[ILUG] Linux HTPC

[Justin Mason]

Daniel Shaw writes:
> Hi Justin (and all),
> 
> > http://taint.org/wk/BuildingFreevo  documents my thrill-laden ride
> > through the world of MythTV.  Two things:
> >
> > - 1. don't use a Hauppauge card if you can avoid it -- they're too closed
> >   and the linux drivers suffer as a result.
> 
> >>From what I've read online the general opinion seems quite the
> opposite: That the Hauppauge cards are by far the only ones that work
> very well on Linux. I have not in fact been able to find any pointers
> to a reasonble alternative card that is guaranteed to work. Do you
> perhaps know of anything?

They work -- but only due to sterling work by third-party driver writers.
Hauppauge seem to have a nasty habit of changing e.g. remotes and chipsets
quietly, updating the Windows drivers of course, but the linux guys are
left doing it themselves. The result is that getting MythTV up and running
with a Hauppauge card is, frankly, a nightmare.

pcHDTV hardware, OTOH, is fully open, and extremely linux-friendly.
http://www.oreillynet.com/lpt/a/5808
Dunno if it works with Irish TV broadcasts though ;)

Anyway, it might be better to see if you can get a card that supports the
DVB transmissions used in digital Sky or NTL here, rather than
over-the-air PAL supported by the Hauppauge cards... and see if you
can find an open-source-friendly hardware vendor. ;)   I haven't
looked into this at all yet...

--j.