MythTV Dan

My setup is currently a work in progress. Note that the setup is currently incomplete and has a number of issues documented below.

Summary

Master backend

Hardware

• Antec ISK300 case
• Intel D410PT mainboard
• Kingonston 1GB RAM
• Lexar 4GB Compact Flash
• Compact Flash to SATA converter

Software

• Debian 6
• mythtv-backend (0.24 from debian multimedia ppa)
• mythweb

Slave backend / frontend

Hardware

• Antec Fusion Remote Veris Black MATX Media Center Case
• Gigabyte GA-MA78LMT-US2H Motherboard
• AMD Phenom II X4 840 CPU
• Corsair 4GB RAM
• Western Digital WD20EARS 2TB Hard Drive
• Asus GT 430 1GB Graphics Card
• LiteOn iHOS104 4x BD-ROM SATA Blu-Ray Drive
• Xenta Wireless Keyboard

Software

• Ubuntu 11.04
• mythtv-backend (0.24 from mythbuntu ppa)
• mythtv-frontend
• mythvideo
• mythgame

Frontend

Hardware

• Dell mini 9 (16 GB SSD, 2 GB RAM)

Software

• Ubuntu 10.04 LTS Netbook Remix
• mythtv-frontend (0.24 from mythbuntu ppa)

MythTV Issues

1. Remote frontend does not wake the slave backend when starting "Watch TV"
2. Mythweb cannot stream videos from the slave backend
3. Recordings fail to start if a recording is scheduled whilst the program is currently airing

Installation Notes

(Note that I had previously configured my server to use sudo and I had previously installed apache)

Master backend

The master backend system runs the MythTV database, handles scheduling and runs the MythWeb web interface. These installation notes are for Debian 6.

Add the following to /etc/apt/sources.list

# mythtv http://www.debian-multimedia.org
deb http://debian-multimedia.fx-services.com/ stable main
deb-src http://debian-multimedia.fx-services.com/ stable main

Install the public key for the repository

wget http://www.debian-multimedia.org/pool/main/d/debian-multimedia-keyring/debian-multimedia-keyring_2010.12.26_all.deb
sudo dpkg -i debian-multimedia-keyring_2010.12.26_all.deb
sudo apt-get update

Install mythtv-backend, but make sure to install pwgen first to avoid some errors during installation. We also install wakeonlan as it is needed for waking the slave backend.

sudo apt-get install pwgen
sudo apt-get install mythtv-backend
sudo apt-get install wakeonlan

SSH to the master backend with X tunnelling (using ssh -Y) run mythtv-setup

Configure the master backend using the GUI interface, sorry I didn't write down what I configured in the GUI, I guess that's an obvious disadvantage of not using plain old config files.

Myth Web

Install the mythweb package

sudo apt-get install mythweb

copy /usr/share/mythtv/mythweb/mythweb.conf.apache to /etc/apache/sites-available/mythweb

Create symbolic link in sites-enabled

Example required here 

At this stage if you access mythweb from a URL the page will appear blank. This is due to a missing file, which can be fixed by creating a symbolic link (see http://www.gossamer-threads.com/lists/mythtv/commits/461200)

sudo ln -s /usr/share/mythtv/mythweb/modules/ /usr/share/mythtv/mythweb/modules_path

Add authentication to mythweb:-

sudo htdigest -c /var/www/htdigest MythTV <username>

Edit /etc/apache2/sites-available/mythweb

Add the following:-

 AuthType           Digest
 AuthName           "MythTV"
 AuthUserFile       /var/www/htdigest
 Require            valid-user
 BrowserMatch       "MSIE"      AuthDigestEnableQueryStringHack=On
 Order              allow,deny
 Satisfy            any

Restart apache

sudo /etc/init.d/apache2 restart