I think this is what I'm going to install next week

http://www.mythtv.org/modules.php?name=MythFeatures
http://www.mythtv.org/

-kwag

That looks great but it's only for Linux platform right?

ren

Hi ren,

Yes it's only for Linux.
But I wouldn't want to run something like that on Windows Imagine, you're in the middle of a recording, and CRASH
Then, you'll be :banghead: all night

-kwag

I'm seriously considering switching to Linux but will I still be able to encode and burn KVCD's? I really want that PVR setup

Hi ren,

You can do something better
Because MythTV runs on Linux, you can run "Samba" on the Linux machine ( http://us1.samba.org/samba/samba.html ), and connect your Windows machine to the linux machine, either directly, or better yet, through a small hub. This way, you'll have a small network. Now you can access the drive on the Linux machine from the Windows machine as a network drive
So you can just copy your encoded/captured MPEG files from Linux to Windows, and encode them to KVCD on your WIN box.
It opens up a lot of possibilities
And yes, I want that setup too

-kwag

Hello kwag:

First of all, let me just say that I know nothing about Linux I guess that I need to read a lot about linux, as someone suggested.
Ok, now that I have that out of the way , let me ask a question:
As you perhaps have gathered by some of my posts, I have downloaded the Linux Cd, and my idea was to use this Linux CD to run the OS, and then save the files in drive D, which is a partition drive, can I do that? or, can I save the Linux files on my external e drive?
If the answer is yes, then can I acces such files from drive c

Thanks for the help

Totonho03

Linux is abble to see (we call that "mount") any windows disk, either formated in FAT32 or NTFS.
So you can write you files from linux directly on you disc C, or D or E, and even on your windows directory if you want.

Hi Dialhot:

This is great, then following this a bit more, I can run the linux cd, and save the file on say drive d:\, and Linux will recognize this. Now, would I be able to retrieve these files from my windows OS? Meaning that if I save the ffmpeg.exe files, then as kwag said:
If this is the case, then I do not need a hub at all, because the files are in the same hard drive. Is this correct?

Thank you

Totonho03

Yes, but only if you format your D: drive as FAT32.
This way, Linux can read/write your "data" drive, and so can Windows.
If you format that partition from Linux as EXT2/EXT3, XFS, JFS, or any other format supported by Linux, then you'll only be able to mount (read/write) that partition from Linux. Windows will not be able to see it.
If you format that partition as NTFS (WinXP/Win2K), Linux can read it, but can't write to it. I believe it now does write NTFS partitions, but it's "VERY" unstable, and still considered experimental.

-kwag

Thank you Maestro:

Both, the external drive and the partition drive are FAT32, I will start this experiment next week or so........

Regards

Otto

Thanks Otto,

I will install this, probably tomorrow or so .......
I already have a machine that I barely use, a Celeron 1.3Ghz, which will make an excelent PVR with the WinTV PVR-250 board.
The only thing I need to get tomorrow, is a nVidia card that has TV out (S-Video/Composite).
I haven't made up my mind as to what Linux distribution to use.
I'll probably go for either Knoppix, or Debian.

-kwag

Update.
I've installed MythTV, and it looks really sweet
I haven't done any capturing yet. Just looking at the menus and stuff. However, I've found another PVR software for Linux, called "Freevo", which is WAY simpler to install, and looks very promising. I've installed it too, but i'm having some problems with the program guide ( the .xml data). There are users already complainning about this too in the freevo forums and lists.
Check it out here: www.freevo.org

Also, take a look at where "Freevo" is being used
http://www.target-earth.net/xbox/page.html
Cool isn't it
So we really have two great PVR choices

-kwag

After days of fighting with MythTV and Freevo, I've dumped them both
It's been a nightmare, and both systems lockup constantly. These Linux based PVR software must mature, and they are FAR away of that.
So I'm currently testing this:
http://www.snapstream.com/Products/P...creenshots.asp
Which has a broader support of hardware cards, and the user interface is just sweet and better than MythTV.
Now that I have my Dish Network receiver installed, which is just EXCELENT quality, i'll play with this software and see how it works

-kwag

Let me know, for sure.

NickSteel

@Kwag:

how is snapstream working out? I just received my 250 at the weekend and this is a pretty impressive card. I am only able to capture of Antenna (don't have cable or a vcr) but the quality is very good. I'll be able to record some american sitcoms and take them back to ireland now!

Cheers,

__________________
rhino

Hi rhino ( and all),

I take back what I said about MythTV
This is what I'm currently installing: http://mysettopbox.tv/knoppmyth.html
KnoppMyth
As a matter of fact, KnoppMyth R4 will (should!) be released today
It's a slim down version of Knoppix, specially tailored with MythTV.
This blows away EVERY pvr software I've seen, and even snapstream.
I had tried to install MythTV using the regular Knoppix 3.3 release, which meant having to download separate packages, compile, install, re-compilte, dependency problems, swear (swear again!), and I had a NIGHTMARE.
It was not Knoppix fault, or MythTV's fault. It just so happens that you need a lot of binaries and libraries on your distro, to be able to install MythTV's distribution, and it's still a lot of manual work.
With KnopMyth, that's all taken care of, because it's all "built-in"
Check their site, as they should announce the download link some time today

-kwag

So Kwag whats the verdict on Knoppmyth? I have not tried it as I need to partition my HDD. It came as one 80 Gb with xp on it. I'll just get another HDD rather than partition it now.

Cheers,

__________________
rhino

Hi rhino,

It's working
It was a PAIN (Yes, upper case) to set up, but I finally got it working.
In my monitor, it looks just great. But not on my TV. I have to adjust some parameters on the S-Video out, because it doesn't fill the TV screen.
That's what I'm doing right now. It has a couple of glitches, and some people report "segmentatin faults" (program bombs) at some points. It hasn't happened to me yet.
The only problem I have is the machine I set it up, is only a P3 @500Mhz.
However, because the PVR-250 is a hardware encoder, it consumes very little CPU.
During playback, where the CPU must decode the MPEG stream and throw it at the video, the CPU is around 55%. Still, that's pretty good
There are no dropped frames during playback, probably because the graphics card I'm using is a Viper 550 ( nVidia based chipset with TV out).
My livingroom looks like a mad scientist lab right now ( my wife doesn't like me today ) with pieces of computer laying around the floor ( keyboard, monitor, etc )
I'll see if I can finish setting the TV screen problem ( on my 60" Magnavox TV )
I'll take a quick picture, hopefully tonight, of the livingroom and the MythTV setup ( as it currenty is ) and I'll post it here

-kwag

My wife and I moved to North Carolina for a year, so we are currently living in a one bedroom apartment. Needless to say i have been given strict instructions to keep my corner of the appartment tidy and i have been given a list of shops i am not allowed to visit by myself! I'll have to get a business trip or two over to California and visit Fry's.

Cheers,

__________________
rhino