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Messages - Cyberai

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Hi all,

I tried to install LinuxMCE back with release 1 and couldn't get a successful install. I've since been using Myth on Fedora Core 6 with a few things installed from source (Nvidia driver, ATI soundcard driver and Lirc - to support a Windows MCE remote).

I'd like to take another shot at LMCE but I have no interest in the security/lights/network plug-n-play features. My interest is primarily motivated by the obviously superior GUI/guide etc. I know there's been a lot of talk about LMCE being pointless if you don't use the other features, but I really don't need them.

With all that being said, can anyone suggest some "best practices" or even a step-by-step on how to set up LinuxMCE as a standalone media box (no DHCP server, having only one network interface, etc)? I've seen several threads covering different aspects of this, but nothing that gives an all inclusive "how-to" on the subject.

I would like to suggest to the LinuxMCE team that the next release have an option to install this kind of setup in an automated fashion. Seems there is enough interest/market to justify it.

Any and all help appreciated.

PS - hardware config is as follows, if it's relevant:

MSI RX480 Neo2-F Socket 939 Motherboard
NVIDIA GeForce 6600 256MB DDR PCIe w/DVI/TV-OUT
Westinghouse 37" 1080p Monitor connected via DVI
AMD Athlon 64 Dual Core FX60 Socket 939 CPU
Single 7200 30GB IDE drive for OS/LMCE software
Dual 7200 400GB SATA drives in LVM for media
Motorola 6140 set top tuner box connected by firewire for digital cable/HD cable.
Two Hauppauge WIN-TV-150 tuners for analog us-cable.
One DVD R/W/RW

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Installation issues / Any support for the HPV1600?
« on: March 30, 2007, 07:14:30 pm »
I recently bought two hauppage HPV1600 cards thinking "
hey it's hauppage, it will work with MythTV!"

Duh.

Turns out Myth has no support (seems likely there's no Linux support at all).

Are these cards supported in LinuxMCE through some miracle of Pluto?

Sure would be nice if I didn't waste my money.


Thanks,

Cyb

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I have the same problem with the broken network config.

But my question is this...  it seems that after you install LinuxMCE and reboot, pluto attempts to use the network to retrieve even more files. I'm seeing messages is the "show details" box about it's attempt to download xml files - and failing.

I also have the grey screen of death problem. I tried going from the UI3 to UI2, but no luck. I guess I can try UI1, and if that doesn't work I can download and install the nVidia drivers from their website.

But right now I am left with no access to the admin panel. So I can't get in there to fix the settings. And once I do, how do I get the pluto thing to run again? It seems to me that I have to fix this network issue BEFORE that runs.

Any and all help would be appreciated.

Cyb

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I just finished building my dream myth system:

MSI RX480 Neo2-F Socket 939 Motherboard
NVIDIA GeForce 6600 256MB DDR PCIe w/DVI/TV-OUT
Westinghouse 37" 1080p Monitor connected via DVI
AMD Athlon 64 Dual Core FX60 Socket 939 CPU
Kingwin Big Air BA-12 CPU Cooler for AMD FX60 (silent fan)
Dual 7200 400GB SATA drives in RAID1 (hardware) for speed
HD5000 HDTV PCI Card for QAM HD Digital.
Two Hauppauge HDV-1600 dual cable & ATSC Digital tuners for us-cable/us-cable digital HD.
One DVD/CD R,W,RW
4 Double bearing silent fans
500 watt silent power supply
D-Link Wireless 54MB card
RCA 5.1 Surround Sound system w/SPDIF hookup

I installed Ubuntu 6.10 and ran system update no problem. I installed the LinuxMCE software from a CD I burned off the iso downloaded via bittorrent - no problems. I then ran through the Pluto configuration wizard - no sound even though I select SPDIF as the connection. So I figured it might be a driver issue or an asound.conf issue. So I continued on and rebooted as instructed after the setup finished 30-40 mins later.

On reboot the system comes up to a blank grey screen with the mouse cursor in the middle and that's it.

1. Can anyone point me to a way to get the sound working via SPDIF?
2. What's up with the grey screen?

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Installation issues / Re: 64 bit version of the installer?
« on: March 23, 2007, 05:51:08 pm »
I recently did a LOT of research in the field of 64 bit and MythTV. All of the experts agree that running Myth in 64 bit is (as of now) a BAD idea. The reasoning is this... 64 bit doesn't give you faster performance, it gives you more fine grained performance. If you use sound processing as an analogy it becomes easier to understand.

If you pump your raw sound (a live recording for example) into a 32 bit system, you can then adjust 32 bits of data. You have 32 degrees of variation. If you push the same raw sound into a 64 bit system, you have 64 degrees of variation. This means you can fine tune the sound better. BUT - you won't necessarily be processing it faster.

Since all of the content delivered through Myth, even HD content is easily handled by a 32bit pathway, there is no reason to go to 64bit for Myth. 32 bits is more than enough of a pipe for the data (Even Blue Ray and HD-DVD, I checked). There's just not enough data there to fill 64 bits.

As a matter of fact, on the MythTV mailing list, some users tried compiling myth for 64 bit from the source code and got horrible results. Others tried running regular Myth on a 64 bit OS and found that the results were also horrible (90% CPU use vs 12% CPU use for transcoding) due to the fact that the myth components were running in 32 bit emulation.

With all that in mind, it is HIGHLY recommended you have at least  3.6GB P4 class processor and 2 GB of RAM to do HD. (debate rages on best mobo manufacturer. I stick with MSI high-end gaming boards) I advise anyone considering HD to go with a dual core CPU. Right now the AMD FX 64 is king, despite it's lower clock speed, benchmarks show it WHOMPING on every other CPU when it's doing video or audio of any kind, transcoding is mind-bogglingly (is that a word?) fast. It even beats AMD's dual core 4400.

If you do go with a dual core system for your MythTV, be sure you are installing a 32 bit 2.6 SMP kernel. After that, install Myth and everything else takes care of itself. Some day we will go 64 bit, but it's going to take some work, and the results won't be an improvement, just the status quo.

More on this can be read here -> http://www.linuxis.us/linux/media/howto/linux-htpc/

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