XYZComputing has published an article that describes building a PVR (personal video recorder) based on Ubuntu Linux, MythTV, and commodity mini-ITX hardware with a Hauppauge capture card. The PVR doubles as a small, quiet livingroom computer.

Author Sal Cangeloso says he decided to build his own PVR in hopes of avoiding the monthly charges assessed by his TV provider for PVR equipment. MythTV downloads EPG (electronic program guide) information in XML from an online service with no fees, he says.

Cangeloso's PVR is based on a Via Epia MII-1000 board, 512MB of RAM, a 3.5-inch Western Digital 250GB hard drive, a slimline DVD burner, a WinTV-PVR 350 capture card, a tiny PicoPSU 120-watt power supply, and an 80mm Silenx fan — all housed in a Hoojum Cubit 3 enclosure.

On the software side, it runs a general-purpose Ubuntu 5.10 Linux distribution, along with MythTV PVR software. Cangeloso devotes little of his article to Linux installation and configuration, but does mention he configured the system to launch directly into MythTV upon login. The most challenging part of the project was configuring MythTV, he says, and the IVTV drivers it required.

One limitation Cangeloso notes is that PC tuner cards typically are unable to tune channels above 125, making it impossible to receive premium channels offered by some TV providers.

More details can be found in the complete story, here.

 
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