InstallFest - November 4, 2006

From GTALUG

Want to turn a PC into a TiVo personal video recorder, with even more bells and whistles? Want the power and flexibility of Linux behind it? Well, then you want MythTV, a program that gives more that what you would get with a TiVo all with free software. This software will let you:

  • Record TV shows on your hard disk.
  • Pause live TV shows
  • See the current TV listings on screen
  • See current weather forcasts
  • Play some video games

The problem with MythTV is that it tends to be something of a challenge to install. So, to help get people over that initial install hump, this Saturday the Greater Toronto Area Linux User Group will be doing a specialized install fest where we will be installing KnoppMyth Linux on to boxes, which removes most, but not all of the headaches of doing a MythTV install. The software is free, you will have to provide your own PC. At the end of the event you should have a PC that looks/acts like a TiVo. All software, all help, and assistance at the event are free. All the software can be legally copied.

The event details are as follows:

  • Date: Saturday November 4th, 10:00 AM – 2:00 PM
  • Place: Innovation Toronto, 169 Eastern Ave. (intersection of Eastern and St. Laurence, 1 block south of King, just west of the Don Valley).

The focus of this will be to do a hands on event, doing actual installs.

Innovation Toronto at present has a limited amount of free space. If you do want to be at this install fest please e-mail me I will know how many to expect.

To support the free software you will need some hardware, and you are on your own to find/get a suitable PC. The sort of PC you will want is along the following lines (or better):

  • PIII 750 MHz (faster recommended).
  • 256 MB RAM (more recommended).
  • 80 GB hard drive (can be done with 2 x 40 GB drives but MUCH more is strongly recommended).
  • DVD or CD-ROM reader (DVD recommended).
  • 1 or more Linux support TV tuner cards (ideally the ones supported under the ivtv drivers see: http://ivtvdriver.org/index.php/Main_Page)
  • Video card (ideally one that can do mpeg decoding, such as a Hauppage PVR-350 or the nVidia 5200 (or better) video cards).

The issue with hard drives is that for each hour of TV recorded you will need about 2 GB of hard disk space, so a 40 GB HD will be good for recording about 20 hours of TV...

For homework before coming to the event please get an account with zap2it.com: 

 labs.zap2it.com

These are the folks that provide the free TV listings that you can pop up on screen (catch being you must log-in every 3 months to fill out a survey...). During the account set-up you will be asked for a certificate code which for MythTV is: ZIYN-DQZO-SBUT

When selecting a password for your zap2it.com account make sure it is a "disposable" password (i.e.: one you do NOT care if others see at the event), as at one point during the set-up your password will be visible in plain text on screen (sigh, grumble, this is a MythTV issue, not a KnoppMyth issue...).

Other stuff, I will be looking at what other goodies that can be brought along for the install. For example, KnoppMyth comes with XMAME, which allow for the running of old coin operated video software under emulation. All those old games are under copyright, but the copyright holders for Gridlee and Robbie Roto have given their ok for non-commercial copying of those programs. KnoppMyth doesn't come with any of the old games. So, I will bring Gridlee, Robbie Roto and what ever other non-included legally copy able goodies that I can come up with. Any suggestions beyond Gridlee and Robbie Roto?

Any questions?

Colin.

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