Hi

I’m a new to Linux and new to Mythtv – started last week. I’ve set up a FE/BE on a Gigabyte GA-7VA with a Leadtek LR6550 (conexant) with a Athalon 1200+ using R5B7. This worked a treat directly from the install and I’ve been using the forum and the wiki a lot to help me get all the various peripheral bits working. Btw, I’ve been amazed by Mythtv at the level of detail/help available and I’ve been able to find and it’s been a lot of fun. I can now schedule recordings over the Net using Mythweb, which is awesome.

However I’ve got stuck. My ME6000 with 512MB which I’d like to boot from the R5B7 disc struggles a bit. Here’s a summary of what the symtoms are:

OK:
- plays recorded programes
- can watch live TV

It struggles with:
- bringing up the EPG whilst showing TV in the PiP window
- showing on screen info about the recording/TV
- moving back and forward in the recording/TV
- seems to crash the backend, which of course can then lock up the FE

Basically it _just about_ works but as soon as I try to do anything other than just play stuff it glitches and clearly struggles. What I’ve done so far to improve things:

- set to use ‘Xvmc VIA’, prior to which it wouldn’t play without glitching every 2 seconds
- set to use low CPU intensive on screen display and theme stuff
- I’ve experimented with recording profiles on the BE to lower bit rate and resolution but I don’t think this is the right way to go.

Given others seem to be getting on OK with this (although I see views are mixed), and there’s the miniMyth project aimed at this type of board, my question is what can I do to optimise usability?

Can anyone tell me how I can tune the ME6000 FE or my BE to make it work well? What are the set of configurations needed to get the best out of this board?

TIA
-S

Have you had any further success with this. I use ME6000's a lot at work, and have often thought of using them for a silent front end.

The new SP or nano-itx boards would be even better, but there's no support for the newer graphic chipsets as yet

No. I read around it a lot more but I couldn't find anything definitive on optimising it Myth/Knoppmyth. Most people seem to be using the higher spec Epia boards. I've virtually given up on the idea and am now looking to get a Mac Mini in the US when I go in a fortnight. At just over £300 it looks like a good deal compared with an Epia board, a nice case and some memory. Plus it'll work without lots of messing around and offer OSX in my living room.

-S