On 4/24/05, James L. Paul <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Mercury Morris wrote: > > Recently, I > > > > 1. Built a MythTV Frontend/Backend combo. > > 2. Added an RF remote, the ATI Remote Wonder. > > 3. Wanted more Frontend/Backend combo's for redundancy, backup, etc. > > 4. Realized multiple ATI Remote Wonder remotes would be Very hard to > > manage. > > I find this interesting, and hope you will explain your design decisions .
Design decisions: Just one really, be able to have at least one MythTV system available at all times. So, by having more than one system, the odds that ALL systems will fail simultaneously are very, very small. Being able to try out any MythTV changes on a second, third, etc. system, and not lose recording capability, is also very desirable. > > Here's the solution I've decided to go forward with: > > > > 1. Place a small, silent laptop (DELL I-7500 running Fedora 2,3,4) > > on a table between easy chairs. > > This sounds like your table and chairs are placed to view multiple TVs > or video displays. How many TVs are your using? How many TVs: Only one TV, 61" Sony rear projection. It will have to be replaced with an HDTV model, but the current unit displays HDTV well enough until its replacement arrives. To be completely truthful, there is a backup TV set in the room, a 1985 RCA 27", not connected to Myth, Marantz, or anything else except a backup 1980 RCA 390 VCR. > > 2. Add VNC to the xorg.conf file on each Frontend, as shown here > > > > http://www.realvnc.com/products/free/4.1/x0.html > > > > 3. Use vncviewer on the laptop to operate each Frontend. > > I've tried this already, and it works really well. > > I use this method extensively for remote administration in my work, but > haven't applied it to controlling Myth frontends. > > > The MythTV boxes, and their noise, will be in an adjoining room, > > cables running along the floor and back wall into a Marantz SR-18EX. > > Each Frontend will connect to one of the Marantz' multiple VCR, > > LaserDisk, DVD, or AUX ports. > > My backend is in another room, but I currently have only a single TV and > so only a single frontend. > > > The result should be that only one remote, the laptop, will be > > needed to control all the Frontends. And several VCR's can be retired. > > My main curiosity is your multiple frontends. I assume you have 1 > frontend per display device (TV). How do you handle selecting audio? If > you don't have 2 or more TVs, why do you have more than 1 frontend? Sorry for the confusion: The 61" Sony has five(5) Video inputs, one of which is connected to the Marantz' Video output. This allows many, many inputs into the Sony, seven of which can come from the Marantz. Any of the Marantz Video inputs can be sent to the TV by pressing a button on the Marantz' remote. (The more I try to explain, the more it seems to be less clear - sorry.) Audio is selected simultaneously when the button is pressed. About your assumption - one frontend per display - no. It's multiple frontends, each selectable one-at-a-time thru the Marantz. > > For watching Live TV, I bypass MythTV entirely and watch the TV set > > directly. With enough MythTV capacity, watching Live TV will be the > > exception. Watching MythTV will be the rule. > > I very rarely watch live TV. I think my main confusion here is that I'm > not sure how many TVs you have. Your solution is aimed at having only 1 > remote control, and so uses VNC to control multiple frontends. Somehow I > get the impression you might be viewing all the frontends on a single > TV, but that doesn't make sense to me since you only need one frontend > per TV. Are you really being redundant with frontends, and if so, why? Yes, all the frontends on one TV. As for redundancy, I just hate missing favorite shows. Even now, M-F, I record Letterman on two VCR's, just because there have been failures. With MythTV so easily outfitted with multiple tuners and huge disk space for storing programs, I know I'll come to rely on MythTV even more than VCRs. And that means I'll feel that much worse when/if one of the MythTV systems breaks down. Thanks for replying to my message. After I posted it, read an article in the April 9 Chicago Tribune about hacking the PlayStation Portable to surf the Web. The PSP is a nice-looking unit, has Wi-Fi for connecting to the LAN in my house, and would be easier to use than a laptop. So, I'm wondering if there might be a hack for VNC to run on the PSP. I'll be off searching for any help in that area. I've seen Palm VNC, and plan to study/research that further, too. The purpose(s) of my original message were to add some information about VNC to the discussion, and see if anyone has a better, less-bulky solution to the Single-Remote/Multiple-Frontends situation. -- MM _______________________________________________ mythtv-users mailing list [email protected] http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users
