[PLUG] Want to build a Linux based PVR...

[Jim Beckett]

Michael Robinson wrote:
> I like the Linux compatible notion, but I worry
> that it won't work in Windows.
> I'm in a tight spot, I have a Windows
> machine that I can't just run Linux on because it is meant for Windows
> programs that don't work in Linux like Minitab for example.

As far as I can tell, I think that there are few, if any, tuners that 
will work in Linux that don't work in Windows.

It is the reverse that is often true because PC hardware manufacturers 
would be crazy to produce a product that didn't work in Windows, unless 
they were targeting a very specific niche as their customer base. This 
means the trick is to find a card that is known to work in Linux...

> ... I suppose I can dual boot the machine
> to get around the needing Linux for the tuner issue, but if the tuner
> is PCI based and causes a problem with Windows, I won't be able to
> unplug it to run Windows.
I don't think you will find any instance where leaving a USB/PCI tuner 
card plugged in that will cause Windows to misbehave, as long as you 
take the time to install the Windows drivers properly (even if you don't 
use the device in Windows).


I see 3 options for you, all of which should be viable:


Option 1: Stick with Windows.

If you want to build a Windows TV/PVR system, GVPVR is a pretty good 
alternative to Windows Media Center. I used GBPVR for a while before 
switching to Linux, and was pretty happy with it.

http://www.gbpvr.com/

The only thing I didn't like about this was codec support in the media 
player. (I think it may have been related to a lack of knowledge on my 
part at the time.  I ended up purchasing, and installing, Intervideo's 
mpeg2 codec to get decent playback for my system. I probably didn't need 
to, but I had a hard time separating the wheat from the chaff when 
searching for free mpeg2 codecs.)


Option 2: Convert to Linux

If you want a Linux solution, you can use MythTv, or a host of other 
alternatives that you may encounter while researching Linux TV/PVR 
applications.

If you want to run MythTv in Linux, have a look at the MythTv website, 
and you can see all kinds of information that will help you decide:

http://www.mythtv.org

There are many Linux distributions that are geared towards a Linux 
TV/PVR system. Personally, I use Mythbuntu as it is very easy to set up:

http://www.mythbuntu.org/

And, here is the page that describes the capture cards that MythTv can 
use, and their caveats. (Some cards require some extra attention to get 
working, but once the issues are worked through, it generally works great.):

http://www.mythtv.org/wiki/Category:Video_capture_cards

You would probably want to base your tuner purchasing decision on the 
information you can gather from there.

If you convert fully to Linux, you can still use VirtualBox, or VMWare, 
to run a Virtual Windows computer inside of Linux, where you can install 
all of the applications that don't work in Linux.

The caveat is that since it would be a virtual machine, it won't be able 
to utilize your hardware fully, and will likely run slower (depending on 
the amount of RAM, etc. you can devote to the virtual machine), and you 
probably won't have access to any specialized hardware that may be 
installed in your system, because of the virtualization.


Option 3: Dual Boot

This will give you the opportunity to do whatever you like, but in 
addition to having to repartition your disks, you would have to 
completely quit one to switch to the other. Which would be inconvenient 
if you were trying to record a show in Linux, but needed to switch to 
Windows to run your Windows applications.


I hope that is helpful to you, and if there is a better solution than 
any of those three, I can't think of it.

-Jim