1. What version of mythtv is being used? If it is .22, is storage groups being used?
.22 is being used. Yes, storage groups are generated for every combination of user and LinuxMCE storage device. The Default storage group uses the public area of all LinuxMCE storage devices automatically, I believe.
2. If I choose the dvd installation, will 8.10 be updated to the latest version when I apt-get upgrade?
For the most part, yes. There are a few fixes that are not applied by this method - mostly related to setup stuff. I've been using apt-get for LinuxMCE updates for quite a while. Works just fine.
3. I have seen in some of the posts where the installations have trouble and the recommendation is to remove the tuner cards, install 8.10 and get it running and then later add the tuner cards. Is this standard or just an option for the few that have installation problems? Can I just leave the tuner cards installed during the installation as with 7.10?
I have not read those issues... There is not an issue with leaving them in, to my knowledge. It worked fine for me, at least... If it doesn't, you know what to do.
4. My wireless router will be on the external network. If I wanted to use a wireless orbitor ie webDT 366, would this work or would I need an AP on the internal network?
While it is technically possible to open the firewall on the core and hack up the Orbiter.conf file on the WebDT to get this to work, it is much easier and more reliable to grab a cheap AP and put it on the internal network.
5. Will the metadata for videos automatically be setup?
No, not for existing media. It is not a terribly painful thing to do manually, and you will only have to do it once. See the web admin --> Files & Media --> Media File Sync page. You can search IMDB to pull in all the metadata and video covers.
When you insert a DVD, this is done for you automatically.
Once the data is retrieved, it is stored in an ID3 file on disk. This means you can completely screw up everything on your computer, but so long as you don't lose anything on your media storage devices - you will still have your metadata. Existing ID3 tags/files are automatically read by LinuxMCE.
