Updates with new hardware
All hardware is the same as above but changed:
-duron 800mhz to duron 1.8ghz (applebred-supports SSE instructions)
-cdrom to nec 3520a dvdr *some problems? see below
-added dlink g520 (802.11g card compatible with madwifi)
Now using the
R5A16 installation.
Results:
Could be "Tier 1":
It would be Tier 1 if you don't consider dvd burning and wireless as necessary requirements. Pop in R5A16, auto install, and the following should work:
-update over eth0 (ethernet lan connection, not wireless)
-watch/record tv
-control mythtv using keyboard
-vga output
-play dvd/vcd/mpeg4
"Tier 1.5":
I've gotten really good at installing it after reinstalling several times experimenting and tweaking so I have no trouble getting to this point.
Additional configuration work:
-nvidia video drivers (well documented)
-nvidia tv out X11 configuration (well documented)
-lirc daemon to startup for remote (documented in forums, see below)
-A14 gray remote config files (documented in forums/wiki)
-ath0 interface configuration (and eth0 "de" configuration)
With those steps you will get the nvidia stuff working so you can use TV out to connect to a TV, wireless network connectivity, and use a remote. The lirc daemon doesn't automatically start on boot but that's easy to add by:
Code:
% udpate-rc.d lirc defaults
That adds the lirc daemon to the init.d script so it loads on boot time.
To start the lirc daemon without rebooting:
Code:
% /etc/init.d/lirc start
If you're like me and want to use a wireless connection and not an ethernet connection, change your /etc/network/interfaces to have ath0 instead of eth0. Should look something like:
Code:
auto lo ath0
iface lo inet loopback
iface ath0 inet dhcp
pre-up /sbin/iwpriv ath0 mode 3
pre-up /sbin/iwconfig ath0 essid "access-point-essid" mode managed rate 54Mbps key A_WEP_KEY_GOES_HERE restricted
If you want to test without rebooting do:
Code:
% ifconfig ath0 up
% pump -i ath0
The rest of the information is either on the wiki or in the knoppmyth instructions.
What I haven't gotten to work:
dvd burning. I don't know why but my dvdrecord -scanbus reports errors. At one point it was able to actually find the drive using scanbus but I never got to running the right dvdrecord command to attempt to write a disk. Since, I haven't been able to get back to that point of detecting the drive on a -scanbus option. I've given up on it for now since dvd burning was more of just icing on the cake and the main user of the system won't be burning dvds anyway.
The error message I get is something like "cannot access /dev/pd*." This is even though I am logged in as root.
Other recommendations and comments:
In R5A16 nuv2disc is working better. But because of my dvdburning issue, I can't actually write the ISOs on the same system. I can make them correctly though.
Change the deinterlace algorithm to kernel (if your cpu has SSE). Of the four deinterlace options, I find kernel to have the best results. Bob has good results as well but tends to flicker on horizontal lines. Linear seems to blur the image too much for my tastes and makes it seem a little "slow." The last option "one point" or something like that can also have good results for a TV but tends to exagerrate the compression artifacts or static artifacts.
For some reason, my mythtv doesn't have the "halt" third option when exiting mythtv by using the default esc out of the main menu. I managed to make my own workaround for it (change exit myth tv to alt+esc and added halt button to the main menu where it is easily accessible) but I really do think the options when trying to exit myth should be yes, no, and halt.
Maybe in future releases of knoppmyth, there could be a madwifi network setup option instead of the typical eth0 option. During install, you can get away without a wired ethernet connection by letting it give eth0 a static ip and after it's done configuring that, exit X and "de" configure the eth0 stuff (and replace it with your ath0 stuff) then go back to the installation process. After doing it twenty or so times, I don't have too many problems now, but for a new user it could be a couple hours of googling.