Newbie question

[Ian]

No need to apologise Andy. I've no desire to "own" threads it's simply that I'm always on here and so see posts before most other folk do. As far as I'm concerned the more people who contribute the better

Good advice by the way. XBMC looks the business, might try it out myself

Ian.

[Andy Horn]

XBMC is pretty cool, I used to use it on the old Xbox as media streamers for the house, now we have moved to X360's so I started streaming via Windows Media Player which turned out to be hit and miss and moved on to TVersity which is great but only for Windows .

So now with the help of the excellent guide I have seen the light and gone all Linux , I am just waiting for my new graphics card (ASUS 512MB GEFORCE 210) to turn up for my XBMC HTPC and all should be good.

I can report back if anyone would be interested in my findings.

Cheers

Andy

[degree]

Andy,
I have one question is it possible to browse Internet using mythtv/ watch youtube videos/online HD contents.

For understanding what XBMC is ( I understand it is a media center). Just wanted to know conceptually.
like Mythbutu is OS on which some PVR ( Personal Video recording) system would be running like mythy. ( Please correct me if I am wrong).

Then what is the work of XBMC? As I am new to this concept of media center it would be great if you could elaborate
what is XBMC, Mythtv and how these would be helpful as home entertainment solution.


degree

[Andy Horn]

I think Ian would be more qualified to give you advice on MythTV.

However:

XBMC would be a good choice to work with Mythbuntu, XBMC-Live uses Ubuntu as it's underlying Operating System.

The XBMC based HTPC I am planning to build will run XBMC-Live as it's O/S as my HTPC will only be a media centre device with the added ability of been able to stream to the X360's dotted around the house (on the subject of X360's, I can't wait for Gears of War 3 ), I have no desire for a 40" PC screen in my lounge, my kids will never be off Facebook!!

MythTV will eventually be run off my Ubuntu server, which in turn will "feed" my XBMC's hunger for media.

In my opinion and an opinion shared of many others too, that XBMC is "the" media centre.

XBMC has extra programs or plug ins such as web browsers and also a YouTube plugin, XBMC is so much more than a media centre.

My advice is do a little research and see what best fits your needs, after all that is why we are on this forum because "one size fits all" doe's not fit all

Hope this helps.....

Andy

Now over to Ian for words of wisdom on MythTV.....Mmmm that gives the impression that I have just wrote some words of wisdom, but maybe in reality it is just bunch of gibberish

[Ian]

Well I can't add much in the way of "words of wisdom" since I've never used XBMC. But MythTV can run it's own front-end (although I don't use it in my setup) which allows you to configure and view TV recordings plus watch live TV and also play other stored media. I've no idea how it compares to XMBC but with MythTV you can "drop back" to a standard Ubuntu desktop quite easily and then surf the net and view emails etc like you would on an ordinary desktop.

Perhaps I ought to stop messing around and get up to speed on XBMC

Ian.

[Andy Horn]

Me thinks Ian has misunderstood me!!

I kinda meant Ian knows more about MythTV than myself.

Back to XBMC, there is a few different flavours so it can be installed on Windows, Mac, Linux or there is XBMC Live (Ubuntu based) which is a standalone offering, which is what I am working towards, although it is a little picky on GPU's.

Intel graphics=mostly good as Intel graphics are included in the Linux kernel by default, Intel's on board graphics will use the CPU for decoding HD content unless you happen to have an i3/i5 or i7 which have the GPU built into the CPU.

Nvidia=mosty good, especially the Geforce 210 series as these are designed for HTPC's as well as including VDPAU which has been developed by Nvidia so the GPU can unload the work load from the CPU when decoding HD content in Linux O/S's-clever eh?

ATI/AMD=some cards work and some don't, the common thoughts are to stick with Intel or Nvidia

My build will based on an old Packard-Bell mobo which has seen active service in earlier incarnations of my Ubuntu server.
3.0GHz P4 HT=good for avi and xvids.
1Gb of DDR 2 Ram
Not sure on the boot device but probably a 2Gb USB flash drive,

My new graphics card arrived today from eBay for £25.00.

Ian you say you don't use MythTV in your set up then what do you use for TV if anything?

Andy

BTW I have just added a Samsung F4 2Tb drive in my server.

[Ian]

Me thinks Ian has misunderstood me!!

I kinda meant Ian knows more about MythTV than myself.

Back to XBMC, there is a few different flavours so it can be installed on Windows, Mac, Linux or there is XBMC Live (Ubuntu based) which is a standalone offering, which is what I am working towards, although it is a little picky on GPU's.

Intel graphics=mostly good as Intel graphics are included in the Linux kernel by default, Intel's on board graphics will use the CPU for decoding HD content unless you happen to have an i3/i5 or i7 which have the GPU built into the CPU.

Nvidia=mosty good, especially the Geforce 210 series as these are designed for HTPC's as well as including VDPAU which has been developed by Nvidia so the GPU can unload the work load from the CPU when decoding HD content in Linux O/S's-clever eh?

ATI/AMD=some cards work and some don't, the common thoughts are to stick with Intel or Nvidia

My build will based on an old Packard-Bell mobo which has seen active service in earlier incarnations of my Ubuntu server.
3.0GHz P4 HT=good for avi and xvids.
1Gb of DDR 2 Ram
Not sure on the boot device but probably a 2Gb USB flash drive,

My new graphics card arrived today from eBay for £25.00.

Ian you say you don't use MythTV in your set up then what do you use for TV if anything?

Andy

BTW I have just added a Samsung F4 2Tb drive in my server.

Hi Andy,

On the contrary, I did understand you but clearly my feeble response made you think otherwise.

My point was that XMBC is a front-end and MythTV has a front-end is too. What I’m unsure of is whether it would be possible to switch between the two of them easily.

MythTV is split into two parts: the graphical front-end and the backend. The front-end allows you to watch live TV, schedule recordings and watch those recordings. It also allows you to view other media stored on the server. The backend is the thing that actually records the TV shows. I only use the backend in my setup and schedule recordings via a web interface called MythWeb. Those recordings are then viewable using my streamers. In my setup I can only watch live TV using the tuners built into the TVs, not using the tuners in my server.

Re the Samsung drive, are you happy with it? I’ve got a few in my setup and love them. Very quiet and cool to the touch.

Ian.

[Andy Horn]

Sorry Ian for any confusion caused .

The same as you on the Sammy F4, in my opinion best 2Tb drive on the market for storage (price seems to have gone up a bit, at least on Ebuyer.com) although I wouldn't use one as a boot drive, I much prefer a smaller boot drive, this is why I am leaning towards SSD's rather than HDD's for boot drives in all my machines but it is proving to be expensive, although the 4Gb IDE SSD in my server was only £18.00 off eBay and it is great.

Not to sure how MythTV and XBMC work, I would imagine that XBMC would access the Myth backend much the same as Ian explained.

While we are on the subject of Myth, I am unable to set mine as I keep gettting "no Upnp" error is this because I don't have a Tuner card installed or is some other problem that will take an eternity to get through my thick northern skull

When I get sorted with building my XBMC box I will keep you posted, things have changed with that now as I think I going down the dual-core AMD route which should be faster than my old P4.

Andy

[Andy Horn]

I have just found this http://code.google.com/p/mythbox/.

This may answer a few question on MythTV and XBMC.

I thought I was on the right track, with XBMC as the frontend to the MythTV backend.

Hope this helps....

Andy

[Ian]

I have just found this http://code.google.com/p/mythbox/.

This may answer a few question on MythTV and XBMC.

I thought I was on the right track, with XBMC as the frontend to the MythTV backend.

Hope this helps....

Andy

Thanks for the link Andy, it looks good, doesn't it. Definitely food for thought.

Re the "no Upnp" error. MythTV allows connection via UPnP although I've never used it. I'll have a nose around the menus because I recall a setting in there somewhere (I'm not at home atm). That said, if you've not configured a tuner you'll not have any channel listings or recordings so you'll probably not be able to see much anyway.

Ian.