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PostPosted: Thu Aug 09, 2007 8:40 pm 
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Joined: Thu Sep 08, 2005 4:46 pm
Posts: 89
Hi,

I saw this video on you tube and i want to received your opinions.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHP0Llu1AH0

Is it one of the best small cheap frontend for now?
What about HD?
Can we expect Knoppmyth support? (There's already a wiki on the Mythtv web site. http://www.mythtv.org/wiki/index.php/Installing_MythFrontend_on_an_AppleTV)

Anyone using this setup?

thanks
Bob


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PostPosted: Sat Aug 11, 2007 3:31 pm 
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Location: Whittier, Ca
There is a post with someone attempting to get it working... Don't expect any out the box support soon or even with R6. This won't work unless someone steps up and offers to help with testing/debugging/developing, etc. Neither Dale nor I have an AppleTV...


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PostPosted: Mon Aug 13, 2007 9:03 am 
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Joined: Tue Jun 12, 2007 2:21 pm
Posts: 12
I have mythtv running on an appletv. It works fine, but I still have a few issues with the audio that need to be resolved.

It can play back 720p and 1080i video without stuttering. The cpu utilization runs about 60-70% playing back hd using the 7300 to do the decoding.

I was never able to get knoppmyth installed on it. The appletv's partitioning scheme isn't handled by the installer, so you can't install it on the disk. I run mythbuntu on it instead. The mythbuntu guys have been very responsive to requests from me to add features that make installing mythbuntu on the appletv much easier.

If you would like to give it a shot, read through this entire thread:

http://forum.awkwardtv.org/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=167

All of the info you need to get you running is in there, but it is spread throughout the thread. For a quick overview of what you need to do, check out this:

http://mysettopbox.tv/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=15913

Good luck!


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PostPosted: Mon Aug 13, 2007 12:39 pm 
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Joined: Thu Sep 08, 2005 4:46 pm
Posts: 89
OK,

I think this represent a good project and hobby for the next weeks. I hope to have your support in my project dkeefe. I will have to read a lot because i'm a kind of newbie in linux and mac as well. The documentation seem very good to achieve this project of Mythtv Frontend.

I just ordered a refurbished AppleTv for 279$ Can (Free shipping).

Can we boost the memory on the appletv?

Thanks in advanced
Bob


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PostPosted: Mon Aug 13, 2007 2:49 pm 
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Joined: Tue Jun 12, 2007 2:21 pm
Posts: 12
bob,

good luck. once you get started, post your questions/results on the awkwardtv forum because you will get a lot more support.

You might be able to increase the memory, but it won't be easy. the parts are bgas.

start with mythbuntu alpha 3. there may even be an alpha 4 by the time you get going.

if your going to use the original disk, make sure you create a backup image first. you never know if you'll need to restore the disk.

have fun!


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PostPosted: Mon Aug 13, 2007 5:30 pm 
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Joined: Wed Mar 03, 2004 7:43 pm
Posts: 748
Location: Sydney, Australia
The interesting thing about that YouTube video is that he has it running under the Apple iTV environment (presumably without having to take the drive out). I didn't realise that anyone had worked out how to use plugins to do this yet!

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| "Things you own end up owning you" - Tyler, Fight Club


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PostPosted: Thu Apr 10, 2008 12:06 pm 
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Joined: Fri Sep 21, 2007 11:39 am
Posts: 25
I am new to MythTV and have a HD requirement. I have been evaluating MythBuntu and KnoppMyth for a month or two, and I really like the smaller resource footprint of KnoppMyth.

Getting KnoppMyth running on an AppleTV is very desirable. The fellas over at MythBuntu seem to have very recently made great strides and seem to have a fully functional MythBuntu frontend. Maybe we can leverage what they are doing.

Thread link: Call for Apple TV developers & testers

From a recent post :

"Mythbuntu on the AppleTV seems pretty stable so far. There have been several updates to the atv-bootloader wiki (http://atv-bootloader.googlecode.com/) that describe the installation process. Installation should be pretty straight forward. Video (Nvidia XvMC), audio (analog and digital), and IR (Apple IR remote) are all working."

There was some mention of studdering when starting a HD stream and when the OSD was visible, but I can't help but think that the larger resource requirements of MythBuntu can't be helping matters.

Is anyone else interested in working on this?

I would love to be a developer and tester. I am a software developer with Unix experience, but like everyone else, my available time is very limited. I am not sure how to even get started if I am able to put some time together for development. I haven't ruled out development, but I can at least help with testing or docs.

With the recent price drop to $229 or $199 for a refurb, this seems to be an ideal frontend (minus DVD playback) for a lot of people.


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PostPosted: Thu Apr 10, 2008 1:18 pm 
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Joined: Fri Oct 20, 2006 12:04 pm
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Location: LA, CA
$199 for a HD FE is very interesting. I've been loosely following the Myth on ATV threads. But KM on ATV would be fantastic. As Cecil stated, someone would really need to take point on this project. Maybe your the 'chosen one' tombongo... :lol: well anyway, really take the ball and run.

PS, welcome to the board.


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PostPosted: Thu Apr 10, 2008 2:00 pm 
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Joined: Fri Sep 21, 2007 11:39 am
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I am not sure if this would require software development, packaging together the correct drivers, or somethings else. I first need to review what the Mythbuntu folk actually did from the few details available.

I will keep you posted with what I found out or if I have any questions. Anyone else with additional info, please post. Thanks in advance!


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PostPosted: Thu Apr 10, 2008 3:28 pm 
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Joined: Mon Mar 20, 2006 7:02 pm
Posts: 95
Hi, I'm the atv-bootloader author.

It's pretty easy to install and setup and is very stable. Not a single click turnkey as some tools and kernel modules need to be built/rebuilt but an unpatched kernel can be booted. The atv-bootloader wiki has several guides on various Linux installs. I've not tried a KnoppMyth install as I have to match to an existing MythTV 0.21 release backend.

Doing any Linux install does require a working normal PC system. That might be different for KnoppMyth, the issue involves the console framebuffer used for LiveCD and Installers and Ubuntu making the wrong choice for theirs. I know all the tricks and issues so I can certainly help someone with Linux experience work through an install so I can document the process.

A dual boot install with the AppleTV OS and Linux is also possible.

1080i mpeg2 content plays fine and 480i/p and 720p mpeg2 is a piece of cake. Looks like most 720p H.265 is also fine, the trailer for Wall*E is my favorite.

See http://code.google.com/p/atv-bootloader/ for details. I monitor the Mythbuntu and awkwardtv forums. Just happen to be checking in here today and saw the thread.

Scott


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PostPosted: Thu Apr 10, 2008 8:07 pm 
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Location: LA, CA
Hello Scott and nice work on the Myth2ATV stuff. Thanks for joining the discussion here.

Just wondering if there were plans for maybe an (auto) install that could be run from a USB stick? Since the variables are few if any with the ATV, it would make install a breeze. Also maybe a Knoppmyth guide once the new KM (with .21) is released? KM appears to be less demanding then mythbuntu. Maybe even a remastering of KM for the ATV, say KM-ATV?


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PostPosted: Thu Apr 10, 2008 8:50 pm 
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Joined: Mon Mar 20, 2006 7:02 pm
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Running of a USB stick is possible but brings up issues of RAM memory. The standard mythfrontend sucks lots of ram from caching static screens and the AppleTV has only 256MB of ram. Running swap on a USB stick can be done but i/o to flash is slow and that's going to hurt performance

An external USB hard disk works quite well. I use them a lot for testing.

A remaster of KM can also be done. I don't have the storage space for it at googlecode so it would have to be hosted elsewhere. I'd like to move to deb installs, that would eliminate the rebuild steps. I'm deb stupid so I need to learn how to build a few debs.

First thing to do is try it and resolve the distro issues. For example, you need the 169.xx series nvidia driver as we need to underclock the gpu to eliminate an random error with XvMC decode. The previous versions do not allow the nvidia driver to underclock a nvidia mobile chipset. I know all the issues so getting a KM up and running would not take long.


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PostPosted: Thu Apr 10, 2008 11:00 pm 
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Joined: Fri Sep 21, 2007 11:39 am
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I am very pleased to see you both participating in this discussion.

Too Many Secrets: Since I have never looked at a line of MythTV code, I am not sure of this, but a KM remastering for ATV seems like a big task. Is it?

Scott Davilla: I read your rant about the inefficiencies in 0.21. Are these problems able to be resolved?

Some of my experiences so far:
I have a P4 1.8GHz with 128MB of RAM and integrated graphics backend that I am trying test serving two 1080i streams at once to two diskless frontends with both KM and Mythbuntu. The KM backend and diskless frontend setups were ultra simple. It literally took me 30mins. I also had no problem serving multiple 1080i streams and everything on the backend was extrememly responsive. As for Mythbuntu, the backend was extremely sluggish, almost unusable, when booting and running the default window manager. I am still in the process of setting up the diskless frontends to correctly talk to the backend. When it comes to streaming the video, I have little hope of success without a major RAM upgrade.

I just thought I should point out one of the factors that make me think that KM is a more attractive option for the ATV. Just a newbies two cents.


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PostPosted: Thu Apr 10, 2008 11:05 pm 
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Joined: Fri Sep 21, 2007 11:39 am
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Is it safe to say that this effort is put on hold until .21 has been integrated into KM?


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PostPosted: Fri Apr 11, 2008 12:16 am 
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Joined: Mon Mar 20, 2006 7:02 pm
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[quote="tombongo"]Scott Davilla: I read your rant about the inefficiencies in 0.21. Are these problems able to be resolved?[/quote]

I do get on a rant sometimes,) 0.21 release is not too bad. It could be much snapper in my opinion which means nothing until I start re-coding and submitting patches.

The real question is would the mythtv devs be receptive to some possible radical changes. I'm not so sure as they tend to run big fast iron (silicon?) and don't care that much about boxes with limited cpu resources. They are deep in QT4 porting right now so their focus is elsewhere.

I am contemplating the creation of a thin client mythfrontend (in C/C++ thank you please) that uses mplayer for video with vf_overlay to handle the EPG and OSD overlay and blending functions. Something like MythRoku (yes I also have a Roku HD1000).


Last edited by davilla on Fri Apr 11, 2008 12:23 am, edited 1 time in total.


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