pcHDTV :: View topic

dorphell · Last edited by dorphell on Thu Apr 28, 2005 5:57 pm; edited 1 time in total

Not too long ago, I suggested running a PVR with this card via Freevo, the alternative to MythTV, however, I got the feeling that most of you are still skeptical regarding freevo and if this card even works with it.

I had some free time this weekend so I decided to give it a shot. After about an hour of installing and [mostly] configuring Freevo, I got it to a very usable, working state, it works much better than I expected, actually. Basically, if you can get your card to work with the dvb drivers and mplayer, you're more than half way there. Then, just install freevo (not CVS) and configure it to use the dvb card.

If you're still unsure whether or not Freevo is worth a try, consider the following:

MythTV requires an X server. Unless you also use your PVR as a workstation too, it's a bloat and resource hog. Furthermore, MythTV uses QT which is known to hog (and sometimes leak) memory, not to mention it's a crappy, proprietary, partially closed source toolkit. Freevo, on the other hand, runs on SDL, which has its own rendering back-end, meaning you can run it right out of the main console. No X, and more rendering formats supported.

MythTV also requires to be used with MySQL. Freevo, on the other hand, can be optionally used with SQLite, or even a more simplified file-pickle type database. This is not a complete disadvantage of MythTV, since SQL is not a burden as much as X. However, I wanted to point out how MythTV takes control over things, while Freevo is much more flexible. Freevo gives you control over all programs that are used for your media. You can change what video player, audio player, games-related program, mixer, etc. Also, since Freevo is programmed in the scripting language, python, it's much eaiser to make code changes, no need to recompile anything.

MythTV wants to control your house! MythTV is designed for a multi-client configuration, where you have several PVR-like units connected to 1 central backend. I can't speak for everyone when I say this, but I, for one, don't need such a complex infrastructure. I only need 1 PVR, and if I wanted to add another one, it would not be difficult to link them together, I would just share an network filesystem. Freevo's recording server runs independently, so like MythTV, you can configure 2 freevo "frontends" to schedule shared recordings.

Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, MythTV segfaults so much for me. I've tried at least 3 different versions of MythTV and all 3 times, I experienced crashes often. Since Freevo is designed as a GUI with light background action, it is very stable. I've not seen a single crash all weekend. It does not try to handle more than it should, it lets programs like mplayer handle the dvb issues. MythTV on the other hand, tries to do a lot more on its own before calling for help.

p.s. I have a few tips for setting up your TV_CHANNELS lineup in local_conf.py so if anyone actually goes through this and gets that far, let me know

DaJoker

So, gonna fill us in on how to set it all up, or just tease us with this? Personally, I like Freevo, Mainly for the python aspect, but the interface just seems easier to use. I wish the configuration were somewhat easier, as this is really what is hindering acceptance of Freevo I think.

dorphell · Last edited by dorphell on Mon Apr 25, 2005 10:06 am; edited 1 time in total

HDTV buff

dorphell

mwahal

Can freevo do a backend/frontend ?

I think thats the major selling point for the mythtv right now. In near future, you will want to have a backend server with multiple tuners and terrabytes of hard drive. The small footprint frontends will replace the external tuner boxes (OTA/Cable/Dish ?).

I'm thinking about deploying xbox's as frontend. There is a windows based mythtv frontend being developed (search sourceforge). That should broaden the scope of small footprint "appliances" which run on Windows.

Guest

dorphell

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Guest

mwahal

photonwave

Hi dorphell,

I tried installing Freevo (I use gentoo linux) a few months ago, but was unsuccessfull in getting it to control my pcHDTV 2000 card. At the time I was using a 2.6.8 kernel with the getatsc tool to tune channels.

So, does the current version support a DVB interface to the pcHDTV card? I'm using a 2.6.12-rc2 kernel now and no longer use the Video4Linux interface.

If so, do you have any gotcha's that you can publish? I was impressed with Freevo's interface and would like to use it if possible. I currently just use dvbstream with an "at" command to record shows and mplayer to watch them.

Thanks for your help.

Don S.

dorphell

maestro

dorphell