Installing and using MythTV

Robert Kulagowski, mailto:rkulagow@rocketmail.com

1. How to obtain this document.

• 1.1 Mailing lists / getting help.
• 1.2 IRC.
• 1.3 Contributing to this document.

2. Introduction.

3. Checking prerequisites.

• 3.1 Hardware.
• 3.2 Software.

4. System Configuration Requirements for Compiling MythTV

• 4.1 Software requirements for compiling MythTV
• 4.2 Shared-Library Requirements for MythTV
• 4.3 Environment variable Requirements for MythTV

5. Downloading and compiling.

• 5.1 Notes on compiling on a system with non-Intel processors.
• 5.2 Building LAME.
• 5.3 XMLTV.
• 5.4 Configuring the Zap2It.com DataDirect service.
• 5.5 Manually building MythTV.
• 5.6 Gentoo.

6. MySQL.

• 6.1 Mandrake 9.0
• 6.2 Red Hat Linux and Fedora Core
• 6.3 Gentoo
• 6.4 Setting up the initial database.

7. Configuring Sound.

• 7.1 Graphically setting up the mixer.
• 7.2 Setting the mixer from the command line.

8. Setting up a remote control.

• 8.1 Gentoo
• 8.2 Mandrake 9.0
• 8.3 Red Hat Linux/Fedora Core
• 8.4 Obtaining and compiling lirc.
• 8.5 Completing the lirc install.
• 8.6 Additional information for lirc.
• 8.7 Configuring lirc for use with an IR blaster.

9. Configuring MythTV.

• 9.1 Configuring the Master backend system.
• 9.2 Post-configuration.
• 9.3 Configuring a non-master backend.
• 9.4 Configuring and running mythfilldatabase.

10. Configuring mythfrontend.

• 10.1 General
• 10.2 Appearance
• 10.3 Program Guide
• 10.4 Playback
• 10.5 Recording
• 10.6 Xbox Frontends

11. Using MythTV.

• 11.1 Keyboard commands.
• 11.2 Using themes with MythTV.
• 11.3 Adding DirecTV information to the database.
• 11.4 Adding support for an external tuner.
• 11.5 Using Shutdown/Wakeup

12. MythWeb.

• 12.1 Installation and prerequisites.
• 12.2 Completing the installation.

13. MythGallery.

• 13.1 Installation and prerequisites.
• 13.2 Using MythGallery.
• 13.3 Importing Pictures

14. MythGame.

15. MythMusic.

• 15.1 Manual installation of prerequisites.
• 15.2 Mandrake 9.0
• 15.3 Red Hat Linux 9
• 15.4 Compiling MythMusic.
• 15.5 Configuring MythMusic.
• 15.6 Using MythMusic.
• 15.7 Troubleshooting MythMusic.

16. MythWeather.

17. MythVideo.

18. MythDVD.

• 18.1 Manual Compilation of Prerequisites.
• 18.2 Pre-compiled binaries.

19. MythNews.

20. Troubleshooting.

• 20.1 Illegal Instruction.
• 20.2 mythfilldatabase failing.
• 20.3 Fast CPU, choppy or jittery video.
• 20.4 I have a MPEG-2 encoder card and my video appears "jittery".
• 20.5 I have a MPEG-2 encoder card and my video is jumping up and down.
• 20.6 I keep losing all of my settings every time I compile!
• 20.7 Compile errors.
• 20.8 My screen goes blank, but comes back when I wiggle the mouse or use the keyboard.
• 20.9 I get segfaults / MythTV isn't doing anything.
• 20.10 Debugging with GDB.
• 20.11 MythTV makes my system crash.
• 20.12 Troubleshooting audio.
• 20.13 The mythbackend program told me to look at this section.
• 20.14 My remote doesn't work / works sometimes and not others / "ghost"
• 20.15 My PVR-250 card doesn't show inputs in the setup screen.
• 20.16 Where's my "canada-cable" entry gone to?
• 20.17 My channels are off by one.
• 20.18 Mythweb is showing a db_open error when I connect to it.
• 20.19 error: can't find a register in class 'BREG' while reloading 'asm'
• 20.20 make: *** No rule to make target /usr/lib/qt3/mkspecs/default/qmake.conf', needed by Makefile'. Stop.
• 20.21 make: *** No rule to make target /mkspecs/default/qmake.conf', needed by Makefile'. Stop.
• 20.22 My mouse pointer disappears when placed over the MythTV windows.
• 20.23 What does "strange error flushing buffer" mean on my console?
• 20.24 I can't change the channel when watching Live TV.
• 20.25 When trying to run setup, I get an error like this: "./setup: error while loading shared libraries:"
• 20.26 Troubleshooting the Hauppauge PVR-250 IR remote
• 20.27 MySQL not connecting correctly.
• 20.28 My screen goes black when I try to play something.
• 20.29 Poor performance with NVidia cards and XvMC.
• 20.30 My computer is loading a media player application when I insert a CD or DVD.
• 20.31 I can't change channels.

21. Miscellaneous.

• 21.1 I'd like to watch the files without using MythTV / I'd like to convert the files to some other format.
• 21.2 I'd like to use some other window manager.
• 21.3 What capture resolution should I use? How does video work?
• 21.4 MythTV GUI and X Display Sizes.
• 21.5 I'd like to save or restore my database.
• 21.6 I'd like to delete the MySQL database.
• 21.7 btaudio
• 21.8 Removing unwanted channels.
• 21.9 I'd like to use NFS.
• 21.10 Automatically starting mythfrontend at system boot time.
• 21.11 Automatically starting mythbackend at system boot time.
• 21.12 Advanced Backend Configurations.
• 21.13 What is this transcoder thing, and how do I use it?
• 21.14 Changing your hostname.
• 21.15 Can I run MythTV on my TiVo?
• 21.16 Can I run MythTV on my ReplayTV?
• 21.17 Can I use wireless between the frontend and the backend?
• 21.18 How can I burn shows that I have recorded to a DVD?
• 21.19 Migrating from XMLTV to DataDirect.

22. Example Configurations.

• 22.1 Hauppauge PVR-250/350 hardware MPEG-2 encoder.
• 22.2 Hauppauge PVR-250 remote and MythTV's native LIRC support.
• 22.3 Logical Volume Manager (LVM).
• 22.4 Advanced Partition Formatting.