Because of some of the problems I had setting up my MythTV system, I've been considering setting up a web based configuration module for MythTV, or trying to talk someone else into doing so.

Here's what I think it should do initially:

1) Allow me to make any changes that are normally made by mythtv-setup.
2) Allow me to change my mind and cancel changes before commiting them.
3) Keep track of what services need to be restarted based on what changed and perform the appropriate restarts once the reconfiguration is complete.

This would make it a bit easier for newbies who don't immediately know when they need to restart myth-backend or run mythfilldatabase after making changes.

Let me know your interest in the poll.

Ray

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-- All that is gold does not glitter -- J.R.R. Tolkien

I've heard a lot of pretty dumb ideas this week, so this isn't even in the top fifty, but ... mythtv-setup is an X application program, all you need to do for remote access is to run "xhost + myMythBOX" on any box running an X server to allow access, ssh in from there, set the DISPLAY variable to point to that other X server, and fire up mythtv-setup... That is the whole point of X's client/server architecture after all... Even if all you have available to you is MS-Windows you can still run an X server on it, although I don't know if there are any free ones...

For example, anytime I'm posting something about how to do something using mythtv-setup I fire it up with the DISPLAY pointing at my workstation box and double check the steps and/or menu/field names.

I guess my question would be if you can't get your display working to run mythtv-setup how are you ever going to see the actual myth interface? I guess in limited circumstances this could be useful, but I wouldn't put it all that high on the priority list.

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Have a question search the forum and have a look at the KnoppMythWiki.

Xsecrets

A freeware xserver (that works very well btw) for win32 is included in cygwin

For others interested in controlling mythtv via an xsession on a windows box, I just wrote a guide in the howto section that'll show you how - direct link is here.

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Retired KM user (R4 - R6.04); friend to LH users.

I really love mythweb; we rarely use the remote/on TV to setup recording or search for shows. In that light, I think having another link on the top of mythweb that allows users to edit settings would be a good idea (a myth-webmin sort of function I guess).

tjc does make a good point about client/server and it is pretty trivial to setup it up on a win32 box, but as rben noted, having a config module in mythweb -- assuming the user could access it -- would be nice.

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Retired KM user (R4 - R6.04); friend to LH users.

not all of us are geeks that can forward x-displays with ease. from what i understand there is already some configuration available via the web (channel editor etc)..

personally i'd like a front end to edit the title/information for tv shows in my video directory that do not have IMDB entries.. as well as various home movies i've put there. maybe there's something there already, but nothing i've just "happened" across.

There are probably things that should be taken over to the mythtv development list. Knoppmyth is primary focused on getting the hardware and X stuff working correctly, not bypassing it!

-brendan

Don't get me wrong, my point was only that you can already run it remotely. Having ALL of the config settings available from the web interface would be very nice, but also a major undertaking.

Half the time when I shoot at the strawman it's because I'm playing the devil's advocate to help folks clarify their thinking. Looking at an idea critically is an important sanity test after all, and despite the "newthink" types, not the same as being negative about it. Whenever I'm designing a solution I always try to hunt up someone to poke holes in it, since it's far better to find them at that stage whenever possible.

Sounds like a heck of an idea to me. Again, the experienced folks won't see the value in it, but us relative newbies could've saved countless hours with something like this.

shplad

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...or one can use VNC to run mythtv-setup remotely. Plus, it's nice to reconnect and have all xterms and editors where you last left off. I think there's a how-to on the wiki.

This is just my twenty cents worth:-

Once your system is configured, how many times do you go back and change it? For example once you have set the clock and channels on your VCR how often would you have to go back and change them?

If you are, like me, continually installing the new alphas I employ you to learn what you can to make the job easier. I myself have written a script that sets up most of my system for me. Yes I realise this might be beyond the average user, but if you read the forums continually you will find someone that has used your hardware and has done some work on it.

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Girkers

The same thought occurred to me after recently setting up MythTV for the first time. Mythtv-setup is fine, but I think a web interface would be more efficient. The same applies to all the various setup pages in the mythfrontend, these would work nicely in a www interface.

In fact, after having some difficulty setting up QAM (cable) HDTV channels, I modified MythWeb to add some more fields to the channel configuration pages. So, I can update all the QAM settings from the WWW interface. The same concept would apply for all the various config settings. ( I submitted a patch to the MythTV and and DVB mailing lists, if others are interested )


It really wouldn't be that hard to do. All of the MythTV config settings are stored in the MySQL database. PHP has very good support for MySQL. All you would have to do is figure out the MythTV schema, and a little background on what all the valid options are for the various config attributes.

Well, I don't go in and change much on my backend, but once and awhile I have to go in and re-setup my capture cards and channels. I tend to do a lot of frontend experimenting. Occasionaly my tables corrupt and I have to manually go back and re-enter my settings. It would be nice to just open a browser from where ever I am in the house and fix it from there. 1 more vote for the web config interface.

Gonz

Web based configuration would be good, and I'd love to see access to ALL the settings via the web pages, but it's definitely nontrivial. The channels page is a relatively easy one since there is a primary key and entry fields have relatively obvious values, but the settings table is another beast entirely.

Just for instance what are the valid data settings for the "CommercialSkipMethod" value? Mine says "255" what does that mean? I can probably make an educated guess, but it would take code spelunking through the settings GUI to confirm, and that's just one of 421 values... Then once you're done the problem becomes keeping it in sync with the GUI...

I don't want to discourage you, but it wouldn't be fair of me not to warn you that it's a big job you're considering here either...

Hi,
I have to go along with Mr.Girkers as once you have gone the mythtv-setup route, there usually isn't much need to go back very often. Frequent corruption is a sign of other troubles.

I also do installs using scripts. They are probably very messy at best however from blank harddrive to tv on the monitor is typically ~1 hour, upgrades are about half that time, just besure to do a backup before shutdown!

The skill areas needed I feel are the x server, that can be tricky to make work properly and with repeatable results everytime. It is possable to have everything output from a pvr350 and also have a remote x display.

I would like to see Mr. Girkers scripts to see if we have both invented the same wheel.

Mike