[plug] MythTV project

Lucas van Staden lvs at dedmeet.com
Tue Feb 22 16:16:40 WST 2011


Hi,

Just another little titbit of information regarding the Sony PS3 playTv, 
which adds to the disappointment.

I have not been able to get channel 10 for some reason, and after quite 
a bit of googling, I have found some posts that mention that the device 
has a 'too high' error threshold on the signal strength. (not 100% sure 
if that is the correct terminology), to explain:

The device will not accept a channel as tuned in (or locked) if the 
signal strength is below 90%. (the suggested level seems to differ from 
post to post, but avarage at 90%, but definitely above 80%)

I can get channel 10 fine on my hauppauge pci card, and on that the 
signal strength is around 60%, which still gives a good picture.

I for one would suggest to anyone to stay away from the playTV as a 
solution to external capture cards.

-Lucas

On 11/02/11 16:49, Lucas van Staden wrote:
> On 11/02/11 16:27, Shanon Loughton wrote:
>> maybe ill just get the PS playtv add on... :p
>>
> Hi,
>
> It is one way, but be prepared to be disappointed. :( I was very much.
>
> This is just my own experience (I have very high expectations from 
> such devices), others may like it, I did not.
> (Personally  I think the PS3 interface is not geared towards such 
> things - high volume data/files lists)
> The only good thing I can say about the PlayTv device is that it works 
> on Linux. Period. Nothing Else. Oh wait, it was a b/day gift from the 
> wife, that's another ;)
>
> Tried using it for months as my main recording PVR, and just finally 
> gave up.
>
> It hardly ever recorded the right schedule times. (seems it does not 
> update the set schedules to what the actual schedules become - 
> programs seem to change scheduled times often enough to make that an 
> issue - I wonder if the TV channels do that on purpose to prevent 
> recordings?), and in most cases the PS3 either have to stay on to 
> enable the recording (they say it should not, but they (sony) lie))
> Try and play a game whilst it is recording and the game stutters badly.
>
> Also in Australia the capability to save your recordings to external 
> media is disabled.
> The whole thing seemed a bit haphazard/not well done. Very 
> disappointed in sony for that.
>
> I was very happy a few years back when I got my first PS3, had high 
> hopes to use it as my main PVR/frontend to media,
> and after many months of just frustrating dissatisfaction, I reverted 
> back to XBMC/MythTv setup.
>
> I now use it for what it is best : play games and watch BD's, nothing 
> else. Nice hardware, Pitty it is so locked down. Even running linux on 
> it was a great disappointment.
>
> Note:
>
> Did you see my PS3/mediatomb movie poster setup? Makes the display in 
> the PS3 with mediatomb a bit nicer, as you get the movie posters as 
> the icons :)
>
> http://www.dedmeet.com/software-projects-mainmenu-12/mediatomb-movie-posters.html
>
> -Lucas
>
>>
>> On Fri, Feb 11, 2011 at 4:15 PM, Lucas van Staden <lvs at dedmeet.com 
>> <mailto:lvs at dedmeet.com>> wrote:
>>
>>     That plugin is still active and works pretty well. called MythBox
>>     - http://code.google.com/p/mythbox/
>>
>>     I use it in conjunction with the 'built-in' mythtv// protocol,
>>     which you set as a source to video content, in XBMC.
>>     The built in mythtv// protocol is just to do playback, and makes
>>     it easier to get to the recordings from mythtv.
>>
>>     -Lucas
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>     On 11/02/11 16:03, Alvin Teh wrote:
>>>
>>>     A long long long time ago, i saw a plugin for XBMC where you can
>>>     control a MythTv backend to do schedule recording. It might
>>>     still be available.
>>>
>>>     XBMC is only a frontend player, so it does not have any
>>>     recording capabilities itself, however I believe the guys at
>>>     XBMC is working on it. (Don’t wait for it as it may be a while
>>>     before it’s implemented)
>>>
>>>     *From:*plug-bounces at plug.org.au
>>>     <mailto:plug-bounces at plug.org.au>
>>>     [mailto:plug-bounces at plug.org.au] *On Behalf Of *Lucas van Staden
>>>     *Sent:* Friday, 11 February 2011 3:57 PM
>>>     *To:* plug at plug.org.au <mailto:plug at plug.org.au>
>>>     *Subject:* Re: [plug] MythTV project
>>>
>>>     Hi,
>>>
>>>     On 11/02/11 15:47, Shanon Loughton wrote:
>>>
>>>     My ubuntu media server is not connected to my tv - i use
>>>     mediatomb to serve and ps3 to play it all.  If I replace
>>>     mediatomb with xmbc on the ubuntu server can you control the
>>>     record settings through the ps3 client?
>>>
>>>
>>>     Mediatomb and XBMC are two very different things.
>>>
>>>     XBMC can serve its files to your network, but I am not sure if
>>>     that is compatible with the PS3 (have never tried that)
>>>     XBMC is only a playback frontend, cannot do any recording, for
>>>     tat you need MythTV (as one example), which can also serve the
>>>     files to your network (I forget the term right now).
>>>     again not sure if the PS3 can be used for picking up that served
>>>     content from MythTv.
>>>
>>>     The PS3 client is just a playback service, so no, you cannot set
>>>     any schedules with it to mythtv. (that I am aware of)
>>>
>>>     I stopped using my PS3 as a frontend client a long time ago as
>>>     the interface is very cumbersome/lacking.
>>>
>>>     -Lucas
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>     Shanon
>>>
>>>     On Fri, Feb 11, 2011 at 2:27 PM, Lucas van Staden
>>>     <lvs at dedmeet.com <mailto:lvs at dedmeet.com>> wrote:
>>>
>>>     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!
>>>     --
>>>
>>>     _______________________________________________
>>>
>>>     PLUG discussion list: plug at plug.org.au <mailto:plug at plug.org.au>
>>>     http://lists.plug.org.au/mailman/listinfo/plug
>>>     Committee e-mail: committee at plug.linux.org.au
>>>     <mailto:committee at plug.linux.org.au>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>       
>>>       
>>>     _______________________________________________
>>>     PLUG discussion list:plug at plug.org.au  <mailto:plug at plug.org.au>
>>>     http://lists.plug.org.au/mailman/listinfo/plug
>>>     Committee e-mail:committee at plug.linux.org.au  <mailto:committee at plug.linux.org.au>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>     -- 
>>>     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!
>>>     --
>>
>>
>>     -- 
>>     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!
>>     --
>>
>>
>>     _______________________________________________
>>     PLUG discussion list: plug at plug.org.au <mailto:plug at plug.org.au>
>>     http://lists.plug.org.au/mailman/listinfo/plug
>>     Committee e-mail: committee at plug.linux.org.au
>>     <mailto:committee at plug.linux.org.au>
>>
>>
>
>
> -- 
> 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!
> --


-- 
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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