Don't have a lot of money for a new Home Theater PC? No problem. Mythbox is open source, free and runs great on a cheap PC. It's perfect for a HTPC if you're on a budget!
MythTV? MythBox? Having a PC as part of your home theater is great, but didn't Systm cover this back in Episode 2? We sure did, but things have changed quite a bit, since then!
If it's new to you, check out the Wikipedia description of MythTV... it's a "Unix application which turns a computer with the necessary hardware into a network streaming digital video recorder, a digital multimedia home entertainment system, or Home Theater Personal Computer. MythTV is free software licensed under the GPL. It can be considered as a free and open source alternative to Tivo or Windows Media Center."
So for our Home Theater month, we drug our resident MythTV mavin, Brendan White, out of the IT department and in front of a camera to walk us thru configuring a MythTV machine, from CPU to tuner cards.
You can use it as a DVR, watch DVDs, and, of course, enjoy videos downloaded off the web -without- the hassle of file conversion or worrying if your player supports that particular codec.
Brendan's favorite way to build a MythTV box is using the Mythbuntu distro... an Ubuntu OS install customized for MythTV.
The MythTV Wiki has a ton of useful info on hardware.
The MythTV on Ubuntu Wiki can help you sort out any OS issues.
Looking for DVB drivers? Check outLinuxTV.org!
Thanks to Brendan for taking the time to walk us through this!
Wondering where the DIY projector episode of Systm is? It's coming... we've just had quite the comedy of errors getting it built. Our apologies on the delay!
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Posted by tom61 on 09/14/2008 at 10:18:35 pm in Systm
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ATSC is the over-the-air digital standard for the US, you'll want that if you live in the US. SDTV is lower-end digital, it means you'll be able to display HDTV digital signals on a 4:3 screen, more or less. My 17" 4:3 CRT TV is "SDTV" since it can display ATSC signals.
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Cable isn't mandated to change over, and many cable networks are putting up ads to say that normal users with analog will still be able to use cable for their TV needs. There is a problem is you have premium digital channels though, as you have to use an external tuner (usually the box that comes with your cable service) with analog recording if you're in the US. If you're not in the US, and your laws are compliant with such uses, you can get the signals decrypted using unofficial software, but the stupid DMCA makes that illegal in the US.
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Most newer cards should meet your needs.
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Depends on your TV. Higher end TVs can take DVI or VGA in, which are two of the best ways. Next there is Component output(Red, Green, and Blue cable ends), not quite as good as VGA for HDTV, but pretty close. On the very low end there is composite video (yellow cable end).
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Posted by wise.adamj on 09/14/2008 at 10:00:37 pm in Systm
I'm very new to the idea of MythTV and the ideas behind the DVR from an old PC idea. I'm looking at putting a box together with either an old P4 1.8 GHz, 256 MB RAM system or a 2700+ AMD Athlon, 2 GB RAM box. On either of these boards, I'll be stuck with using a PCI-based tuner.
While the hardware I'm using is older, I'm trying to look for future use out of the system as well, namely the Digital Television Transition Act that will make analog features obsolete in February. This is where I start having issues since the terminology isn't something I'm familiar with. I'm finding terms such as ATSC, over-the-air digital, and SDTV that are making things a bit more difficult in determining what I should and shouldn't be looking for considering my plans for future use of the system. I know at some point I'll be switching from analog to a digital cable service, but I'm not sure how digital cable will be affected by the transition (which I'm speculating is not at all, but I won't assume) or if I'll even be switching to a digital service before February 17th.
Given the specifications and potential outcomes, what should I be looking for out of a tuner card? Does anybody have any suggestions for a tuner card that could meet my needs?
Additionally, what specifics should I be looking for from a video card? Is/are there any method(s) other than S-video to allow a television to act as the display?
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Posted by piranio on 09/10/2008 at 10:53:59 pm in Systm
I have decided to go with linuxmce instead of mythtv, it is so much better packaged.
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Posted by computoman on 09/01/2008 at 05:16:39 am in Systm
It was done on one of the first shows, but lot has changed since then,...... A lot is the same but their were a few important changes also. I wished they could of spent some time or at least mentioned in passing some the add-ons you can now to mythtv. You probably know what they are. I can't wait for hak5!!!!!!
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Posted by PeppersGhost on 08/31/2008 at 11:48:08 pm in Systm
I thought Kevin and Dan did this back in like 2005.
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Posted by computoman on 08/31/2008 at 07:45:19 pm in Systm
I just installed the latest Mythbuntu 8.04. I will probably have to wait till after Gustav to play with it.
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Posted by HumanBeing on 08/26/2008 at 08:53:55 pm in Systm
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KnoppMyth isn't about installer eye candy, so the installer hasn't changed in appearance for years. You can run MythTV in about 20 minutes after inserting the installation CD, though, so it's probably the fastest method to turn a computer into a Mythbox.
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I wasn't aware that Mythbuntu had any autodetection and setup. KnoppMyth will autodetect and set up nVidia cards, most capture devices (including HDHomeRun), and most remote controls. R5.5 introduces scripting to make setup of digital audio trivial, but it has to be run manually at this point (though it's just one command). Even performance-based settings are made, based on polling the CPU and graphics capabilities.
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Posted by Metatr0n on 08/24/2008 at 06:24:04 am in Systm
For anyone in the UK you can buy a cheap, small, and quite powerful MythTV system from *link*
Edit, I'd say if you want to build your own system go with LinuxMCE from *link*
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Posted by tom61 on 08/23/2008 at 12:30:24 am in Systm
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Interesting, I had thought the project was dead, but it appears that it received an update just last month. The last time I had tried it, a few months ago, it seemed to be little changed compared to the version I got shortly after Systm number 2. Mythbuntu looks a fair bit more polished than the last version of KnoppMyth I tried. Mythbuntu seems to have a fair bit of autodetection and setup, how much better is KnoppMyth in that regard?
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Posted by eMpTy3000 on 08/22/2008 at 01:57:54 pm in Systm
If you are a newbie and you just want to do DVR (no photos and music) check out Beyond TV! It is very easy to setup and has a great interface. The one time price is $69.99 with free tv guide downloads forever.
Like with any pc based dvr software you need a decent machine (P4 2 Gh +) to play HD content.
*link*
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