HTPC Headache

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ImNotADJ

21 posts

Geek

#27660 3-Nov-2008 11:46

Hi, Ive been trying to get a home theatre/home network system running for the last 3-4 months with linuxmce and I've finally given up.

Now I have 2 HTPC's that I would like to turn into just one working HTPC that can play media, watch Freeview terrestrial, and watch SKY satellite from my decoder.

So, Im trying to setup MythTV on one of my htpc's. I used Mythbuntu to install it and that seemed to be fairly straightforward, and the GUI looks really nice. But I'm having no luck getting the tuner card to work.

My htpc is:

Silverstone LC16R
Gigabyte EP45-DS3R
Intel E8500 Dual Core
4GB Ram
160GB HDD and a 1000GB HDD
Leadtech 8500GT

For Freeview I'm using a Hauupauge nova t500, and I followed the guide on this page to try get it working:

http://www.mythtv.org/wiki/index.php/Hauppauge_WinTV_Nova-T_500_PC

It still shows up as: failed to probe, in the capture cards menu.

For the sky I was hoping I can just take the output from the decoder and input to a tuner card, but if thats the case or not im unsure, as I havent got that to work yet either.

Have been trying with a HVR-1300, and I also have a HVR-2200 lying around if thats any better.

I notice on here that there seems to be a lot of people using mediaportal, but if there are any mythtv users that could give me a hand that would be great.

Thanks,
DJ

sbiddle

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#175423 3-Nov-2008 12:17

You might want to read this

http://www.geekzone.co.nz/amphibem/

He has a few blog posts on the topic.

From what I've read elsewhere MythTV isn't really a serious candidate for a rock solid Freeview|HD PVR yet. Until there is hardware H.264 decoding under Linux it's always going to be borderline anyway.

mcraenz

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#175424 3-Nov-2008 12:23

Yeah I got mythtv up and running once, but then I realized I didn't hate my self that much.
./Puts on flame retardant suit!

But seriously, what specific features are you wanting in myth that MediaPortal won't offer?

Build up the E8500, put in the 8500GT, HVR1300 and HVR-2200.
Install windows Vista, minimum drivers./ software, Install cyberlink powerdvd codec.
Get a good signal into you HVR 1300/2200
Plug the sky dec into the analog side of the HVR1300
Install / Configure MediaPortal/TVServer
Get an MS remote / blasters and configure the blasters to change channels on the sky dec.

Sit back enjoy a smooth sailing HTPC.

I doubt myth can really handle Freeview HD yet.

Look I love Linux and use it daily(not for HTPC!) Save your self the trouble(Not the cash though!).

All IMHO

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ImNotADJ

21 posts

Geek

#175426 3-Nov-2008 12:28

OK, thanks.

So, I guess I should look at returning to windows and look at mediaportal then.

What OS is most popular for mediaportal? XP or Vista?

sbiddle

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#175427 3-Nov-2008 12:35

ImNotADJ: OK, thanks.

So, I guess I should look at returning to windows and look at mediaportal then.

What OS is most popular for mediaportal? XP or Vista?

For a HTPC you really should be looking at Vista simply because it has the EVR renderer which offers the best picture quality and eliminates any video tearing.

ImNotADJ

21 posts

Geek

#175436 3-Nov-2008 13:31

@mcraenz.

Where online can i get ir blaster from?

amphibem

138 posts

Master Geek

#175441 3-Nov-2008 13:36

Since Steve so kindly linked my blog...

I can only agree with what others have said, Freeview HD under MythTV isn't up for prime time. It does have its advantages I believe over MP due to having built-in commercial flagging (mythcommflag) and a web client for monitoring and scheduling recordings (mythweb). There are a number of other features it has over MP, but generally they don't mean much (to me anyway). Things like the better scheduler, doesn't matter with multi-rec.

So get Vista and MP RC3. Each update to MP (RC1-RC2 and RC2-RC3) has made things smoother and less buggy, it is now a very slick program. With hardware acceleration you will get playback with very little CPU, I personally just use software decoding and even that is fine (skipping isn't so smooth though).

Now as far as actually getting the Nova T 500 'working' (as in scanning in and playing back channels) there are a couple of required steps (none of which requires building the drivers or the like, the support is all built in) which I will put here for future reference (none of this is my work btw, just what others have done that I am putting in one place):

- After installing Mythbuntu (I would recommend sticking with 8.04.1, i don't knwo if this works under 8.10), open up a terminal and type 'sudo nano /etc/apt/sources.list' Add at the bottom:

deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/paul-kcbbs/ubuntu hardy main

- Run updates, from terminal or the GUI, and ait for them to finish. While that is running open up another terminal and type 'sudo nano /etc/modprobe.d/options' and add at the bottom (this turn on the amplifier):

options dvb-usb-dib0700 force_lna_activation=1

- This is important: Shut down the computer. The Nova T firmware only loads after a cold reboot.

- After the restart go into mythtv setup, you can now add the card and scan for channels under NZ. If that doesn't work, look here on the MythTV wiki page to check the card is detected.

That should be it, given the CPU you have you would now have a working system that can play (video and audio) all the Freeview channels, including TV3's 1080i stream. However unless you are willing to live on the bleeding edge I wouldn't recommend doing this, it isn't guaranteed to be stable

Desktop: 5200 X2 - 3GB - 320GB - Nvidia 8600GT - Vista Home Premium - PVR150 - MediaPortal 1.0
My HTPC Blog - HTPCnz, the Home Theatre PC Resource

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ImNotADJ

21 posts

Geek

#175446 3-Nov-2008 13:52

Hi Andrew,

I followed that guide, did the cold reboot, did the test, and everything seemed to be working.

But when I went to capture cards in the menu, it would still say failed to probe. :/

I just note in your post you mention to use 8.04.1 and not 8.10, maybe that was my problem?

Not so important now tho as I have decided to try mediaportal.

amphibem

138 posts

Master Geek

#175451 3-Nov-2008 14:28

ImNotADJ: Hi Andrew,

I followed that guide, did the cold reboot, did the test, and everything seemed to be working.

But when I went to capture cards in the menu, it would still say failed to probe. :/

I just note in your post you mention to use 8.04.1 and not 8.10, maybe that was my problem?

I only say that because 8.10 is brand new and I personally havn't tried it or heard from anyone who has so do not know whether it works with the NZ patches, although that shouldn't affect the card detection. Could be a number of things there but as you say not worth pursuing, MP is the way to go for now.

Desktop: 5200 X2 - 3GB - 320GB - Nvidia 8600GT - Vista Home Premium - PVR150 - MediaPortal 1.0
My HTPC Blog - HTPCnz, the Home Theatre PC Resource