[newlinux]

 http://www.mythbuntu.org/downloads

 

[tji]

Very interesting.. I'm downloading it now to give it a try.


There are several Myth distro projects available now..


KnoppMyth: http://www.mysettopbox.tv/knoppmyth.html

MythDora: http://www.g-ding.tv/

LinuxMCE: http://linuxmce.com/


And, many mainstream Linux distributions have MythTV packages available for easy install. I recently upgraded my Linux frontent to Ubuntu Feisty, and all the MythTV packages were available via the standard package manager.

 

[newlinux]



Quote:
Originally Posted by tji /forum/post/0


Very interesting.. I'm downloading it now to give it a try.


There are several Myth distro projects available now..


KnoppMyth: http://www.mysettopbox.tv/knoppmyth.html

MythDora: http://www.g-ding.tv/

LinuxMCE: http://linuxmce.com/


And, many mainstream Linux distributions have MythTV packages available for easy install. I recently upgraded my Linux frontent to Ubuntu Feisty, and all the MythTV packages were available via the standard package manager.

Yep. the same guy who did most of ubuntu mythtv packages is leading the mythbuntu project.

 

[oxothuk]

Picking your Linux distribution is largely a matter of taste, but if you have experience with Red Hat/Fedora, I can highly recommend the newest MythDora (4.0) which is in late beta.. I used it for a new setup last week, and it was far and away the smoothest/easiest myth install I have done.

 

[Derek K.]

Doesn't really seem necessary to me because of the most excellent docs ubuntu has for installing myth. Actually, I think I prefer to do it that way because it is easier to fix if something doesn't work.


For example, I tried knoppmyth and could not get lots of things to work - the remote, no live tv, etc. So, I scrapped knoppmyth and installed myth on ubuntu using their guide. Much better.


The other day I tried the new knoppmyth, and sure engouh it still didn't work. But now that I know how to install myth, I was able to fix it very easily.


Just my 2 cents.

 

[Derek K.]

is linuxmce really a distro? I thought it was just pluto packages for ubuntu.

 

[newlinux]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Derek K. /forum/post/0


Doesn't really seem necessary to me because of the most excellent docs ubuntu has for installing myth. Actually, I think I prefer to do it that way because it is easier to fix if something doesn't work.


For example, I tried knoppmyth and could not get lots of things to work - the remote, no live tv, etc. So, I scrapped knoppmyth and installed myth on ubuntu using their guide. Much better.


The other day I tried the new knoppmyth, and sure engouh it still didn't work. But now that I know how to install myth, I was able to fix it very easily.


Just my 2 cents.

I 'm with you on preferring to do it with a full distro and installing it on my own. But some people want to install mythtv this way in a guided fasion and have heard so much about ubuntu that this is their choice in case they want to expand it to full ubuntu later (I'd rather do it the other way around).


Personally, I don't think it is needed either, but I can see where it would be chosen by some. It might natively support some hardware better or different hardware than mythdora or knoppmyth as well, being based on a different distro.

 

[tji]

Yeah, for many cases standard Linux is the best. Especially on a backend server, where you're likely to want to do a lot of other functions too. But, I can still see a case for a specialized version on a frontend..


For a frontend, you might want more of a settop box feel, where everything is centered around MythTV. It boots directly into Myth, it doesn't have a lot of the standard Linux packages that are unneeded for Myth-only operation, and they spend more effort on getting related functions like lirc working.


Or, something I would like to see more of is a distro geared towards Net-Boot or even Flash-Boot. There is no need for a spinning disk in a Myth Frontend. Network mount the file stores, and access Myth content from the backend. The frontend can be smaller, quieter, cooler and cheaper without disks.


My personal favorite HD frontend is a Mac Mini (running Mac OS X) and the MythFrontend application. Simple install, and playback performance has been great for me.. Much easier than all the hiccups I've run into on my Linux frontend with Nvidia graphics.

 

[Derek K.]

My would-be favorite frontend box is an appletv if/when they get hw acceleration working and it can do 1080i and boot from the network.

 

[SteveW928]



Quote:
Originally Posted by tji /forum/post/0


My personal favorite HD frontend is a Mac Mini (running Mac OS X) and the MythFrontend application. Simple install, and playback performance has been great for me.. Much easier than all the hiccups I've run into on my Linux frontend with Nvidia graphics.

Cool. I'm debating between trying to build up a front-end based on an AMD Athlon 64 3400+ on a MB with nVidia 6150 (as I can build one REALLY cheap right now), and splurging on a Mac mini. I really like the idea of the mini, but it is certainly more money.


I'm curious what rez you are running at... does it have any problems doing 1920x1080 (1080p) over DVI?


Also, is it tricky to get a remote running with it? I'm guessing the little Apple remote doesn't do enough to operate MythTV. How about sound.... say over optical?


Building up a linux front end certainly seems more flexible, but that mini packs a LOT of power in a very small package. I just worry about the Intel video.... but since under Linux, it seems 90% of most video cards go to waste anyway. If the 950 is enough to do full 1080p, then I'd be happy with it.


Thanks much,


-Steve

 

[tji]



Quote:
Originally Posted by SteveW928 /forum/post/0


Building up a linux front end certainly seems more flexible, but that mini packs a LOT of power in a very small package. I just worry about the Intel video.... but since under Linux, it seems 90% of most video cards go to waste anyway. If the 950 is enough to do full 1080p, then I'd be happy with it.


Thanks much,


-Steve

Resolution: I have mine attached to a 720p display, so I'm running at 1280x720. I have heard of people having problems at very high resolutions, like 1080p. But, there was a fix that we tested (revising a detected refresh rate) that seemed to fix it. I'm not sure if that was rolled back into the main codebase. Note that this is not a limit of the integrated graphics, it's an application issue. Other have seen the same thing with the iMac and its Radeon or NVidia GPU. As you mentioned, you don't use 90% of the (3D) GPU capabilities in Linux, or in HTPCs for that matter. The Intel video is fine for HTPC usage. It actually has some video processing offload capabilities that are not utilized in Mac OS or Linux yet.


Remote: support for the Apple Remote is built into MythTV, no config is needed. The 6 button remote is a little limited (you actually get a few more actions, as tapping a button does one thing, and holding it down does another). For basic playback and navigation controls, the Apple Remote is not bad. For full control, I also have an ATI Remote Wonder II, or I use my MythRemote app for network control from my MacBook Pro.


Optical Audio: Works fine. You need to enable AC3 pass-through in setup to get surround sound.



I ran into many playback problems on my Linux box. It was just too fragile, I could sometimes get it playing smoothly, sometimes even got XvMC working smoothly, but seemed to always run into playback hiccups. The Mac Mini has given me very reliable playback which just works. The added bonus of the Apple integration is nice too.. Front Row, for playback of iTunes music, videos, and DVDs is a nice convenient option.


You also have the option of dual booting into Linux if you find you prefer a Linux frontend.