Beulbek

Building my linux-based mediacenter: installing MythBuntu

Update: this post has a follow-up and is therefore deprecated. Please read along at Re-building the linux-based mediacenter: Ubuntu x86_64 + MythTV

MythBuntu One of my demands is/was using a free OS. First, I tried LinuxMCE on a testing environment. Although the installation was really, really easy, I didn’t like it: too many functions for me. One part, I did like: the MythTV part. Combining MythTV with an OpenSource OS, I figured there would be some Ubuntu packages. Well, guess what: MythBuntu is here!

Mythbuntu is an Ubuntu derivative focused upon setting up a standalone MythTV system similar to Knoppmyth or Mythdora. Currently, it is a recognized as a community supported project by Canonical. Mythbuntu can be used to install a stand alone Frontend, Backend, or combination machines. Unlike similar projects, Mythbuntu keeps close ties with Ubuntu and all development is given back to the Ubuntu Community. This allows easy conversions from a standard desktop to a Mythbuntu machine and vice versa. The development cycle of Mythbuntu closely follows that of Ubuntu, releasing every six months shortly after Ubuntu releases.

Seems like this is the perfect OS for me! Really, it’s quite simple, just try it.

Download your copy. Don’t get confused by the names: if you have a 64bit, pick the AMD64. Otherwise, pick the i386 version. Burn it on a CD and reboot the computer from this disc. MythBuntu will start. Don’t get it? Get yourself a manual.
Now, here’s the catch. The Gigabyte GA-73PVM-S2H is equipped with an onboard NVIDIA GeForce 7100 / nForce 630i Chipset. This chipset is, at the moment, not officially supported on an Ubuntu 64 edition. Therefore, I needed to select the “Safemode graphics” installation, otherwise the installer will hang. It tries to start the GDM about three times, but then hangs. No feedback, it just hangs. It took me a while to figure that out.
Get yourself a copy af the Linux x64 (AMD64/EM64T) Display Driver 169.04 at NVIDIA. Just follow their instructions. It gave me some warnings, but at the end, all was good: a nice hi-res desktop system.

Now, I just need to set up the MythTV. Didn’t do that yet, due to lack of spare time. What i DID do, was install SABnzbdPlus. More about that in a new post.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 5th, 2007 at 23:08 and is filed under Blog, Commandline, Debian, Gadgets, Hardware, HTPC, Mediacenter, Testing, Ubuntu, Unix general. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

7 Responses to “Building my linux-based mediacenter: installing MythBuntu”

Beulbek » Re-building the linux-based mediacenter: Ubuntu x86_64 + MythTV December 26th, 2007 at 17:23

[...] As I mentioned in an earlier post, I was installing Mythbuntu onto my mediacenter. During the installation process, I changed my mind. Although Mythbuntu seems perfect at first site, to me it’s not. Too many packages have been removed and sorting out everything would take me too much time.Mythbuntu encountered issues with the videodriver, the networking gear and the audiocard. Now, I decided to install a regular Ubuntu and install MythTV on top of it. Here’s the steps I took to create my mediacenter, using Ubuntu and MythTV on a Gigabyte GA 73PVM-S2h driven system. [...]

Dennis January 15th, 2008 at 14:15

Hey there!
I’m so lucky that i’d searched for “installing mythbuntu”. About 3 seconds before i wanted to hit “install” i read that the nvidia n630i chipset is not supported. Thanks for that hint, it saved me much time!

Dennis January 15th, 2008 at 14:17

What i forgot: I’d installed mythbuntu, but in safe graphix mode , sorry for the double post

Jaap January 15th, 2008 at 21:31

Hi Dennis,

Thanks for your comment. Did you go for the Ubuntu + MythTV combination? Works pretty good now.

rajkumar January 17th, 2008 at 10:32

hi did the audio work for u?

Jaap January 18th, 2008 at 00:29

Hi rajkumar,

Thank you for your reply. I now edited the post to point people to the follow-up of this post: Re-building the linux-based mediacenter: Ubuntu x86_64 + MythTV. Here, you can read about installing the sound.

So no, I did not get the sound to work. That’s why I decided to use the full Ubuntu and start from there. Since the disk is 500 GB, I figured I got space enough