Hi all,
I'm planning on building a MythTV box using KnoppMyth and some bits I've got lying around, hopefully spending as little money as possible. Here's the spec:

AMD 900
512mb
1 x 20GB and 1 x 80GB IDE hdds
GeForce 2 MX400 with TV-out
TwinHan DVB card (3020C)
A 28" widescreen telly

I know I'm not going to be able to pause/rewind live TV with this in a nice-looking resolution, and that's ok - I mostly want to be able to do away with my VCR. What I do want to be able to do is:

Watch Xvid/Divx files from the Myth box or my PC in the other room over a 100mb lan
Listen to music from the Myth box or the other room
Watch DVDs
Record digital TV from the Twinhan card for watching later, in high quality (but not HD)
Read RSS newsfeeds

Based on previous experience, is this likely to be possible with the kit I can throw at it? In particular, would I be able to watch a DVD while recording some TV without one buggering up the other? I would keep my existing DVD player but my TV's only got 2 SCART sockets and one's needed for the Freeview box.
I'd be grateful for any comments.

That will work, check this thread if you have trouble playing some files. It details updating mplayer.
http://mysettopbox.tv/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=4706

These 2 guides on the WIKI detail how to setup knoppmyth to connect to Windows shares.

http://www.knoppmythwiki.org/index.php? ... SambaHowTo
http://www.knoppmythwiki.org/index.php? ... +and+samba

If you are connecting to NFS use this guide
http://www.knoppmythwiki.org/index.php?page=NFSHowTo



Won't play CSS encrypted out of the box, but reseach and searching are your friends.



Searching forums found many others using this card
Here is one post of close to your specs, which is on Tier 1 (means works well with minimal configuration)

http://mysettopbox.tv/phpBB2/viewtopic. ... nhan+3020c



Don't know? If you have the hardware lying around anyway may as well give it a shot. R5A26 is very stable and easy to use. You can always search the forums for specific problems you run into, a lot of problems have been addressed and resolved and ppl in the forums are very helpful. Knoppmyth is addictive and I think you will be impressed when you give it a shot. Post your results on the Hardware Recommendations forums too.

Thanks for the reply. I've been reading the forum and Wiki here (and can't remember the last time I saw such a huge stockpile of information hidden behind a 4-link homepage), but was just interested in the actual experience other people had on low-end kit - getting it running is one thing, but is it usable as a wife-friendly replacement for the VCR/DVD player? I enjoy gratuitous geekery as much as the next person, but my missus isn't really that way inclined

You're right though, the only way to find out is to give it a shot. I've got a WinTV Go to try out the TV side of things on before investing in the DVB card, it's just booking the time to do it.

I'll certainly post back with my results if/when I get the time to have a go - one of the big selling points about KnoppMyth is definitely the community.