Re: Slashdot on Linux PVRs. How to make a PVR for $200.

Post #189,962 by admin 1/12/05 5:37:42 PM Reply	Re: Slashdot on Linux PVRs. How to make a PVR for $200. Similarly, if the Linux stuff were as easy to get up and running with similar functionailty it would make it much more appealing. [link\|http://www.mysettopbox.tv/knoppmyth.html\|http://www.mysettopbox.tv/knoppmyth.html] I'm using a PVR250 under Linux right now. There are some gotchas still, but the drivers are getting steadily better. Many people have created Linux PVRs with other cards, though. I have a friend here at work who uses one daily. The nice thing about MythTV, and KnoppMyth in particular, is that you can turn any computer into a client for the main MythTV video repository. Stick the KnoppMyth CD in a machine, reboot it, tell it where the repository lives, and start watching recorded shows. Regards, -scott anderson "Welcome to Rivendell, Mr. Anderson..."
Post #189,976 by Another Scott 1/12/05 7:54:32 PM Reply	Thanks. I will have to check it out carefully. I've got a couple of Compaq Presario machines (1.2 GHz Athlon, 768 MB; 1.67 GHz AthlonXP, 512 MB) that I will probably consolidate onto a new Athlon64 box in the spring. So I'd have some hardware to play with. We've got Cox digital cable and consequently a (Scientific Atlanta) cable box. I assume that any FOSS PVR software would only work with the analog channels. That's OK, but not ideal. Cox offers a DVR for $13.49/mo (service+box, plus the various taxes). Cox [link\|http://www.cox.com/fairfax/digitalcable/dvrfaqs.asp\|says] "existing DVRs" can be used with their service, but it might be "confusing" as you'd see 2 channel guides. I assume they mean TiVo and not something like MythTV. Do you use yours with a digital cable service? I'll check into this some more in the coming weeks. Be prepared for questions. :-) I doubt that I'll worry about the HDTV issues yet (though I might buy a card just in case...). Thanks again. Cheers, Scott.
Post #189,982 by admin 1/12/05 9:12:06 PM Reply	Depends. If you get a card with svideo input, that might work. You can't come straight off the digital coax, though. Something needs to convert it to analog. Regards, -scott anderson "Welcome to Rivendell, Mr. Anderson..."
Post #189,988 by drewk 1/12/05 10:02:48 PM Reply	Seems stupid I'm not saying there's any other way with the current tools, but to convert a digital signal to analog, only to re-encode back to digital to store it ... Does this seem like a good ida to anobody? === Purveyor of Doc Hope's [link\|http://DocHope.com\|fresh-baked dog biscuits and pet treats]. [link\|http://DocHope.com\|http://DocHope.com]
Post #189,996 by Another Scott 1/12/05 10:29:31 PM Reply	Sure. but to convert a digital signal to analog, only to re-encode back to digital to store it ... It comes off the wire as digital, but most TVs are analog (that's why a cable box is needed for digital cable). So you must have a D/A conversion in there somewhere. The storage is digital because that's the best way to preserve fidelity while minimizing storage space. I do get your point - it would be good to be able to feed digital cable into a PC, do the processing/storage magic, then send digital to the TV. Those days are coming, but will likely be encumbered with DRM baggage. To get digital video from cable into the PC, you'd need something similar to the cable box. If it could have been put on a PCI card for a reasonable amount of money, it might have been done already. But with the DRM stuff coming, I doubt that unencumbered stuff will be easily available in time. Since nonHD TV is rather low resolution anyway, the D->A->D->A conversion train shouldn't really cause much of a problem (if the PC can keep up). Once HD takes over, then digital inputs to the PC will probably be required. So you'd go: HD receiver/cable-box -> digital PC input -> digital PC output -> HDTV. My guess, anyway. Cheers, Scott.
Post #189,999 by admin 1/12/05 10:36:41 PM Reply	Re: Sure. That d->a->d->a train is what a PVR card helps with, since the conversion is done in hardware. Regards, -scott anderson "Welcome to Rivendell, Mr. Anderson..."
Post #189,989 by Another Scott 1/12/05 10:11:00 PM Reply	At least around here, digital and analog are the same wire. The digital signal rides "on top of" the analog signal (for lack of a better term for it). We only get the digital channels at sets that have a digital set-top box; we get analog cable at the other sets. From browsing around [link\|http://losdos.dyndns.org:8080/public/mythtv-info/MythTV_DISH_IR_LED_TX_via_Modified_LIRC.html\|here], it sounds like the issue is having an appropriate connection from the PC to the set-top box. Thus, one would select the appropriate channel with the IR remote controlled by the PC, the analog signal from the cable-box would to to the MPEG-2 card, the PC would do its magic and display the result on the TV (from a video card with TV out). Similarly with a satellite-box, etc. I'm thinking that a PVR-350 card would be a better choice than the 250 as it has the MPEG-2 decoder. Is that not necessary? I see mention of nVidia (especially GeForce4 mx440) cards a lot. Is that the best choice for MythTV as far as the drivers go? Do you have 2 capture cards? What hardware are you using? Thanks. Cheers, Scott. (Who several times has thought about moving this to Hardware or somewhere else, but figured it would be best to keep it in one place.)
Post #189,995 by admin 1/12/05 10:28:51 PM Reply	I have a 350 The decoder essentially lets you display video without taking much CPU. However, the drivers weren't entirely there back in February or so. They've come a long way and I'm going to try them again. I had bought a NVidia card to do the display out in the meantime. I think the PVR's display is cleaner. I only have the one capture card. PVRs are really the only way to go if you want more than one capture card and want to watch TV as well, as the CPU usage will be minimal. Just be aware that there can be stability issues. Don't use a VIA chipset mobo either. I don't know about NVidia chipset mobos. Be warned: this is NOT an easy project. If you're not comfortable fiddling kernel and module settings, endlessly recompiling things, and generally mucking about with the innards, you won't like doing this at all. That said, KnoppMyth is supposed to solve all of that. I Haven't Tried KnoppMyth (I rolled my own with Debian). I'll let you know in a month or so when I get the time, though. :-) Start reading the mailing list for a while to get a feel for what the better configurations are. I haven't been keeping up; it's very high traffic. Regards, -scott anderson "Welcome to Rivendell, Mr. Anderson..."

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