Step By Step: Building a MythTV PVR for $635

hesby writes "Anandtech has just published the first half of a two-part article on building a MythTV PVR that they will ultimately compare with Microsoft's Windows Media Center Edition on very similar hardware. As a result, they selected some components that the average user might not choose, just to keep things fair in the second part, where they pit the two PVRs head to head."

Comments

80GB?

[ElPresPufferfish]

80GB seems pretty weak when my normal recordings are 1GB/30min. I'm building a mythtv backend right now, and I'm looking for at least 1TB of space.

And this is why Linux is not mainstream

[spoco2]

This article shows why linux is not mainstream yet:
"We can attempt to load the card right now using the commands below:

# modprobe i2c-core
# modprobe i2c-algo-bit
# modprobe tuner type=2
# modprobe msp3400
# modprobe videodev
# modprobe saa7115
# modprobe ivtv"

And
"dmesg also reports success:

# dmesg | tail
[] sys_init_module+0xeb/0x1e0
[] sysenter_past_esp+0x52/0x79

ivtv: No mem on buf alloc!
ivtv: Buffer alloc failed!
ivtv: Registered v4l2 device, minor 0
ivtv: Registered v4l2 device, minor 32
ivtv: Registered v4l2 device, minor 224
ivtv: Registered v4l2 device, minor 24
ivtv: loaded "

Uh huh

"# cat /dev/video0 > /tmp/test.mpg" Of course, I should know that's how you record video...

And finally:
"And finally, after several hours of turmoil and despair, we have installed and tested our Linux device. Its far from perfect - we cannot readily work with digital TV broadcasts, for example."

It's for exactly these reasons that people use Windows and Macs... this sort of thing is far above the average Joe's understanding I'm afraid, and it really shouldn't be stuff they have to know as it's not user friendly, confusing and assumes far too much prior knowledge.

Re:And this is why Linux is not mainstream

[pyrrhonist]

Seems like you're only proving his point further here.

Well, I suppose so, if you count merciless ridicule as honest user testimony.

If you're so sure, then how about a real example of how average-user-friendly it is to setup, instead of taking the cop-out of basically saying "It's easy for me, how could it possibly be hard for anyone else?"

Fine. How to set up a TiVo:

1. Take you TiVo out of the box.
2. Oh and ah, then pet TiVo affectionately.
3. Put batteries in remote.
4. Connect cable wire to TiVo.
5. Set the channel switch on TiVo to "3".
6. Connect one end of red/white/yellow wire to TiVo and other end to TV.
7. Connect one end of phone cord to TiVo and other end to phone jack.
8. Plug in TiVo, turn it on, and turn on the TV.
9. Set the TV channel to "3".
10. Follow the on-screen instructions.
11. Record stuff.
12. Watch recorded stuff.
13. Drink beer. Eat chips.

See? Easy. No, recompile of the kernel was necessary.

The point was that the TiVo is a simple to use device that is based on Linux, and is widely used by the unwashed masses. The parent concluded that Linux isn't ready for the mainstream by citing parts of an article about custom building a machine from scratch, while ignoring the counterexample of consumer-oriented products already using Linux.

They don't....

[AllenChristopher]

It's about instant gratification and control.

Want to watch that Seinfeld episode with the toothbrush? You can pull it up only if you have all 100 or so hours of Seinfeld stored.

You probably don't want to watch it yourself. You probably want to show it to someone else. "There was this great episode of such and such the other day, man, you should have seen it."

Call it an extension of memory. It's well worth reading what C.S. Lewis said about this in "Perelandra", and of course if the text were online I could link you to the right bit.

These sorts of people used to download a lot more music before the iTunes music store for the same reason. They want to be able to have any song, any time. Now you don't have to download the song until you want to hear it because you know the download will work.

The music packratting is starting to fall off... you don't stockpile every kind of snack just in case you have a craving because you trust 7-11. The video packratting is just getting started.

Re:same old feel'n, different skills

[HarveyBirdman]

You dads may have had skills to be a welder, carpender or even auto machenic. When he'd come home, he'd fix the car, make a coffee table, helb build a bird avery or build a varendah (patio?).

Yeah, but the car is pretty important, and home improvements have a retun on the investment of sweat equity.

I bought a Tivo despite being pretty damn tech savvy (I'm a hardware engineer AND software engineer BOW TO ME!) because, well, it's just friggin television. I use a DVR to reduce my time wasted on television.

The real satisfaction is in creating something original. The MythTV thing seems more like a Heathkit approach. Follow the directions and you're done.

For you young whippersnappers who don't know what a Heathkit was: http://www.heathkit-museum.com/

Excellent Documentation?

[elmegil]

I don't know what those reviewers are smoking. Don't get me wrong; I have a Myth box, and I like it a lot. The software itself rocks. But the documentation is a huge haystack of braindumps without a map. These guys put Myth onto a box in a relatively short period of time, modulo distribution problems. That sounds to me like they've read and reread and rereread the docs enough times that they know what's where--they've done it before and don't need a map any longer. For a first time Myth user, the docs are going to blow your brain into little pieces, and it's going to take you a long time just to absorb what's relevant to your system from them unless you have a really standard (i.e. just like the developers') machine.

Oh, by the way? I have a job already, and a family, and a life. So don't tell me it's my fault I can't digest the haystacks and make a map for the world. I'm a supporter of Myth, I'm just saying that the review does not set reasonable expectations for the effort it takes unless you're installing KnoppMyth.