Use MythTV

The system still requires a TV card (Hauppauge PVR/HVR) and a remote (iMon) but I can play movies, view slideshows with OpenGL transitions, listen to music – even though it seems a bit slow to skip tracks. The Weather, Web and News plugins work too.

Thanks to the Ubuntu repositories it was quite easy to install, at least compared to the installation guide on the Mythtv site. Instructions can be found here on updating your installation sources if you run Ubuntu:

http://parker1.co.uk/mythtv_ubuntu.php

I have to admit that being forced to find out so much about the inner workings of the Linux OS in such a short space of time has left me feeling quite mad so I’m off to Barbados for a bit to regain my sanity :)

For those fellow noobs wishing to venture into this project I would suggest reading up on the Linux files system and on using commands from the terminal window. (check out sudo, cp, chmod, pico, ./configure, ‘make’ and ‘make install’)

It’s funny (or maybe not) that in the Linux world, at least for the uninitiated, solutions need solutions in order for problems to be solved.

Or you could put it this way.
A, doesn’t work so you search and search until you find B – woopee! But B is a tricky feller and will only work if you have C so you go in search of him. If your lucky, C will be a nice bloke and will fix B so that you can use A, but if your unlucky C will insist that you modify X and that some bloke called Kernel Source is on your computer.

Well folks, that’s Linux for you!

But there is something about it that inspires people to innovate and I like that. MythTv is just one of those innovations; think Media Centre 2005 with any and all restrictions removed.

Checkout:
http://www.mythtv.org/

I’d like to set up a Myth box based on this configuration:

Ubuntu 6.1 (Edgy aft)
Athlon XP 2600+
512MB
2×160 PATA HD’s
Geforce 5/6200 w/TV OUT (currently a Geforce2 Mx)
Hauppauge PVR2/350 or HVR1300
Thermaltake Tenor media case w/blue lights disconnected :)
iMon remote control