Rafic Gho wrote:
>so if I get the supported tuner, then does it recocognize the tuner
>without loading the driver?
I'm guessing you've come from a Windows background and Linux is new
to you. It takes a fair bit of adjustment to the many significant
differences.
Generalising and simplifying somewhat ...
In the Windows world, many common devices are supported by Windows
"out of the box" - they still have a driver, it's just that Microsoft
supply one and it's installed by default. When you buy new hardware,
it typically comes with a disk for you to install a driver from -
either because the manufacturer has a better one than Microsoft
supply (eg it supports all the hardware features rather than just a
selection of generic ones) or because Microsoft don't supply one at
all.
Because Windows is such a dominant OS, no hardware manufacturer would
consider shipping hardware without a Windows driver.
Now, over in the Linux world things are different. We still need
device drivers, but the difference is that (in general) you don't get
a disk with a Linux driver with your new hardware. Things are
improving, but with a few notable exceptions, most vendors just
haven't realised that there is any other OS than Windows. Those of us
that use Macs have a similar problem.
As a result, in the Linux world, it's a case of the "Linux
Developers"* who have to supply all the device drivers. Thus, instead
of installing the driver that came on a disk from your hardware
vendor, you are reliant on a driver for that device being part of the
Linux you installed. If you have something that's mature enough to
have a driver, then it may well already be supported by your current
installation and you have nothing to install. If it's something new,
then you may have to upgrade and/or reconfigure your kernel to get a
driver - the latter is, I would suggest, not something for a complete
newcomer to tackle.
In your case, http://linuxtv.org/wiki/index.php/ATSC_USB_Devices
shows that the device is supported from kernel version 2.6.26
onwards. That means plug it in, and the system should recognise it -
as long as you have a kernel no earlier than that. Most things are
"plug and play" these days, when you plug in the tuner, the USB
subsystem will detect the device being plugged in, interrogate it to
find out what it is, and load the correct driver to operate it. When
the driver loads, a device file will be created for it in /dev, and
the device is then 'visible' to any software you run.
That is only half the story - you then have to configure Myth to use
it. The driver merely makes the device visible to software running on
your system, you need applications (of which Myth is just one) to
actually use it.
Someone posted a link to the Wiki earlier where there are step by
step instructions to install and configure Myth.
* I use the term fairly widely as referring to the very large group
of developers who contribute to the overall "package". In fact there
is a group running the Video for Linux section, who look after video
devices.
--
Simon Hobson
Visit http://www.magpiesnestpublishing.co.uk/ for books by acclaimed
author Gladys Hobson. Novels - poetry - short stories - ideal as
Christmas stocking fillers. Some available as e-books.
_______________________________________________
mythtv-users mailing list
mythtv-users@mythtv.org
http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users
>so if I get the supported tuner, then does it recocognize the tuner
>without loading the driver?
I'm guessing you've come from a Windows background and Linux is new
to you. It takes a fair bit of adjustment to the many significant
differences.
Generalising and simplifying somewhat ...
In the Windows world, many common devices are supported by Windows
"out of the box" - they still have a driver, it's just that Microsoft
supply one and it's installed by default. When you buy new hardware,
it typically comes with a disk for you to install a driver from -
either because the manufacturer has a better one than Microsoft
supply (eg it supports all the hardware features rather than just a
selection of generic ones) or because Microsoft don't supply one at
all.
Because Windows is such a dominant OS, no hardware manufacturer would
consider shipping hardware without a Windows driver.
Now, over in the Linux world things are different. We still need
device drivers, but the difference is that (in general) you don't get
a disk with a Linux driver with your new hardware. Things are
improving, but with a few notable exceptions, most vendors just
haven't realised that there is any other OS than Windows. Those of us
that use Macs have a similar problem.
As a result, in the Linux world, it's a case of the "Linux
Developers"* who have to supply all the device drivers. Thus, instead
of installing the driver that came on a disk from your hardware
vendor, you are reliant on a driver for that device being part of the
Linux you installed. If you have something that's mature enough to
have a driver, then it may well already be supported by your current
installation and you have nothing to install. If it's something new,
then you may have to upgrade and/or reconfigure your kernel to get a
driver - the latter is, I would suggest, not something for a complete
newcomer to tackle.
In your case, http://linuxtv.org/wiki/index.php/ATSC_USB_Devices
shows that the device is supported from kernel version 2.6.26
onwards. That means plug it in, and the system should recognise it -
as long as you have a kernel no earlier than that. Most things are
"plug and play" these days, when you plug in the tuner, the USB
subsystem will detect the device being plugged in, interrogate it to
find out what it is, and load the correct driver to operate it. When
the driver loads, a device file will be created for it in /dev, and
the device is then 'visible' to any software you run.
That is only half the story - you then have to configure Myth to use
it. The driver merely makes the device visible to software running on
your system, you need applications (of which Myth is just one) to
actually use it.
Someone posted a link to the Wiki earlier where there are step by
step instructions to install and configure Myth.
* I use the term fairly widely as referring to the very large group
of developers who contribute to the overall "package". In fact there
is a group running the Video for Linux section, who look after video
devices.
--
Simon Hobson
Visit http://www.magpiesnestpublishing.co.uk/ for books by acclaimed
author Gladys Hobson. Novels - poetry - short stories - ideal as
Christmas stocking fillers. Some available as e-books.
_______________________________________________
mythtv-users mailing list
mythtv-users@mythtv.org
http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users