MythTV dbox2/dreambox

Plebs

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Hi,

I currently have a mythTV setup with a dual DVB-T card. I would like to set up mythTV to get a feed from dbox2 but I'm a bit stumped on how to set this up can anybody help?

Is it possible to hook up a dreambox to a mythtv system?

Cheers!!
 
(PS plebs - don't forget to say hello in the 'Who are you' section!!)

I've been looking into doing this for myself, so what I'm suggesting here is theoretical and based on my reading and also a short time playing with mythtv on an old set of hardware!!

You'll need to connect the dreambox via a tv card.

This can be done in one of two ways:
a) using a SCART to SVHS/Sound (there is a set of connections including this type on offer at aldi at themoment for a fiver).
b) using the yellow (picture) red/white (audio) connections

Which is most appropriate depends on the tv card you have in your system. Some digital tv cards do not have SVHS/sound input, in which case you're probably best adding an old (and cheap) analogue tv card to your system specifically for connecting to the dbox (I'm planning on buying a Hauppage dual digital card plus a cheap analogue card i've had lying round for ages for my system). Mythtv will then let you create the input for the extra analogue card as the SVHS connection.

Not sure on automatically changing channels - I think you can get an infra-red gizmo that can learn to control the dreambox (I've seen some settings in the mythtv setup for this type of device), but can't be much help on this as haven't got this far with my research yet - lol!!
 
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hi Iant,

Yes that would work, although not very well as you'd be converting your digital stream to analogue and then back to digital using a TV card. MythTV uses the network functionalilty of the dbox and connects via the ethernet, a bit like VLC i think. And in theory it should change channels etc for you.... Although this is where i'm stuck.

Cheers
 
hi Iant,

Yes that would work, although not very well as you'd be converting your digital stream to analogue and then back to digital using a TV card. MythTV uses the network functionalilty of the dbox and connects via the ethernet, a bit like VLC i think. And in theory it should change channels etc for you.... Although this is where i'm stuck.

Cheers

That would be true, though I'm guessing that it probably wouldn't be any worse than a SCART connection at present.

As the dbox/dreambox is linux based so I guess you could do anything if you got into the source, but for the rest of us mortals I would guess any connection could be done via the network streaming functionality. Would connecting via vlc player give you what you're after? (this would be outside of mythtv I guess)

Which version of linux have you installed mythtv on?

Attached is a pdf I found (might have been on this site - due credit to the original author) about connecting to windoze - see if there's anything useful on there for you.
 
Iant,

Ta, for the pdf although i can't get it as i don't have enough posts yet

I used ubuntu linux for my back end mythtv server, this has a dual DVB -T card in which works fine for all the freeview channels. I also have two other mythTV frontends (the bit that we watch) one is running a very sparse version of linux called linpvr and the other is just running ubuntu.

MythTV regonises dbox2s as a valid recording device(via ip address) in it's setup, i think once you have it setup mythtv takes control of everything. i was only using VLC as an example.

I can get mythTV to see the dbox via ip address but don't know what to do after that. There used to be a guide ( i think) on the original world-of-digital for mythtv and dbox2 but i can't see it anywhere now.

cheers
 
You've gone a bit beyond what I understand, Plebs, I must confess, I've installed mythtv on top of a standard FC6 distribution using some old hardware with a tv card installed. I was happy to see a moving tv picture and note that the svhs interface was available for the dbox connection.

I had no idea the mythtv good pick up the dbox/dreambox through the network. When I was messing the other night, my dreambox wasn't picked up automatically so I didn't go beyond that.

Don't worry about missing the pdf file - it was totally windoze based, but did connect to media centre through the svhs connection/infrared, hence my suggestion to follow a similar route on mythtv.

I'll have a go at the connection over the weekend. Hopefully one of us will crack it!!
 
@Plebs

I've just been doing some searching and found a few threads. One of which was myself and 'plebs' (note the lower case 'p') having a discussion about connecting a dbox to mythtv!! In this thread I was talkin about putting together a media pc - guess what, I still am lol!!!!! (At least the case is on order this time)

During the search I found the following thread, which I think you'll find interesting...
http://www.digitalworldz.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=66786&highlight=myth

It's beyond where I am so I'm going to have an interesting read
 
thanks for that iant, i wonder if that was me you were talking to... i used to use world of digital ages ago but seem to have lost my account with the move to digitalworldz.

in summary we seem to be at a stage where the dbox isn't solid enough to provide a network stream to mythtv and the code in mythtv isn't up to using it correctly in version 0.20. ho hum!!

bit of a crossroads here. could get a capture card like you suggested, wait for mythtv to catch up or get a pci dvb-c card (this is a lot out of my comfort zone!!!)...

cheers
 
it prob is.

I'm going to give up on mythTV and dbox for the time being... I'll keep a watching brief and if I get any further I'll try and write and howto.

Thanks iant for your help.
 
No prob plebs.

This thread has spurred me on and I've finally ordered all the parts for my media pc. If all goes well I might have it together at the weekend.

I played around with mythtv at the weekend and managed to find the dbox connection in the mythtv setup - at the point where you define the input (e.g. tv) cards. However I could not get this to make a connection to my dreambox (it is running neutrino so I was hoping it would all just work - it didn't).

One thing I did think of doing was setting up the linux under mythtv as a smb or nfs server, that way the dbox/dreambox can record to the mediapc. Not exactly the type of integration you're after, but something at least.

Maybe I'll have some luck when the media pc is goinfg - I'll let you know if I do
 
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Just found this on the mythtv website - any use? (taken from the page FAQ page on www.mythtv.org)



23.20 Using the DBoxII within MythTV

The configuration of the DBoxII for use within MythTV is tricky (as of May 16 2005), that's why it's covered here. Your DBoxII has to be running linux and the Neutrino GUI instead of the stock BetaNova firmware. For further information, please refer to http://www.tuxbox.org. Additionally, you need to enable the SPTS mode in Neutrino.

* Add a new "Capture Card" in the setup. The "Card type" is "DBOX2 Input", the other values have to be adjusted according to your setup. The default values, except for the "DBOX2 host ip", should work fine.
* Define a new video source. It doesn't need to be configured, you just need to define it. MythTV grabs the EPG from the DBoxII.
* Connect the DBoxII to the newly defined input source in "input connections".
* Since channel scanning is not implemented yet, you need to define channels in the "Channel Editor". Make sure that you use the same value for "Channel Name" as on the DBoxII. You can get a list of available channels from the web interface of Neutrino at http://ip-of-your-box:80/. Associate the channel with your new video source and repeat when needed.

You may leave the Setup now and proceed as usual.
 
Iant,

that looks like a good find. I hadn't looked at using dbox2 mythtv combo for a while but will give this a go tomorrow.

I currently use a fairly old image(sportster 1.7 uk5) which doesn't stream over yweb very well, seems to crash the dbox. i might have to upgrade to a newer image, i'll report back about how i get on.

Cheers
 
Iant,

that looks like a good find. I hadn't looked at using dbox2 mythtv combo for a while but will give this a go tomorrow.

I currently use a fairly old image(sportster 1.7 uk5) which doesn't stream over yweb very well, seems to crash the dbox. i might have to upgrade to a newer image, i'll report back about how i get on.

Cheers

Good luck Plebs!

I must confess I have my mediapc going, but I'm having trouble with some of the hardware support under linux (mainly the onboard ethernet and remote control), hence I've not been able to progress as far as I'd have liked.

I did get samba up so that my dreambox could record to the media hard-drive, but the ethernet problems stop it being a reliable method of recording.

I'm patiently waiting for linux to catch up with my hardware, once that has happened I'll be giving this a bit of time!!

Let us know how you get on
 
Ok, attempt one is done and as i suspected i don't think the image i have on my dbox2 is 'new' enough. looking at the mythbackend log everything seems to be ok, ie there are no glaring errors showing up. when i try and watch live tv nothing happens but as i can't watch anything via yweb this isn't too surprising.

Any idea what is the best image for viewing via yweb?

regarding your linux problems i would recommend giving ubuntu a go, i have had no hardware issues with this distro. I have just installed a new instance of ubuntu and mythtv in vmware and have had no hardware issues.

Cheers
 
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regarding your linux problems i would recommend giving ubuntu a go, i have had no hardware issues with this distro. I have just installed a new instance of ubuntu and mythtv in vmware and have had no hardware issues.
Cheers

Latest ubuntu (including updates) is the one I'm using. It didn't support the tv card (a hauppage nova 500 dual - but that was sorted by compiling a new module). The ethernet port built onto the motherboad is the thing giving me grief - it's an AsRock mother board with an intel chipset ethernet port which is recognised a a bit awkward!!
 
ok, got a little closer i think, the issue seems to be that the dbox needs to record to the directory where mythtv puts the recordings, I'm just wondering which is the best way to do it NFS or samba.

was there any reason for using samba with your dreambox or was that the first guide you came across?

at this rate i might have to rigth a guide!!!
 
ok, got a little closer i think, the issue seems to be that the dbox needs to record to the directory where mythtv puts the recordings, I'm just wondering which is the best way to do it NFS or samba.

was there any reason for using samba with your dreambox or was that the first guide you came across?

at this rate i might have to rigth a guide!!!

The reason I use samba is purely historical. I used to use a NAS drive for recording so it was a simple step to move between the NAS and a ubuntu system.

Also I wanted to leave the possibility of a dual booting system open, the samba/smb option leaves the recording option available whichever system is currently booted.

Aside from that I'm not aware of any differences between NFS and SMB that would affect the recording. I'm sure both are more than adequate!

I'm sure a guide would be invaluable. I'm sure you've found the same as myself, there's plenty of information out there but it's widely scattered
 
i think i'll stick to NFS for the ubuntu to dbox2 connection

i share the same folder as nfs and samba so my *nix and windows boxes can access the same data
 
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