<u>Hardware</u>
Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8378 [KM400] Chipset Host Bridge
PCI bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8237 PCI BridgeVT82C586A/B/VT82C686/A/B/VT823x/A/C PIPC Bus Master IDE (rev 06)Technologies, Inc. VT8237 ISA bridge [K8T800 South]
Multimedia audio controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8233/A/8235/8237 AC97 Audio Controller (rev 60)
ATI Technologies Inc RV280 [Radeon 9200 PRO] )

AMD Athlon(tm) processor
stepping : 4
cpu MHz : 1393.999
cache size : 256 KB

PVR-500 MCE
MS MCE 2K5 Keyboard/Remote

Panasonic 60" LCD monitor with VGA input, connected to the Radeon.

The hw above (with the exception of the MCE stuff and PVR-500 which is on order) is currently running under debian sid. Primarily as a Freevo MP3 jukebox, with dual-boot to XP for my grandaughter's games

Xsecrets has told me that my hardware should work, which is a relief - But I have some questions prior to the install.

1. The MS MCE 2K5 Keyboard/Remote: I purchased these in a bundle w MCE 2K5 (which I don't plan to use). However, I didn't see either in the Wiki. What hoops do I have to jump through to use them?

2. Hooking up the hardware: I'm currently a Cox Cable (digital/HDTV) subscriber. Once I install the PVR-500, will I run an S-Video connection from the cable box to the PVR-500?

3. HDTV: I understand that I will not be able to record cable HD with this setup. However, will I be able to record the cable HD as SD?

Thanks for any assistance. I'm a total newbie when it comes to PVRs, but I can handle most linux-related problems w/o too much head-scratching.

Uhm... You do realize that if you're using an external tuner like the cable box you need some way to control it right?

- If you've got an antenna, cable "right out of the wall", or analog bypass from the cable box that you could normally plug into the back of your "cable ready" TV or VCR's tuner, then the TV capture card can do the tuning for you internally.

- If you've got a setup where the TV is either always tuned to the same channel or a composite or S-Video input which bypasses the internal tuner, and the remote controls the channel via the cable or satellite box, then you need to have an IR, serial, or firewire connection so that the MythTV software can control the cable box.

It sounds like your cable box puts you in the second category. BTW - Unless you also have a direct signal available this may make the 2nd tuner on the PVR-500 useless without a 2nd cable box. Remember this ain't magic, if you want to record multiple feeds you need a controlling tuner for every one of those feeds. If the card is doing the tuning you're golden, if not ...

You'll need some type of MyBlaster or IRBlaster device to control the cable box. It plugs into the serial port on your mythbox and the serial port on the cable box. Once you configure lirc to work with whatever remote you have, you have to hassle around with your IRBlaster and lirc configs to get lirc to change the channels via the blaster. It's well documented on the wiki I believe, if not in the forums.

The only thing that sucks about your setup is that if you want multiple tuners, you have to have more than one digital cable box. You can't just split the signal coming out of the back of the cable box, unless your cable box is one of the dual-tuner dvr boxes that have dual outputs on them. That just adds another layer of complexity.

Plan carefully and decide on the best path to get what you want. You may want 2 or 3 tuners, or you may be happy with just one.

ok ignore the person that said you can use the vivo or ati all in wonder products, neither one works in linux. you will need something irblaster/firewire to control the channel change on your cable box. Also you will only be able to use one tuner per cable box, so for the pvr500 you would need two cable boxes, unless one of the tuners is just going to be analog cable.

_________________
Have a question search the forum and have a look at the KnoppMythWiki.

Xsecrets

Actually, I don't realize squat...I'm a _total_ noob re:PVR

The MCE2005/Keyboard/Remote combo I ordered includes 2 IR Blasters...Is that what you mean?

Seriously, I'm Mr.Ignorant here. Reading FAQs, forum posts,etc.