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MythTV

Overview

Below are details about my setup (Increment II), including how to get everything up and running in Debian 4.0 (Etch). See the original page for a low powered MythTV system (Increment I).

System Components

eMachines Celeron D 2.8 GHz.

• 256 MB RAM
• Operating System: Debian Linux 4.0 (Etch) - Kernel 2.6.18
• 500 GB ATA Hard Disk
• DVD-ROM and CD-RW Drive
• nVidia Corporation GeForce FX 5200 PCI Video Card (with S-video output)
• Hauppauge PVR-250 (with hardware MPEG encoder and remote control)
• pcHDTV 5500

Software Listing

• Debian Linux 4.0 - Operating System
• MythTV 0.20.2 and (optional) plugins - PVR Program

Performance

Real-time Statistics

Encoding

Virtually zero CPU usage due to the hardware MPEG-2 encoder on the PVR-250. I haven't tried any software encoding (MPEG-4).

Decoding

480x480 MPEG-2 (1.5 GB/hour) - 20% CPU playback

Installation

These are instructions for installing MythTV 0.20 on Debian 4.0 (Etch)

Run Apt-get

You should add contrib and non-free to your /etc/apt/sources.list file. Also add:

deb http://ftp.debian-unofficial.org/debian etch main contrib non-free restricted
deb-src http://ftp.debian-unofficial.org/debian etch main contrib non-free restricted

Then you need to run:

gpg --keyserver subkeys.pgp.net --recv-keys 0x24C52AC3
gpg --armor --export 0x24C52AC3 | apt-key add -

You should apt-get the following packages to get a basic system up running to compile MythTV:

apt-get install gdm make gcc x-window-system g++ unzip ntp-server wget 
libqt3-mt-dev libXxf86vm-dev libqt3-mt-mysql libxv-dev libxvmc-dev libdvb-dev
liblircclient-dev fvwm

LAME is goofy:

cd /usr/src
mkdir lame
cd lame

apt-get build-dep lame
apt-get -b source lame
dpkg -i libmp3lame0_3.96.99+3.97beta2+debian-1duo+etch1_i386.deb
dpkg -i libmp3lame-dev_3.96.99+3.97beta2+debian-1duo+etch1_i386.deb

You will need these packages to ensure that all of the MythPlugins install:

apt-get install linux-headers-2.6.18-5 apache2 
libapache2-mod-php5 php5-mysql libdvdnav-dev kde-devel mysql-server 
libdvdread-dev libcdaudio-dev libid3tag0-dev 
libmad0-dev flac libflac-dev libcdparanoia0-dev libtiff4-dev fftw-dev 
libsdl1.2-dev festival-dev festival libexif-dev 
libwww-perl xmltv

From Debian Unofficial:

apt-get install faad libfaad2-0 libfaad2-dev libmp4v2-0 libmp4v2-dev xmms-mp4 lame libdvdcss2

Drivers

If you are using an Nvidia card, you need to install their driver for TV-out:

apt-get install module-assistant
m-a prepare
m-a auto-install nvidia
apt-get install nvidia-glx nvidia-glx-dev
Change the Driver in /etc/X11/xorg.conf from nv to nvidia
Add libXvMCNVIDIA_dynamic.so.1 to /etc/X11/XvMCConfig
/etc/init.d/gdm restart

If you are using a Haupaugge card (PVR-150, PVR-250), install the ivtv driver:

apt-get install ivtv-modules-2.6-686 ivtv-utils module-assistant

m-a prepare
m-a auto-install ivtv

wget http://dl.ivtvdriver.org/ivtv/firmware/firmware.tar.gz
tar zxvf firmware.tar.gz
cp *.fw /usr/lib/hotplug/firmware/.

Sound

apt-get install alsa alsa-utils alsamixergui

Remote Control Setup (optional)

apt-get install lirc lirc-modules-source linux-source-2.6.18 
linux-headers-2.6.18-5 kernel-package
cd /usr/src
tar zxvf lirc-modules.tar.gz
m-a update,prepare
dpkg-reconfigure lirc-modules-source
m-a auto-install lirc-modules-source
modprobe lirc_i2c
/etc/init.d/lirc start

Edit configuration files

add to /etc/modules:

lirc_i2c

Add the following to /etc/ld.so.conf:

/usr/local/lib

REMOVE line from /etc/mysql/my.cnf.

bind-address = 127.0.0.1

Automatically login the mythtv user with GDM, add to /etc/gdm/gdm.conf:

[daemon]
AutomaticLoginEnable=true
AutomaticLogin=mythtv

Disable screen blanking, start FVWM, and run mythfrontend in ~mythtv/.xsession:

xset -dpms s off
xsetroot -solid black
fvwm2 &
/usr/local/bin/mythfrontend

Fix FVWM so that no weird borders appear in ~mythtv/.fvwm/.fvwm2rc:

#Set Windows Styles
Style "*" RandomPlacement, DumbPlacement
Style myth* NoTitle, NoHandles, Sticky, WindowListSkip, SloppyFocus, GrabFocus,
BorderWidth 0, HilightFore Black, HilightBack #c06077, Color Black/#60a0c0
Style xmame* NoTitle, NoHandles, Sticky, WindowListSkip, SloppyFocus, GrabFocus,
BorderWidth 0, StaysOnTop,BoundaryWidth 0, HilightFore Black, HilightBack #c06077,
Color Black/#60a0c0
Style mplayer* NoTitle, NoHandles, Sticky, WindowListSkip, SloppyFocus, GrabFocus,
BorderWidth 0, HilightFore Black, HilightBack #c06077, Color Black/#60a0c0
Style xine* NoTitle, NoHandles, Sticky, WindowListSkip, SloppyFocus, GrabFocus,
BorderWidth 0, HilightFore Black, HilightBack #c06077, Color Black/#60a0c0

#set the desk top size in units of physical screen size
DeskTopSize 1X1

You should reboot here to make all of the changes take effect.

Install MythTV and Plugins

wget http://ftp.osuosl.org/pub/mythtv/mythtv-0.20.2.tar.bz2
tar jxvf mythtv-0.20.2.tar.bz2
cd mythtv-0.20
./configure --enable-xvmc --enable-dvb --enable-proc-opt
qmake mythtv.pro
make install

wget http://ftp.osuosl.org/pub/mythtv/mythplugins-0.20.2.tar.bz2
tar jxvf mythplugins-0.20.2.tar.bz2
cd mythplugins-0.20.2
./configure --enable-opengl --enable-vcd --enable-aac
qmake mythplugins.pro
make install

wget http://ftp.osuosl.org/pub/mythtv/myththemes-0.20.2.tar.bz2
tar jxvf myththemes-0.20.2.tar.bz2
cd myththemes-0.20.2
./configure
qmake myththemes.pro
make install

MythTV Configuration

To populate the channel icons:

perl mkiconmap.pl
mythfilldatabase --import-icon-map iconmap.xml --update-icon-map

or (without xmltv):

mythfilldatabase --import-icon-map master_iconmap.xml --update-icon-map

For Mythflix, run twice:

/usr/local/share/mythtv/mythflix/scripts/netflix.pl -L 
<netflixusername> <netflixpassword>

You can also install Mythstream:

apt-get install libxml-simple-perl libxml-dom-perl libxml-xql-perl
./configure PREFIX=/usr/local/
make install

For MythWeb, consult the README file in the mythplugins-0.20a/mythweb directory.

Other Suggested Services

apt-get install openssh-server samba mt-daapd snmpd

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This page was last updated on Saturday, February 9, 2008

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