MythTV General Discussion and Support

Not sure about those ones on ebay but
You could try getting an artec t14br for $30 but not sure who sells them deals direct had them... you have to build drivers though.
A leadtek gold usb is another cheapy I got mine from msy at $33 or $34.... cant remember which. I had to install some firmware and diisable the remote (which didnt bother me as its used on the backend sever and not required)
Buying cheap tuners for linux generally means they will be unsupported in the current kernel and you have to fiddle to make them detect and work properly.
If your not linux savy or dislike googling for hours on end its well worth the extra $30 to save yourself a world of frustrating pain you may never resolve and buying say a asus 3100 which will work flawlessly when you plug it in for $60.
The leadtek gold tuner works so good for me Ive bought another and am considering a third.. But I've spent my 20 hours of fiddling too.
cheers rileyp

 

USB tuner for Mythtv and just want it to work? +1 for the "ASUS My Cinema-U3100 Mini" I have four in our backend, never had a problem with them.
http://www.staticice.com.au/cgi-bin/search.cgi?q=ASUS+My+Cinema-U3100+Mini&spos=1

or support the people that support this forum and get it from Computer Alliance.
http://www.computeralliance.com.au/parts.aspx?qrySubCat=TVB (in stock $69)

 

Hardly

As listed on our very own wiki: http://www.overclockers.com.au/wiki/MythTV, there is a list of what OCAU members use, I believe that the Asus U3100 is very good and is literally plug'n'play. (I have a Compro DVB-T300 which I have had varying success with.)

There is also a list of Linux compatible tuners on the LinuxTV wiki: http://www.linuxtv.org/wiki/index.php/Main_Page (right hand side under Hardware device information).

edit: woops, I can't tell which page I'm on in this thread!

 

Yah i just grabbed an ASUS MY CINEMA ADAPTER DONGLE USB DVB-T U3000-MINI from ebay for $41 posted (2nd hand) so I'll start with one... and go from there... haha

Now as far as a PC is there any guides as to minimum hardware specs? I've got a spare Via M10000 1Ghz Mini-ITX Motherboard that I've had spare since I upgraded the mobo in my carpc... so would that be suitable or not powerful enough?

What my goal is, start with the 1 tuner, but I'll probably get at least another tuner, and I'll probably just be using it to record. The box won't be hooked to a TV... (I don't even have a TV for that matter), so it'll be used to record and then I'll either use my laptop to watch them (Windows 7... but upgrading to a Macbook Pro in the near future) or my desktop with the 24" monitor (Windows 7, also upgrading to a 27" iMac but in the distant future)... Now the other thing I may want to do is watch live TV streamed over the network... I believe there is windows software to run live tv from the mythtv box over the network?

 

From http://www.mythtv.org/wiki/Hardware_Requirements

and from the Asus U3100 mini specs (probably more to run their software)

It should just do it (two tuners). What the hell, give it a go! as the VIA is only "sitting in the cupboard" anyway.
I personally wouldn't have it in my cupboard, but hey, someone has to like VIA right?

 

I suggested and everyone recommends the asus 3100 not the 3000
I don't know how linux friendly 3000 is...

 

Oh I didn't notice that difference... I hope it works ok... I might end up using it on my Windows 7 Desktop if its not any good with Linux... :-S

 

Heres the linux how to for the 3000
http://www.linuxtv.org/wiki/index.p...t may just work on plugging in. cheers rileyp

 

Ok so if i read the right, if i run Linux on my MythTV Box with a kernel >= 2.6.25-rc1, Also integrated into >=2.6.24-19 of Ubuntu Hardy Heron.

So the latest Ubuntu should be fine without any extra drivers... it should be plug and play?

 

Plug it in and see what happens.... It certainly looks that way...Perhaps read the mythtv guide how to install a tuner because you don't just plug in and do a channel scan with mythtv... you need to add inputs and sources etc....
Hyrax has a good little guide how to do so here:
http://www.serenux.com/2009/06/howto-build-a-mythtv-box-from-scratch-using-ubuntu-jaunty-904/

 

Is there any dual-tuner Digital HD 1080 USB tuners you'd recommend?

 

I've had no end of grief with my Leadtek USB DTV Gold dongle - will work, sometimes, then just stops. Works perfectly under windows, so I'm sure it's not a hardware problem.

RILEYP : You say it was necessary to disable the remote section? How?

 

If your using karmic Do not make and install anything.... there is no need
Karmic comes with firmware dvb usb 4.65 installed.
On a clean install simply add this line to disable the remote

Code:

echo "options dvb-usb-af9015 remote=-1" > /etc/modprobe.d/no-af9015-remote.conf

then reboot and it should work flawlessly less the remote.
If you have installed the 4.95 firmware remove it and d/l 4.65 then copy or paste it into /lib/firmware and /lib/firmware/$(uname-r)/ Not exactly sure which is the correct location so just do both....
You can check what firmware is loaded from dmesg. If 4.95 still loads after you have removed 4.95 and reinstalled 4.65 and rebooted remove the dongle and plug into a windows pc until it auto detects and wants to install. Then plug back into your Linux machine.
Apparently they have some kind of memory in them .....and you need to upset it...

I did a clean install of karmic last night on a old hdd ....and tried firmware 4.95 to see what happens as I have only used on a pc in which I have done a make and install on v4l drivers where it wil not lock....
It fixes the polling problem but it takes up to 5 minutes to tune a channel if it tunes at all so its no good with the original v4l drivers either.

cheers rileyp
If you need help with any of the commands etc pm me!

 

simple/cheap IR receiver

Anyone know of a simple IR receiver that should work quite readily w/LIRC?
Preferably one that I can easily mount inside my mini-Tower.

I know of heaps of good external transceivers & I'll prolly get one eventually for a HA project I have in mind.
But for this build I just want a very simple/cheap CIR receiver.

Is the only option to get a case with one built-in, or a remote that comes with one?
Any thoughts/advice greatly appreciated.

 

Okay so it's these two:
http://gocomp.com.au/index.php?cpath=productinfo&pid=II00631&catpath=0_190
http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView.asp?ID=XC4889&keywords=XC4889&form=KEYWORD

I've found anecdotal evidence to support that they both work well.
The latter emulates a keyboard, but apparently you can tweak it to work w/LIRC if you want.
I'm more inclined to go for the Hauppauge...

Or these of which all are in the LIRC compatibility table:
http://www.home-electro.com/tira2.php
http://iguanaworks.net/products.psp
http://www.soundgraph.com/vfd-feature-en/
http://www.elektroni.fi/tuote-esitteet/TT_USB_IR_english.pdf
http://www.usbuirt.com/

This latter list is cool in that you're not buying a redundant remote, I intend to use my own universal remote.
Most are a fair bit pricier than the items in the 1st list, but they're not as pricey as some transceiver systems.

What do you all reckon?

 

I remembered I have a spare P4 2.xGhz box as well, so maybe i should use it for my mythbox... Now I'm considering setting it up as a home server (as i don't have one at the moment).

So is the Myth Backend all i'll need as I won't be viewing anything on it... it'll all be streamed over the network (either live or recorded)... The reason I ask, is does the MythTV backend have a gui at all? I'm wondering whether to install Ubuntu Server or Ubuntu Desktop? (Does Ubuntu Server have the TV tuner drivers built in or is it only the Desktop version that has that?)

Also can anyone remind me as to the MythTV Windows "frontend" for watching live tv (and i guess recorded tv) from the MythTV box?

I should be able to run the MythTV backup, plus an LAMP server, and Samba on the same P4 box right?

I think I'll probably use the Via 1Ghz M10000 Mini-ITX board as a proxy/firewall and maybe Asterisk server...

 

The jaycar one wasn't great for XBMC under linux, myth wasn't TOO bad. I have one here if someone wants to buy it. Only used a couple of times

 

jaylist
buy the haupauge for $46 set up is on 50 different websites...and its simple and they work much better than the jaycar ones... they have a ir transmitter in them as well which is extremely usefull.

 

Oh really? That's pretty cool, I didn't realise that.

I'm tempted to get an iMon VFD @110.68 AUD inc. post. ($121.97 for the ultra bay, only $11 more, but I think it's a little big)
So when I get a nice case I can wack it in that & have a flashy VFD along with an IR receiver

But @ $46 the hauppauge is so cheap, hmm maybe I'll just get both.
Anyone else have an opinion on which you reckon I should get?

http://gocomp.com.au/index.php?cpath=productinfo&pid=II00631&catpath=0_190
http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView.asp?ID=XC4889&keywords=XC4889&form=KEYWORD
I've found anecdotal evidence to support that they both work well.
The latter emulates a keyboard, but apparently you can tweak it to work w/LIRC if you want.
I'm more inclined to go for the Hauppauge...

Or these of which all are in the LIRC compatibility table:
http://www.home-electro.com/tira2.php
http://iguanaworks.net/products.psp
http://www.soundgraph.com/vfd-feature-en/
http://www.elektroni.fi/tuote-esitteet/TT_USB_IR_english.pdf
http://www.usbuirt.com/

This latter list is cool in that you're not buying a redundant remote, I intend to use my own universal remote.
Most are a fair bit pricier than the items in the 1st list, but they're not as pricey as some transceiver systems.

 

I have a VFD in my antec fusion. Used it for a while however I found it was too bright, and detracted from the television itself. Wish I had saved the money and just got an antec NSK2480 or whatever the base model was, $100 cheaper at the time.

A good remote is hard to find, I have an imon pad, however I suffer from key bounce on the back arrow of the pad, but I can live with it. If I was in the market for spending $50 on a remote, I'd probably give the hauppauge a go. I currently have a US$10 mceusb type from dealextreme to try out, however I expect it is going to have similar issues to the jaycar one described above, but, for $10 worth a try.