Re: Boston Linux Meeting Wednesday, November 15, 2006 Porting the Linux kernel
That's ok. My cell is 617-633-8939. Let me know if you if you are going to be later than 1900. BTW: JABR also works in Westford. On Wed, 08 Nov 2006 00:55:11 -0500 Jon Masters [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Jerry Feldman wrote: When: November 15, 2006 7:00PM (6:30 for QA) Topic: Porting the Linux kernel Folks, Please let me know if there's any specific you'd like me to talk about before this weekend - I need to go through 2 hours worth of slides and condense them down into a 45 minute session for next week. Otherwise, I'm pitching this at interested parties with some experience. If you've already ported Linux to a bunch of devices, you're welcome too, but we'll defer some discussion until the pub. Jon. P.S. There's a good chance I'll be out in Westford on Wednesday so I'm not likely to be there for 18:30 sharp. Let me know if you need me to be there for the QA and I'll work something out... -- Jerry Feldman [EMAIL PROTECTED] Boston Linux and Unix user group http://www.blu.org PGP key id:C5061EA9 PGP Key fingerprint:053C 73EC 3AC1 5C44 3E14 9245 FB00 3ED5 C506 1EA9 signature.asc Description: PGP signature ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
Re: Tivo vs MythTV (was: *pout* HDTV No Recordee....)
On 11/7/06, Randy Edwards [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Those of you here who are already using MythTV, how do you find it works in day-to-day usage? Brilliantly. I have a back end on Debian Etch/Testing with 3 tuners (a PVR-350 and a PVR-500) and while the IVTV drivers aren't the most stable, I have very, very little problem with the system. Once every few weeks it'll need a cold boot; the biggest problem is for me to resist the temptation to play with the OS and to upgrade things. :-) If I'm watching TV, it means I want to take my brain off-hook for awhile. :-) So I want it to behave like a good appliance -- something that, once installed, stays working for long periods of time. Yup, that's been my mindset, and Myth has met that criteria well. It's completely revamped the way I watch TV. The number of hours watched has fallen a lot, but the quality of what I watch has skyrocketed. I'm in a All good stuff for MythTV. Not so good news for Tivo shareholders :-) habit of scanning through the new listing once every two weeks to tag what looks interesting, and there's always something good on -- I no longer have a clue as to when anything is on; everything is on my schedule. It makes it harder to talk to coworkers about that show last night And the impact it's had on my four year old son is also dramatic. He doesn't have a clue about something not being on now and his exposure to advertising (Myth's commercial skipping is a godsend!) is nil. For example, he called me from the kitchen the other day hollaring about a clown he saw on some TV show. When I walked in, it was a Nickelodeon show I didn't have tagged for commercial skipping and he saw Ronald McDonald. It took a second for it to dawn on me that he wasn't on a firstname basis with Ronald. :-) Hehe. And if he likes a show, you can get 'em all. We have 40+ episodes of Little Bill and growing. On the Tivo, I can tell it to record everything with an actor (Tom Hanks say) or genre (motorcycle racing) or keyword (quilting). When I select a series, I can say only 1st run; no repeats. I guess alot of that comes down to the quality of your schedule information. Is it there? Can Myth be used like a PC displaying on the TV? I use Galleon on the Tivo to play shoutcast, show weather, podcasts, movie times and locations, etc. I'd imagine Myth can do that. ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
Re: Tivo vs MythTV (was: *pout* HDTV No Recordee....)
On 11/8/06, Tom Buskey [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Can Myth be used like a PC displaying on the TV?I use Galleon on theTivo to play shoutcast, show weather, podcasts, movie times andlocations, etc.I'd imagine Myth can do that. *nod* It can web browse, minus the Java, etc.. And if the data is present via an RSS feed, it has a built in MythRSS reader. Thomas ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
Re: Tivo vs MythTV (was: *pout* HDTV No Recordee....)
On Nov 7, 2006, at 8:43 PM, Ben Scott wrote: Absolutely. The thought of TV without a good DVR is totally unacceptable to me now. It's obvious we don't have to sell you on the joys of PVR. The question you asked was whether MythTV is as Hands-Off as Tivo, and I think the answer is No. While the tweaking involved is pretty minor, there probably are a few more rough edges to work out. Balancing that is the greater freedom you have to hack the code, the hardware, change the storage, script in new functionality, etc., etc. Tivo is only a proprietary video recorder and player, albeit a good one. MythTV is a media center. We are, after all, comparing a multi-million-dollar consumer appliance with an unfunded open-source project. The fact that they are of a comparable value is a remarkable tribute to the Open Source process, imo. That card is capture only, right? So the TV/monitor will need VGA in, or the computer will need TV-video out, I take it? Yes. I believe the higher-model cards have various Video-Out, S- Video, HDMI, DVI and other acronyms, as do higher-end video cards. Hrmmm. It's the mostly that concerns me. :) Well, I haven't even read the manual yet. Some adjustments are needed, and some education, but I've found it easy to install and easy to operate. Ted Roche Ted Roche Associates, LLC http://www.tedroche.com ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
Re: Tivo vs MythTV (was: *pout* HDTV No Recordee....)
On Nov 8, 2006, at 8:10 AM, Tom Buskey wrote: On the Tivo, I can tell it to record everything with an actor (Tom Hanks say) or genre (motorcycle racing) or keyword (quilting). When I select a series, I can say only 1st run; no repeats. I guess alot of that comes down to the quality of your schedule information. Is it there? http://www.mythtv.org/docs/mythtv-HOWTO-12.html Can Myth be used like a PC displaying on the TV? I use Galleon on the Tivo to play shoutcast, show weather, podcasts, movie times and locations, etc. I'd imagine Myth can do that. http://www.mythtv.org/docs/mythtv-HOWTO-14.html Ted Roche Ted Roche Associates, LLC http://www.tedroche.com ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
Re: Tivo vs MythTV (was: *pout* HDTV No Recordee....)
Ben Scott writes: Those of you here who are already using MythTV, how do you find it works in day-to-day usage? I've been using MythTV for about 2 years or so. I like it alot better than the tivo I had before that. It has it's bugs, but they are usually minor and can be worked around without too much trouble. I really like the split model [backend + frontend(s)] which allows me to have a fanless, diskless, no-moving-parts frontend computer for the TV and a big server in the garage^H^H^H^H^H^H^H server-room. Note you can get unencrypted HD off of Cable in addition to OTA. My MythTV backend has a Hauppauge WinTV-PVR 250 connected to the comcrap set-top box and a pcHDTV HD-3000 connected direct to the comcrap coax. The latter can do direct digital captures of all unencrypted channels (SD and HD) with no conversion or recompression (direct MPEG2 to disk). -- Dave ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
Re: Tivo vs MythTV (was: *pout* HDTV No Recordee....)
If you want the best how-to for MythTV for just getting a box up and working then this is it: http://wilsonet.com/mythtv/fcmyth.php I used it the two times I set up a myth box and it was great. But having a Tivo that just works and as somebody that loves the suggestions feature (something MythTV didn't have at the time, and I'm not sure if it does now) I stopped using MythTV. That and I had stability problems. But this was 2-3 years ago. On Nov 8, 2006, at 8:10 AM, Tom Buskey wrote: On the Tivo, I can tell it to record everything with an actor (Tom Hanks say) or genre (motorcycle racing) or keyword (quilting). When I select a series, I can say only 1st run; no repeats. I guess alot of that comes down to the quality of your schedule information. Is it there? http://www.mythtv.org/docs/mythtv-HOWTO-12.html Can Myth be used like a PC displaying on the TV? I use Galleon on the Tivo to play shoutcast, show weather, podcasts, movie times and locations, etc. I'd imagine Myth can do that. http://www.mythtv.org/docs/mythtv-HOWTO-14.html Ted Roche Ted Roche Associates, LLC http://www.tedroche.com ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/ ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
Re: Tivo vs MythTV (was: *pout* HDTV No Recordee....)
On 11/8/06, Tom Buskey [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Yup, that's been my mindset, and Myth has met that criteria well. It's completely revamped the way I watch TV. The number of hours watched has fallen a lot, but the quality of what I watch has skyrocketed. I'm in a All good stuff for MythTV. Not so good news for Tivo shareholders :-) I do wonder about the guide data for MythTV. I guess it's freely available on the 'net right now? Will that last, I wonder, if MythTV really started to gain market share. (Say, because turn-key MythTV boxes enabled more adoption.) I'm always suspicious of a free lunch. FOSS works because one frequently gets payback on one's contributions, in the form of other contributions, free advertising, collateral services, etc. What's the payback for giving away guide data? I guess what I really need is to check out a MythTV box myself, hands-on. If I go looking for MythTV info or opinions, I tend to get lots of people talking about how cool time-shifting is. I already know that; I've had a TiVo since 2002. :-) I want to know how MythTV compares to a TiVo. Maybe I'll just buy a tuner card and toss it in my regular desktop, just to check it out. If I like it, I can buy a compact box for it. From what I've read, Hauppauge is *the* brand of card to get, but I'm a little confused about the differences between the PVR-150 and the PVR-250. Is it just the software bundle, or is the hardware different, too? Also, does the decoder/output on the PVR-350 work with MythTV? -- Ben ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
Re: Tivo vs MythTV (was: *pout* HDTV No Recordee....)
On 11/8/06, Dave Johnson [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I really like the split model [backend + frontend(s)] which allows me to have a fanless, diskless, no-moving-parts frontend computer for the TV and a big server in the garage^H^H^H^H^H^H^H server-room. Now, that is neat. And, ironically, that's what TiVo was originally going to be. It got consolidated into one box for cost reasons. Note you can get unencrypted HD off of Cable in addition to OTA. Any idea how many unencrypted HD channels there are? -- Ben ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
Re: Tivo vs MythTV (was: *pout* HDTV No Recordee....)
On 11/8/06, Ted Roche [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: The question you asked was whether MythTV is as Hands-Off as Tivo, and I think the answer is No. While the tweaking involved is pretty minor, there probably are a few more rough edges to work out. [...] Well, I haven't even read the manual yet. Some adjustments are needed, and some education, but I've found it easy to install and easy to operate. Well, if it can be got working without even resorting to the manual, I'd have to say that's a win. We are, after all, comparing a multi-million-dollar consumer appliance with an unfunded open-source project. The fact that they are of a comparable value is a remarkable tribute to the Open Source process, imo. Absolutely. I'm not trying to disparage MythTV. I'm just trying to make a budget decision: Is an S3 TiVo worth the extra dollars to reduce the time-and-effort investment? I'm starting to suspect the answer is No. -- Ben ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
Re: Transportable HDD recommendations or warnings
Ted Roche wrote: I've got a client who would like to image his half-dozen workstations and store the images off-site as part of a disaster recovery plan. We're planning on using Knoppix and partimage to snapshot the machines, The workstations are run-of-the-mill Dell Dimensions, fairly new, so USB 2.0 should be acceptable. Guesstimating ~ 5 - 10 Gb per workstation, so most medium capacity HDDs should be sufficient. Two separate HDDs for odd- and even-month backups could be used for redundancy and avoiding single-point-of- failure. (There is already a separate backup system in place for day- to-day operational data and documents). I see the local big boxes have regular promotions for Western Digitals, Seagates, Maxtors and SimpleTechs. Any recommendations pro- or con- or are these pretty much commodity items? My experience with this method has been variable. Firstly, and most critical, transfer speeds were quite slow. It seemed like a buffering issue. The drive would show activity for a burst, then no activity for a longer period, yielding about one 1/10th of the Windows transfer speed. I used a Gentoo-based System Rescue CD at first and then tested with a Knoppix live CD - both were 2.4 kernels. Replacing the external drive with another one tripled the speed. So I saw differences with the drive enclosures. I did not attempt to solve the problem by tuning anything in Linux. It turned out to actually be faster to use backup partimage through the network than with the external drive, so I switched to that. The first enclosure ran very hot. The drive eventually failed, however, it was an older drive to begin with, so that is not conclusive. The second enclosure, which did have better cooling, was also the one that ran faster. Both of these were simply enclosures into which we installed hard drives ourselves. The first one was really cheap (about $25). The second, which worked better, was $80. I haven't used the most recent external drive units. My experience is from last year's models. YMMV. -- Dan Jenkins ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) Rastech Inc., Bedford, NH, USA --- 1-603-206-9951 *** Technical Support Excellence for over a Quarter Century ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
Re: Tivo vs MythTV (was: *pout* HDTV No Recordee....)
We are, after all, comparing a multi-million-dollar consumer appliance with an unfunded open-source project. The fact that they are of a comparable value is a remarkable tribute to the Open Source process, imo. Absolutely. I'm not trying to disparage MythTV. I'm just trying to make a budget decision: Is an S3 TiVo worth the extra dollars to reduce the time-and-effort investment? I'm starting to suspect the answer is No. Well I think it all depends on what exactly you're looking for. If you want cablecard support for your premium channels and for it to work seamlessly with your cable company, you're probably going to want a TiVo. Also go with TiVo if you're looking for TiVo features you can't get with MythTV (suggestions come to mind). At least with MythTV to try it out all you really need is spare equipment in order to at least get a feel for it and see if you like it's feature set. No need to go out and buy a powerhouse computer and HD tuner card. Just throw in a spare WinTV card you can usually get for free from somebody not using one, or a few bucks at a computer show. As a DirecTV user I'm kind of stuck with either tying my receiver into a MythTV box somehow, or sticking with the DirecTV DVR. I'm currently using my DirecTiVo that I hacked in order to get more space and more features (such as TiVoWeb and tyserver to pull shows off it). ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
Re: Tivo vs MythTV (was: *pout* HDTV No Recordee....)
What's the payback for giving away guide data? It's funny you mention that. Just yesterday I corrected the guide's channel listings for my local cable company. Besides corrections like that, the guide needs to encourage people to code apps to their service, which some Mythers do. But this is a concern to some Myth devs. I believe there is one working alternative service which has a small fee. I'm not positive about that, but there's been enough traffic about this issue at time on the mailing list to assure me that someone is thinking about that issue. Also, does the decoder/output on the PVR-350 work with MythTV? I use the 350's tv-out to put things out to my TV and it works great. I've never gotten the mpeg decoder to work properly, but since the Hauppage encoders work so well when recording, CPU usage is just not an issue so I've never worried about the decoding. Regards, . Randy -- The world's 500 richest people have more money than the annual earnings of the poorest 3 billion. -- George Monbiot. ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
Re: Tivo vs MythTV (was: *pout* HDTV No Recordee....)
Ben Scott writes: Note you can get unencrypted HD off of Cable in addition to OTA. Any idea how many unencrypted HD channels there are? Every broadcast channel. In my case that's the HD versions of: 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 25, 38 last I checked In addition, comcast sends 2 version of the analog channels over the coax. An analog version for for people without set-top boxes and a digital SD version for people with digital set-top boxes. The set-top box actually uses the digital version. When you tell it to tune to say channel 5, it picks up the digital version of channel 5 instead of the analog version. This eliminates the 'fuzzy' problems you get with low signal strength or interference. The pcHDTV card can get the unencrypted SD digital version too. This allows me to avoid the digital [coax] - set-top box - analog [composite] - capture card - digital conversion of the Hauppauge Card. MythTV only uses the Hauppauge card if there is a conflict or for channels that are encrypted. -- Dave ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
Re: Tivo vs MythTV (was: *pout* HDTV No Recordee....)
On 11/8/06, Randy Edwards [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: What's the payback for giving away guide data? It's funny you mention that. Just yesterday I corrected the guide's channel listings for my local cable company. Hmmm, kinda like a FreeDB.org for TV. *nods* Besides corrections like that, the guide needs to encourage people to code apps to their service, which some Mythers do. So it encourages more people to take advantage of their free service, increasing the load on their servers. How does that help? :) But this is a concern to some Myth devs. I believe there is one working alternative service which has a small fee. Ahh. That kind of foresight alone is good news. And I would be willing to spend a *reasonable* amount of money to get guide data. (Note to Comcast: $10/month is *not* reasonable.) Not that different from buying a printed TV Guide back in the days before TiVo. Also, does the decoder/output on the PVR-350 work with MythTV? I use the 350's tv-out to put things out to my TV and it works great. Good info. Thanks. -- Ben ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
Getting started w/ MythTV [was Re: Tivo vs MythTV]
This has been a very interesting and informative thread, thanks for the education! I've been on-the-fence wrt Tivo for several years now. I've always loved the idea, but just never gotten around to getting one. I thought about setting up MythTV, but at the time it sounded like it something you did because you had spare time to burn and a desire to tweak and hack things. The former I severely lack, and the latter I do all day long already :) From the discussion thus far, though, it sounds that MythTV has come a long way, and is probably something I ought to re-consider (esp. given that a Lifetime Tivo subscription no longer exists, and I don't have the $16+/month to waste on TV). So, before I get all excited, and go grab the HOWTO (oops, too late :) Can someone give me a basic run down on a) the preferred way to set things up, and b) what a rough cost estimate will be? Here's what I think I want to do: I'd like a back-end server with lots of disk space and maybe 2 or 3 capture cards that I can stuff somewhere out of site, and a front-end system I can use for viewing on my lone TV that is quiet and unobtrusive. So, for these 2 systems, can someone give me a rough list of the essential-to-have hardware and the cost analysis? My main goal here is ease of installation/configuration and minimizing as much as possible hardware incompatibility frustration. I.e., if there's a certain MoBo I ought to use or specific hardware combination that just works, tell me. Cost savings *is* an issue, but time is more of an issue. I don't want to fight with hardware, I want to build an appliance that will do it's job with as little interaction from me as possible :) -- Seeya, Paul ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
Re: Tivo vs MythTV (was: *pout* HDTV No Recordee....)
On Nov 8, 2006, at 8:56 AM, Ben Scott wrote: I do wonder about the guide data for MythTV. I guess it's freely available on the 'net right now? Will that last, I wonder, if MythTV really started to gain market share. (Say, because turn-key MythTV boxes enabled more adoption.) I'm always suspicious of a free lunch. TANSTAAFL. http://labs.zap2it.com/ attempts to explain their business model. Certainly, their front end (their web pages) are funded by commercials. They set up the XML format backend API to keep hobbyists from scraping and parsing the front end. Not sure where the ROI is, other than they ask you to fill out a survey every few months. Ted Roche Ted Roche Associates, LLC http://www.tedroche.com ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
Re: Tivo vs MythTV
Ben Scott [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: From what I've read, Hauppauge is *the* brand of card to get, but I'm a little confused about the differences between the PVR-150 and the PVR-250. Is it just the software bundle, or is the hardware different, too? Also, does the decoder/output on the PVR-350 work with MythTV? According to the HOWTO I'm reading (instead of doing real work :) yes! -- Seeya, Paul ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
Re: Transportable HDD recommendations or warnings
Apologies to Dan as he'll be seeing this message twice. Ted Roche wrote: I've got a client who would like to image his half-dozen workstations and store the images off-site as part of a disaster recovery planSo have you looked at S3 at Amazon? Just do all this stuff over the net. -- Jeff MacdonaldAyer, MA ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
Re: Transportable HDD recommendations or warnings
On Nov 7, 2006, at 11:16 AM, Ted Roche wrote: I've got a client who would like to image his half-dozen workstations and store the images off-site as part of a disaster recovery plan. Follow-up: Picked up a Seagate 250 Gb drive at Circuit City last night for $135. Tested it out on my laptop last night: 1. Boot Knoppix with 'knoppix 2' for root shell only. 2. Mount the external drive, run partimage 3. 7.5 Gb partition compressed with medium compression and saved to the drive: 35 minutes. Looks like this could be practical. Ted Roche Ted Roche Associates, LLC http://www.tedroche.com ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
Re: Tivo vs MythTV
Dave Johnson [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Every broadcast channel. In my case that's the HD versions of: 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 25, 38 last I checked In addition, comcast sends 2 version of the analog channels over the coax. An analog version for for people without set-top boxes and a digital SD version for people with digital set-top boxes. [...] The pcHDTV card can get the unencrypted SD digital version too. This allows me to avoid the digital [coax] - set-top box - analog [composite] - capture card - digital conversion of the Hauppauge Card. MythTV only uses the Hauppauge card if there is a conflict or for channels that are encrypted. So, are you saying that a MythTV with an HD capture card can detect and use those channels from Comcast *without* having a set-top box? My TV is HD capable, but I have no set-top box because it wasn't worth the $10/month to me. It would be a big win if by building a MythTV box, I could also get access to those channels! -- Seeya, Paul ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
Re: Tivo vs MythTV (was: *pout* HDTV No Recordee....)
-- Original message -- From: Dave Johnson [EMAIL PROTECTED] Ben Scott writes: Those of you here who are already using MythTV, how do you find it works in day-to-day usage? I've been using MythTV for about 2 years or so. I like it alot better than the tivo I had before that. It has it's bugs, but they are usually minor and can be worked around without too much trouble. I really like the split model [backend + frontend(s)] which allows me to have a fanless, diskless, no-moving-parts frontend computer for the TV and a big server in the garage^H^H^H^H^H^H^H server-room. Note you can get unencrypted HD off of Cable in addition to OTA. My MythTV backend has a Hauppauge WinTV-PVR 250 connected to the comcrap set-top box and a pcHDTV HD-3000 connected direct to the comcrap coax. The latter can do direct digital captures of all unencrypted channels (SD and HD) with no conversion or recompression (direct MPEG2 to disk). -- Dave ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/ As a matter of interest, which HD channels are not encrypted? It would be nice to be able to at least record some channels without using a comcast DVR. Thanks Chris ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
Re: Getting started w/ MythTV [was Re: Tivo vs MythTV]
I'd like a back-end server with lots of disk space and maybe 2 or 3 capture cards that I can stuff somewhere out of site, There are a variety of tuner cards available for Myth now. To me, multiple cards are about mandatory, even if you don't watch much TV. I love the PVR-500 (2 tuners on one card, with hardware encoding), though I've heard rumors that Happauge changed the chipset on newer 500 models. FWIW, an hour or two searching the MythTV users list at http://www.gossamer-threads.com/lists/mythtv/users/ will be time likely well spent. and a front-end system I can use for viewing on my lone TV that is quiet and unobtrusive. Right now I have a noisy front-end/back-end system in my living room. But I'm deaf to computer fan noise. :-) What's neat is that with Myth, any computer hooked to your home LAN is also a TV -- an old PC in my bedroom suffices as the bedroom TV. I'm redoing another room as a game/living room, and in that the plan (insert standard disclaimer about plans!) is to use two 20/21 LCD monitors as TVs in that room. So, for these 2 systems, can someone give me a rough list of the essential-to-have hardware and the cost analysis? A trip to NewEgg should give you some price points, but it's worth mentioning that if your backend uses tuner cards with hardware encoding, you can get away with an embarrassingly low-powered CPU on that machine. I.e., if there's a certain MoBo I ought to use or specific hardware combination that just works, tell me. What distro will you go with? Myth had some issues with motherboards with Via chipsets, but that may now be a thing of the past. The KnoppMyth http://mysettopbox.tv/knoppmyth.html distro is a semi-turnkey Linux/Myth distro and has a forum full of hardware reports/suggestions. I don't want to fight with hardware, I want to build an appliance that will do it's job with as little interaction from me as possible :) You'll definitely have to sink some time into the setup/play phase. However, once set up I think it'll meet your appliance requirements. Regards, . Randy -- Fast fact: If the U.S. had an infant mortality rate as good as Cuba's, we would save an additional 2,212 American babies a year. Cuba is one of 41 (forty-one!) countries that have better infant mortality rates than the U.S. ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
Re: Transportable HDD recommendations or warnings
Follow-up: Picked up a Seagate 250 Gb drive at Circuit City last night for $135. ...and for my follow-up (not that anybody asked) I'm happy to report that I was able to back-port USB support from the kernel.org/2.4.33 sources into the RHEL3 2.4.21-ish sources and, so far, it's looking pretty stable. ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
Re: Tivo vs MythTV
Dave Johnson [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: You can also just plug in the coax to a HDTV with a digital tuner and get the same result. Hmm, I didn't know that. How do I find the HD channels? When I tune my TV to the channel number advertised by Comcast, I get a black screen. Presumably that number is only meaningful to their box. -- Seeya, Paul ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
Re: Tivo vs MythTV
Paul Lussier writes: Dave Johnson [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: You can also just plug in the coax to a HDTV with a digital tuner and get the same result. Hmm, I didn't know that. How do I find the HD channels? When I tune my TV to the channel number advertised by Comcast, I get a black screen. Presumably that number is only meaningful to their box. Sorry, should have said 'have the same issue' instead of 'get the same result'. Without a cable card (that's a differnt issue) you have the same channel numbering problem. Remember that ATSC and QAM both allow multiple subchannels per frequency band. You can get about 2 HD and about 12 SD channels per frequency band. At least on my HDTV (Samsung), channels are represented by channel-subchannel so PBS is on 87-1 or something like that even though comcast maps it as 802. Something else is on 87-2 and so forth. Just doing a full scan in the TV's tuner setup will pick up everything (including all the encrypted channels, but those are blank). -- Dave ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
Re: Tivo vs MythTV
See http://www.pchdtv.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=882sid=790b0250ceaa189090e790e53c445505 Comcast does randomize their frequency usage, which is a big nono for them to do, but they do it apperently. But basically, you just have to find the frequency. There are utilizites that will scan for them, but they're frequency may not make sense compared to their actual channel. Bear in mind, this is for NON ENCRYPTED HD signals. Some channels transmitted in HD will more then likely be encrypted, which you'd need a special card to be able to tune in, which I believe Comcast will sell to you, but it may be hard to get in touch with the right person to buy one. These are the same cards they'd put in an HDTivo to allow it to receieve HD content over cable. Unfortionatly for me, sat companies dont sell these beasts. *sigh* ThomasOn 11/8/06, Paul Lussier [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Dave Johnson [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: You can also just plug in the coax to a HDTV with a digital tuner and get the same result.Hmm, I didn't know that.How do I find the HD channels?When I tune my TV to the channel number advertised by Comcast, I get a blackscreen. Presumably that number is only meaningful to their box.--Seeya,Paul___gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.orghttp://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/ ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
Re: Tivo vs MythTV
I for one am really enjoying this thread. I don't watch a lot of TV shows, don't own a DVR device, etc., but maybe some sort of DVR or HD device will be in my future. I used to work at a small video editing shop a long time ago but ever since then I am woefully behind the times when it comes to multimedia stuff like this. I've read this entire thread pretty carefully and I learned quite a few things. For that I am thankful. Regards, --kevin -- Kevin I'm very disturbed that you don't have a home theater system. I think that for a small investment of $15,000 you could get something decent. -- actual quote from a former co-worker of mine ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
Re: Getting started w/ MythTV [was Re: Tivo vs MythTV]
The higher end PVR cards will work with MythTV and work well with nearly all major brand motherboards out there. The cost diference between, say, the PVR-150, 250, 300, 500, etc, is the inclusion of hardware based encoders. A 600 Mhz machine can easily recoder 2 channels when a dual input board with hardware encoders. By contrast, a NON hardware encoder based solution would require 1.6 Ghz processor to handle it. Happauge cards are generally a safe bet, as nearly all of them with the exeption of the 'WinTV' cards are supported. Other cards, such as some ATI All-In-Wonder cards with TV inputs may work as well (Or what it ATI TV Wonder, I forget). WHATEVER YOU DO, DO NOT EVER get an MSI TV @nywhere based card. They are total crap, and while you may manage to get them to work, it'll be a pain in the ass. Other then that, make sure you have a decent pipe between the backend and front end. Personally, I'd used a front end over 802.11b, but it was VERY flakey once you started downloading something on another computer. Also, the more you wish to do, the faster you'll want to HD's to be. Other then that, you WILL USE MUCH MOOCHO HD space, as it is VERY easy to simply save and forget, and soon get 'HD full' messages. ;-) ThomasOn 11/8/06, Paul Lussier [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: This has been a very interesting and informative thread, thanks forthe education!I've been on-the-fence wrt Tivo for several years now.I've alwaysloved the idea, but just never gotten around to getting one.I thought about setting up MythTV, but at the time it sounded like itsomething you did because you had spare time to burn and a desire totweak and hack things.The former I severely lack, and the latter Ido all day long already :) From the discussion thus far, though, it sounds that MythTV has come along way, and is probably something I ought to re-consider (esp. giventhat a Lifetime Tivo subscription no longer exists, and I don't have the $16+/month to waste on TV).So, before I get all excited, and go grab the HOWTO (oops, too late :)Can someone give me a basic run down on a) the preferred way to setthings up, and b) what a rough cost estimate will be? Here's what I think I want to do:I'd like a back-end server with lots of disk space and maybe 2 or 3capture cards that I can stuff somewhere out of site, and a front-endsystem I can use for viewing on my lone TV that is quiet and unobtrusive.So, for these 2 systems, can someone give me a rough list of theessential-to-have hardware and the cost analysis?My main goal here is ease of installation/configuration and minimizing as much as possible hardware incompatibility frustration.I.e., ifthere's a certain MoBo I ought to use or specific hardware combinationthat just works, tell me.Cost savings *is* an issue, but time is more of an issue.I don't want to fight with hardware, I want tobuild an appliance that will do it's job with as little interactionfrom me as possible :)--Seeya,Paul___ gnhlug-discuss mailing listgnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.orghttp://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/ ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
MythTV / DirecTV possible solution *FOUND*
Hrm.. It would seem I was partially incorrect. DirecTV USED to have a DirecTV/Tivo HD box named the HR10-250. They dont make them anymore, I'm looking into the differences between the capabilities the HR10-250 providers. It can aperently be hacked as easy as any other Tivo, and hence, get it's data out which I could then 'migrate' over to the MythTV setup. *cackles with insane glee* Thomas ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
Re: Getting started w/ MythTV [was Re: Tivo vs MythTV]
Paul Lussier writes: So, for these 2 systems, can someone give me a rough list of the essential-to-have hardware and the cost analysis? My main goal here is ease of installation/configuration and minimizing as much as possible hardware incompatibility frustration. I.e., if there's a certain MoBo I ought to use or specific hardware combination that just works, tell me. Cost savings *is* an issue, but time is more of an issue. I don't want to fight with hardware, I want to build an appliance that will do it's job with as little interaction from me as possible :) For analog cards, getting one with MPEG2 hardware compression is a very good idea. Besides sufficient bandwidth on your PCI bus and disk controller/disks recording uses very little cpu (read: 2% on a any modern cpu). The bandwidth requirements aren't that big. SD should run you about 2-5Mbps, HD about 10-20Mbps. (that's bits not bytes) As long as you can sustain the average and not have a congested system that could cause DMA underruns any motherboard and cpu should be fine. Note that mythtv, at least IMHO, is quite bloated and the code way too complicated and confusing to look at. If you have alot of channels and capture cards the backend database can get quite large. Keeping all that in RAM will improve the performance of the frontend and mythweb especially when getting channel listings or doing searches. My /var/lib/mysql/mythconverg/ is about 400MB. The more memory for the backend the better especially because it will be doing disk caching. My frontend is a VIA EPIA SP13000 with 512MB RAM, PXE boots with nfsroot. It's plenty fast for SD, but barely fast enough for HD. I think this is actually a video dirver problem though. I'd stick with a CLE266 based VIA system though as the CN400 graphics is a pain to get working in X. CPU requirements aren't that bad for the frontend provided you have an X driver that supports all the appropriate acceleration extensions, that's the most important thing to consider. mythfrontend is using about 120MB of RAM on my frontend computer right now. Add X and other apps and 256MB or 512MB RAM should be fine. -- Dave ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
Re: MythTV / DirecTV possible solution *FOUND*
Scratch that. Would kinda work, but can't record the majority of the new HD content beng broadcast from DirecTV's new sats. Guess I just leave 'em at low def and cry. Thomas On 11/8/06, Thomas Charron [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Hrm.. It would seem I was partially incorrect. DirecTV USED to have a DirecTV/Tivo HD box named the HR10-250. They dont make them anymore, I'm looking into the differences between the capabilities the HR10-250 providers. It can aperently be hacked as easy as any other Tivo, and hence, get it's data out which I could then 'migrate' over to the MythTV setup. *cackles with insane glee* Thomas ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
Re: Getting started w/ MythTV [was Re: Tivo vs MythTV]
On 11/8/06, Dave Johnson [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Paul Lussier writes: So, for these 2 systems, can someone give me a rough list of the essential-to-have hardware and the cost analysis?Or you could just buy a pre-built system. http://www.monolithmc.com/Courtesy of Google Ads (note, I haven't actually looked at the website).-- Jeff MacdonaldAyer, MA ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
Re: Transportable HDD recommendations or warnings
On Nov 8, 2006, at 12:02 PM, Michael ODonnell wrote: ...and for my follow-up (not that anybody asked) I'm happy to report that I was able to back-port USB support from the kernel.org/2.4.33 sources into the RHEL3 2.4.21-ish sources and, so far, it's looking pretty stable. That's great. Now, is this USB for storage devices or for HID (Human Interface Devices) support, or are they all the same? IIRC I needed USB/HID support for an APC UPS with a USB connection and a machine somewhat stuck at 2.4.21... Ted Roche Ted Roche Associates, LLC http://www.tedroche.com ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
Re: Transportable HDD recommendations or warnings
...and for my follow-up (not that anybody asked) I'm happy to report that I was able to back-port USB support from the kernel.org/2.4.33 sources into the RHEL3 2.4.21-ish sources and, so far, it's looking pretty stable. That's great. Now, is this USB for storage devices or for HID (Human Interface Devices) support, or are they all the same? IIRC I needed USB/HID support for an APC UPS with a USB connection and a machine somewhat stuck at 2.4.21... I'm not sure I understand your question; the problem we were seeing was that the box would wedge tightly while accessing Storage devices, but after a lot of analysis it became clear to me that the ehci-hcd module was likely the primary culprit. The acronyms in that module's name refer to Extended Host Controller Interface (the USB 2.0 implementation) and Host Controller Device which means the system's interface to the root hub. Logic in that module is not specific to any class of device such as HID or Storage. ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
Re: MythTV / DirecTV possible solution *FOUND*
Worthless. the HD TiVo box that DirecTV sold only supports premium HD content and will NOT support DirecTV HD Local channels. They are encrypted in a different way (mpeg4) that the HD DirecTiVo can never support due to hardware limitations. On Nov 8, 2006, at 2:15 PM, Thomas Charron wrote: Hrm.. It would seem I was partially incorrect. DirecTV USED to have a DirecTV/Tivo HD box named the HR10-250. They dont make them anymore, I'm looking into the differences between the capabilities the HR10-250 providers. It can aperently be hacked as easy as any other Tivo, and hence, get it's data out which I could then 'migrate' over to the MythTV setup. *cackles with insane glee* Thomas ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/ ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
Re: MythTV / DirecTV possible solution *FOUND*
On 11/8/06, Travis Roy [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Worthless. the HD TiVo box that DirecTV sold only supports premium HDcontent and will NOT support DirecTV HD Local channels.They are encrypted in a different way (mpeg4) that the HD DirecTiVocan never support due to hardware limitations. Yea, I was hoping that wasn't the case. Sounds to me like someone fubared hen they made these to only support MPEG2 when they where launching sats which trasmitted MPEG4. Unless, of course, DirecTV wanted to set them up so they could move away. ;-) Thomas ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
Re: MythTV / DirecTV possible solution *FOUND*
Unless, of course, DirecTV wanted to set them up so they could move away. ;-) DirecTV/TiVo contract was going to be up in 2006 when they came up with it, and they both knew it wasn't going to be renewed. They have since been forced by the customer base to support existing DirecTiVo units until 2008 since we all love the TiVo interface. :) ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
Re: MythTV / DirecTV possible solution *FOUND*
Sad part is, if I had a choice, I'd go with Tivo or some other solution. But with no choice, all I can do is complain and eat their PVR solution for HD. I'd rather have something I dislike then nada at all. Thomas ( Going back to pouting and sighing) On 11/8/06, Travis Roy [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Unless, of course, DirecTV wanted to set them up so they could move away.;-)DirecTV/TiVo contract was going to be up in 2006 when they came upwith it, and they both knew it wasn't going to be renewed. They have since been forced by the customer base to support existingDirecTiVo units until 2008 since we all love the TiVo interface. :) ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
Re: Tivo vs MythTV
On 11/8/06, Thomas Charron [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Comcast does randomize their frequency usage, which is a big nono for them to do, but they do it apperently. I'm *shocked* to hear that. ;-) Bear in mind, this is for NON ENCRYPTED HD signals. Some channels transmitted in HD will more then likely be encrypted ... s/some/most/. From what I understand, almost all of them *are* encrypted. Same idea as with the scrambled channels and decoders boxes in days gone by. Except that the encryption is apparently a lot better these days. It used to be that everyone and their brother was selling kits to crack the analog scrambling. I haven't seen that with the high def, digital systems. I never touched that stuff (seriously!), but I knew people who did. :-) I had forgotten that channels broadcast OTA in the local area are also sent unencrypted over the cable networks. I believe that's by FCC rule. ... which you'd need a special card to be able to tune in, which I believe Comcast will sell to you ... Right, a CableCARD. The FCC forced the cable operators to make something available that would let us dumb ole consumers tune in digital cable on something *other* than a cable company decoder box. Newer digital TVs all have CableCARD slots in them for this purpose. The Series 3 TiVo has two slots (dual tuners). From what I understand, it works like this: A CableCARD is a PCMCIA Type II card. You buy or rent them from the cable operator. The host device (TV, TiVo, etc.) tunes in the digital signal off the wire. The host feeds the bitstream to the CableCARD, which decrypts it and feeds the cleartext signal back to the host. The CableCARD has a mechanism to talk to the overmind at the cable company, and figure out which channels you get (HBO, etc.). The card also has a mechanism to verify that the host has been certified by Cable Labs (a cable industry tech group) to respect all their copy restriction stuff. In other words, that the host device won't let you make unrestricted copies of the signal, any digital output is also restricted (HDCP), etc. For the following: MRV = Multi-Room Viewing = coping recordings from one TiVo to another via LAN TTG = Tivo To Go = copying recordings off TiVo onto a PC for playback there That's why the TiVo Series 3 doesn't support TTG or MRV yet. Cable Labs doesn't have any policies in place for certifying the TiVo box's copy restriction stuff. Supposedly, TiVo Inc is trying to work this out with them. I suspect they'll probably get there *eventually*, just because the cable industry doesn't want this to escalate to another government battle they could loose, but I'm sure they'll drag it out as long as possible, too. Another practical upshot of all that is that you'll never see a Linux PC that you can plug a CableCARD into. I suspect you'll never even be able to do it on 'doze. The cable operators want things locked up tight. ... but it may be hard to get in touch with the right person to buy one. Yah, apparently most of the front-line drones in the cable companies are pretty clueless about thus stuff right now. (Another shocker.) It varies a lot from region to region, too. Apparently Comcast in NE doesn't do too bad (at least compared to some other operators). But they still insist that the cards be installed by one of their field drones, which means you have to wait for a truck roll (dispatch to your home) so they can plug the card into your TV for you. Unfortionatly for me, sat companies dont sell these beasts. Yah, satellite isn't subject to the same regulations as cable, so the government is largely hands-off. The satellite operators use different technologies, and consider CableCARD and things like it a threat to defend against. -- Ben ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
Re: MythTV / DirecTV possible solution *FOUND*
On 11/8/06, Thomas Charron [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: But with no choice, all I can do is complain and eat their PVR solution for HD. I'd rather have something I dislike then nada at all. Unfortunately, most of their customer base does the same thing. If everyone said, No, I'm the customer here -- give me what I want or I'll cancel the service, you can bet they'd change their tune in a hurry. But most people are either too ignorant, too apathetic, or too convinced they can't fight the system. Maybe satellite TV subscribers should form some sort of union -- Ben ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
Re: Transportable HDD recommendations or warnings
On 11/8/06, Michael ODonnell [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: ... the box would wedge tightly while accessing Storage devices, but after a lot of analysis it became clear to me that the ehci-hcd module was likely the primary culprit. Further translation: The bug(s) were in the Linux kernel's use of the USB interface hardware on the computer, not the USB devices connected downstream. :-) -- Ben ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
Video formats
So, with all this talk about PVRs etc., a question arose I figured someone here might know the answer to. I occassionally download a missed show via bit-torrent. I know from trial and error, that I want to get files named like Some.Show.S02E07.HDTV.XviD-, where '' if one of: NoTV, XOR, LOL, or something else. What does this convention mean? Can someone either explain this naming convention to me, or point me to someplace where I can decipher it? Thanks! -- Seeya, Paul ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
Re: Video formats
As i understand it that is the person/group who put the rip/release to the Internet show.season(SX)Episode(EX).Resolution.Codec-Releaser and somtime you will see the network it was release on EX .Bittorent/eMule ..etc Steven Paul Lussier wrote: So, with all this talk about PVRs etc., a question arose I figured someone here might know the answer to. I occassionally download a missed show via bit-torrent. I know from trial and error, that I want to get files named like Some.Show.S02E07.HDTV.XviD-, where '' if one of: NoTV, XOR, LOL, or something else. What does this convention mean? Can someone either explain this naming convention to me, or point me to someplace where I can decipher it? Thanks! ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
Apache as SSL front-end for lame web app
Hi list, Hoping someone who knows more about Apache than I do can answer this quickly and easily, or point me in the right direction. Say I've got a lame web application running on a lame OS. No real authentication in the app. No SSL. Can't touch the config of the app's host OS or web server for lame reasons. I want to put an Apache box in front of it, and have Apache turn plain old HTTP into HTTPS, and also add a separate username/password prompt system to protect the lame app from being touched by anyone who doesn't at least have *some* credentials. Basically, turning a lame application with a trusted LAN only mentality to something might actually be safe to put on teh Interwebs. Any suggestions on how I might go about doing this? I found http://3cx.org/item/46, which I think tells me how to use mod_proxy to do the forwarding and SSL encapsulation. That's kind of what I was thinking. But can I throw some HTTP authentication on top of that, too? -- Ben ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
Re: Apache as SSL front-end for lame web app
I found http://3cx.org/item/46, which I think tells me how to use mod_proxy to do the forwarding and SSL encapsulation. That's kind of what I was thinking. But can I throw some HTTP authentication on top of that, too? Sounds reasonable. But I don't know if you can force local authentication, strip off whatever, then pass on a new userid. I'd Browse in the O'Reilly Hacks series to see if there's something that will combine with mod_proxy that will do it. -- Bill [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
Re: Tivo vs MythTV
On November 08, 2006, Ben Scott sent me the following: Another practical upshot of all that is that you'll never see a Linux PC that you can plug a CableCARD into. I suspect you'll never even be able to do it on 'doze. The cable operators want things locked up tight. There are/will be CableCard adapters for PCs, such as the ATi OCUR (Open Cable Uni-directional Receiver), but from what I've seen, they'll only be available to Windows Media Center PC OEMs. -- Chip Marshall [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://kyzoku.2bithacker.net/ GCM/IT d+(-) s+:++ a25? C++ UB$ P+++$ L- E--- W++ N@ o K- w O M+ V-- PS+ PE Y+ PGP++ t+@ R@ tv@ b++@ DI D+(-) G++ e++ h++ r-- y? ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
Re: Tivo vs MythTV
On 11/8/06, Chip Marshall [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: There are/will be CableCard adapters for PCs, such as the ATi OCUR (Open Cable Uni-directional Receiver), but from what I've seen, they'll only be available to Windows Media Center PC OEMs. Well, since all a CableCARD is is a PCMCIA card, technically, there are already adapters. :-) The hard part is getting CableLabs certification. Only then will you get the crypto needed to enable the CableCARD. By all accounts, CableLabs has been giving TiVo no end of grief in approving their system, which is a closed box. And the so-called media cartel is one of the only industries that's had the desire and ability to tell Microsoft to bugger off, so I wouldn't count on Microsoft pressuring them into doing anything. I could see CableLabs certifying something as a very locked down, pre-built box, perhaps -- essentially the same as a TiVo, just running 'doze instead of 'nix on the inside. But a card that anyone can plug into their PC? I doubt the media cartel nazis will accept that. -- Ben ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
Re: Getting started w/ MythTV [was Re: Tivo vs MythTV]
On 11/8/06, Thomas Charron [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: The cost diference between, say, the PVR-150, 250, 300, 500, etc, is the inclusion of hardware based encoders. That's what I expected, but it's confusing as hell. Their marketing department needs to work on product differentiation on their website. I finally found this: http://www.hauppauge.com/pages/compare/compare_pvr.html which explains some things. The PVR-150 is the same functionality as the -250, just with new and cheaper parts. The -350 adds a decoder/TV-out. The -500 adds a second tuner/encoder (but no decoder). Happauge cards are generally a safe bet, as nearly all of them with the exeption of the 'WinTV' cards are supported. Now I'm more confused. Pretty much *all* of their products appear to have WinTV in the name. ??? :-) A 600 Mhz machine can easily recoder 2 channels when a dual input board with hardware encoders. By contrast, a NON hardware encoder based solution would require 1.6 Ghz processor to handle it. That much, at least, makes perfect sense. And if the hardware is well supported, I'd much prefer to do the video encoding and decoding in dedicated hardware. That general strategy usually works a lot better anyway, even if you've got CPU to burn. Other then that, you WILL USE MUCH MOOCHO HD space, as it is VERY easy to simply save and forget, and soon get 'HD full' messages. ;-) This I can also attest to! The 240 GB in my TiVo is adequate, but I've still filled it on occasion. And that's at standard definition with somewhat lossy compression. At high def, I think I'd have about 30 hours. -- Ben ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
