Installed, but not able to watch TV

[YARDofSTUF]

Well I just installed Kubuntu 7.10 and then LinuxMCE 710 RC2(used the CD isos method) and followed the wiki guides steps to get it all going.  Now I'm not really trying to do that much with this, I just want it to act as a basic PVR, and after all the wizards were done I clicked "Start using the system" and got the main menu and clicked on "Watch TV" and it said that mythTV was the tuner and if I wanted to watch live TV I need to cancel the recordings, but I don't have any recordigners going on or scheduled.

My system"

Shuttle SFF SB51G(using onboard audio and video)
1GB RAM
2.8ghz P4 w/HT
Leadtek PVR2000 Deluxe tuner card
80GB hard drive

During the install I set it up to be a hybrid
Not to run a DHCP server
Basic UI
To be a dedicated Linux MCE system



A/V Wizard went well

House setup was very simple, 1 room/no lighting/no alarm/no voip

For the Media Player setup I have it not controlling the TV, no receiver or amp, no A/V devices, No inputs, No providers, and left add software alone.

Now I'm not sure if having no A/V devices is right, thought my tuner card should be listed there, but I didn't find any place that mentioned it to allow me to select it.

All I want to do is have it record TV shows, and if possible save to my Windows PC shared folder, if not then just saved locally and I'd watch them on that PC.

I'm a linux noob so if this is all user error I wouldn't be surprised, any insight as to what I'm doing wrong or where to look to resolve this issue would be most appreciated.

Thanks.

[Zaerc]

Sounds like you need to setup your capture card manually, try the "MythTV Setup" from the "Computing" screen.

[YARDofSTUF]

Ok, so I've looked around the Utilities/Setup section of MythTV and I dont see anything about tuner card, though in the Information Center under Tuner Status it says Tuner1 is unavailable.

Where do I go to manually setup the tuner card?

EDIT:

Found tuner options, set my card manually as it wasnt listed, went to Input Connections and by each connections (none) is listed, trying to scan for channels it tells me "Failed to open the card."

[colinjones]

If all you want is a PVR then you have probably chosen the wrong system. LMCE is a huge overhead just for watching TV. Try Mythbuntu or something similar.

[chaos1965]

That interesting, i'm still trying to grasp that concept, i've seen this suggested to many people about using a different software if they only want PVR.  Maybe people are being misled by the title, LinuxMCE... MCE does denote exactly what you guys are suggestion to those few...

Maybe, LinuxHOME, or AutoLinux, something stupid like that would not misguide so many PVR/TV enthusiasts?

Personally, I mostly use it for a PVR, but only because the interface, and video/music libraries are unmatched by any other PVR solution i've seen.  Well, in UI2 mode that is.  And I use IP cameras along with Asterik for phone notification, for home security.

[Zaerc]

That interesting, i'm still trying to grasp that concept, i've seen this suggested to many people about using a different software if they only want PVR.  Maybe people are being misled by the title, LinuxMCE... MCE does denote exactly what you guys are suggestion to those few...

Maybe, LinuxHOME, or AutoLinux, something stupid like that would not misguide so many PVR/TV enthusiasts?

Personally, I mostly use it for a PVR, but only because the interface, and video/music libraries are unmatched by any other PVR solution i've seen.  Well, in UI2 mode that is.  And I use IP cameras along with Asterik for phone notification, for home security.

It's not called LinuxOnlyPVR now is it?

Also interesting is that you first insinuate that we're misguiding PVR/TV enthousiasts, to continue that you use it mainly as a PVR yourself... Make up your mind will you?

[totallymaxed]

That interesting, i'm still trying to grasp that concept, i've seen this suggested to many people about using a different software if they only want PVR.  Maybe people are being misled by the title, LinuxMCE... MCE does denote exactly what you guys are suggestion to those few...

Maybe, LinuxHOME, or AutoLinux, something stupid like that would not misguide so many PVR/TV enthusiasts?

Personally, I mostly use it for a PVR, but only because the interface, and video/music libraries are unmatched by any other PVR solution i've seen.  Well, in UI2 mode that is.  And I use IP cameras along with Asterik for phone notification, for home security.

It's not called LinuxOnlyPVR now is it?

Also interesting is that you first insinuate that we're misguiding PVR/TV enthousiasts, to continue that you use it mainly as a PVR yourself... Make up your mind will you?

Well personally I would never suggest to someone that just because their current needs are purely for a PVR... or any of the other functions that are part of LinuxmCE... that they choose something else. I always say... well great and when & if your ready there are all these other great benefits to LinuxMCE that will just make your choice even more 'right' in the future.

Andrew

[Zaerc]

That interesting, i'm still trying to grasp that concept, i've seen this suggested to many people about using a different software if they only want PVR.  Maybe people are being misled by the title, LinuxMCE... MCE does denote exactly what you guys are suggestion to those few...

Maybe, LinuxHOME, or AutoLinux, something stupid like that would not misguide so many PVR/TV enthusiasts?

Personally, I mostly use it for a PVR, but only because the interface, and video/music libraries are unmatched by any other PVR solution i've seen.  Well, in UI2 mode that is.  And I use IP cameras along with Asterik for phone notification, for home security.

It's not called LinuxOnlyPVR now is it?

Also interesting is that you first insinuate that we're misguiding PVR/TV enthousiasts, to continue that you use it mainly as a PVR yourself... Make up your mind will you?

Well personally I would never suggest to someone that just because their current needs are purely for a PVR... or any of the other functions that are part of LinuxmCE... that they choose something else. I always say... well great and when & if your ready there are all these other great benefits to LinuxMCE that will just make your choice even more 'right' in the future.

Andrew

Yet we can't escape the fact that there are systems far more suitable if you only just want PVR functionality,  not only because these are usually a lot less hassle to set up, they also support a lot more hardware (besides only a few nvidia graphic chipsets, for instance) out of the box. 

And could it be that your personal recommendation is perhaps slightly biassed by the fact that you're actually selling (rebranded) lmce based systems on a commercial basis? 

[totallymaxed]

That interesting, i'm still trying to grasp that concept, i've seen this suggested to many people about using a different software if they only want PVR.  Maybe people are being misled by the title, LinuxMCE... MCE does denote exactly what you guys are suggestion to those few...

Maybe, LinuxHOME, or AutoLinux, something stupid like that would not misguide so many PVR/TV enthusiasts?

Personally, I mostly use it for a PVR, but only because the interface, and video/music libraries are unmatched by any other PVR solution i've seen.  Well, in UI2 mode that is.  And I use IP cameras along with Asterik for phone notification, for home security.

It's not called LinuxOnlyPVR now is it?

Also interesting is that you first insinuate that we're misguiding PVR/TV enthousiasts, to continue that you use it mainly as a PVR yourself... Make up your mind will you?

Well personally I would never suggest to someone that just because their current needs are purely for a PVR... or any of the other functions that are part of LinuxmCE... that they choose something else. I always say... well great and when & if your ready there are all these other great benefits to LinuxMCE that will just make your choice even more 'right' in the future.

Andrew

Yet we can't escape the fact that there are systems far more suitable if you only just want PVR functionality,  not only because these are usually a lot less hassle to set up, they also support a lot more hardware (besides only a few nvidia graphic chipsets, for instance) out of the box. 

And could it be that your personal recommendation is perhaps slightly biassed by the fact that you're actually selling (rebranded) lmce based systems on a commercial basis? 

Well Zaerc I was not referring to customers of my companys Dianemo product... clearly if they come to us they want what we 'do' otherwise they would not be talking to us in the first place. I was referring to people here in the Forum... people  neither I nor CHT have any commercial relationship with in any way shape or form.

...and i simply do not agree that LinuxMCE is hard to setup... but some people make it hard because they choose hardware that needs manual configuration or has not been tested... or they just do not pay enough attention to the installation process.

Andrew

[royw]

...and i simply do not agree that LinuxMCE is hard to setup... but some people make it hard because they choose hardware that needs manual configuration or has not been tested... or they just do not pay enough attention to the installation process.

Instead of "hard", IMO a better description for setup for new users would be "overwhelming".  From initial hardware selection, to LAN configuration, to which install method to use, to figuring out what to do, and more importantly, not do in pluto-admin.  Most serious users have paid the tuition (replaced hardware, rewired LAN, screwed up the database, lots of reinstalls), so it doesn't seem that hard now.  I seriously doubt if we can find one new user whose initial system came up and ran perfectly the first try with all the bells and whistles they were expecting.  And yes, this should be our goal.

Different people have different expectations of a media center.  Personally I wanted a 1000+ dvd jukebox and unified control of all my media center components.  LinuxMCE then offered me extras such as VOIP and lighting control.  While the driving feature for other people might be PVR/TV, or whole house music, or multiple media directors, or home automation...  The point is that each user looks at LinuxMCE for their desired feature(s) while the rest of LinuxMCE's features are just icing on the cake.

So we have people looking at LinuxMCE as a PVR.  Great.  They are probably enticed by some secondary feature(s) too.  So what would be better, brushing them off or pointing to a wiki page that explains what hardware is needed, how to install LinuxMCE, and how to best use it for a PVR?

Food for thought.

Have fun,
Roy

[Zaerc]

...

Well Zaerc I was not referring to customers of my companys Dianemo product... clearly if they come to us they want what we 'do' otherwise they would not be talking to us in the first place. I was referring to people here in the Forum... people  neither I nor CHT have any commercial relationship with in any way shape or form.

...and i simply do not agree that LinuxMCE is hard to setup... but some people make it hard because they choose hardware that needs manual configuration or has not been tested... or they just do not pay enough attention to the installation process.

Andrew

Nothing personal but sometimes something like Mythbuntu simply suits someones needs and wants better, no need to be in denial about that.  I for one would rather like to see somebody happy with MythTV, then to be frustrated about all the features of LinuxMCE that they do not need or want, as they all come at a price.

Now apart from the fact that I never claimed that LMCE is hard to setup, it's not exactly a walk in the park either.  Installing is one thing, configuring and setting up a whole house is another.  And once you've been doing it for a while you don't realise anymore how steep the learning curve can be.  For example, remember this one: Turning off bluetooth auto detection?   

[totallymaxed]

...

Well Zaerc I was not referring to customers of my companys Dianemo product... clearly if they come to us they want what we 'do' otherwise they would not be talking to us in the first place. I was referring to people here in the Forum... people  neither I nor CHT have any commercial relationship with in any way shape or form.

...and i simply do not agree that LinuxMCE is hard to setup... but some people make it hard because they choose hardware that needs manual configuration or has not been tested... or they just do not pay enough attention to the installation process.

Andrew

Nothing personal but sometimes something like Mythbuntu simply suits someones needs and wants better, no need to be in denial about that.  I for one would rather like to see somebody happy with MythTV, then to be frustrated about all the features of LinuxMCE that they do not need or want, as they all come at a price.

Now apart from the fact that I never claimed that LMCE is hard to setup, it's not exactly a walk in the park either.  Installing is one thing, configuring and setting up a whole house is another.  And once you've been doing it for a while you don't realise anymore how steep the learning curve can be.  For example, remember this one: Turning off bluetooth auto detection?   

But thats my point... The additional effort to setup LinuxMCE and just initially use the PVR side is little different to just installing Myth or vdr if you use the DVD installer and you follow the installation process on hardware that is well documented here to work. I do agree that the breadth of functionality in LinuxMCE is somewhat overwhelming to new users (and sometimes 'old' users too ;-) ). I also agree that sometimes its difficult to 'see' the complexity once you understand LinuxMCE well... even complexity is easy when you have done it 1000 times ;-)

But I have watched people here in my company do basic installations of LinuxMCE with almost zero assistance - but they were not battling with unsupported hardware in parallel... and i think in many cases this is the 'straw that brakes the camels back' for new users here in the forum.

Andrew