MythTV Setup time!

[Rich Braun]

Kristian Erik Hermansen <kristian.hermansen-Re5JQEeQqe8AvxtiuMwx3w at public.gmane.org> wrote:
> I'm looking for the best value Myth HDTV setup I can put together.
> Nothing over the top, just down the middle of the road.

I too am wanting to buy such a setup.  Have been prototyping this under about
4 different Linux distros and 5 different hardware combinations since the 18th
of August.  My experience has been rather miserable; I posted a message on
this topic right before the BLU server exploded so that discussion didn't get
started.  Be that as it may, I now have another 4 weeks of solo tinkering
behind me.

My #1 problem:  despite all my efforts with new & old hardware alike, the only
combination (for the frontend) that has not been prone to software crashes is
a Core 2 Quad running OpenSUSE 11.0, using the rpm's distributed by PackMan in
Germany.  That one runs exactly the way I want.  Every other system has had
bootup problems or mind-numbingly frustrating device-driver problems and
glitches.

The backend is quite easy to build.

Looking at your components list:
> SILVERSTONE Black Aluminum front panel, 0.8 mm SECC body SST-LC17-B
> ATX Media Center / HTPC Case - Retail ($119.99)
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811163055
> Thermaltake TR2 W0070RUC 430W ATX Power Supply - Retail ($41.49)
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817153023
>

I found a small case at Microcenter for $50 that I like, comes with a very
quiet power supply and looks nice enough for the entertainment system (I'm
posting from work so I don't remember the brand name/model, their website is
useless for searches.)  That's a third of the price you're citing.

> BIOSTAR TForce TF720 A2+ AM2+/AM2 NVIDIA nForce 720a ATX AMD
> Motherboard - Retail ($69.99)
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138117

Make sure you talk to someone who is actually using the identical motherboard
*and* Linux distro you're planning to use.  I bought an AMD MA78-xxx (don't
remember the exact model) wanting to run MiniMyth 0.21 distro, and discovered
that Linux doesn't get past the second INIT startup line--turns out to be a
device driver bug in Linux 2.6.23, fixed in 2.6.26, but that distro isn't
going to be fixed any time soon.

> AMD Phenom 9850 BLACK EDITION 2.5GHz Socket AM2+ 125W Quad-Core
> Processor Model HD985ZXAGHBOX - Retail ($169.00)
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103249

Overkill.  I bought an AMD 4850 dual processor for my frontend, cost about
$65.  You can get the single-processor version of that, I only got the dual in
case I could never get MythTV working on it and needed to recycle it as a
desktop PC.

PLEASE rethink your components specs in light of the cooling requirements.

> OCZ Platinum 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500)

As already noted, overkill.  Myth can only use about 1GB.  I bought 2GB
because a 2x1GB kit can  now be had for under $30.  And I didn't need anything
better than PC2 5300.  You're planning on spending SIX TIMES as much as you
need to.

> Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD6400AAKS 640GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s
> Hard Drive - OEM ($79.99 x 4 = $319.96)
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136218

For the backend box, I bought a half-dozen terabyte drives for about $150
apiece.  Have heard the Seagate 1.5-terabyte units just came out.  The ones
you're looking at are 12.5 cents a gig which is a very good price.  I'm
leaning quickly away from WD right now because of the issues (posted last
week) with their power-management features.  My system has a mix of Seagate,
WD and Hitachi drives.  I'm happiest with Seagate.

> SiliconDust HDHomeRun Network-based Dual Digital HDTV Tuner Ethernet
> Interface - Retail ($168.99)

Love it.  Nice product.  Allows me to run Ethernet instead of RG6 between my
antenna demarc and the rest of the system.  As someone has already noted, this
is limited to broadcast TV.  I'm not sure there's any solution for
cable/DirecTV (or for that matter commercial BluRay) content.

> Any suggestions on this?  Anything looking bad?  I think this is a
> great setup, but I have been wrong before :-)

It will be too noisy and too expensive, I think.  Your backend server needs
only a fraction of the power of the frontend.  I suggest that you install a
separate backend box tucked away somewhere far from your entertainment system
(those hard drives will need cooling fans even if you run a small/low-power
CPU) and that you look for a front-end that burns a lot less power than what
you've proposed.

I don't have the answer yet though I'm leaning toward an openSUSE-based
frontend (rather than one of the packaged distros like MythBuntu, MiniMyth,
KnoppMyth, Mythdora, whatever else).

> I am going to get this going with
> MythBuntu Hardy (8.04.1) [x86_64] very soon.

That's the distro I set up on Saturday.  It was/is very unstable and difficult
to get working (had to do endless xorg.conf tweaks, figure out the sound
control, etc).  I suspect it might be easier to get a 32-bit version running,
and the 7.10 version might be more stable.  But I haven't tried those yet.

I too want to go onto the newegg.com site and buy a frontend Myth box this
week, doing my part to jumpstart the economy.  I too don't yet know what to
buy.

-rich