Hi there! I just joined, I've been looking around all of the sites for a few weeks now and I saw an episode of SYSTM where they installed KnoppMyth. I'm pretty impressed and the possibility of no longer paying Replay TV for service excites me.

Being a Mac guy, I'm pretty unfamiliar with cases and such (though hardware in general I'm not new to). Also, I did do a search on the forums but didn't find the info I'm looking for...

So, here's what I need:

- A case that's pretty slim but will allow me to have TWO TV cards, a 200 gig HD, a wireless G card, and a surround sound card. This case HAS to be streamlined and sexy, and not TOO (350-500 is way too much) expensive. I want it to look like another componant of my Entertainment Center, and not just a PC box.

- Suggestions on video cards. I don't have HDTV at the moment, so a card that can do S-video from regular coaxial cable would be great. At the same time I need to be able to use them with my Logitech Harmony Remote.

-recommend a wireless card for such a case.

Thanks for any info you can provide me. I'm looking at this to be a good investment and don't want to screw it up. I'm not that savvy at linux (though from what I've seen, the installer makes it easy), I really, REALLY appreciate it!
-X9

Have a look at the SilverStone cases. The "dragon" system uses the LC10. I've got one, and the case definitely looks nice. I'd probably spend a little more and get one with another external bay or two, for camera cards and maybe a LCD display.
The LC10 is a full-size box, but they have slimmer ones too.

Thanks thornsoft! You're one tiny suggestions answered MOST of my questions...

I took a look, and decided on the LC11 M. Looking at everything, I'll be spending about a grand on this thing. I'm just not sure how the front LED/VFD panel will work out with Myth TV, or at all for that matter. That's my only real concern now. Will the main display on it work with MythTV as it would with the iMod software?

ThermalTake has also got some pretty decent looking ones. I saw them at MicroCenter over the weekend and they looked to be built like tanks. You'd have to check the reviews of course to see how they are for ease of build and heat/noise issues, but they sure look nice!

No problem.


Myth has support for the VFDs. Supposedly shows stuff that's going on. Music works with it too. But you never know, until you find someone with that same one, and it's working under Myth R5B7.

I tell you what. Just buy two, and ship one to me. I'll see if it works, and make it work if it doesn't, and I'll send you a write-up.


Check compatibility with your MoBo. It looks like it doesn't fit everything, and has some freaky "riser cards". This case may be too cute for its own good.
LC10M may be a safer bet. Case is a little bigger, and can handle most mobos and cards, and the big Zalman CPU coolers. I bet the LC11 case is quieter though. The LC10 has a silly fan in the front that draws air through a grill. That's ok, but they've got all sorts of wires and crap for the reset/power buttons, LEDs, and USBs, right on the other side of the grill. So that blocks half of the holes, and creates noise. I took mine out, but now the PS fan runs all the time instead. So I'm going to go back in and this time, put one of the 80mm fans back in, with a variable controller..... Some people are never happy.

Why don't you look at Antiec Aria case. It's great, good looking and cheaper, built in aluminum and includes some special 12cm fan 300W Antec PW. Costs around $100.
It accepts all mAtx mobos, flat into the case, hase flash cards reader in the front, hides any DVDRW burner with a pannel (you can also remove in case the color is ok). You can put 4 full pci cards and a pci slot GFX or tuner card cooler is sold within the Antec package. You have also 3 places where to put your hdd drives, including one with noise absorbant screws (this place needs to have very low heat hdd drive).
I have one. I use an Asus K8S-Mx with socket754. I'll try newest Knoppmyth since needs 2.6.15 kernel for the 965L part.

Problem here is you have depending on the board some less than 3 inches under the Power Box to put your fan cooler. Amd stock is ok, but makes some noise. Zalman 7000B AlCu or CU) is the best suited because it cools even the chipset and memory. Then you need some lower heat hdd drive. Samsung or WD would be prefered to latest from Seagate. I use a Seagate SATA 250GB on the cooler side place, and it idles at 108°F and I am not in summer yet. Plancing them on a less noiseless place on the side of the box in vertical position where the air flows is enough.

The heat is the main problem in this box, but running some cooler AMD 0.09µ cpu or pentium M is the solution.
I also replaced the hdd led on the front with the IR controller of one of the hauppauge.

My system :
Antec Aria
hauppauge PVR 350
hauppauge Nova-T 90002
MB Asus K8S-MX
Sempron 754 3000+ 64 bits
512MB (dropped from 2x1GB since needless) Corsair 3200 value.
HDD Seagate ATA 250GB (too hot - I will change that).

Tried Knoppmyth, Ubuntu but my hardware is recognized only since kernel 2.6.15.
However Mandriva 2006.0 worked because of internal development a tMandriva. But Myth is a pain to put on It. they seem to rather prefer Freevo at Mandrake.

I would like to build a myth box with tvout going out from pvr350 and using the fb/x driver over pvr350 for the menu and also use it as another seat with Open Office , firefox and stuff and also sane with scanner and printer.
I am also thinking if multiseat X and kernel works to put a matrox G450 dual head, for another myth seat, so 2 seats for TV and media with mythtv and one seat for internet, scanner, printer, personnal server.
I am looking for something like Myth Sane also.

This should be working great on paper.

I tested everything Windows but both tuner cards wouldn't work together (even with bda drivers), and especially the tv-out of the PVR 350 features are very basic.

Wow. Damn you guys are really good with this stuff. I really appreciate the advice and suggestions. It makes it a lot easier for people like myself when there's a community that's willing to be so helpful... I really appreciate it.

Well... Crap. I really like that Case. But maybe not the best idea from what you guys are stating... This is going to be such a pain as far as hardware goes. At least the software will be easier to handle than Xbox Media Center. That thing is a grouch sometimes.

Thansk for the help, again. I'll keep looking around.

And thornsoft, if I win powerball thsi week I'll happily ship you an LC11 M case.

The best tuner cards are ones that can do hardware mpeg2 encoding, they'll be a necessity if you want multiple cards and don't plan on getting a processor that could double as a space heater. As a bonus, the recordings can be turned into DVDs very easily. The best supported are the Happauge Wintv-Pvr series (the PCI kind, not the USB). These are the PVR-150, the 250, the 350 and the 500. The 350 is the same as the 250 but also with tv-out so it can function as your video card. The 150 is a newer, probably less well-supported chipset from the 250. The 500 is two 150s on a single card (so it can record two channels at once) Regular versions come with remote controls and infrared receivers, the MCE versions don't. http://knoppmythwiki.org/index.php?page ... ony_Remote suggests you can use your harmony with the Hauppage receivers. You could also get a dedicated IR receiver for about 20 bucks, which would be capable of being compatible with just about any remote or device codes. I followed the O'Reilley's guide recommendation and used the IRA3: http://www.home-electro.com/ira3.php and I'm quite happy with its reception, although it takes some extra work to set it up.

The Soundblaster Live, Value, etc. type sound cards work pretty well with Linux and I understand the surround parts are well supported. Or you might be able to find a supported motherboard with good surround output onboard.

I also like my Antec Aria case, it stays cool enough with a mid-powered Sempron, has plenty of space and power, and no women have told me it's hideous yet.