MythTV

Revision as of 16:44, 24 April 2007

A relatively standard screen shot of the initial MythTV screen (MythCenter theme).

A demonstration of MythTV on a high definition LCD television with the on-screen display.

Introduction

The Retro theme for MythTV.

A screenshot of MythWeb, the web based management interface.

MythTV is a free and open source Personal Video Recorder (PVR) for the Linux OS. It's easily extended through a diverse range of plugins providing extra capabilities such as DVD playback, photo management and games. MythTV provides high levels of customisability and features far beyond those offered by equivalent Home Theatre PC (HTPC) applications. It utilises a unique client/server architecture allowing for flexible deployment in the home environment. The latest stable release of MythTV is 0.20.

MythTV can

• Display digital, high definition and analogue television
• Time-shift LiveTV (Pause, Rewind and fast forward)
• Schedule programme recordings from an integrated Electronic Programme Guide (EPG)
• Automatically skip commercials
• Change the appearance of the display
• Support multiple combinations of TV tuner adapters
• Be extended through plugins

MythTV can not

• Wash your undies
• Clone your cat
• Help with the development of a flux capacitor
• Be described as anything less than brilliant

Plugins

MythTV is easily extended through a variety of plugins. A complete list of official MythTV plugins with a short description of their functionality have been catalogued below.

• MythArchive (Create DVDs of your recordings)
• MythBrowser (Built in web browser)
• MythDVD (DVD/VCD playback and ripping capability)
• MythFlix (A netflix implementation for MythTV)
• MythGallery (Photo management and presentation)
• MythGame (Play games on your television)
• MythMusic (Music library management and playback)
• MythNews (Read RSS feeds on your television)
• MythPhone (Receive and make phone calls)
• MythVideo (Playback for a variety of video formats)
• MythWeather (Display weather information)
• MythWeb (Web based management and video/audio streaming)

Supported and recommended hardware

The Linux kernel and MythTV support a large variety of hardware configurations. Historically, MythTV was developed for use with analogue television. Fortunately, support for Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB) was eventually included, providing MythTV with the capability to receive digital and high definition television.

When selecting hardware for use in your MythTV computer, it's important to establish the purpose of the project. That is, do you intend to play high definition television, or standard digital? This will ultimately determine the minimum hardware requirements for your MythTV computer. Obviously, high definition playback will require a more powerful computer than that of standard digital.

Lastly, you should check to ensure that your desired hardware is compatible with Linux and MythTV. To help with this process, the following supported devices have been listed. If in doubt, consult Google or the OCAU MythTV General Discussion and Support thread.

Minimum hardware requirements

It's important to understand that this topic is largely subjective. Individuals have different expectations and experiences that ultimately affect their perception of "minimum requirements". Therefore, the author of this section encourages you to use this information as a guide only.

• Searchable PVR Hardware database
• Official MythTV documentation hardware recommendations
• MythTV & High Definition...minimum requirements
• Officail MythTV wiki - Configuring HDTV
• Information about X-Video Motion Compensation (XvMC)

If you're interested to see what other OCAU members are using in their MythTV configurations, take a look here.

Supported TV tuner adapters

The following list of TV tuner chipsets and adapters are by no means a representation of ALL supported devices. It's merely a list of devices that have been confirmed to function correctly by OCAU members. For a more comprehensive list of supported tuners, visit the LinuxTV wiki.

Commonly support chipsets

Any TV tuner adapter utilising these chipsets should be fully supported by a recent Linux kernel.

• Conexant 2388x (Recommended)
• Brooktree878 (Recommended)
• Philips SAA 7134
• B2C2 Flexcop II

Digital tuners

A list of confirmed digital tuners in alphabetical order. Tuners with "Card type autodetected" are recommended.

Adapter	Picture(s)
Compro VideoMate DVB-T200A Chipset: Philips SAA 7134 Kernel modules: saa7134 (Card=71), saa7134-dvb Special instructions Grab the CVS for video4Linux and linux-dvb, instructions can be found at LinuxTV.org Goto the video4linux directory and run scripts/merge-trees.sh Edit the Make.config file and make sure saa7134-dvb = n is changed to saa7134-dvb = m (builds the dvb part as a module) Run make && make install Then modprobe saa7134 oss=1 card=71 Then modprobe saa7134-dvb and you should be good to go For the DVB-T200, you will also need firmware. Please check the Documentation/dvb directory in the kernel source how to obtain and install it	N/A
Digitalnow DNTV Live! DVB-T Chipset: Conexant 2388x Kernel modules: cx88-dvb (Card type autodetected)	N/A
DVICO (Ultraview) Fusion HDTV DVB-T Plus Chipset: Conexant 2388x Kernel module: cx88-dvb (Card type autodetected)
DVICO (Ultraview) Fusion HDTV DVB-T Lite Chipset: Brooktree878 Kernel module: dvb-bt8xx
Technisat Airstar 2 DVB-T Chipset: B2C2 Flexcop II Kernel modules: b2c2_flexcop_pci, b2c2_flexcop (Cart type autodetected)	N/A
Twinhan DVB-T Chipset: Brooktree878 Kernel module: dvb-bt8xx (Card type autodetected)
VisionPlus DVB-T (Twinhan clone) Chipset: Brooktree878 Kernel module: dvb-bt8xx (Card type autodetected) Special instructions Simply add 3 lines to /etc/modules dvb_core dvb-bt8xx dst
V-Stream XPERT DVT-DVB-T Chipset: Conexant 2388x Kernel module: cx88-dvb	N/A
Leadtek DTV-1000T Chipset: Conexant 2388x Kernel module: cx88-dvb (Cart type autodetected)	N/A

Hybrid tuners

Unsupported tuners

Supported remote controls

MythTV supports any input device that can be configured with the Linux OS. This allows for a large selection of potential remote controls, wireless keyboards and any other input device you can conceive. People commonly associate remote controls with their televisions and HTPC's. As a result, this section provides information on supported Linux Infra-red Control (LIRC) devices. For a complete list of supported devices, you may like to look here.

A list of confirmed remote controls

Remote Control	Picture(s)
Microsoft Windows MCE IR remote control (Version 2) Manufacturer: Philips LIRC driver: mceusb2 Kernel module: lirc_dev, lirc_mceusb2 Example lircrc configuration file for MythTV
DViCO FusionHDTV IR Remote + USB Receiver Manufacturer: DViCO LIRC driver: dvico Kernel module: <to do> lirc definition file for DViCO FusionHDTV IR Remote

Recommended Software

MythTV is an application that sits on top of a Linux distribution. Consequently, it's irrelevant which distribution you decide to use in your MythTV configuration. What's important is that you have the required package dependencies, and access to support. Distributions such as Ubuntu and Arch include MythTV in their package repositories which automatically resolve dependencies, simplifying the install process.

When choosing your Linux distribution, the author of this wiki article encourages you to pick a distribution that you're familiar with. Familiarity leads to confidence which is of benefit in a first-time install process. If you don't favour any particular distribution, pick a one that has a wide range of support. As a general rule of thumb, popular distributions are your best bet. They usually offer multiple places for seeking help such as forums, IRC and a mailing list. If you'd like assistance from other OCAU members, you may be interested in the MythTV General Discussion and Support thread on the OCAU forums.

Lastly, there are special, customised distributions that are designed specifically for MythTV. They present considerable advantages for users with little or no Linux experience by including automated installers and support for proprietary drivers. They're often considered "out of the box" solutions.

Linux Distributions

MythTV distributions

Distributions listed in alphabetical order.

KnoppMyth

• KnoppMyth is my attempt at making the Linux and MythTV installation as trivial as possible.

MythDora (Recommended)

• MythDora is a Fedora Core and MythTV "All-In-One" DVD. The DVD will load a preconfigured Fedora Core installation on your computer as well as install and configure MythTV.

Electronic programme guide (EPG)

A screenshot of a relatively standard MythTV EPG.

MythTV uses XMLTV to store and display programme data in the Electronic Programme Guide (EPG). Programme data is populated into the MythTV database through the use of a XMLTV grabber, such as the tv_grab_au script. In Australia, there are several XMLTV grabbers which provide varying levels of programme data. The legality of some grabbers are disputed.

Australian XMLTV grabbers

Shepherd (Recommended)

Shepherd provides reliable, high-quality guide data for Australian free-to-air TV and Pay TV channels by employing a flock of independent grabbers and data sources. In addition, Shepherd provides HDTV programme data, as well as the capability to automatically configure TV network icons. It's the de facto choice of OCAU MythTV users, and recommended by the author of this wiki article.

IceTV

IceTV is a commercial entity that provides pre-compiled programme data for subscribers. Subscription can be purchased for approximately $13/month.

OzTivo

OzTivo is a community maintained television guide that provides pre-compiled programme data in the XMLTV and TiVo slice formats. The Guide relies on a community of users to create and upload guide data to the Guide's database. The database is then hand-edited via a web interface to correct any mistakes.

ltd73 (tv_grab_au)

Prior to Shepherd, Ltd73's tv_grab_au script provides verbose and accurate programme data from the Yahoo7 web site. This script is now deprecated, and Australian MythTV users are encouraged to use it's successor, Shepherd.

Australian television network icons

MythTV provides users with the ability to define icons for individual TV channels. You're able to set these automatically with software such as Shepherd, or manually by configuring icons via mythtv-setup. There are numerous free-to-air icon schemes available from a variety sources. Some OCAU members have created useful TV network icon resources.

MythTV supports amongst other formats, JPEG and transparent PNG images. Unfortunately, it does not support SVG.

Getting icons

The Network Seven HD icon from the t8 scheme.

There are four OCAU-centric locations that you can get TV network icons.

• Australian TV Network Logos
  Has a number of TV network icon schemes (mostly scalable versions of the schemes below.) Also has a master SVG template for editing your own icons.
• Shepherd
  Automated channel icon schemes.
• MythTV
  Dedges's cartoonish blue and grey icons.
• FrogBoy's icon set
  A tar archive with FrogBoy's icon scheme.

Configuring icons via mythtv-setup

1. Run mythtv-setup, from either a terminal window or a run dialog.
2. Go to 5. Channel Editor.
3. Select the channel you wish to add an icon to.
   Note, you will need to press enter after you select the channel name. Double clicking seems to have been disabled for some reason.
4. Enter the path to a supported graphic file in the Icon: field.

Tips, tricks and common problem fixes

Tips and tricks

For a comprehensive list of MythTV tips and tricks, you may like to visit the Myth(TV)ology web site for additional information.

Common problem fixes

No sound on Channel Seven or SBS

Symptoms: No sound occurs on channel Seven or SBS (In Australia, they have ac3 audio streams) when they are tuned to from another channel (i.e. You are watching channel nine, and change to channel Seven). There is however sound if you choose channel Seven, exit live TV mode and then re-enter live TV.

Fix: It appears there can be weird problems like this when using PS format to watch TV. It can be fixed by:

1. Exit mythfrontend and mythbackend
2. Enter mythtv-setup
3. Go to card options
4. Select your DVB card
5. Go to 'Advanced Settings'
6. Select 'Recording Options'
7. Check the box that says 'Record in TS format instead of PS'
8. Exit mythtv-setup, and restart mythbackend and mythfrontend

No display when watching LiveTV

Symptoms: When trying to watch LiveTV the screen is blank and no input is accepted, after a few moments will drop back to main menu.

Fix:

1. Stop mythbackend
2. Run mythtv-setup
3. Select Option 4. Input Connections
4. Add a starting channel (ie. 7)
5. Close myth-setup, restart mythbackend and test

Support and additional information

The purpose of this wiki article is to provide OCAU and Australian MythTV users with relevant and up-to-date information on MythTV. OCAU members are encouraged to contribute to this article wherever possible. In the event that you notice incorrect or outdated information that you're unable to rectify by yourself, please feel free to contact either Dedge or Techtoucian. For MythTV general discussion and support, please visit this thread.

Informative and helpful links

Some useful links have been compiled into a list below. If in doubt, Google is a fantastic resource of information.

Official documentation

• The offical MythTV documentation
• Official MythTV community maintained wiki

Complementary information

• Linux TV - Television with Linux
• LIRC - Linux infra-red remote control information

OCAU forum threads

• MythTV General Discussion and Support
• Linux + MythTV = WIN
• A good TV tuner?

OCAU member configurations and setups

The following table compromises of MythTV configurations by various OCAU members. It provides [potential] MythTV users with an opportunity to view what configurations other OCAU members are utilising. In addition, it may help to determine what hardware is necessary for either standard digital or high definition content. For fun, OCAU members may include pictures of their setups. If you're an OCAU member and would like to include your configuration in this table, click here for more information.

OCAU member configurations (Alphabetical)

OCAU username	Configuration	HDTV capable	OS/Distribution	Picture(s)
cleary	AMD A64 3200+ S939 2GB DDR Sparkle nVidia 7900GT 256MB 1x DVico DVB-Lite HDTV Tuner (brooktree878 chipset) + IR remote 2x 320GB Seagate 16MB Sata2 NCQ HDDs Thermaltake Tenor Silver Desktop case 76cm LG TV (Tube)	Yes	sidux Chaos (2007-01)
Dedge	AMD Athlon 64 3600+ X2 512MB DDR2 nVidia 7300GS 4x 320GB SATA HDD in software RAID 5 1x 80GB HDD for OS 16x Pioneer DVD-RW optical drive Silverstone LC17 enclosure NEC 40" HDTV LCD Display (1336x768)	Yes	Ubuntu 7.04
FrogBoy	VIA EPIA M9000 512M PC133 Onboard VIA video, sound etc Leadtek Winfast DTV-2000H 250MB Seagate HDD Crappy Old SONY TV	No - Not Enough Grunt	Debian Sarge
Jimboberella	AMD Athlon64 3700+ 1GB DDR Nvidia 6600 Onboard sound Leadtek Winfast DTV-1000T 250GB Seagate HDD (tv) 120GB Maxtor HDD (Videos) 80GB Seagate HDD (OS etc) 48cm Philips TV	Yes	Ubuntu 7.04
Pingers	Pentium 4 2.8E 512MB DDR Nvidia FX 5200 Onboard sound (C-Media) Twinhan Terrestrial DVB DTV Tuner 120GB WD SATA (tv) 120GB WD SATA (videos) 68cm Panasonic TV	Yes	Ubuntu 7.04
Stik79	Master BE/FE combo Athlon Venice 3500+ Shuttle SN95G 1GB DDR nVidia GeForce FX6200TC (passive) 700G LVM (Samsung quietness) 32" AWA 720p LCD (1366x760) Digital now USB Twin Tuners Slave BE/FE combo (in bedroom (needs quietness - PSU = only fan)) Athlon 2100+ (underclocked) / Abit NF7S Silverstone LC17M 512M DDR nVidia GeForce FX 5200 passive 48cm CRT LG TV (bleh - replace with LCD one day) Kworld Xpert DVB-T100 PCI Digital TV Tuner (cx88_dvb) 0G HD - remote boot/NFS Gigabit Wired Network	Yes/Yes (with XvMC)	FC6/FC6
Techtoucian	Intel Pentium 4 2.26Ghz 1.5GB DDR nVidia GeForce FX 5700 Dual screen desktop PC with one screen devoted to MythTV.	Yes	Ubuntu 6.10
Thrawn	Dell SC430 Intel Pentium D 820 2.8 Ghz Dual Core 512MB ECC DDR2 (256MB pc4300 standard and one 256MB pc3200, needs the initial release BIOS for pc3200 support) Gainward 7300GT fanless, cut the PCIe x4 slot to fit USB Audio with optical output 1TB software RAID-5 JFS volume consisting of 5 x 250GB partitions 3 x 250GB SATA drive 1 x 320GB SATA drive (remainder space for OS) 1 x 250GB IDE drive 1 x 200GB IDE drive outside RAID TV Tuners Dvico Fusion HDTV Lite PCI Twinhan VP3020 PCI Display device Aiko 32" LCD 1366x768 HDMI 30" LCD 2560x1600 (now sold, found TV is better on the much cheaper Aiko anyway)	Yes	Slackware 10

How to contribute

OCAU members are encouraged to include their configurations in this wiki article. Please include your hardware specifications, television display, HDTV capability (I.e. are you able to smoothly display high definition content?), OS/Distribution; and any relevant pictures. In an attempt to reduce clutter, please limit your entry to a maximum of two pictures with respective thumbnails. If you're unsure where to start, copy an existing entry. Note: Please keep entries in alphabetical order by OCAU username.

ToDo (Please contribute!)

This is a small list items that are either unfinished, or require implementation. If you're unable to contribute but would like to, please contact either Dedge or Techtoucian.

Seeking additional information on specific topics

As it currently stands, information in this wiki article has been compiled by Dedge, Techtoucian and the previous wiki article. If you're successfully using a TV tuner or remote control that is not currently listed, please add it.

We're seeking additional resources for the following sections. Please ensure they're current.

• Linux distributions
• MythTV distirbutions
• Tips, tricks and common problem fixes
• Informative and helpful links

Dvico Fusion HDTV Remote

• Update kernel modules required for Dvico Fusion HDTV remote (Cleary) - Please see the discussion page for more information.

Images requested for TV tuners

Several TV tuners listed in this wiki article do not have respective images. We're unable to use images from other web sites due to copyright law. Therefore, if you have a TV tuner listed in this wiki article without an image, please take a photo, upload it, and add it to this wiki article.

OCAU member configurations requested

Please add your MythTV configuration to the "OCAU member configurations and setups" section of this wiki.