Mailing List Archive

At 04:23 PM 8/10/2003 -0700, Paul Doe wrote:
>I just subscribed to the mailing list and Ive been reading the posts as
>much as i can, but i have a question on cpu requirements. I know it has
>some stuff in FAQ but who knows how old it is. anyways heres the Q: If I
>get a PVR-250, would a duron 600 w/ 512mb ram be able to handle the
>encoding/decoding while watching live tv? also i have digital cable in my
>house and would it be possible to input the box into the card and use the
>box to contol channnels and mythtv to record/schedule? how would this
>work exactly, has anyone done this? plz help a noob out :)


Someone who uses a PVR-250 will have to handle your first question. I'd
**guess** that the CPU is right at the edge of usability in the setup you
propose, but that's just a guess, not something you should reply on. (If
I'm right, I would decide not to use it on that basis ... pushing your CPU
to near its limit in everyday use leaves you no headroom to handle the
unexpected.)

As to your second question ... it is possible in principle to do what you
want. To make it work, you need a way for the Myth host to be able to
change channel settings on the digital-cable box. How you do that depends
on the specific device you have.

Any device that works with a remote control can be controlled using an IR
Blaster, a device that a PC uses to *send* IR signals to another device.
Myth can operate an IR Blaster through the LIRC (Linux Infra-Red Control)
package. There is a section in the Myth HowTo that gives an example use,
and you'll need either to build or to buy the IR BLaster device itself (it
connects, typically, to a serial port). There is a lot of discussion of IR
Blasters in the archives of this list; look around.

Some cable boxes have serial ports through which they can be controlled (by
a TiVo, for example). If your is one of them, the details of how to do it
with Myth will be VERY device specific. Look in the archives under the name
of your device, or post it here (identified as specifically as you can
manage).

On Sun, 10 Aug 2003, Paul Doe wrote:

> Q: If I get a PVR-250, would a duron 600 w/ 512mb ram be able to handle
> the encoding/decoding while watching live tv?

You have enough clock speed with a hardware encoder but cat out
/proc/cpuinfo and see if that chip does sse. My T-Bird 900 for example,
doesn't. Without sse you are probably boned since the Myth FAQ doesn't
mention support for 3dNow!

Just remoted to a Duron 650 at work and it also doesn't mention sse.

--
John M. http://www.beau.org/~jmorris This post is 100% M$ Free!
Geekcode 3.1:GCS C+++ UL++++$ P++ L+++ W++ w--- Y++ b++ 5+++ R tv- e* r

The HOWTO does mention it:

http://www.mythtv.org/docs/mythtv-HOWTO-10.html#ss10.4


On Monday 11 August 2003 06:44 pm, John Morris wrote:
> On Sun, 10 Aug 2003, Paul Doe wrote:
> > Q: If I get a PVR-250, would a duron 600 w/ 512mb ram be able to handle
> > the encoding/decoding while watching live tv?
>
> You have enough clock speed with a hardware encoder but cat out
> /proc/cpuinfo and see if that chip does sse. My T-Bird 900 for example,
> doesn't. Without sse you are probably boned since the Myth FAQ doesn't
> mention support for 3dNow!
>
> Just remoted to a Duron 650 at work and it also doesn't mention sse.

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On Mon, 11 Aug 2003, Randy Power Schnedler wrote:

> The HOWTO does mention it:
>
> http://www.mythtv.org/docs/mythtv-HOWTO-10.html#ss10.4


> > You have enough clock speed with a hardware encoder but cat out
> > /proc/cpuinfo and see if that chip does sse. My T-Bird 900 for example,
> > doesn't. Without sse you are probably boned since the Myth FAQ doesn't
> > mention support for 3dNow!

DDDD OOO H H
D D O O H H
D D O O HHHHH
D D O O H H
DDDD OOO H H

I swear I took a peek at that FAQ and missed it. Encroaching senility or
something. Good to know though.

--
John M. http://www.beau.org/~jmorris This post is 100% M$ Free!
Geekcode 3.1:GCS C+++ UL++++$ P++ L+++ W++ w--- Y++ b++ 5+++ R tv- e* r