Good Media Centre OS?

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Hey!
I have got the current system for my family to watch and record and do catch up tv with:
Phenom I x4 @ 2.8 Ghz (I think)
3GB DDR2 Ram
250GB HDD (I will replace this)
8600GT 1gB (I can upgrade if needed, but dont need to atm).
Mythbuntu 10.10 (I need this specific version or else I cannot get my tuner to work with the later kernel)

MythTV is great when it wants to work, but about 80 percent of the time it likes to annoy me by changing a setting and cocking up the tuner (For example at the moment its not recording more then 1 program at the same time where as last week I could do that fine) which isnt suitable as I am really quite overloaded at the moment and I need something that works without too much hassle!
It took me over 16 hours in total to get MythTV to work with my tuner, and it seems I have done all that for nothing. So I am going to install Windows 7 (ewwww) and use the Media Centre facility on that.
What do you think of that idea? At least then my tuner will work properly and everything will be fine....
If you know of any better alternatives to MythTV I'd love to know!
Thanks guys

Its a shame that TV tuner companies arent making them cheap that work for Linux out of the box as Linux is a great platform for it.
16 Hours of work to get it to work sounds ridicules and you probably think i sholud have given up, you are right but my passion for hating Windows is that insanely strong, I will do almost anything to not use it (ok... Its not that bad, im just not a fan ).
So yeah....
PS:
My parents are on the edge of changing to a PVR as they think it will cause me too much trouble, so this needs to work.... Wish me luck!

Well I just use Windows7, and I'm pretty happy with it.

Got an off-the-shelf cheap Advent PC from PC World, added my BlackGold DVB-T Tuner,
added an MCE remote + sensor, connected it via HDMI to my 32" LG screen, and it all 'just works'.

The sleep function is very reliable so it only turns itself on when it needs to record something
then goes back to sleep, and the season recording seem fairly effective.
It keeps about 300GB of stuff recorded, and recycles the space if it gets too full.
I very rarely need to use a keyboard or mouse, just wake it up with the MCE remote
which is also programmed to control the power / volume of the screen.

Been running now since October 2008 I think, with just the occasional Windows Update.
How much do you hate Microsoft, and is it really worth all the extra hassle?

i suggest loads of research and what is easy for you to manage it, windows 7 will be fine for your requirements, if you want to go linux route, then something like ubuntu or ubuntu variant mint. If you want to go apple route, then go for imac mini which is a small box which can easily snug into a telly stand.

Entertainment is more mobile M$ is now creating a ecosystem where you can watch on the go.

Linux isn't appropriate as a media centre OS, that requires a level of UI and driver refinement that just isn't available on Linux.

I would suggest just sticking with Windows 7 like a previous poster suggested. Windows 8 should be even better as a media centre OS.

You may also find, as I did, that it's less hassle to just get Apple TV or something, and leave the full size PC for computing. Mobile phones are also approaching the point where they will work well.

I'm assuming someone has this working, somewhere: http://parker1.co.uk/mythtv_ubuntu.php (scroll down for clickable screenshots)
More screenshots: http://www.mythtv.org/wiki/Screenshots
Main site: http://www.mythtv.org/detail/mythtv

It's an entirely different story when considering if someone can be bothered to do any of this, of course - but the OS and drivers are evidently perfectly capable and the UI is merely a case of designing one.
I'm also not sure how you're associating a UI with the OS - it's a separate component and can look-n-feel pretty much as its creator requires whether it's using text like bash, a full GUI like KDE, or a unique look-n-feel present only in an application - Ardour, for example ( http://ardour.org/ ) the DAW.
Here's the interface of a multi-band compressor plugin:

Or a vintage EQ plugin:
[img][800:259]http://linuxdsp.co.uk/download/lv2/download_peq/images/peq_2a_screenshot.png[/img]
What does that have to do with a Linux UI?

Last edited by Cornflake on 16 Jul 2012, 9:08 am, edited 2 times in total.

AHA!
I have just had an idea... I could use Ubuntu TV! (Does it work with tuners?) Il look into it.

Of course it does, silly...
It's clearly a YMMV type of project and not a trivial undertaking; you'll need to research carefully what works well with it - but that's part of the fun, and the end result looks pretty impressive - looks and functionality.

Agreed!
Cannot wait. MythTV is just annoying and buggy. Which is kind of weird considering it has been around for years (Im not saying its not good, its awesome, but it need alot of work doing to it to make it less hellish)

ITYM it required more work that you expected or were comfortable with doing, in order to implement it fully.
That's fair enough and quite understandable - but it's a different thing to "buggy" and stuff that's been around for years tends to have most of the bugs knocked out of it.

Ubuntu TV appears to be a commercial application aimed at OEM distributors (only a quick peek so possibly wrong) - I was thinking of MythUbuntu.
At least a version of MythTV tied to an Ubuntu distribution would have had most/all installation issues pre-rolled for you, and the main concerns should lie only with making sure you have the best supported tuner or other hardware you can provide.
http://www.mythbuntu.org/

Thats what im using atm, MythUbuntu. It just messes its self up all of the time somehow. For example, the databases start late sometimes and MythTV wont rescan for them. Sometimes it will refuse to use the dual tuner function on my tuner.
I have fallen out wiht it because I spent a total of 16 hours to get the blasted thing to work Maybe I will fall back in love with it in a few weeks.

Ooh, so you are. But you're referencing Myth TV in the same OP too...
There's a pretty active support environment for Ubuntu-based stuff and I wouldn't expect a problem like that to exist for long.

You would think so wouldnt you?
But nope. I fix one thing, its another. I fix that other thing then theres another. I cant even seem to go on the MythTV forums without getting nitpicked to death.

That's a relatively old version and that database plus other issues may have been handled already.
What's the tuner - and it's actually an issue with the kernel? That sounds a bit odd: are you sure? This sort of stuff is normally driver-related.

Its a KWUB4992T T09. You're right in saying its got nothing to do with the kernel, but the installer for the drivers (along with the drivers) aren't compatible with the latest kernel (There are some tutorials for later kernels, but they dont even work).

It will be a problem if the Driver is actually a Kernel Module, like the Nvidia Graphics driver.

Linux graphics drivers are notoriously issue prone, and when you want to stream a show that's on in 2 minutes the chances that there is going to be an issue need to be pretty close to 0.

Linux drivers for tuners and other less common devices are even worse.

The UI screenshots you pasted above don't impress me much. I expect a GREAT DEAL more. Windows 8 seems close to what I would expect and want.