MythTV backend on a fileserver

[Lazlo]

I have a powerful (and very noisy) server in the basement and a couple of normal boxes around the house. I don't own a tv (or a vcr) so the main goal is to provide vcr and tv to the two client boxes.

Since the fileserver is a - fileserver (duh) in the basement I don't want or need it to run mythTV frontend. All I want is for it to sit there and capture tv, record it and xvid pack it and send it out to the clients.

However when I try to emerge mythtv it insists to install X and qt.

Has anyone had luck with setting up a mythtv backend on a fileserver with minimal dependencies?

Thanks
/Lasse

My USE flags (from emerge info)

[chimera77]

*BUMP*

I'm greatly interested in this also. I don't need/want X Windows running on a headless server in the closet...

[chunderbunny]

I know Mythtv directy depends on X for some reason, my guess would be that it needs certain X libraries in order to do video encoding, and to transmit the picture from the backend server to the client. Perhaps it also uses X to generate an interface to the backend databse, which is why it still pulls in Qt as a dependancy. Newer mythtv ebuilds don't even have an "X" USE flag.

[chimera77]

[kaltag]

MythTV uses the QT-mysql interface to talk to the databse and since QT depends on X...Well you ge tthe picture . You don't have to actually RUN X on the backend though, it just needs the qt-mysql interface stuff.
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[Lazlo]

QT-mysql?

So the backend uses a GUI library to access the database??

Isn't that like ODBC would be dependent on MFC in the Microsoft world?

Can anybody tell my why mythtv uses that interface the mysql instead of a simple driver?
Does it actually use any gui parts of qt -- would it be possible to build a qt-mysql without the rest of QT (and X)

-- indeed why does mythtv need mysql. Wouldn't an embedded database like Berkley DB be a better fit?
OK. I accept the mysql dependency. But surely it should be possible to get rid of qt!

[kim_asplund]

Don't make much sence does it
But then on the other hand we are all living in the world of Linux... so ... you are free to make suggestions to the developer or start making changes your self, and send in the code and hope they like it

Regards Kim.

[kaltag]

[lbrtuk]

With its backend/frontend architecture mythtv needs multiple simultaneous queries to the database, and using mysql means they can let mysql worry about the complexities involved there.

[Lazlo]

As long as there is few clients and they just want to read data 90% of the time the complexities of multiple clients to a data source is pretty much non existing. You just serialize access with an old reader/writer-lock scheme known in most programming languages.

But as I said. I accept the mysql dependency as a valid dependency.

I just need somebody to explain to me which part of qt is so great that justifies depending on all of qt (and with that X)

[time passes]

Ok, I downloaded the mythtv code and browsed a bit around.
The mainserver.cpp class that I assume is a central part in the backend has the following #includes.

[Lazlo]

I think I am going to try and see what:

[Lazlo]

Damn ...

[Lazlo]

Nobody seems to care about giving me a hand .. so I will try to help myself. Maybe this will turn into a little howto a some point.

I researched a bit about qt and learned that there was a qt-embedded package that mythtv can use instead of qt.
All that is needed is to specify the "directfb" use-flag and the e-build will trade qt for qt-embedded. With that goes the Xorg dependency too.

[chunderbunny]

The cle266 USE flag specifies support for VIA unichrome cle266 chipset graphics cards (specifically it builds a version of Myth which can use the onboard hardware accelerated MPEG2 decoder, which VIA have rather unhelpfully made work in a completely non-standard way.)

I'm pretty sure that a backend only device will not need alsa support as all the audio/video decoding is handled by the Myth client.

"dvb" enables support for "Digital Video Broadcasting", which is the digital television standard used in Europe (as well as other parts of the world.)

[Lazlo]

Thanks for that info. Did you look it up somewhere I don't know about or is it just "common" knowledge?

Now I get this build error:

[chunderbunny]

I have an EPIA system that I've been thinking of using as a Myth frontend, it uses the cle266 chipset which is why I knew about that. I was also thinking of getting a digital TV card (since they are cheaper than their analogue counterparts with hardware MPEG encoders) which is why I have been looking into DVB recently. It was just luck I guess.

[cazze]

@chunderbunny:

i wouldn't be so sure about the not needed part of the alsa drivers on the backend. Lazlo got his capturing cards in the backnd server to do the capturing, not in his frontends (is that correct Lazlo?)

kammicazze
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[Lazlo]

I have my capture card in the backend server.

I also got doubts on alsa is needed or not.

I can see that the 0.16 ebuild has code that will fail the build if I have -alsa -oss -arts so maybe I need it. It could still be the frontend that needs it. It is a mess that the backend and frontend isn't two seperate packages.

[Muddy]