I would like to get a Hauppauge WinTV Nova T 500 adapter which I understand works with Linux.
That's the easy part.
It would be very inconvenient to install it in my desktop because it would require a connection to a TV aerial socket and I don't have one near my desktop.
My idea would be to assemble another computer using some spare parts that I have together with some parts that I would have to re-aquire. I say 're-aquire' because I would have had all the necessary parts if I hadn't given away a lot of them (CPUs, hard drives, RAM) to a local computer recycling charity a few months ago. Why is it that one does not have a use for these parts until they've gone?
I'm assuming that if I assemble the said computer with the TV adapter in it (putting it near a TV aerial socket) and can connect wirelessly to my desktop then I could access the TV adapter from my desktop using something like MythTV. Would such a thing be possible?
I would be looking at a minimal install of Linux on the new box with all the processing done on my desktop.
This would assume that I could connect the two boxes using nothing more than a wireless adapter in each i.e. no router. My desktop has an on- board wireless adapter and I have two spare PCI adapters one of which I could use in the new box. Is it possible to get two wireless adapters to communicate in this way? Would that be fast enough to cope with the data from the TV adapter?
What sort of specification for the new machine would be required? I have a Gigabyte GA-7ZXE mainboard which takes a Socket A Athlon (which I would have to aquire) and it takes PC-133 SDRam (which I would also have to aquire). What's the minimum RAM I would need?
I would also need to aquire an IDE hard drive. What's the minimum size I could get away with?
I wouldn't normally want to use a screen or keyboard after the machine has been setup - would that cause problems when booting?
What else haven't I thought of?
On Jan 26, 2008 2:07 PM, Barry Samuels bjsamuels@beenthere-donethat.org.uk wrote:
I would also need to aquire an IDE hard drive. What's the minimum size I could get away with?
What ever you pick, you'll fill it up. Get the biggest you can afford.
Then think about your backup solution. For TV recordings "Wait for the repeat" is the cheapest option.
Tim.
On Sat, 2008-01-26 at 14:07 +0000, Barry Samuels wrote:
My idea would be to assemble another computer using some spare parts that I have together with some parts that I would have to re-aquire. I say 're-aquire' because I would have had all the necessary parts if I hadn't given away a lot of them (CPUs, hard drives, RAM) to a local computer recycling charity a few months ago. Why is it that one does not have a use for these parts until they've gone?
I'm assuming that if I assemble the said computer with the TV adapter in it (putting it near a TV aerial socket) and can connect wirelessly to my desktop then I could access the TV adapter from my desktop using something like MythTV. Would such a thing be possible?
You should be able to access the content over a network using myth TV but I am not sure of the specifics of setting that bit up.
This would assume that I could connect the two boxes using nothing more than a wireless adapter in each i.e. no router. My desktop has an on- board wireless adapter and I have two spare PCI adapters one of which I could use in the new box. Is it possible to get two wireless adapters to communicate in this way? Would that be fast enough to cope with the data from the TV adapter?
Yeh you need hardware with drivers capable of ad-hoc mode (although this carries a performance penalty) or Master mode (not everything supports this but you would only need one (either) end to do it) or go for something that works with the hostap drivers (like the prism chipset) as they have their own "master" mode that emulates an Access Point...again you only need one end to do that and the other end can then be set up as if it was talking to a real access point...only ad-hoc mode requires specific support from both ends. I don't know the bandwidth requirements of running Myth with a remote client, you may have to consider ethernet over mains (homeplug) to get the bandwidth you need
I wouldn't normally want to use a screen or keyboard after the machine has been setup - would that cause problems when booting?
No. you may need to look in the machines Bios and tell it not to halt on keyboard errors, nearly every BIOS has an option for that somewhere.
On 26/01/08 18:47:30, Wayne Stallwood wrote:
On Sat, 2008-01-26 at 14:07 +0000, Barry Samuels wrote:
My idea would be to assemble another computer using some spare parts that I have together with some parts that I would have to re- aquire. I say 're-aquire' because I would have had all the necessary parts if I hadn't given away a lot of them (CPUs, hard drives, RAM) to a local computer recycling charity a few months ago. Why is it that one does not have a use for these parts until they've gone?
I'm assuming that if I assemble the said computer with the TV adapter in it (putting it near a TV aerial socket) and can connect wirelessly to my desktop then I could access the TV adapter from my desktop using something like MythTV. Would such a thing be possible?
You should be able to access the content over a network using myth TV but I am not sure of the specifics of setting that bit up.
This would assume that I could connect the two boxes using nothing more than a wireless adapter in each i.e. no router. My desktop has an on-board wireless adapter and I have two spare PCI adapters one of which I could use in the new box. Is it possible to get two wireless adapters to communicate in this way? Would that be fast enough to cope with the data from the TV adapter?
Yeh you need hardware with drivers capable of ad-hoc mode (although this carries a performance penalty) or Master mode (not everything supports this but you would only need one (either) end to do it) or go for something that works with the hostap drivers (like the prism chipset) as they have their own "master" mode that emulates an Access Point...again you only need one end to do that and the other end can then be set up as if it was talking to a real access point...only ad- hoc mode requires specific support from both ends. I don't know the bandwidth requirements of running Myth with a remote client, you may have to consider ethernet over mains (homeplug) to get the bandwidth you need
I wouldn't normally want to use a screen or keyboard after the machine has been setup - would that cause problems when booting?
No. you may need to look in the machines Bios and tell it not to halt on keyboard errors, nearly every BIOS has an option for that somewhere.
Wayne, thanks for the advice. There has now been a slight change of plan.
I have setup my cardboard computer (it's in a cardboard box) using an old main board with a 750 MHz Athlon K7 and 768 MB of RAM. I fitted a PCI ethernet card and a PCI wireless card. There is a 6.5 GB hard drive which is certainly big enough for the operating system only (Debian) which I have now installed and it's all up and running. I have also aquired (free) a 20GB hard drive for storing the recodings and it is now fitted and running.
I have decided to put it near the television aerial wall point and it can connect to my wireless access point from there solving my wireless problem.
There was nothing in the BIOS about stopping on errors so I tried it without keyboard or screen and it boots without problems. I can control it via SSH from my desktop so my next step will be to buy a Hauppauge WinTV Nova T 500 adapter.
I'm going to run the MythTV backend on the cardboard machine and the front (controlling) end on my desktop which MythTV is apparently setup to do. If it all works
If it all works as hoped I'll even buy it a proper case.
-
Barry Samuels -
Tim Green -
Wayne Stallwood