I haven't yet got the hardware to install the KnoppMyth distro on, so this could seem to be a really stupid question. I'm going to have the Shuttle PC (In my sig I have a newegg wishlist with all the parts) that I'm getting in a few days run the distro on the TV in our living room, for my parents. They record a lot of shows, and I offered them this alternative to 2 VCRs a DVD player, and 4 huge book shelves full of tapes.
Well, my question is, how complicated is it to set it up for a TV. The shuttle PC onboard has TV-Out, but what about the refresh rate? It's an expensive TV so what preparations will I have to do before booting it up to the TV? The TV is NTSC.

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My MythTV Box

What type of inputs does the TV have? (HDMI, DVI, Component)

The system you are looking at will only offer you composite or standard VGA connection to the TV.

The Hard drive is a little on the small side. It would be nice to have a little more space although it will work fine. You can estimate about 3GB per hour for recordings at best Image quality.

You should look in the Tier1 section of the forum you will find a wealth of information about hardware that will work well.

An expensive SDTV or an expensive HDTV? Most expensive TVs nowadays are HD...

If it's SD, you would use the S-video out of the video card. I'd check here and the wiki for setting up TV out via S-video. I don't think it's very hard anymore. Be sure and set Bob deinterlacing in your TV playback options to make video sources look correct.

If it's HD, you'd want to connect it via at least VGA, if not DVI or HDMI. If those are not options (e.g., it's an HDTV of about 6 years ago like mine that only has component inputs available for HD signals), you'd want to invest in a VGA to component adapter.

Actually it's an older big screen tv with composite. Standard aspect ratio.

Edit: Just so you know, I've taken all the connections into accout, that isn't the worry. I'm just thinking about refresh rates or signals that could damage the television.

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My MythTV Box

Should be no problem then.

After installing just look in /etc/X11 for a sample nvidia tvout XF86Config-4 file. It will have the config you will need.

Also as mentioned searching here and looking at the wiki will give you all the info you need.

I've run into snags when installing. The point I've come to now is this:
1. I can get it to work on a monitor
2. I can't get the tv to work with composite (I might need to try Svideo)
3. When I use settings from the sample nvidia, X won't run properly. I'm probably doing it wrong (I'm tech-savvy and nearly A+ certified but linux is fairly new to me).

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My MythTV Box

[quote="Mal"]I've run into snags when installing. The point I've come to now is this:
1. I can get it to work on a monitor
2. I can't get the tv to work with composite (I might need to try Svideo)
3. When I use settings from the sample nvidia, X won't run properly. I'm probably doing it wrong (I'm tech-savvy and nearly A+ certified but linux is fairly new to me).[/quote]

Did you set the /etc/X11/XF86Config-4 file to use a tv setting?

Do you see anything on the tv at all, during the boot process or after it goes into xwindows?

What settings did you use from the sample nvidia?

I can see everything on the TV up to the point of X, at which point I have to press CTRL+ALT+F1 to enter the prompt. I head over and nano XF86Config-4, and I change some settings to try to get it to work. I use the sample nvidia settings, minus all the Modelines, I used the "magic" one I found elsewhere on the forums. I changed the display to 24 bit default. I've tried everything I can think of, but when I save and reboot, then it loads up X, it goes black again. Next thing I'll try is to triple check the syntax.

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My MythTV Box

What does the X log file say?

Hi,

To save some time, you should not have to reboot. What I do as root when playing with x is do a killall gdm. Then I make my tweaks, additions, etc to the XF86Config-4 file and when done simply try to startx . If all is proper and the server is happy you will obtain a gray desktop else error messages to help guide a fix. A ctl alt backspace will shut it down and then you can do gdm .

You can ssh in also however you need to do a ctl c then so you don't kill your "real" xserver

Mike

[quote="Mal"]I can see everything on the TV up to the point of X, at which point I have to press CTRL+ALT+F1 to enter the prompt. I head over and nano XF86Config-4, and I change some settings to try to get it to work. I use the sample nvidia settings, minus all the Modelines, I used the "magic" one I found elsewhere on the forums. I changed the display to 24 bit default. I've tried everything I can think of, but when I save and reboot, then it loads up X, it goes black again. Next thing I'll try is to triple check the syntax.[/quote]

I bet you are having the same problem I was having.

This page might help, but i'll give you what worked for me.
http://www.knoppmythwiki.org/index.php? ... terInstall

Comment out ALL of the video settings you know won't work. XWindows seems to just pick the first one in the list, regardless of whether it will work.

If your tv computer isn't comfortable to sit at, google for Putty.exe and grab it. It will let you telnet to your mythtv box instead of hovering by the machine. I was trying to deal with mine in a very uncomfortable position while holding the keyboard. Makes it tougher that way.

Login as root and edit the file. Just so you don't have to go look it up again like I do:

nano /etc/X11/XF86Config-4

My own XF86Config-4 file has this section:

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Monitor0"
Option "DPMS" "true"
Option "ConnectedMonitor" "TV"

and then modeline data before the EndSection

I have no other items with Options in that section that isn't commented out.

Now, I'm not a linux expert, and there are others that might have fancier suggestions that will do the trick. I just know what worked for me.

I'm going to list everything I do (basically) from the start.
You can find the hardware in my signature.

Hardware is installed properly.
Knoppmyth CD-ROM is correctly burned and placed into drive.
I get to the knoppmyth installer screen (Using a CRT monitor) I use the command when it asks for boot
[code]knoppmyth screen=640x480 depth=24 vsync=60 hsync=50[/code]
I forget exactly about the vsync and hsync but they matched up with what was in the F3 help. I then go through the installer menus with "Auto Install". I get to X (on monitor) set everything up, then hook it up to a TV (Refresh rate verified, resolution verified) I just don't get it.

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My MythTV Box

[quote="Mal"]I'm going to list everything I do (basically) from the start.
You can find the hardware in my signature.

Hardware is installed properly.
Knoppmyth CD-ROM is correctly burned and placed into drive.
I get to the knoppmyth installer screen (Using a CRT monitor) I use the command when it asks for boot
[code]knoppmyth screen=640x480 depth=24 vsync=60 hsync=50[/code]
I forget exactly about the vsync and hsync but they matched up with what was in the F3 help. I then go through the installer menus with "Auto Install". I get to X (on monitor) set everything up, then hook it up to a TV (Refresh rate verified, resolution verified) I just don't get it.[/quote]

Does X work on the monitor? It's just that XWindows won't display anything but black on the tv, but the boot process shows fine on the tv?

You do have another section to check. It's called MONITOR.

Just try it with the TV option I posted above.

I tried that just now, it still didn't work. I have a question though; What modelines do I need?
Oh and X is fine on monitor, everything works perfectly. But Svideo and composite to TV don't work with X.

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My MythTV Box

Again, have you looked at the X logfile? It should tell you what X thinks the problem is, what modeline the system is using, and any other issues it's encountering. If there are no errors, aside from warning about missing fonts, then it's a really good bet that the xserver is picking a modeline that your TV can't sync to for some reason. Current incarnations of the X server have an occasionally annoying habit of trying to use a bunch of "builtin modelines", sometimes by preference, even when you really, really don't want them to.

http://www.knoppmythwiki.org/index.php? ... ngLogFiles

Better still, post it here so we can help you look at it.