Mythtv

[mlord]

I think the real killer features of 0.22 are (1) VDPAU, and (2) HDPVR support. Sure, there's other stuff, but those two are the really biggies.

However, VDPAU has also now been available as a solid/stable backport for 0.21 since winter 2009, and is not by itself a compelling reason to risk 0.22.

HDPVR support is also available as a backported patch, but didn't work well in that form when I tried it here for a friend. So that friend has been waiting for 0.22 to try again, though I am trying hard to push him towards SageTV as a better solution.

The current -RC of Mythbuntu will turn final later this week, but anyone considering it might want to let the dust settle for another month of updates after that. I would hope it might be usable by December.

Cheers

[pvrfan]

Originally Posted by stampeder

Advice for new MythTV users:

Until MythDora and Mythbuntu release new versions based on MythTV 0.22 it is best to stay with their present versions (based on 0.21) unless you are experienced with rolling your own development software and know some or all of those ropes.

MythDora and Mythbuntu are really not relevant yet. Myth .22 is in Release Candidate stage. The Myth web site asks for people to help TEST the release, I believe (can't reach it right now). Bugs are being reported and fixed. When .22 goes final, then the MythDora and Mythbuntu distributions can do their thing. Obviously, new users should stay with .21-fixes until all that happens.

Craig

[mlord]

Originally Posted by mlord

The HVR-950Q works in analog, but no sound in LiveTV. There is sound from it in a "proper" recording, though, despite identical "Recording Profiles" for the two.

But enabling analog killed the digital side of the 950Q

I refreshed my test install again last night, and the latest Mythbuntu now has what appears to be a perfectly working HVR-950Q implementation.

Whoo-hoo!

It switches back and forth between analog/digital, and they both seem to work fine, in LiveTV and in Recordings.

Mmm.. 0.22 seems to be missing the unified channel-change patch that's been around for years now, though. Odd that. This is the patch that merges all channels from all tuners into a single CH+/CH- list for LiveTV.

I can always patch that in again, I suppose, while I'm in there fixing the menu navigation keys and such back to the 0.21 working state.

Things are starting to look a bit better overall now, I think. It still crashes (front/back ends) if I blow on it slightly, but that'll stabilize someday soon, most likely.

Cheers

[mlord]

Tried it on a different, yet basic, system last night. Continuous front-end crashes / blank screens. Harkens back to the Windows days, I think (cannot be sure, never having had Windows on any machine).

Still a work in progress. Hopefully within the next month or so it might work well enough to use.

Cheers

[rpr]

@mlord: You can't use the right arrow because that is now used globally for navigation.

[mlord]

It's not used for anything useful on that screen, so it can easily still be reprogrammed (source code) to do the sensible thing again.

-ml

[mlord]

Originally Posted by mlord

I refreshed my test install again last night, and the latest Mythbuntu now has what appears to be a perfectly working HVR-950Q implementation.

Whoo-hoo!

It switches back and forth between analog/digital, and they both seem to work fine, in LiveTV and in Recordings.

Mmm.. not any more. I updated to latest again recently, and tried out the test disk today.

B0rked again. Analog works, digital tries and fails mysteriously.

Cheers

[roger1818]

Originally Posted by mlord

The current -RC of Mythbuntu will turn final later this week, but anyone considering it might want to let the dust settle for another month of updates after that. I would hope it might be usable by December.

I downloaded Mythbuntu 9.10 earlier this week, but haven't had a chance to install it yet. This will be my first time using MythTV. From this, are you saying that I would be better off sticking with Mythbuntu 9.04 for now? If so, where can I get it? It doesn't seem to be on the Mythbuntu site anymore.

Will be using it with a 2.8 GHz P4 with an ATI Radeon 9000 pro (a system I have kicking around) and an HVR-1600. Nothing fancy. Just want to get it to work to get the WAF.

[stampeder]

Here's a torrent file for Mythbuntu 9.04 for a P4:

http://isohunt.com/download/77728713/mythbuntu.torrent

Just open it with a good Torrent client like Vuze.

[mlord]

Originally Posted by mlord

B0rked again. Analog works, digital tries and fails mysteriously.

I fired it up again today, same problem. But then I poked around in the playback settings and found that somehow it was trying to use NVidia VDPAU playback on my ATI Radeon x1400 card, but only for HD playback.

Fixed the configuration, and now digital is working again.

The frontend still managed to crash/disappear twice after that, but it is looking slightly more stable now. I expect things might improve further were I to build the myth binaries myself from svn -- something I normally do already for 0.21-fixes on the main MythTV PVR here.

Cheers

[mlord]

Originally Posted by mlord

Fixed the configuration, and now digital is working again.

And just in time for the official ("final") release of MythTV-0.22 today!

I wonder if the frontend still crashes wildly in it?

-ml

[roger1818]

I spent yesterday banging my head against the wall trying to get Mythbuntu 9.04 installed. The initial installation would work just fine, but when it would get to the "Backend Setup" I would get a blank screen with a large gray rectangle, it would stay like that no matter how long I left it. Initially I thought it was related to using the proprietary ATI driver, so I tried re-installing with the Open Source Driver and got the same thing. I tried rebooting the PC (from the hard drive) and it would start out looking fine while booting, but I would end up with the same rectangle (or when using the proprietary driver the monitor wouldn't sync).

Late last night, I tried installing 9.10 and then went to bed. This morning I was able to run the "Backend Setup" normally. I am guessing the problem is the Mythbuntu 9.04 setup is not configuring my graphics card properly by default (likely an issue with UBuntu not Myth TV).

I guess my options are:

1. Debug the problem with Mythbuntu 9.04.
2. Keep Mythbuntu 9.10 installed and downgrade MythTV to 0.21.
3. Keep Mythbuntu 9.10 installed and upgrade to MythTV 0.22 final
4. Wait for new MythBuntu package that includes MythTV 0.22 final
5. Install Ubuntu 9.10 and MythTV 0.21 separately.

Any thoughts which option I should go with? Any other ideas? I am somewhat familiar with Unix/Linux, though it has been about 5-10 years since I have used it so things are a bit rusty, and I am sure a lot has changed in the Linux world.

[stampeder]

roger1818, keep soldiering on and we'll help as much as we can, but if you're insterested here's an announcement for Ottawa-area MythTV users in Post #55:

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=113605

[mlord]

Originally Posted by roger1818

I spent yesterday banging my head against the wall trying to get Mythbuntu 9.04 installed.
..
Late last night, I tried installing 9.10 and then went to bed. This morning I was able to run the "Backend Setup" normally. I am guessing the problem is the Mythbuntu 9.04 setup is not configuring my graphics card properly by default (likely an issue with UBuntu not Myth TV).
..
Any thoughts which option I should go with?

Bring the bare box over here, and we'll get it into a working state quickly enough. Not fully set up (takes hours), but most of the way there (takes one hour).

That's "most", as in "90% of the functionality takes only 10% of the effort/time.. the remaining 10% functionality (aka. "WAF") takes the other 90% of the effort/time."

Cheers

[stampeder]

I upgraded my mythfrontend HTPC's OS from Mandriva 2008.1 i586 to Mandriva 2010 x86_64. I installed 2010's pre-built MythTV packages onto it, which are Version 0.22 and therefore incompatible with my existing 0.21 mythbackend server.

Now I intend to upgrade the mythbackend to 0.22. The mythbackend machine dumps a mythconverg database backup once each morning, so I'll do the upgrade in the early afternoon when I know there is no recording scheduled.

Before pulling the trigger I've read as much stuff as possible from Mythtv.org and other sources, so now I'm asking DHCers if they have experienced any MythTV upgrade glitches in going from 0.21 to 0.22 on the mythbackend?