LinuxMCE - User contributions [en]

MythTV, xmltv and channels

2008-03-21T21:49:14Z

Domodude:

CONCEPT

To get MythTV set up fairly easily with xmltv, I use the following steps. It works with multiple grabbers and sources. The approach should work with LMCE 0704 (stable) as well as all beta versions for 0710.

#If LMCE already offers a good tv_grab_* for your situation, skip this step. If there is a grabber available that is not yet listed in mythtv-setup, download your favorite version(s). In my case (Holland), these are tv_grab_nl_upc and tv_grab_nl_py. Make them executable and copy them to /usr/bin. In mythtv-setup, these grabbers will now show up automagically.
#Go through mythtv-setup as usual (when in doubt, see generic Mythtv documentation).
#'''Make sure your system timezone and LMCE timezone are correct!''' For your system timezone, you could use the command tzselect at the command line, for the LMCE timezone, go to http://192.168.80.1/pluto-admin/ -> basic info -> installation.
#Run tv_grab_<the one you use> --configure. Pay attention, it will probably generate a config file in .xmltv, but you will need to copy it to .mythtv. The name will depend on what you used in mythtv-setup. I find it convenient to just do a test-run of mythfilldatabase. It will complain about a missing config file: that will be the name and location you need to use. It will look something like this: /home/linuxmce/.mythtv/UPC-analog.xmltv (I used the name UPC-analog in mythtv-setup).
#Assuming you finished mythtv-setup properly, you can now run mythfilldatabase --manual. You will ''have'' to fill in the channel numbers when asked, if you leave them blank, the channels are not added to the database! Just use the suggested names. Press enter at every other question.
#Once done, go to http://192.168.80.1/mythweb/settings/channels. You will see a list of all channels, as shown below. Do NOT edit xmltvid (3rd column). You can change the 4th to 6th column as you see fit. Column 4 determines the order in which the guide data is shown on screen. The important column is 7. In my case, this has many 6-digits numbers. This is the frequency at which the channel is coming in. This information is usually readily available from your cable provider.
[[Image:Channels.jpg]]
One last remark: The example image above is from a setup with two sources. Column 2 shows the source number. If your source is ''digital'', you will have to use an ir-blaster (probably a usb-uirt) to change the channels on the cable box. Leave the frequency empty, but make sure column 4 contains the correct channel number.

--[[User:Domodude|Domodude]] 14:27, 21 March 2008 (PDT)

MythTV, xmltv and channels

2008-03-21T21:42:08Z

Domodude: Now includes warning about getting your timezones right!

CONCEPT

To get MythTV set up fairly easily with xmltv, I use the following steps. It works with multiple grabbers and sources. The approach should work with LMCE 0704 (stable) as well as all beta versions for 0710.

#Download your favorite tv_grab_* versions. In my case (Holland), these are tv_grab_nl_upc and tv_grab_nl_py.
#Make them executable and copy them to /usr/bin.
#In mythtv-setup, these grabbers will now show up automagically. Go through the setup menus as usual (when in doubt, see generic Mythtv documentation).
#'''Make sure your system timezone and LMCE timezone are correct!''' For your system timezone, you could use the command tzselect at the command line, for the LMCE timezone, go to http://192.168.80.1/pluto-admin/ -> basic info -> installation.
#Run tv_grab_<the one you use> --configure. Pay attention, it will probably generate a config file in .xmltv, but you will need to copy it to .mythtv. The name will depend on what you used in mythtv-setup. I find it convenient to just do a test-run of mythfilldatabase. It will complain about a missing config file: that will be the name and location you need to use. It will look something like this: /home/linuxmce/.mythtv/UPC-analog.xmltv (I used the name UPC-analog in mythtv-setup).
#Assuming you finished mythtv-setup properly, you can now run mythfilldatabase --manual. You will ''have'' to fill in the channel numbers when asked, if you leave them blank, the channels are not added to the database! Just use the suggested names. Press enter at every other question.
#Once done, go to http://192.168.80.1/mythweb/settings/channels. You will see a list of all channels, as shown below. Do NOT edit xmltvid (3rd column). You can change the 4th to 6th column as you see fit. Column 4 determines the order in which the guide data is shown on screen. The important column is 7. In my case, this has many 6-digits numbers. This is the frequency at which the channel is coming in. This information is usually readily available from your cable provider.
[[Image:Channels.jpg]]
One last remark: The example image above is from a setup with two sources. Column 2 shows the source number. If your source is ''digital'', you will have to use an ir-blaster (probably a usb-uirt) to change the channels on the cable box. Leave the frequency empty, but make sure column 4 contains the correct channel number.

--[[User:Domodude|Domodude]] 14:27, 21 March 2008 (PDT)

MythTV, xmltv and channels

2008-03-21T21:38:42Z

Domodude:

CONCEPT

To get MythTV set up fairly easily with xmltv, I use the following steps. It works with multiple grabbers and sources. The approach should work with LMCE 0704 (stable) as well as all beta versions for 0710.

#Download your favorite tv_grab_* versions. In my case (Holland), these are tv_grab_nl_upc and tv_grab_nl_py.
#Make them executable and copy them to /usr/bin.
#In mythtv-setup, these grabbers will now show up automagically. Go through the setup menus as usual (when in doubt, see generic Mythtv documentation).
#Run tv_grab_<the one you use> --configure. Pay attention, it will probably generate a config file in .xmltv, but you will need to copy it to .mythtv. The name will depend on what you used in mythtv-setup. I find it convenient to just do a test-run of mythfilldatabase. It will complain about a missing config file: that will be the name and location you need to use. It will look something like this: /home/linuxmce/.mythtv/UPC-analog.xmltv (I used the name UPC-analog in mythtv-setup).
#Assuming you finished mythtv-setup properly, you can now run mythfilldatabase --manual. You will ''have'' to fill in the channel numbers when asked, if you leave them blank, the channels are not added to the database! Just use the suggested names. Press enter at every other question.
#Once done, go to http://192.168.80.1/mythweb/settings/channels. You will see a list of all channels, as shown below. Do NOT edit xmltvid (3rd column). You can change the 4th to 6th column as you see fit. Column 4 determines the order in which the guide data is shown on screen. The important column is 7. In my case, this has many 6-digits numbers. This is the frequency at which the channel is coming in. This information is usually readily available from your cable provider.
[[Image:Channels.jpg]]
One last remark: The example image above is from a setup with two sources. Column 2 shows the source number. If your source is ''digital'', you will have to use an ir-blaster (probably a usb-uirt) to change the channels on the cable box. Leave the frequency empty, but make sure column 4 contains the correct channel number.

--[[User:Domodude|Domodude]] 14:27, 21 March 2008 (PDT)

MythTV

2008-03-21T21:34:48Z

Domodude:

[[Category: Programmer's Guide]]
[[Category:Software components]]
[[Category: Video| Video]]

'''MythTV''' is a Linux application which turns a computer with the necessary hardware into a [[personal video recorder]], a digital multimedia home entertainment system, or Home Theater Personal Computer. It is used by LinuxMCE to handle viewing and recording of television.

*[http://www.mythtv.org MythTV Main Website]

==Setting up MythTV in LinuxMCE==
If you purchased a Media Director with LinuxMCE pre-installed, you can skip steps 2, 3 and 6 below--they will have been preconfigured. To get MythTV going you should:

# First plugin and bootup all your media directors.
# If you have a PVR capture card, such as the PVR250/350 supported by IVTV, or the newer Blackbird cards (cx88), you will need to install the firmware before proceeding. You can get this from the card manufacturer. Or, you can do an internet search on 'linuxmce.com' 'firmware' to find users that may have posted the firmware for your card. Install the firmware before proceeding with Myth setup.
# Be sure you specified the type of capture card on the LinuxMCE Admin site on the "Wizard/Devices/Media Directors" page.
# For each Media Director, select the 'Computing' button on either the Orbiter that appears on the media director's screen (the on-screen orbiter), or using any other Orbiter which is controlling the same room as the Media Director. Choose "MythTV Setup". Myth's setup utility will appear on the Media Director. If you launched this from an Orbiter other than the media director's own on-screen Orbiter, that Orbiter will display a keyboard & mouse you can use in addition to the media director's own. Basically you can use web pad and pda orbiters as wireless keyboards/mice.
# If you do not use NTSC, choose the "General" option, and then "Next" until you get to the "Global Backend Setup" page. Choose your video standard (NTSC, PAL, etc.). All other general settings should be fine with their default values. Press ESC to return to the Main Myth Setup Menu.
# Choose "Capture Cards", "New Capture Card". If you have an ivtv or blackbird/cx88 card, choose "MPEG-2 Encoder card (PVR-250/350)". If you're using the cx88/blackbird driver, change the 'video0' to 'video1'. If your card was properly identified, the video device field should be filled in for you. If not, you may want to try rebooting the media director and repeating. Press ESC to return to the Main Myth Setup Menu.
# Choose "Video Sources" and select your video source. Refer to the Myth user's Manual for details. Press ESC to return to the Main Myth Setup Menu.
# Choose "Input connections" to indicate which video source is connected to which input on the capture card.
# Press ESC to exit Myth Setup and return to the LinuxMCE Orbiter screen.
# At this point you will be prompted to run mythfilldatabse. Select "Yes".
# Sadly, as of 0710b3, this command silently fails to run. To fix this problem:
## Open /etc/mythtv/mysql.txt
## Copy the value for DBpasswd from that file.
## Open /home/linuxmce/.mythtv/mysql.txt (this file was created when you tried to run mythfilldatabse earlier)
## Paste the value you copied earlier into the DBpasswd field
## Save the file and run mythfilldatabase again.
## Go get a coffee
# You will need to do a full reboot of the whole LinuxMCE system, core and all media directors, before you can watch TV with Myth TV. Therefore, you may want to setup all media directors at once and then do a complete reboot.

NOTE: Do not reboot until the media director(s) has had a chance to retrieve the channel data. You can confirm this by choosing the 'TV' button on the Orbiter main menu. This launches MythTV. Then choose "Manage Recordings", "Schedule Recordings", "Program Guide". You should see some program guide data. If you do not, wait a bit so Myth has a chance to pull the guide data.

If you have difficulty with Myth, you can refer to the official Myth site, or use LinuxMCE's support site. If the problem relates to Myth's integration with LinuxMCE, be sure to contact LinuxMCE for support.

==Electronic Program Guide with xmltv==
If you want to use xmltv to get your program guide information, [[MythTV%2C_xmltv_and_channels]] might be useful.

==Programmer's Guide==
We have created a DCE Device that wraps the MythTV libraries and can receive commands from other DCE devices and use them to control the TV functionality of the mythtv. Supported functionality at this moment comprises the following: Start TV, Stop TV, Tune to channel, Channel Up, Channel Down. The player uses the same mechanisms that the current (as of 0.16 version) MythTv frontend program uses. So for every mythtv installation that currently works the player should work the same way as the current frontend.

In order to be able to do this we had to change the signature of some methods in a class used by the mythfrontend application. The classes in question is the TV class defined in the libs/libmythtv/tv_play.{h,cpp} files from the mythtv repository. The changes consist in some method and field access changes (made some previously private methods to be public). This was done in order to be able to control the player programatically and avoid putting synthetic events into the playback windows event queue. The changes only affect the headers and are used to compile the player. The binary should run on any machine with a working 0.16 MythTV installation.

Since we needed to have a resizable playback window we had to make some changes in the way the mythtv playback window is created and displayed. The change is a derived class from the MainMythWindow class which knows about resize events and uses them to resize all child objects inside it. The class is available in the plutohome.com svn repository also (in the MythTV Player module).

This module does not work currently with a mythfrontend application running. The module will present itself to the server as another mythfrontend client and it will use one tuner on playback (the same way as a mythtfronted will do).

MythTV, xmltv and channels

2008-03-21T21:27:21Z

Domodude:

CONCEPT

To get MythTV set up fairly easily with xmltv, I use the following steps. It works with multiple grabbers and sources. The approach should work with LMCE 0704 (stable) as well as all beta versions for 0710.

#Download my favorite tv_grab_* versions. These are tv_grab_nl_upc and tv_grab_nl_py.
#Make the executable and copy them to /usr/bin.
#In mythtv-setup, these grabbers will now show up automagically. Go through the setup menus as usual (when in doubt, see generic Mythtv documentation).
#Run tv_grab_<the one you use> --configure. Pay attention, it will probably generate a config file in .xmltv, but you will need to copy it to .mythtv. The name will depend on what you used in mythtv-setup. I find it convenient to just do a test-run of mythfilldatabase. It will complain about a missing config file: that will be the name and location you need to use. It will look something like this: /home/linuxmce/.mythtv/UPC-analog.xmltv (I used the name UPC-analog in mythtv-setup).
#Assuming you finished mythtv-setup properly, you can now run mythfilldatabase --manual. You will ''have'' to fill in the channel numbers when asked, if you leave them blank, the channels are not added to the database! Just use the suggested names. Press enter at every other question.
#Once done, go to http://192.168.80.1/mythweb/settings/channels. You will see a list of all channels, as shown below. Do NOT edit xmltvid (3rd column). You can change the 4th to 6th column as you see fit. Column 4 determines the order in which the guide data is shown on screen. The important column is 7. In my case, this has many 6-digits numbers. This is the frequency at which the channel is coming in. This information is usually readily available from your cable provider.
[[Image:Channels.jpg]]
One last remark: The example image above is from a setup with two sources. Column 2 shows the source number. If your source is ''digital'', you will have to use an ir-blaster (probably a usb-uirt) to change the channels on the cable box. Leave the frequency empty, but make sure column 4 contains the correct channel number.

--[[User:Domodude|Domodude]] 14:27, 21 March 2008 (PDT)

MythTV, xmltv and channels

2008-03-21T21:26:38Z

Domodude: How to set up the TV guide and channels with MythTV and xmltv/tv_grab_*

CONCEPT

To get MythTV set up fairly easily with xmltv, I use the following steps. It works with multiple grabbers and sources. The approach should work with LMCE 0704 (stable) as well as all beta versions for 0710.

#Download my favorite tv_grab_* versions. These are tv_grab_nl_upc and tv_grab_nl_py.
#Make the executable and copy them to /usr/bin.
#In mythtv-setup, these grabbers will now show up automagically. Go through the setup menus as usual (when in doubt, see generic Mythtv documentation).
#Run tv_grab_<the one you use> --configure. Pay attention, it will probably generate a config file in .xmltv, but you will need to copy it to .mythtv. The name will depend on what you used in mythtv-setup. I find it convenient to just do a test-run of mythfilldatabase. It will complain about a missing config file: that will be the name and location you need to use. It will look something like this: /home/linuxmce/.mythtv/UPC-analog.xmltv (I used the name UPC-analog in mythtv-setup).
#Assuming you finished mythtv-setup properly, you can now run mythfilldatabase --manual. You will ''have'' to fill in the channel numbers when asked, if you leave them blank, the channels are not added to the database! Just use the suggested names. Press enter at every other question.
#Once done, go to http://192.168.80.1/mythweb/settings/channels. You will see a list of all channels, as shown below. Do NOT edit xmltvid (3rd column). You can change the 4th to 6th column as you see fit. Column 4 determines the order in which the guide data is shown on screen. The important column is 7. In my case, this has many 6-digits numbers. This is the frequency at which the channel is coming in. This information is usually readily available from your cable provider.
[[Image:Channels.jpg]]
One last remark: The example image above is from a setup with two sources. Column 2 shows the source number. If your source is ''digital'', you will have to use an ir-blaster (probably a usb-uirt) to change the channels on the cable box. Leave the frequency empty, but make sure column 4 contains the correct channel number.

File:Channels.jpg

2008-03-21T21:15:40Z

Domodude:

File:Channels.JPG

2008-03-21T21:14:52Z

Domodude: Never mind the Dutch column headers -- the order of the columns is the same!

Never mind the Dutch column headers -- the order of the columns is the same!