Being one who insists on compiling everything from scratch, I had forgotten about mythbuntu (having never tried it) until I joined this forum.

I've since installed it (8 beta) on the HTPC I'm building for my mother as a result of reading feedback from this forum, and I absolutely love it!

Thank you all so very much! :cool:

Does your mom plan to use it as a DVR/PVR, i.e. time shifting/recording TV/cable?

Yeah. I've got 2 Motorola DCH6200 HD cable tuners hooked up to it via firewire.

Yeah. I've got 2 Motorola DCH6200 HD cable tuners hooked up to it via firewire.

Are any recordings encrypted?

Does Myth change the channels via Firewire or do you use IR senders from the Myth box?

I know you aren't asking me, but I record via firewire (From a DCT6200, but I also have a DCH-6200 which I tested and it works) and myth changes the channels. At first only a couple channels I didn't care about had 5c on, but now all the premium stations do, but I can record most everything else via firewire.

When you say "premium stations", do you mean just stuff like HBO, Cinemax, PPV, etc.? Are you still able to get other HD cable content (Discovery, A&E, etc.) and in particular regional sports networks (FSN, etc.)?

I've been thinking of switching to cable from DTV because a couple of my friends have the boxes with the firewire port, but I don't want to go through the hassle of switching and find out everything is 5c'd.

I can record all of the channels including premium (she gets Starz & Encore + Starz HD). I'm assuming it's because the STB's have m-cards in them. The digital music channels haven't been coming in because the version of MythTV I was using would time out (those channels are only 10% as fast as the others). I'm using the 0.21 version now which lets you wait it out, but I haven't tried it yet.

One setback to cable is the limited number of HD channels: she's only getting 9 including the 4 local stations, but I'm sure it varies by area.

If you go firewire, make sure you have a card with NEC chipset. The card with TI chipset is unstable (jumps nodes, drops nodes).

By premium I do mean HBO, starz, Showtime, etc. I can get discovery, USA, TNT, ESPN etc. and their HD versions, and most other stations I subscribe to.

The m-card in your box has nothing to do with it. It's just a matter of how the cable company has set the 5c and CCI setting. They can change these settings at any time, even from program to program. What they set them to varies from region to region, even within the same cable company. some places you only give you the locals without 5c encryption, others give you everything, and this changes overtime (has changed twice for me). I have a DCH-6200 (m-card) and a DCT-6200 and they have the exact same 5c settings.

By premium I do mean HBO, starz, Showtime, etc. I can get discovery, USA, TNT, ESPN etc. and their HD versions, and most other stations I subscribe to.

The m-card in your box has nothing to do with it. It's just a matter of how the cable company has set the 5c and CCI setting. They can change these settings at any time, even from program to program. What they set them to varies from region to region, even within the same cable company. some places you only give you the locals without 5c encryption, others give you everything, and this changes overtime (has changed twice for me). I have a DCH-6200 (m-card) and a DCT-6200 and they have the exact same 5c settings.

I see. Well, so far, so good! Also, I tried the music channels again, and even though the signal is stable and locked on, it still says "error displaying video", so, apparently, these channels are encrypted which is fine because I prefer Amarok/Shoutcast streams, anyway (Groove Salad comes immediately to mind). I haven't tried MythStream lately, but it doesn't appear to be actively maintained, so I'll just have to teach mom a couple of extra button-pushes to get to Amarok and set some favorites for her there.

It would be cool to see a MythTV plugin that would replace MythMusic and tie in with Amarok's new API so we'd have access to internet radio, or, at least, modify MythMusic to include that functionality. I'd start on it, but I'm not going to have time for coding anytime soon as I'm about to get started on my LPI certs.

I see. Well, so far, so good! Also, I tried the music channels again, and even though the signal is stable and locked on, it still says "error displaying video", so, apparently, these channels are encrypted which is fine because I prefer Amarok/Shoutcast streams, anyway (Groove Salad comes immediately to mind). I haven't tried MythStream lately, but it doesn't appear to be actively maintained, so I'll just have to teach mom a couple of extra button-pushes to get to Amarok and set some favorites for her there.

It would be cool to see a MythTV plugin that would replace MythMusic and tie in with Amarok's new API so we'd have access to internet radio, or, at least, modify MythMusic to include that functionality. I'd start on it, but I'm not going to have time for coding anytime soon as I'm about to get started on my LPI certs.

Yeah, I tend to use Amarok too, as I don't find mythmusic to be user friendly enough for my tastes... That would be great. I'm way past my real coding days and don't have much time for it anyway... Waste too much time enjoying my myth system :). I do try to give back by helping on various forums, however :)

It would be cool to see a MythTV plugin that would replace MythMusic and tie in with Amarok's new API so we'd have access to internet radio, or, at least, modify MythMusic to include that functionality. I'd start on it, but I'm not going to have time for coding anytime soon as I'm about to get started on my LPI certs.

I use Mythstream that came with the Mythbuntu setup. It works great for playing internet streams. I set up the four or five stations that I listen to the most. I can easily listen to and switch stations using the remote. I love it!

I use Mythstream that came with the Mythbuntu setup. It works great for playing internet streams. I set up the four or five stations that I listen to the most. I can easily listen to and switch stations using the remote. I love it!
Cool, I'll give it a try tomorrow. The 0.18 version gave me pause as it's been there for many long times now. :D

Also, RE: rgb --

Yes, the music channels are encoded, and I use MythTV to change the channels via firewire. (Sorry, I missed your post earlier)

Mythstream does have a lot of crap preloaded into it. It may seem a bit confusing at first. I was going to remove some of the stuff, until I found that all I have to do is use the right arrow on my remote. It gets me right to my list of stations.

Mythstream works great. The saved streams show up right on the front page. Thanks :)