Tuesday, January 13, 2004
So, how does it work?
An update while watching a time-shifted Match Game PM here on Charles Nelson Reily's birthday (73). Just watching my transcoded MPEG4 copy here, I was drawing 10% CPU on average. When Law & Order:SVU started up, it shot up to about 27%. This is with the 933 MHz and 384 MB of memory. There was an acute choppiness to Match Game with respect to the speed of the playback independent of recording status, which was absent from the playback of 7th Heaven, also transcoded to MPEG4.
Thesis writing, and now fellowship application writing, continues.
Thesis writing, and now fellowship application writing, continues.
Monday, January 05, 2004
...An exercise left for the reader
Then, I did the following:
1) Used the ivtv driver to install the Hauppauge PCI-250.
2) Installed MythTV and MythWeather
3) Fiddled around to get the sound working.
4) Got the sound working.
5) Recorded the Green Bay Packers vs. Seattle Seahawks overtime, with Green Bay winning.
I have to go off and write a thesis now, the planned step-by-step narrative on how I got the Myth box working falling as a casuality of a haste to get this one big Christmas present rolling. I still remember how to do it and what I did wrong, but alas, no time. So as they say in my physics books sometimes, the details are left as an exercise for the reader. Later.
1) Used the ivtv driver to install the Hauppauge PCI-250.
2) Installed MythTV and MythWeather
3) Fiddled around to get the sound working.
4) Got the sound working.
5) Recorded the Green Bay Packers vs. Seattle Seahawks overtime, with Green Bay winning.
I have to go off and write a thesis now, the planned step-by-step narrative on how I got the Myth box working falling as a casuality of a haste to get this one big Christmas present rolling. I still remember how to do it and what I did wrong, but alas, no time. So as they say in my physics books sometimes, the details are left as an exercise for the reader. Later.
Friday, January 02, 2004
Fun with urpmi
Now, I want to start tweaking things, and for this I will require urpmi to be configured correctly. For starters, I can have the computer stop looking to the installation CD's for programs and use the mirrors at Virginia Tech, which is fine by me. I configure urpmi using a web site to give me the proper sets of instructions:
urpmi.removemedia -a to start off with a clean slate.
urpmi.addmedia main ftp://raven.cslab.vt.edu/pub/linux/mandrake/9.2/i586/Mandrake/RPMS with ../base/hdlist.cz (the main files)
urpmi.addmedia contrib ftp://raven.cslab.vt.edu/pub/linux/mandrake/9.2/contrib/i586 with ../../i586/Mandrake/base/hdlist2.cz (for contributed files)
urpmi.addmedia --update updates ftp://raven.cslab.vt.edu/pub/linux/mandrake/updates/9.2/RPMS/ with ../base/hdlist.cz (for updates)
Then, I updated the kernel. I used urpmi linux-2.4.22.23mdk and that was that. All I had to do then was follow these instructions.
I then went on to try out the nVIDIA driver for my card. As it happens, I used lynx to navigate over to the driver. I was working from a terminal on my Windows laptop at the time, so I just cut and paste into the terminal what I needed. I turned off X first using /etc/init.d/dm stop then ran sh NVIDIA-Linux-x86-1.0-5328-pkg1.run. I made many adjustments to the XFree86Config-4 file, as instructed. In the end, I have set up the following, based partly on the following site:
# XF86Config auto-generated by XF86Setup
#
# Copyright (c) 1996 by The XFree86 Project, Inc.
#
# Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a
# copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"),
# to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation
# the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense,
# and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the
# Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
#
# The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in
# all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
#
# THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
# IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
# FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL
# THE XFREE86 PROJECT BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY,
# WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF
# OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE
# SOFTWARE.
#
# Except as contained in this notice, the name of the XFree86 Project shall
# not be used in advertising or otherwise to promote the sale, use or other
# dealings in this Software without prior written authorization from the
# XFree86 Project.
#
# See 'man XF86Config' for info on the format of this file
Section "Monitor"
Identifier "NTSC"
VendorName "Canada/USA/Japan"
ModelName "Televison"
HorizSync 29-34
VertRefresh 25-65
# These are all the fundamental supported ntsc modes
Modeline "ntsc:fundamental-1" 25.175 640 704 763 862 440 456 484 525
Modeline "ntsc:fundamental-2" 27.180 640 704 763 862 440 456 484 525
Modeline "ntsc:fundamental-3" 28.325 640 692 751 898 440 460 488 525
Modeline "ntsc:fundamental-4" 32.000 640 704 763 1014 440 456 484 525
Modeline "ntsc:fundamental-5" 32.000 720 784 796 1014 440 464 492 525
# These are all the ntsc modes which are useful in practice
Modeline "ntsc:640x400" 28.325 640 680 739 898 400 444 472 525
Modeline "ntsc:640x440" 27.180 640 704 763 862 440 456 484 525
Modeline "ntsc:640x480" 27.180 640 704 763 862 480 500 510 568
Modeline "ntsc:720x440" 32.000 720 784 796 1014 440 464 492 525
Modeline "ntsc:720x540" 32.000 720 784 796 1014 540 578 588 625
EndSection
Section "Device"
Identifier "device1"
VendorName "NVidia"
BoardName "NVIDIA GeForce FX (generic)"
Driver "nvidia"
BusID "PCI:1:8:0"
Option "DPMS"
Option "ConnectedMonitor" "TV"
Option "TVStandard" "NTSC-M"
EndSection
Section "Screen"
Identifier "screen1"
Device "device1"
Monitor "NTSC"
DefaultColorDepth 24
Subsection "Display"
Depth 8
Modes "ntsc:640x480"
EndSubsection
Subsection "Display"
Depth 15
Modes "ntsc:640x480"
EndSubsection
Subsection "Display"
Depth 16
Modes "ntsc:640x480"
EndSubsection
Subsection "Display"
Depth 24
Modes "ntsc:640x480"
EndSubsection
EndSection
And, it shows up on the TV. And, while I am worried about killing the TV, it is OK right now.
urpmi.removemedia -a to start off with a clean slate.
urpmi.addmedia main ftp://raven.cslab.vt.edu/pub/linux/mandrake/9.2/i586/Mandrake/RPMS with ../base/hdlist.cz (the main files)
urpmi.addmedia contrib ftp://raven.cslab.vt.edu/pub/linux/mandrake/9.2/contrib/i586 with ../../i586/Mandrake/base/hdlist2.cz (for contributed files)
urpmi.addmedia --update updates ftp://raven.cslab.vt.edu/pub/linux/mandrake/updates/9.2/RPMS/ with ../base/hdlist.cz (for updates)
Then, I updated the kernel. I used urpmi linux-2.4.22.23mdk and that was that. All I had to do then was follow these instructions.
I then went on to try out the nVIDIA driver for my card. As it happens, I used lynx to navigate over to the driver. I was working from a terminal on my Windows laptop at the time, so I just cut and paste into the terminal what I needed. I turned off X first using /etc/init.d/dm stop then ran sh NVIDIA-Linux-x86-1.0-5328-pkg1.run. I made many adjustments to the XFree86Config-4 file, as instructed. In the end, I have set up the following, based partly on the following site:
# XF86Config auto-generated by XF86Setup
#
# Copyright (c) 1996 by The XFree86 Project, Inc.
#
# Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a
# copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"),
# to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation
# the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense,
# and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the
# Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
#
# The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in
# all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
#
# THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
# IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
# FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL
# THE XFREE86 PROJECT BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY,
# WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF
# OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE
# SOFTWARE.
#
# Except as contained in this notice, the name of the XFree86 Project shall
# not be used in advertising or otherwise to promote the sale, use or other
# dealings in this Software without prior written authorization from the
# XFree86 Project.
#
# See 'man XF86Config' for info on the format of this file
Section "Monitor"
Identifier "NTSC"
VendorName "Canada/USA/Japan"
ModelName "Televison"
HorizSync 29-34
VertRefresh 25-65
# These are all the fundamental supported ntsc modes
Modeline "ntsc:fundamental-1" 25.175 640 704 763 862 440 456 484 525
Modeline "ntsc:fundamental-2" 27.180 640 704 763 862 440 456 484 525
Modeline "ntsc:fundamental-3" 28.325 640 692 751 898 440 460 488 525
Modeline "ntsc:fundamental-4" 32.000 640 704 763 1014 440 456 484 525
Modeline "ntsc:fundamental-5" 32.000 720 784 796 1014 440 464 492 525
# These are all the ntsc modes which are useful in practice
Modeline "ntsc:640x400" 28.325 640 680 739 898 400 444 472 525
Modeline "ntsc:640x440" 27.180 640 704 763 862 440 456 484 525
Modeline "ntsc:640x480" 27.180 640 704 763 862 480 500 510 568
Modeline "ntsc:720x440" 32.000 720 784 796 1014 440 464 492 525
Modeline "ntsc:720x540" 32.000 720 784 796 1014 540 578 588 625
EndSection
Section "Device"
Identifier "device1"
VendorName "NVidia"
BoardName "NVIDIA GeForce FX (generic)"
Driver "nvidia"
BusID "PCI:1:8:0"
Option "DPMS"
Option "ConnectedMonitor" "TV"
Option "TVStandard" "NTSC-M"
EndSection
Section "Screen"
Identifier "screen1"
Device "device1"
Monitor "NTSC"
DefaultColorDepth 24
Subsection "Display"
Depth 8
Modes "ntsc:640x480"
EndSubsection
Subsection "Display"
Depth 15
Modes "ntsc:640x480"
EndSubsection
Subsection "Display"
Depth 16
Modes "ntsc:640x480"
EndSubsection
Subsection "Display"
Depth 24
Modes "ntsc:640x480"
EndSubsection
EndSection
And, it shows up on the TV. And, while I am worried about killing the TV, it is OK right now.
Let's begin....
OK, this is where we begin with my PVR computer:
1) Install Mandrake Linux 9.2 again, documenting why and how.
2) Get my Jaton card to perform the TV-Out using its S-video.
3) Get the sound card to perform its audio out using the line out.
4) Get the ivtv driver set up to recognize the Hauppauge PVR-250 card.
5) Then and only then, get MythTV.
I hope to do 1) and 2) today, here in the next two hours. I have limited time to work on this, as the thesis is still of highest priority. But, I figure that this might help me get the writing juices flowing, as believe it or not, this is writing after all.
OK, the computer is booted with Mandrake Linux 9.2 Disk 1 in the CD-ROM. I do no special commands at the beginning, and the graphical interface for installation pops up. I am running a 15" monitor off the Jaton card, and it is good that I see it. The selections at the beginning are rather dull, but for completeness, I note that:
1) I choose English (American).
2) I accepted the license.
3) I have a Standard PS/2 mouse.
4) I choose a Standard security level, and set a Security Administrator Login.
5) I said I had performed a "dry run" so I have Linux partitions ready to go. This is what I selected on my 160 GB drive:
(Remember, that the 160GB drive is actually 147GB as 1 kB = 1024 B)
7) I chose the following in the "Package Group Selection" area:
9) The 13 minute installation begins.
10) I set the root password.
11) I set the "mythtv" user,.
12) I choose to automatically log-in just the one user in KDE.
13) I choose to put the bootloader on the first sector of the drive (the MBR) as this is a single-boot machine.
14) I am left with the System configuration summary:
16) Configure the graphical interface - Choose the Generic 640 x 480 @ 60 Hz, to best mesh with the television.(?) Also, change from the Intel 810 chipset (the onboard) to the nVIDIA GeForce 4 chipset. Then, let LINUX know in the next screen I only want to configure the "NVidia|0x332 card" on (PCI:1:8:0). I chose XFree 4.3. Full color and 640x480 confirmed, testing of the configuration worked, I will allow it to autoload.
17) Double-check that the LAN is working, as I have the computer hooked up to the router/cable modem box.
18) Confirm the configuration, and allow the computer to load up updates.
19) Remove the CDs, and Mandrake Linux 9.2 is installed.
- Dell Optiplex GX110, 933 MHz, 384 MB of PC133 non-ECC memory.
- On-board 4 MB graphics, ignored.
- Jaton PCI228-128TV, installed in the second PCI slot.
- Hauppauge PVR-250 TV card, installed in the first PCI slot.
- A CreativeLabs sound card, installed in the fourth PCI slot.
1) Install Mandrake Linux 9.2 again, documenting why and how.
2) Get my Jaton card to perform the TV-Out using its S-video.
3) Get the sound card to perform its audio out using the line out.
4) Get the ivtv driver set up to recognize the Hauppauge PVR-250 card.
5) Then and only then, get MythTV.
I hope to do 1) and 2) today, here in the next two hours. I have limited time to work on this, as the thesis is still of highest priority. But, I figure that this might help me get the writing juices flowing, as believe it or not, this is writing after all.
OK, the computer is booted with Mandrake Linux 9.2 Disk 1 in the CD-ROM. I do no special commands at the beginning, and the graphical interface for installation pops up. I am running a 15" monitor off the Jaton card, and it is good that I see it. The selections at the beginning are rather dull, but for completeness, I note that:
1) I choose English (American).
2) I accepted the license.
3) I have a Standard PS/2 mouse.
4) I choose a Standard security level, and set a Security Administrator Login.
5) I said I had performed a "dry run" so I have Linux partitions ready to go. This is what I selected on my 160 GB drive:
(Remember, that the 160GB drive is actually 147GB as 1 kB = 1024 B)
- /dev/hda1, Journalized FS:ext3, 5.8GB (3%), mount point: /
- /dev/hda5, Linux swap, 1.1GB (0%)
- /dev/hda6, Journalized FS:ext3, 5.1GB (3%), mount point: /home
- /dev/hda7, Linux native (ext2), 136GB (91%), mount point: /var/video
7) I chose the following in the "Package Group Selection" area:
- Server: Web/FTP, Database, Network Computer server
- Workstation: Internet station, Configuration, Console Tools
- Develoment, Documentation, LSB
- Graphical Environment: KDE Workstation
9) The 13 minute installation begins.
10) I set the root password.
11) I set the "mythtv" user,.
12) I choose to automatically log-in just the one user in KDE.
13) I choose to put the bootloader on the first sector of the drive (the MBR) as this is a single-boot machine.
14) I am left with the System configuration summary:
- Keyboard - US keyboard
- Country/Region - United States
- Timezone - America/New York
- Mouse - PS/2 Standard
- Printer - Remote CUPS server
- Sound Card - Creative Labs | Sound Blaster AudioPCI64V/AudioPCI128
- Graphical Interface - Not configured
- Network - Lan
- Security Level - Standard
- Firewall - disabled
- Bootloader - lilo-graphic on /dev/hda
- Services - Services: 31 activated for 49 registered
16) Configure the graphical interface - Choose the Generic 640 x 480 @ 60 Hz, to best mesh with the television.(?) Also, change from the Intel 810 chipset (the onboard) to the nVIDIA GeForce 4 chipset. Then, let LINUX know in the next screen I only want to configure the "NVidia|0x332 card" on (PCI:1:8:0). I chose XFree 4.3. Full color and 640x480 confirmed, testing of the configuration worked, I will allow it to autoload.
17) Double-check that the LAN is working, as I have the computer hooked up to the router/cable modem box.
18) Confirm the configuration, and allow the computer to load up updates.
19) Remove the CDs, and Mandrake Linux 9.2 is installed.
