MythDora — MythTV 0.2 In a Box

peterdaly writes "MythDora 3 is the first MythTV 'in-a-box' style distribution to include MythTV 0.20. Based on Fedora Core 5, MythDora 3 is designed to format your hard drive then install everything needed for a fully functional MythTV System. Here is a walkthrough of the entire MythDora installation process, including screenshots and a screencast."

Comments

Um...KnoppMyth?

[Kadin2048]

How, other than being based on Fedora, is this any different from KnoppMyth? It runs as a LiveCD and will then (if you want it to) install itself onto your hard drive, doing all the requisite steps.

I'm not panning MythDora, but it just doesn't seem totally unique, unless I'm missing some critical thing about it.

Re:Um...KnoppMyth?

[rGauntlet]

Well, right now MythDora using Myth 0.20 and KnoppMyth (Which I use, and prefer) is on 0.19. Aside from the Debian vs Fedora, that's the main difference I think. The issue I had with MythDora was that it ships with a single-processor kernel, SMP disabled. KnoppMyth worked with my simple SMP rig right outta the box, no recompilation required. If you care and find yourself with nothing better to do, and trust me there are far better things to do, my read on it is on my website.

Re:Um...KnoppMyth?

[Abcd1234]

For a backend machine that will be performing recording, commercial detection, and transcoding, possibly of one or even multiple HD streams simultaneously?

Crazy kids and their (Myth)Dora

[theGil]

Enseñemos a nuestros cabritos a utilizar Linux con Dora!

Why does Myth think it's an OS

[gr8_phk]

Why not just install Fedora and then "yum install mythtv"? Why has installation of Myth always been non-trivial? Now it's to the point where someone would rather format and install the entire OS...

Re:Why does Myth think it's an OS

[LordSnooty]

There are many dependencies needed to provide a fully-functional set-top box affair - video codecs, players, DVD apps, games, tuner card drivers, version of X, fonts issues etc. Even an educated linux user can find a mythtv install daunting, so packages like this are a godsend.

Also I'd imagine that most mythtv installs are deployed on single-use machines - the set-top box that does TV and nothing else. Thus Knoppmyth or this example are very much useful. Just slap it on and go.

Re:Why does Myth think it's an OS

[Dynedain]

Because there are so many extra components you need. Outside media players, codec libraries, driver packages, various MPEG decoding/encoding libraries, etc, etc.

I tried getting MythTV installed from the Knoppix disc. Plenty of things didn't work. It took me a few days to track down DVD playback problems. I then had to mess with getting the NVIDIA binary drivers installed and xconf configured properly. And then after that I still didn't have sound support (lack of drivers for my onboard soundcard). Oh, and I still had to deal with subscribing to a program guide service (with a one month renewal process). It got to the point where it was no longer worth my time. $150 for Windows MCE, and $40 for the NVIDIA mpeg encoder and I was up and running with everything working within a few hours.

People who want to use MythTV or Windows MCE, for the most part want it run as a dedicated Tivo-like appliance. They are going to be doing little if any desktop computing on it. For that reason, it makes perfect sense to have a full OS configured specifically for it, with default large fonts and display in the GUI, drivers and codecs pre-installed for most media types, auto-boot directly into the TV/Media interface, etc.

Sure, it's nice to be able to install something like this on top of your pre-existing, pre-configured OS. But for most people who want to use this technology, they'd rather wipe the machine and start clean.

Re:Why does Myth think it's an OS

[Dynedain]

No you didn't. For simple TV viewing as you suggest, you can use the vesa X11 drivers and it'll output on every possible output

And how was I supposed to know this. Why wouldn't I assume that the NVidia drivers are going to be the best solution for my NVidia card? And knowing this obscure technical item doesn't mean I know the obscure solutions to the other problems, let alone the problems I anticipated having (like optical digital audio support or swapping out the analogue CRT TV for a digital LCD with HD) that I never even got to the point of being able to work on.

Sure, I could have spent a lot more time finding solutions to all the issues that I had. And I probably would have figured them out eventually and increased my knowledge of Linux at the same time. But there comes a point where I don't have time, and a commercial solution becomes much more attractive. I would have loved to have the OSS solution in place. And in the future, when I would really want some of the MythTV-only features (like one machine doing the recording/storage, and as many front-end devices as I'd like) I'll probably come back and take another look at it.

It's like the old adage: "Linux is only free if your time isn't worth anything."

Re:Why does Myth think it's an OS

[itsdapead]

Why has installation of Myth always been non-trivial?

Er, lets see: do you use satellite or terestrial TV? Is that analogue or digital? European-style DVB or the US equivalent? Does your tuner card need a firmware blob to work? Does your tuner card have onboard MPEG decoding? If not, does your video card have MPEG acceleration and is it supported by Xorg? How do you enable TV-out and set it to native PAL or NTSC resolution with sensible overscan? (anybody using a low power Via Epia system as a HTPC should be shuddering here) Analogue sound or passthrough digital? Do you want infra-red control - how would Sir like his buttons mapped? Do you need an IR emitter to control your STM?

I.e. its non-trivial to install because it has an impressively non-trivial feature list and works in many different environments. And, as other people have already posted, the major pain is getting all the hardware drivers working rather than installing Myth itself.

The weakest bit of Myth set-up has historically been DVB "tuning" (i.e. setting the half-dozen parameters for each channel) which got a lot better over the last few releases.

My 2 cents

[rgavril]

If you're willing to install a linux distribution in your living room you should give Pluto a try. It incorporates myth and many more from media to home automation and is a free as in beer Debian based Linux.

Re:Typo: Myth is at .20 not 2.0

[broller]

Typo: Myth is at .20 not 2.0

That's the same number, right?

Maybe it's just because I have kids...

[Zordak]

The first image that came to mind on reading the title was a MythTV box dedicated to recording episodes of "Dora the Explorer." And then my brain let out a primal scream, because if there is one thing I don't need in my house, it's more Dora.

(totally OT now)

[revlayle]

I'm the map, I'm the map, I'm the map, I'm the map, I'm the map, I'm the map, I'm the map, I'm the map, I'm the map, I'm the map, I'm the map, I'm the map, I'm the map, I'm the map, I'm the map, I'm the map, I'm the map, I'm the map.....

I'M THE MAP!


*proceeds to play Russian roulette with a fully loaded revolver*

MythBuntu would be cool

[Shawn is an Asshole]

Nothing against MythDora, but after getting burned by Fedora far too many times I don't want to go near anything Fedora-based. Basing off of Ubuntu would rock.

Re:MythBuntu would be cool

[strick1226]

Just recently, I did try an Ubuntu Edgy combo backend/frontend setup on another machine (my main box runs KnoppMyth).

I found it to be incredibly easy to setup, and there are some pretty good guides ready for anyone with the interest:

http://https//help.ubuntu.com/community/MythTV/

For what it's worth, I did try setting up my backend about 1.5 years ago with Debian, but the dependencies and everything proved to be a bit too painful for my use. I settled on using KnoppMyth and I have to give the guys credit--it's hard to imagine getting a MythTV setup much easier than it provides. Great scripts and utilities, plus the most important thing--a good community with lots of helpful folks in the forums.

As easy as Edgy was to get going, I wouldn't be surprised to see something along the lines of MythUbuntu or UbuMyth showing up sometime soon.

Re:Now I wish I could get my Torrent Shows on Myth

[businessnerd]

YOU CAN! Here's how I do it. Every Myth setup has a Video section. This is a file browser that will launch mplayer or your media player of choice. In the Video Setup secion, it will ask you to define the directory for video (this is separate from your Myth recorded TV shows). Specify a directory (mine is /video/movies). Then all you have to do is just place some media in that folder. If you're downloading a DVD rip of a tv show from BitTorrent, you will be downloading a folder containing mulitiple mpeg's or avi's. Simply tell bittorrent to save the files to your MythTV video directory and the files will automagically appear in the Video browser.

In my apartment, the MythTV system acts as my file server. The /video partition (where all of the mythv media sits) is shared out to the rest of my computers via NFS. Using the computer in my office, I can browse for torrents and download them directly to the shared folder and then enjoy them from the living room couch. This is also great for my mp3's and oggs. All downloaded or ripped music goes to the Myth box and then you can listen to music either at my desk with xmms, in the living room through the stereo system and MythMusic, or from the laptop in any room (or even outside while in range of my router). The great thing about Myth is that it is a server for ALL of your media.