F.A.Q.
This F.A.Q. pertains to 3.2 and above versions.
PLEASE USE THE MYTHTV WIKI OR USERS LIST FOR ANY MYTHTV RELATED QUESTIONS !!!
Gossamer Threads
MythTV Wiki
MythDora Wiki
INSTALLATION
Q. I am new to all of this. Do you have any kind of instructions to go by?
A. Certainly. The preferred method of install would be to do a default custom install. MythDora defaults to this when installing. Please be sure to take a look at Pete Daly's excellent screencast using MythDora 4.0 here for a detailed installation. Also be sure to look at the Install Notes listed above.
Q. Do we have to use the ext3 filesystem for the /storage directory?
A. If you Auto install, yes. But technically you can reformat the /storage partition after install. A word of WARNING on doing so. You will loose everything that has been installed onto /storage if you do this. So I would recommend backing up ALL directories to some other place like /tmp. It's not too big unless you have recordings or some other media there already. If you still want to do this, here's how. For a custom or text install, here's how to do that.
Q. When I do an Auto install, eth0 eventually FAILS. Is this normal?
A. Yes. Let it go through its checks and you can setup networking using one of the supplied Window Managers or simply enter setup as root at xterm and then under Network configuration. The restart network with "service network restart"
VIDEO
Q. After I install MythDora, X bombs with errors and I get a black screen when things try and start. What is the problem?
A. This is due to an incorrect video driver you may have chosen. To change drivers, get to an xterm as root and open up /etc/X11/xorg.conf and edit the line "Driver" in "Section Device". It may read either nvidia, fglrx or via. You will need to change drivers in order for things to work correctly. Popular cards can use the default xorg ones such as:
Nvidia - "nv"
ATI - "radeon" "vesa" "ati"
VIA - "vesa" "via"
Q. When MythDora finishes installing, right after first reboot, I get a garbled screen.
A. Try doing a Ctrl+Alt Backspace. This should take you to the GDM login screen. Let it auto login and you then should be at the question prompts.
Q. When I try and watch livetv, I get nothing but a black screen.
A. This is usually a tell tell sign that mythtvsetup wasn't configured correctly. Make sure that step#2 and step#4 are correct in mythtvsetup. The default input on step#2 and input connection on step#4 have to match. Also make sure that your settings in xorg.conf are correct and the output to your TV is the right one, s-video/composite.
Q. TV or video is jerky and the picture isn't so good on my PVR-x50 card.
A. You may need to change the default resolution from 480x480 to 720x480 or 720x576 in PAL land. This is under mythfrontend, Utilities/Setup->Setup->TV Settings->Recording Profiles->MPEG-2 Encoders (PVR-250, PVR-350). Change your resolution for default here. You may want to change the others as well while your at it. FOR HDTV - You may also may want to look into using XvMC if your using Nvidia or Openchrome.
1. In MythTV's frontend menus, please navigate to:
Setup -> TV Settings -> Playback
2. Next, change the "Preferred MPEG2 Decoder" to "Standard XvMC"
3. For the Via Unichrome chipset, select "Via XvMC"
4. Make sure "Extra audio buffering" is checked.
Q. My new PVR-500 doesn't seem to be working too good. Playback is choppy. What can be done?
A. A fix that has known to work is to make sure that both tuners have their own IRQ. This can be done by changing IRQ's around in the bios or just swapping PCI slots.
Q. I'm getting some really bad ghosting effects on my PVR-x50. Any way to fix this?
A. You can fix this with "ivtvctl -c dnr_temporal=0". On 3.0 version or higher use "v4l2-ctl --set-ctrl temporal_filter=0" instead of ivtvctl. You may need to have this executed anytime you reboot. The best place for it to work would be to place the command in /etc/rc.d/rc.local.
Q. I'm using the Openchrome video driver in MythDora but my video still seems choppy.
A. Make sure in the frontend setup you go to Setup -> TV Settings -> Playback. Then, change the "Preferred MPEG2 Decoder" to "Standard XvMC". Also make sure "Extra audio buffering" is checked. You may also need to change your playback profile to slim.
Q. My PVR-150/500 sometimes looses video.
A. This may have already been corrected but what some say is to shutdown the box for 10-30 seconds and then try it again. This had to do with the registers needing to clear in the tuner.
DVD
Q. My DVD player doesn't seem to be working properly. It's like MythTV isn't controlling it.
A. In the frontend Setup -> General -> 5th screen at the bottom you should have Monitor CD/DVD checked off.
SUPPORT
Q. I have a bttv/saa7134 card installed and MythDora doesn't seem to work with it very well?
A. This is because there are just too many versions of bttv/saa7134 cards to keep track of. Different cards may require more than one option to be stated in modprobe.conf. A good place to look for usage would be here and here or here.
Q. I have a tuner card thats not listed as being supported. Would it be?
A. Since there are so many different type cards, MythDora lists the most popular being used. Thats not to say it isn't supported. The best thing to do would be to just try it and see if it works and if not then try to get it to work. At the bottom of the FAQ is some really good resource sites.
Q. Do I really need a tuner card for MythTV to work?
A. Technically no. You can use MythTV several ways. But if you want to use MythTV without a tuner card and still want to record video, that can be done also. If you have a firewire port on your MythDora box and you have a supported Cable Box(STB) that has a working firewire port, you can capture even HDTV this way if you'de like. Keep in mind, this is a newer way of capturing video and maynot work all the time. It also requires you to have huge amounts of disk space available.
Q. I have a kickass HDTV Home Theatre with Dolby Digital and the whole nine yards. Will MythDora work and how would I go about getting it all setup?
A. Short answer Yes. Getting it all hooked up and setup is beyond the scope of this FAQ. Since I myself have all this but have never gotten around to setting it up, I couldn't give you any definate answers other than I do know you "may" need a custom modeline for your HDTV that goes in xorg.conf. You will also need to setup alsa a special way to deal with Dolby Digital. A good place to start is to see my good friend Jarod Wilson. Myth(TV)ology. He covers alot of what you would need.
Q. Do you have an official How-To for MythDora of any kind?
A. There is now a MythDora Wiki. If your good at Wiki and your comfortable installing MythDora, please feel free to get things going.
Q. Do you support using SVN?
A. It's not recommended especially for newbies but if your feeling adventurous try this post.
XTERM
Q. Whenever I login as root at GDM, I keep getting a GNOME display error and it throws me to a default xterm.
A. Right before you login click session at the bottom and choose KDE. Then when it asks if you'de like that to be default choose Make Default.
REMOTE
Q. I'm using a supported remote control but when I go to change channels, nothing happens.
A. Make sure you have run mythfilldatabase or you have channel info in the DB. MythTV WILL NOT work correctly until you do so. Also make sure that the lirc daemon is running. There also could be a chance that you are using the wrong com port or the permissions are incorrect on that port. You also maybe using a cable or satellite box that would require MythTV to change the channels for you. This all depends on if your STB can be controlled via the com port. Theres no easy way to tell unless you just try it. If not then you will need to use an IR Blaster or MyBlaster to do this. An example of controlling your MythDora box via the com port on your STB is here.
Q. I really don't like the way my remote keys are setup. Anyway I can change those?
A. If you look inside /home/mythtv/.mythtv/lircrc you see "button =" and "config =". Button represents whats on your remote. Config represents actions MythTV will take. Look in /usr/share/doc/mythtv-0.2*/keys.txt for config actions. Look in /etc/lircd.conf for your remote button listing. Create a configuration for your new remote button in lircrc that uses a button listed in lircd.conf with an action MythTV will take from the keys.txt file. NOTE - There maybe multiple remotes listed in lircd.conf so be sure to use the right one. OR you can also use our new lircrc_generator.sh script located in /usr/share/mythdora
GAMES
Q. What emulators come with MythDora?
A. dega-sdl, dgen-sdl, epsxe, fakenes, fceultra, gcube, gnuboy, mupen64, sdlmame, sdlmess, snes9x, stella, visualboyadvance, xmame, yabause, zsnes.
USAGE
Q. How do I get to an xterm?
A. On the main menu in MythDora Tools there is now a launch Xterm.
Q. How would I startx from the command line?
A. startx for KDE | startxfce4 for Xfce
Q. I installed MythDora using the Auto install and now I can't find any of my Windows partitions or other saved data.
A. This is designed to do this by the kickstart file inside MythDora. Your drive has now been formatted to fit MythDora. This is why we prefer the custom install. Since we now don't mention the Auto install feature anymore you must have taken the time to have found this out. You then should have kept reading.
Q. Once I'm at the desktop and want to go back to MythTV or MythTVsetup, how would I do this?
A. There are now shortcut icons. Be sure not to clear capture card settings or program information unless you mean to in mythtvsetup.
Q. How come when I rip DVD's, mythfrontend doesn't see them?
A. There are settings in the videos setup under file types. Make sure .vob is checked off.
Q. My channels are off by one. Whats the problem?
A. This is normally due to an incorrect tuner type. You may have to specify this in your modprobe.conf file. It also could be that your channel frequency table is incorrect in mythtvsetup under option #3.
Q. Anytime I reboot I have to run the command ivtvctl -p 4 to make my tuner work.
A. This is an indication that mythtvsetup isn't setup correctly. Mythtvsetup if done right will take care of those commands for you. Double check steps 2 and 4 in mythtvsetup.
Q. I've setup MythDora to be a frontend only and I'm having a really tough time trying to connect to my backend.
A. This can be difficult sometimes. The one thing you need to make sure of is that the backend is using the same version as the frontend on MythDora. If not you will receive the "Unexpected response to MYTH_PROTO_VERSION:". You HAVE to specify the IP address in mythtvsetup of the variables for "IP address for
--
$ mysql -u root mythconverg
mysql> grant all on mythconverg.* to mythtv@"%" identified by "mythtv";
mysql> flush privileges;
mysql> quit
--
Q. When I try and install the MediaMVP rpm, I get an error about dhcp.conf.
A. Do an rpm -ivh --force
Q. How do I install my PVR-USB2?
A. The instructions to do that are here.
Q. What can I do to correct any issues with DVB.
A. Version 3.2 and newer uses dvb-apps. Here are some good references to look at.
MythTV Wiki-DVB Apps
MythTV Wiki-tzap
Q. I did a custom install and there is a package that I'de like to use that I don't have installed.
A. The easiest thing to do would be to use "yum install ????". You can also see if it's on your MythDora disk in RPMS or in the extras directory.
Q. I'm trying to setup MythGame.
A. You may won't to head over to the MythGame Wiki for some setup options. Disregard the rom path options here as I have already done that for you. All you need to do is to setup the actual command line options and place the appropriate roms in the rom directory. Popular emulators come with MythDora. MythGame emulation
AUDIO
Q. How exactly do I get audio working on a bttv type card?
A. An audio jumper cable from the sound out on the TV card to the line in on the sound card is needed. Also open up alsamixer in xterm and make sure that master volume and pcm are turned up and line in is set to record and muted.
Q. My sound levels never save.
A. This can be fixed by using alsamixer. If the mixers are being repeatedly muted, then first unmute them and set them to desirable levels. As root execute the command "/usr/sbin/alsactl store". Finally, add the following line "/usr/sbin/alsactl restore" to "/etc/rc.d/rc.local".
Q. I have MythDora all setup and can watch TV using a PVR-x50 but still there is no sound.
A. One thing I had to do to get sound working that I never had to do before was to change the audio output device from /dev/dsp to ALSA:default. Also make sure you change /dev/mixer to "default" without the quotes. This is all done in the frontend setup under General and those changes have to be manually typed in.
MISC
Q. MythDora has got to be the worst Linux distribution that I've ever used.
A. Hmmm, sorry you feel that way but it is free software. If you don't like it you don't have to use it.
Q. MythDora has got to be the best Linux distribution that I've ever used.
A. Thanks. We appreciate the comment.
Q. I'de like to update MythDora with apt-get dist-upgrade or yum upgrade. Is this a smart move?
A. You will be asking for trouble. You run a very high risk of breaking something. There are a few packages that don't need to be updated. MythDora is a self contained distro anyway.
Q. Can I update MythTV?
A. Please read the following here .
Q. I couldn't find the answer to my question here. Any other resources?
A. Gossamer Threads
A. MythTV Docs
A. MythTV Wiki