[plug] MythTV project

[Lucas van Staden]

On 11/02/11 13:43, Tim Bowden wrote:
> Thanks for all the advice.  WAF is a big factor here, so I'd like to
> get it right before I roll it out.
>
> It looks like I'll go with a Micro ATX motherboard for the PCI slots.
> I'd like to run a separate back end system, but at the moment that's
> not practical.  I've got nowhere out of the way to run a 24/7 noisy
> backend system as I had to give up my study a while back for a kids
> bedroom, and won't get one back till we move.  I have an old AMD-64
> dual core system lying around with a dead motherboard that would make
> an excellent back end if I could find a new motherboard for it.  If I
> could find a Micro ATX motherboard that would still take it, I'd
> consider it as as a front end, but I suspect it would be a bit noisy
> with the cooling it would need.
>
> Interesting with the xbmc option Lucas.  What are the advantages of
> that over using the MythTV front end with MythVideo/Music plugins?

Mostly mine is WAF related. (look and feel/ease of use)

Last time I used mythtv frontend was a bout 4 years ago, and wife did 
not like the interface at all.
Tried skin after skin after skin....

xbmc  just LOOKS way better than any of the mythtv skins/screen layouts 
that I have seen and tried.
I started using it a long time ago when I did not have mythtv running, 
as I had no need to record stuff (had a pvr box that did that job back 
in the UK)
and just wanted a frontend to view d/loaded content. and stuck with it.

I am very happy with it, and I myself think it is way better looking 
than mythtv's frontend, and simpler to use.

Now that xbmc is gearing towards integrating their frontend with as many 
PVR backends as they can (mythtv seeming to be a main one), it keeps the 
frontend the same no matter what backend I am using, which again comes 
back to WAF.

Other than that, not much else, off the top of my head.

The xbmc plugins are great (and there are MANY), easy to install using 
just the menus, no technical requirements, so wife can install her own 
plugins as she sees fit.

Can't comment on the music side, as I do not use that at all. (xbmc or 
mythtv - I find those interfaces really cumbersome, but not as bad as 
the PS3 interface to music - try and browse a couple of thousand songs 
there! using just a remote)

Our music is run on the same mini-itx box (as it is next to the amp), 
but the interface we use is MiniRok, which I run over the network via 
xorg's network transparency stuff (and dxpc), and it allows the wife to 
play music using her own actual pc, which sits in the dining room area. 
(easy navigation/searching etc using actual kb and mouse - but the music 
blasts out over the amp)

see 
http://www.dedmeet.com/software-projects-mainmenu-12/remote-music-player.html 
(little bit dated. Changed teh way i used dxpc to allow swapping teh 
display about and I had wired the whole house with cat6e since then. 
Also, we have moved on to MiniRok, which my wife likes the most of all 
music players tried.- it is simple, fast, and uses file navigation, not 
mp3 tags.)

Minirok is run using dxpc, which is a compression layer and speeds 
things up, not much use on the homes gigabit network now, but it has one 
huge advantage:
Minirok is always running on the mini-itx box, inside a dxpc session, so 
I can just connect to that session via a call from any pc in the home 
(all linux of course)

So, I can 'seamlessly' swap the display from one pc to another, and the 
music is not interrupted.
Great for parties!

-Lucas





-- 
Regards
Lucas van Staden

http://www.proxiblue.com.au/ (Consumer Electronics Retail Shop)
http://www.vanstaden.com.au/ (Linux)

--
I'm happy spasmodically - If I eat a chocolate turtle I'm happy - When the box is empty I'm unhappy!
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