Linux Server with Live TV

Sunday October 12th, 2008

Linux, Myth-tv

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A few weeks ago I bought a computer to run Linux to record live TV, store media and perhaps serve web content.

Hardware used:

Case: ANTEC NSK3480
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-MA96GM-S2H
CPU: AMD AM2 X2 5000
RAM: 2GB Kingston PC6400
HD: 500GB Western Digital AV
DVD: Pioneer DVR-216
Tuner: Hauppauge Nova T500
Network: DLink DWA-510 (Wireless G)

Software:

Debian Etch
MythTV

Which came to a price of around AU$650

I was going to go with the Antec NSK1380 case, which looked much more suited to a HTPC (Home Theatre Personal Computer) then the NSK3480. There has been some concerns by other users that the NSK1380 doesn’t have too much room and runs hot.

The Antec NSK3480 has a fairly large fan mounted in the rear of the case, which keeps the case cool, but is audible. It might be a problem in quieter parts of a movie, so disconnecting it may be a good thing.

All the other parts are quiet, the CPU and DVD both running nicely.

The motherboard I chose included component output and HDMI. Hooking the component up to my TV resulted in a less then stellar picture. My TV has a VGA input, so I bought a 5M VGA cable from Dick Smiths, and that made the picture suburb. I haven’t tried HDMI, since my current TV doesn’t have the inputs.

The TV Tuner comes bundled with a Windows MCE remote, which has a fancy pants windows button. The only problem is that I’ve yet to been able to get the remote working at all. Would be nice to get working, but having to build drivers from source is fairly crazy. Windows seems a LOT easier in regards to driver compatiblity and installation, Linux is a major pain.

The TV Tuner itself is very good. I have a Topfield HD TV tuner, but the internal Hauppauge picks up the TV stations a lot easier. The only issue is that I can’t get SBS, but I have a feeling that has more to do with MythTV then the TV Tuner. I’m using an internal TV antenna.

I’ve installing MythTV, which is Linux software that allows you to:

View TV / DVDs
Record shows to the Harddisk
Schedule recordings
Rip DVDs and Archive saved TV shows to DVD
Skip commercials

There is also a nice web interface, so I can login via the web or other computer on my network to setup a recording.

MythTV also allows for pausing and rewinding TV. You can also setup a picture in picture, so one picture could show you the live action, while the other is delayed 5 seconds. I haven’t used this too much, but should be good for the upcoming cricket season.

The only problems with MythTV are it detecting the wrong screen resolution of 2048×1024.

I got around this by forcing MythTV to run at a certain resolution.

There is also problems with the ATI card and switching between a HD and SD source in MythTV. When changing from Ten SD to Ten HD, the channel would become garbled. The fix is just to hit ESC and click on the Watch Tv option again. I’ve been using version 8.8 of the ATI Catalyst drivers.

A couple of weeks in, it’s going well. Here are some resources I used to get it running:

Debian

[Installing Debian]
http://www.howtoforge.com/perfect_setup_debian_etch

[Another Debian install - The Beryl app looks good]
http://lunapark6.com/debian-40-etch.html

Drivers

[RT61 Driver on Linux]
http://www.crapheap.com/2008/07/how-to-install-rt61-driver-on-debian-etch/

[Linux Catalyst Driver]
http://ati.amd.com/support/drivers/linux64/linux64-radeon.html

Myth TV

[MythTV official site]
http://www.mythtv.org/

[MythTV wiki]
http://www.mythtv.org/wiki/index.php/Main_Page

[Getting the Nova T500 working]
http://www.mythtv.org/wiki/index.php/Hauppauge_WinTV_Nova-T_500_PCI

[Installing MythTV on Debian etch]
http://www.mythtv.org/wiki/index.php/Installing_MythTV_on_Debian_Etch