[mythtvnz] MythTv playback on Windows Vista

Mon Oct 13 20:47:25 BST 2008

On Mon, Oct 13, 2008 at 8:28 PM, Ross and Jemima <ross.jemima at gmail.com> wrote:
> Thanks Andrew,
>
> I thought the HD was a fat mepg2 stream but I stand to be corrected as I'm
> new to this whole thing.

You are confusing codec and container. codec is how audio and video
are compressed. container is how the compressed audio and video are
mixed together into a single file or stream and delivered to the
"consumer". confusingly mpeg defines a whole lot of codecs and
containers, so "mpeg" is a term that can mean different things in
different contexts.

HD from freeview uses the h.264 (mpeg4 part 10) video codec and a
variety of audio codecs (ac3 or he-aac) and is delivered in an mpeg2
ts (transport stream) container.

>
> As an update I have managed to get MythTv to connect to the database by
> mucking around.  I'm not sure exactly what I did but anyway this is what I
> get now:
>
> C:\Program Files\mythtv>mythfrontend
> 2008-10-13 20:02:21.147 Using localhost value of ROSS-LAPTOP
> 2008-10-13 20:02:21.151 Testing network connectivity to 10.1.1.10
>
> C:\Program Files\mythtv>mythfrontend
> 2008-10-13 20:02:52.411 Using localhost value of ROSS-LAPTOP
> 2008-10-13 20:02:52.424 New DB connection, total: 1
> 2008-10-13 20:03:07.854 Connected to database 'mythconverg' at host:
> 10.1.1.10

Have you read the README file?

README for Win32 Installation of MythTV version: 0.21 svn 16789
=============================================================
The current installation very basic:
 - All exe and dlls are %PROGRAMFILES%\mythtv
 - share/mythtv is copied to %PROGRAMFILES%\mythtv\share\mythtv
 - lib/mythtv is copied to %PROGRAMFILES%\mythtv\lib\mythtv
 - mysql.txt and user configuration files are set to %APPDATA%\mythtv

if you have MYSQL installed locally, mysql.txt will be configured to
use it. if you want to run
the frontend with a remote MYSQL server, edit mysql.txt in %APPDATA%\mythtv

if you don't have MYSQL installed locally, only the frontend will be
installed. mysql.txt
needs to be configured to the backend IP address

if you install the components in other directories other than the
default, some environment
variables will need to be set:
MYTHCONFDIR = defaulting to %APPDATA%\mythtv
MYTHLIBDIR  = defaulting to %PROGRAMFILES%\mythv\lib
MYTHTVDIR   = defaulting to %APPDATA%\mythtv

>
> and then it crashes.  I've tried running as administrator to see if that
> helps.  It didn't.
>
> I'm starting to wonder if there is a configuration problem with my backend.
> Is there anyway to test that it is working correctly?

can you telnet to port 3306 on the backend? port 3306 is the port
mysql runs on. Sometimes mysql is configured to run only on localhost
and other computers can't connect. Thats ok when you only have
combined front/back end but is obviously a problem when you try
running over the lan.

>
> Andrew Richards wrote:
>
> Ross,
>
> This is seperate to the problems you are having, but my understanding is
> that MythTV Player only supports MPEG2, not MPEG4 (which all of DVB-T
> feed, HD or otherwise, are in). Is this not the case?
>
>
> Ross and Jemima wrote:
>
>
> Hi Nick,
>
> Thanks for the comments.  I've got a DVB-T card so I guess the
> playback will mostly be HD.
>
> Thanks for posting the links to the windows versions of MythTV.  I've
> tried both versions posted but am having trouble getting them to
> connect to the backend.  I've set the parameters in the mysql.txt file
> but I don't think that its reading the file as everytime the output
> says that its trying to connect to the local host:
>
> C:\Program Files\mythtv>mythfrontend
> 2008-10-13 19:04:20.825 Unable to read configuration file mysql.txt
> 2008-10-13 19:04:20.836 Empty LocalHostName.
> 2008-10-13 19:04:20.838 Using localhost value of ross-laptop
> 2008-10-13 19:04:20.845 New DB connection, total: 1
> 2008-10-13 19:04:21.849 Unable to connect to database!
> 2008-10-13 19:04:21.852 Driver error was [1/2003]:
> QMYSQL3: Unable to connect
> Database error was:
> Can't connect to MySQL server on 'localhost' (10061)
>
> QSqlQuery::exec: database not open
> QSqlQuery::exec: database not open
> 2008-10-13 19:04:22.911 DB Error (KickDatabase):
> Query was:
> SELECT NULL;
> No error type from QSqlError?  Strange...
>
> My mysql file is:
>
> [#]
> DBHostName=10.1.1.10
> DBHostPing=yes
> DBUserName=mythtv
> DBPassword=ftd2ZZTv
> DBName=mythconverg
> DBType=QMYSQL3
> LocalHostName=ROSS-LAPTOP
>
> So it looks to me like its not reading the mysql.txt file at all.
> I've tried renaming the file to see if it comes up with a different
> error (like cannot find mysql.txt) but the output is the same which
> makes me think its not reading the file at all.  I've tried removing
> the .txt extension also but no difference.  Any ideas on how to test?
>
> Also with regard to using MythTv Player, it seems from Simon's post
> that MythTv Player uses its own codecs so that might be why it can't
> access the audio stream (since I think Paul's patches affect the audio
> codecs).
>
> In terms of connecting using a live CD it connects partially as its
> possible to view the recordings but if you try and play them it fails
> saying the backend is not available.  However I don't really want to
> pursue this avenue as I'd rather be able work within windows and not
> reboot.
>
> I've also tried using qemu and the live CD iso but I can't seem to get
> the networking correct for qemu to access network...  Also not a
> desirable method.  I'm glad that someone has released a compiled
> version of MythTv for windows and if I can get it to work that would
> be the best solution.
>
>
>
> Nick Rout wrote:
>
>
> Sorry your questions/comments are just too vague.
>
> On Sun, Oct 12, 2008 at 9:23 PM, Ross and Jemima <ross.jemima at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>
>
> Hi Simon,
>
> Windows Vista is what I am running.
>
>
>
> There is a thread pointing to windows binaries here:
>
> http://www.gossamer-threads.com/lists/mythtv/users/329417
>
> However they are a little old to incorporate the changes made by Paul
> Kendall if you are after DVB-T.
>
>
>
>
>
> At the moment I can play the files through mythweb using VLC media player or
> Windows Media Player.  VLC does the best job and you can deinterlace as
> well.  However some recordings are laggy and drop frames or have audio
> problems.  It doesn't seem to make a difference if I download them to my
> laptop either.  I'm wondering if its some content protection mechanism in
> Vista that can't process the high def video fast enough.  Or it is a codec
> issue.
>
>
>
> what codecs are you trying to play? What exactly is the content? ie
> where did mythtv get it from? Is it analogue, or DVB-S or DVB-T? All 3
> will be using different audio (and video) codecs.
>
>
>
>
> I've tried the latest stable (4.something) and development versions
> of Myth Player (5.0) but have the issue with the audio stream not being
> found.  I was just wondering if anyone else is running a windows frontend
> with FreeviewHD and what they've done.  I've also tried running a live-CD of
> Mythbuntu but it doesn't seem to connect properly either.
>
>
>
>
> "It doesn't seem to connect properly" is a bit unscientific. What are
> your symptoms and error messages?
>
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