The problem I see with MythTV and Freevo right now is that they don't seem to have any concept of CABLE BOXES! Many people out there have digital cable and need to be able to control a cable box. Can these packages handle that? From what I've seen (at first glance) is that they are tuner based and don't allow serial or IR control of a cable box...or do they?
MythTV works perfectly with a decoder box - you set the input to S-Video (or composite if you can put up with composite quality), tell it to use an external channel changer script and write a short script to send the right commands to the decoder using LIRC and a IR diode.
I use Myth with my Sky Digital box very happilly - my LIRC configuration and channel changer script is on my website [nexusuk.org]. The hardware required is just an IR LED across the serial port (as described on the LIRC website [lirc.org]). I also have an IR receiver plugged into the same serial port so I can control Myth with my original Sky remote control.
While it's admirable to have a hack to change the channels, the fact that it's not part of these distributions along with the various remote codes for various cable boxes that the cable companies use is going to hamper adoption to a more mainstream market where the TiVo has penetrated. Now, if someone developed this a bit further and made up a database with the various codes for the different cable boxes out there and maybe packaged up some form of 'cable mouse' to sell along with it, we'd be all set. Sur
I never suggested that it was suitable for the mainstream. The message I was replying to said "[MythTV and Freevo] don't seem to have any concept of CABLE BOXES! Many people out there have digital cable and need to be able to control a cable box." which is completely incorrect - the ability to control external decoders is a very basic necessity that is well supported and in use by most Myth users. It is by no means a hack - it was designed to do it.
Myth is certainly not ready the the mainstream yet, but I
"I prefer rogues to imbeciles, because they sometimes take a rest."
-- Alexandre Dumas (fils)
There is another...... (Score:2)
Myth TV
It's better.
Re:There is another...... (Score:1, Insightful)
Re:There is another...... (Score:2, Informative)
I use Myth with my Sky Digital box very happilly - my LIRC configuration and channel changer script is on my website [nexusuk.org]. The hardware required is just an IR LED across the serial port (as described on the LIRC website [lirc.org]). I also have an IR receiver plugged into the same serial port so I can control Myth with my original Sky remote control.
IR Control (Score:1)
Re:IR Control (Score:1)
Myth is certainly not ready the the mainstream yet, but I