
> >>>>
> >>>>Doug Taggart
> >>>>
> >>>>--
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> >>>>       
> >>>>
> 
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