mythtv a TIVO substitute

[bfrikken]

Today, I have a new CPU and motherboard arriving. I'll be decommissioning my old athlon xp 1800+ cpu and an old ECS motherboard. Along with it is 512mb of pc2100 memory and a mx400 agp video card (I know, long overdo).

My project will be to get the new PC up and running. However, I've been somewhat sidetracked by Mythtv. I'm anxious to get the new parts up and running so I can work on the OLD parts.

I'm planning on jumping into this full force. I'm shopping for a TV Tuner/video capture card for my pc right now. I'm going to be using all my current parts to start this project. If it seems fine and everything works as hoped, I will consider upgrading again I have a 40gb hd I'll use for the OS, and another 120 (or 200? Can't remember) for storage.

Anyone do this yet?

My LCD TV in my living room will be the TV this gets hooked up to. Its a Syntax Olevia LT32HVE. The nice thing is, I have a coat closet that is on the opposite side of teh wall that the tv is mounted on. So I will run all cables as I have for my dvd and cable box to the PC.

And for the woodworking part of this, I am planning on custom building cases for the final PC if this all works out right. The new mobo is a MicroATX board that is 9.6" x 9.6". I'm slowly creating plans for this new board as well.

[LinuxRandal]

You need more specs, and I recommend a visit to the Mythforums. You need your motherboard specs, more then likely it is a via chipset, which does tend to cause problems (almost all of my pc's are via, so this issue and lack of time relegated them to other functions).

Still wanting to build one, although I am watching so much less tv, I'd be better off with just a Linux box, running X remotely (or vnc), to listen to my music, through the stereo, or via icecast.

[greencat]

I would agree with Randal about reading through the Mythforums. I think only certain video cards are supported. I would suggest a high def card and look at getting OTA HD. I have 4 direct tv tivos and couldn't imagine watching TV any other way. Mine are hacked so that they communicate over my network.

[maxparot]

I did my heavy study on the different software/hardware for a Home theater PC about 1 1/2 years ago. The resulting PC has been up and running for 1 year now and has seen an upgrade in CPU, memory and software version.
My choices have been:
a Intel MB D945PVS w/ P4 D940,
2 gb RAM, 2 SATA Hardrives a 160 gb & 250 gb,
ATI Raedon 800XT PCI E videocard,
Antec Ovation ATX case w/ 450w power supply
NEC Dual layer DVD burner
2 Avermedia UltraTV MCE 1500 TV/video capture cards.
And for Software I chose:
XP Pro for an operating system
Snapstream Beyond TV and Beyond Media for mediacenter functionallity w/ Firefly RF remote control.

I think you'll find the options and support of the Snapstream products to be worth the investment.

[parnelli]

I'm running a BeyondTV box myself as well.

The XP1800 will be fine, 512mb should be ok too, but the video card I fear is going to be a headache. I'd look into something like a used Nvidia 6600. And your record drive is going to fill up fast. I started with a 160 and kept adding from there.

My PVR box consists of:
A7n8X board
XP 1800 cpu
1G ram
80G sys drive
DVD burner
400+300+160G drives
Hauppauge 500 dual tuner

As far as HD, you'd need an even better video card and ALOT more drive space. Even SD recordings add up quickly.

If you try out BeyondTV, be sure to try autoxvid which had the abiltiy to actually remove the commercials and then convert the file to an Xvid or DivX format saving lots of space. (and time when you watch it!)

[RHunter]

Absolutely!!! I love MythTV!!!

Check out MythDora at g-ding.tv. I was struggling with MythTV for longer than I care to admin. I found MythDora, and I've been up for a couple of months now.

MythDora takes ALOT of the hassles out of MythTV.

Also, check out Jerrod's guide at wilsonet.com.

Good luck

[bfrikken]

Already read a lot of the forums and will continue to peruse them. I'm just curious if anyone themselves has done this here. I'm going to try and force myself to document the process. I got my parts last night and will assemble my new setup tonight hopefully. Maybe get a chance to work on the mythtv box later or tomorrow.

Thanks for the extra links RHunter. I'll check those out too.

As for the parts to be used, it's either what I have or nothing right now. I'm just going to pick the tuner up whenever.

parnelli - thanks for your specs. I'll be picking up hard drives whenever a good deal presents itself. I paid 5 bucks a/r for my current drive which is a 200 gb. The vid card will have to work for now until I can upgrade later.

[onedash]

I just bought WINTV 150 last night. Works good. Not hooked up to TV but since my TIVO only records one show and I can watch another and I still had to record another one four times a weeks so this fit the bill and I wont miss any shows.

[JSUPreston]

bfrikken, what are you going to do with the old parts?

[bfrikken]

bfrikken, what are you going to do with the old parts?

The new parts replace my old desktop. The old parts become the mythtv box. And if this all works fine, I'll upgrade again

[hitekrednek]

I checked out all the build-your-own PVR options and ultimately went with BeyondTV with an ATI RemoteWonder and two tuner cards.

[JSUPreston]

Bf, sounds like you upgrade the way I do!

[bfrikken]

Ok, so the adventure does officially begin. Got my parts ready to install and the LOML kept asking why she was going to lose all her stuff for a bit and why i'd have to reinstall. So I said, I don't. Went out and bought a 160gb SATA Seagate HD for around 30 bucks after some rebates.

Last night, I put the new PC together. It involved removing everything from my old case. The case has a brand new 500watt P/S that is powering the new box.

Here is my mobo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813138264

I bought it open box for 37 bucks free s/h.

Popped in my new CPU which is the AMD 3200+ 64 939
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103535

Right now, I'm reusing my only pc3200 memory I have. Fortunately it's a 512mb stick. I can't wait to upgrade there, but for now, it'll have to do.

Here's the HD Link: http://www.compusa.com/products/prod...0GB_Hard_Drive

Seagate also has a manufacturer rebate on that for 11 or 12 bucks, can't remember for sure.

So, all the guts of my old PC are ready for the new box. I purchased this P/S for FAR: http://shop2.outpost.com/product/458...H:MAIN_RSLT_PG

And I ordered this case: http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...entPage=search

It'll cost me around 12-14 bucks when all is said and done.

Buying that SATA drive for my new box, leaves me with 2 200 gb Hard Drives.

So I'll be making a first go with my XP 1800+ and 512 of pc2100 memory.

[thekon]

Is it up and running yet? been following your thread. Sounds like a fun project. Really appreciate the links as I was starting to build a new computer and was trying to save a few bucks!
later,
Konrad

[bfrikken]

Bought this card yesterday:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16815116626

Actually picked it up from Circuit City for 49.99.

Installed Fedora Core 5 and I am following the instructions here on this site:

http://wilsonet.com/mythtv/fcmyth.php

The install of fedora took a while. I should say all the updates took a while. Since I have a LCD tv, I'm already sending the video to it via VGA. I'd love to have this working by Wednesday night, but not sure I'll have the time.

Interestingly enough, the Hauppage pci card comes with software that I'm going to give a try on my windows install. I did setup this box as a dual boot. My wife has some software she needs for Graduate classes she needs until the end of this semester. I may play aroudn with that a little bit too.