Getting Started with MythTV

This three part screencast will walk you through a MythTV install using MythDora, an "all-in-one" MythTV linux distribution. As MythDora installs MythTV and Linux, it will format your hard drive, install all the MythTV components, and walk you through the configuration of the critical components. If you are new to MythTV and have a spare machine to install on, MythDora is an excellent way to try MythTV for the first time.

The most recent MythTV book to hit store shelves is
Practical MythTV, written by Stewart Smith and Michael Still. Apress was nice enough to send me a copy for review, which I have spent a few evenings reading through.

True to its' title, the book really does contain practical information about MythTV. It’s part reference, part user manual, and part high level overview of various aspects of MythTV.

Thomas Kessler has put together a nice little tour of his MythTV system. You can read more about Thomas and his MythTV system on his website.

KnoppMyth is one of the easy ways to get started with MythTV. It's is really two products bundled into one.

KnoppMyth is:

1. An easy way to install MythTV and Linux onto a system
2. A bootable CD that can run a MythTV Frontend without needing to install anything onto the computer

View a screencast of the KnoppMyth Install process.

One of the joys of MythTV is that you can have the frontend and backend part of the system on different computers. Building a Myth Frontend is a great way to extend your MythTV system to more televisions yet still be able to access all your existing MythTV content. It's great in that it allows central recording and scheduling while allowing you to branch out to more rooms in your home.

The easiest way to get started with MythTV is to install one of the custom built MythTV distributions onto a dedicated PC.

Many people get started with MythTV start on a low end (usually older) system, then upgrade once they see how well it works. If you have an older 1Ghz or better system you can dedicate to this, that'll probably be plenty.

MythTV is open source software for Linux that turns your computer into PVR (Personal Video Recorder), which may also be referred to as a DVR (Digital Video Recorder.) Basically, it's a smart digital VCR, similar in many ways to Tivo.

Here's how to build a silent MythTV Frontend. This is an excellent way to build a low power, "set-top" box to extend your MythTV media server to additional TV's in your home.

First let's take a step back, and cover my motivations for taking on this project. Then we'll cover how I built it.

One of the nice features of Mythbuntu is an installer that will "upgrade" an existing Ubuntu install to Mythbuntu. The installer is straight-forward and easy to use.

Here is a screencast of the installation process and procedure...

I've been sitting on this for a while as I get part two ready. Figured people would get value out of it even though part two's not done yet. Expect Part two to hit the site this month (March 2008.) In the meantime, read the Mythbuntu Installation Overview.

1. Mythbuntu Overview
2. Mythbunu Installation
3. Mythbuntu MythTV Configuration
4. Mythbuntu Control Center
5. Mythbuntu Summary

Ubuntu is one of the fastest growing Linux distributions in recent history. The popularity of Ubuntu has created numerous spin-offs. One such by-product that recently appeared on the market is called Mythbuntu.

Mythbuntu's website describes their software as "an Ubuntu derivative focused upon setting up a standalone MythTV system similar to Knoppmyth or Mythdora.

Mainly, it can be seen as a preconfigured Ubuntu install for MythTV usage.

While Mythbuntu will install a system from a blank hard drive all the way to a working MythTV system using the install ISO, it can also install on top of a already installed Ubuntu 7.10 system using a installer available at the Mythbuntu website.

Here we will highlight some of the key features of Mythbuntu and elaborate on the features that set it apart from Knoppmyth and Mythdora.