Arch Media Centre

Crooksey · 2010-01-17 09:27:30

Right, ill start this thread off by saying how little knowledge I have of setting up or configuring a media centre.

If I start by saying my plan/intentions, maybe you can suggest the best way for me to approach it

Machine 1, lets call this machine 'desktop'.
Machine 2, lets call this machine 'tv-box'

So plan is, to have 'tv-box' next to my tv, with an aerial input (maybe needs two?), so that I can pause and record freeview tv. I also want to be able to draw up a tv guide on the screen, basically the same functions as windows media centre.

On the machine 'tv-box', I also want to be able to use it as a normal machine, so I can browse the web and make play lists etc etc. I also plan to sync this machine to 'desktop', so I can transfer all of my pictures, movies etc, maybe setup a cron job to sync certain folders every 4 hours or something.

Thats basically it, would I be best of going with a myth-tv setup, or is there something else out there that would serve the purpose better?

Thanks.

EDIT: Reading more I could use an old athlon XP machine as my myth front end and use my desktop as the backend server, does this give the same results? Or for HD encoding is it best to use a powerful machine for both ends? Or one myth-tv machine standalone?

Last edited by Crooksey (2010-01-17 09:32:08)

pyther · 2010-01-17 11:46:15

There are plugins for mythtv that allow you to browse the web, play music, and watch video files. The only thing you might no be able to do in myth that you would like to is edit/create playlists. Myth has a tv guide function, however you will likely need a subscription to pull in listings. I'm not sure what is offered in the uk, but here in the states schedules direct is fairly popular and is fairly cheap.

The backend and frontend can be the same machine or they can be separate machines. The backend does not need to be extremely powerful. The backend handles the recordings (usually most of the load of the recordings is on the capture card if you have a decent capture card), database for all your mythtv settings, and flagging commercials.

That frontend is theory doesn't have to be all that powerful, but that also depends on what type of media you are playing. I've only had experience with HD digital tv. My netbook is unable to play back the HD videos (1.6ghz). However, my Desktop, dual core AMD X2 250 can handle them without a problem (as expected). Many people seem to like the Intel Atom 330 (dual core version) with the ION chihpset. I have heard those can handle HD pretty well with vdpau enabled from within myth.

In my setup I have an Sempron +2200 has my backend in the basement. It takes probably about 15-20 minutes to tag commercials. I have this boxed hooked up via a wireless g network. Then my "frontend" is just my desktop hooked up via a LAN cable. I'd like to get a frontend in the living room one day, but that'll take some work.

I hope this helps a bit.

PS: Sorry for any typos... I'm in a rush :-/

fastfret79 · 2010-01-17 12:13:10

I have a Hauppauge Nova-TD-500 which is a dual-tuner freeview card and I would definitely recommend it. The way that DVB (freeview) is broadcast over transport streams means that, if your computer can keep up with writing to disk, you could record 8 or more programs at once! My ageing machine can happily record 4 programs at once. All the video encoding is done on the card,

With freeview you can pull 7 days of TV listings straight from the card - no need for any subscriptions. If you were to use Sky or Cable, I think you do need to subscribe for listings.

pyther · 2010-01-17 12:17:19

Ahh so I see the "new" ATSC signal us Americans get is still substandard to you guys over in the Uk! No Fair!

Crooksey · 2010-01-17 15:08:13

pyther wrote:

There are plugins for mythtv that allow you to browse the web, play music, and watch video files. The only thing you might no be able to do in myth that you would like to is edit/create playlists./

I plan to handle the playlists through amarok or another media player, so thats not a huge deal. Thanks for all your other help, thats a huge help in understanding.

fastfret79 wrote:

I have a Hauppauge Nova-TD-500 which is a dual-tuner freeview card and I would definitely recommend it. The way that DVB (freeview) is broadcast over transport streams means that, if your computer can keep up with writing to disk, you could record 8 or more programs at once! My ageing machine can happily record 4 programs at once. All the video encoding is done on the card,
With freeview you can pull 7 days of TV listings straight from the card - no need for any subscriptions. If you were to use Sky or Cable, I think you do need to subscribe for listings.

Thanks mate that card looks spot on for what im after.

PirateJonno · 2010-01-18 11:11:30

Here in NZ we have 1080i H264 freeview streams. not sure what its like in the UK but my nvidia 8600gt is only just able to play them (have to turn compiz off, etc most of the time), so if you're looking to play stuff like that i'd go 9xxx or higher. I just have one machine for mythtv + normal desktop usage, and it works fine for me, if a little weird since mythtv's ui design is completely different to everything else. however, commercial flagging uses a lot of cpu, more than recording itself since i switched to digital. I just disable it because it's not really designed for NZ channels but you may want to configure it to run overnight or something, depending on how large the videos are

Arch Linux

#1 2010-01-17 09:27:30

Arch Media Centre

#2 2010-01-17 11:46:15

Re: Arch Media Centre

#3 2010-01-17 12:13:10

Re: Arch Media Centre

#4 2010-01-17 12:17:19

Re: Arch Media Centre

#5 2010-01-17 15:08:13

Re: Arch Media Centre

#6 2010-01-18 11:11:30

Re: Arch Media Centre

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