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Ebby
Subdued and Medicated
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Over Yander
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2004-06-01, 13:57

EDIT: I will try to keep those of you who are interested updated on what is happening. You can scroll down to the red "UPDATE:" text to read the latest info. I will move the red text to the latest event everytime I post an update. Enjoy

I'm so preoccupied with this project that I am falling behind in my schoolwork.

This summer, I plan to build my own Tivo. (I'm smiling out of control just typing this!) I actually may build 2 Personal Video Recorders (PVR), a standard "testing device" (Mostly old parts in my garage) than the actual cool, spiffy one. The best way I learn something (like Linux) is to start messing with it, the more the better like diving head-first into a cold lake.

I've been doing some research for parts & such and www.directron.com routinely has the best prices for what I want. The thing is, the "Buying on the Internet" bandwagon left me in the dust a long time ago. However, it may be dragging me with it, kicking and screaming. I have slowly trusted more and more sites and used my credit card for: 1) My wonderful G5 2) Extra RAM for my G5 and a 8100/120 3) Airplane tickets.

The Question:
Has anyone used www.directron.com or have any opinions in it? Any reports of reliability, quality, or problems?

Thanks
-Ebby

^^ One more quality post from the desk of Ebby. ^^
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Last edited by Ebby : 2004-06-14 at 21:40.
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thuh Freak
Finally broke the seal
 
Join Date: May 2004
 
2004-06-01, 16:39

haven't tried doing it myself, but i'll be very interested to hear how it goes when ur done. i've been toying with the idea of making my main comp a pvr, and then getting a new regular use computer. the bank ("the man") keeps telling me i can't afford it though.
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NosferaDrew
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Join Date: May 2004
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2004-06-01, 17:51

I can't live without my TiVo. Good luck !

If you're unsure about a site, just check Reseller Ratings.
It's a great place to get feedback before you buy from an unknown vendor.
Also, once you buy, leave feedback about your experience to help others.

Directron has a pretty good rating. See the details here.
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Ebby
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2004-06-02, 02:05

Thanks NosferaDrew. I bookmarked that site. I read mostly good reviews so I think I'll try.

This is gunna be fun!
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Ebby
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2004-06-07, 17:50

My HDTV tuner card arrived!
Linky
High Res of card (3.3MB)

But I have a Psyc report due Thursday. End school! END!

Last edited by Ebby : 2004-06-09 at 17:39.
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Ryan
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Join Date: May 2004
Location: Promise Land of Trustafarians
 
2004-06-07, 19:59

What kind of software do you plan on running? I've been looking at building an HTPC to work as a TiVo and house my movie/music collection.
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Ebby
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2004-06-07, 20:47

I'm planning on running Debian and MythTV. There seems to be a lot of support and development between MythTV and pcHDTV and it can only get better.
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Ebby
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2004-06-09, 17:49

I got my D-link wireless bridge today. Configuration took a while since it wouldn't find my wireless network. It did however find the hidden network from my neighbors AND another wireless network 2 houses down & across the street that I never knew about! Now that is sensitivity! :wow: I had to change the channel on one of my wireless networks but than the d-link could find it. I installed it in the my garage on a 2x4 that supports the garage door. It looks nice and cozy up there. :smokey:

Why not ethernet? Well, it could be done, but I would have to drill some holes through the floor, thread it up the wall to the attic (crawlspace) and crawl around in that heat. Not much fun. Besides, I can always take it down and use it somewhere else.

Oh yea, if you want pictures. I don't clean my garage often, but those are soda cans on the roof. Long story.

EDIT: Turns out the D-Link bridge did not have the latest firmware. I upgraded and it now sees all 5 wireless networks around my neighborhood.

^^ One more quality post from the desk of Ebby. ^^
SSBA | SmockBogger | SporkNET

Last edited by Ebby : 2004-06-14 at 16:52.
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Ebby
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Join Date: May 2004
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2004-06-14, 17:12

'Nuff said Oddly enough, there is no glass I could find in the box. Also can't find my free Linux Penguin sticker. Oh well. :P

EDIT: Nevermind, I found Mr. Tux. 8)

Inside that is the popcorn (and no, it doesn't grow when you plant it in your garden when you are 6 years old. Just ask my mom. ) and this scary sight (being a, until-recently, 100% Mac guy).

Everything out of the box

Some extra notes, the Wifi detector is just a cool little thing I got on the side. Nothing to do with my Project. The CD drive is actually a DVD/CD burner. Hopefully, I can fit some HDTV on there for backups, but I haven't done the calculations yet. HDTV is 19.5 Mb/s and DVD's are 4.6GB. I've got subnet masking in my head right now, so I wouldn't trust any calculations I make.

Now back to homework...

^^ One more quality post from the desk of Ebby. ^^
SSBA | SmockBogger | SporkNET

Last edited by Ebby : 2004-06-20 at 20:21.
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Ebby
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2004-06-20, 20:34

I have finals tomorrow, so you can tell I have been studying really hard. Latest gallery

I got most of the hardware stuff together, with only two problems. #1) A lever on the processor heatsink broke. I had to finish attaching it with needle-nose pliers. (Yes, it is seated right) Second, I miscounted my hard drive bays. That was just a dumb mistake. I'll make and install a second drive bay, that is easy. The only other problem I have is heat buildup near the processor. I will get a couple of case fans but for now, I am running it with the side open.

The software installs smoothly up until it tries to detect the ethernet card. I can select the proper drivers but I get an error saying the device is busy. Same with second Gigabit ethernet card I installed. But time to study... I'll get to that later.

PS: Last final is Wednesday night, I'm trying hard not to play with the PVR until then. Willpower, Ebby...

WILLPOWER!!!
*Slaps hand*

^^ One more quality post from the desk of Ebby. ^^
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Last edited by Ebby : 2004-07-01 at 21:10.
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Ebby
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Join Date: May 2004
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2004-07-01, 21:50

Heh, I get to test out this quick reply thing. 8) Coolness.

Anyways, I ran into a little problem with the software side of it. There is a program/script/something called apt-get which is one of the coolest things to do with the command line. Linx is also pretty fun but gets a little hard to read and javascript stuff doesn't work. Anyways, this apt-get program is cool in that you can type in what you want and it will find, download, and install automatically. The problem I have is that a bunch of development files I need and their dependencies can't be installed. I try to install package "A", which can't install because a dependency is package "B", which can't install because a dependency is package "C", which can't install because a dependency is package "A". I'll call this "The Great Apt-Get Dependency Loop™." I think in all my apt-getting I accidentally upgraded and broke something (software, not hardware)

Speaking of hardware, I had a little processor heat problem. The computer was idling and the processor was hovering at 57º. That is a little hot, but I looked up and the max for the processor is 67º. I added 3 huge mo-fo'ing blowers (two, fortunately, with speed adjustments) in the case and now have that thing running at a cooler 53º.

Myth TV is installed and if I actually set up the card correctly, may actually be watching tv. Well, OK maybe not yet, but SOON! Muhahaha!

Since this whole project is essentially a learning experience, I have struggled well into the morning a few times (at least 3) conquering problems. There is a wonderful community of linux information, amateurs, and buffs out there, and most likely someone has had the same problems before.

As for learning stuff, I now know how to: (in order)
Change directory (easy from DOS)
Shutdown the computer from the command line.
apt-get
Add a web address to a text file. (Can't read of edit it though. Still working on that.)
Linx (don't know how or why I learned this actually. Probably from some webpage)
Eject a CD
Mount a CDROM (after an immediate "oh crap! it's not working anymore!" from previous step step)
Untar a compressed file
Copy files from a CDROM (to be untared again, but this time on the hard drive )
Lastly, I learned about the "man" and "-help" commands. (Making life a lot easier now)

Keep in mind I have never used linux before so this is quite an accomplishment for me.

That is all for now. I'm still really busy

^^ One more quality post from the desk of Ebby. ^^
SSBA | SmockBogger | SporkNET

Last edited by Ebby : 2004-07-12 at 17:12.
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Ebby
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Join Date: May 2004
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2004-07-12, 17:57

Well, this is a small update, and rather depressing.

A Last week-ish I bought a new antenna to mount on our roof. I bought a little, cheap one and picked up a digital tv signal from my garage. It was weak, so what do I do? I make a trip to a local Fry's and get the biggest honking antenna they sell. :smokey: I also got a few 10' steel poles to hold the thing up. Thus begins my downfall...

I'm carrying an armful of parts and poles, (carefull not to hit any costomers), purchase them, and take them to my car. Some of you may remember my car, and can immeditally tell that I have a problem. Yep, the 10' polls won't fit. This was stupid, but in my defense, the poles I took down were only 8' which do fit. After a speedy trip to my dad's house and back I arrived with a van and brought all the stuff home. I unpacked the antenna and unfolded it. To my amazement, he antenna I bought was remarkably similar to the one I just took down. (But not exactly )

At this point I remember that I forgot to buy a chimney mounting kit. (I didn't want to do a 3-wire setup like I had before. It moves too much in the wind.) Back to Frys but they didn't have it, over to Radio Shack but they didn't have it, finally across the street to OSH. Of course they didn't have it either, but they have the stuff to make one. (OSH is candy-store for those who dare get their hands dirty.) I got a bunch of stuff and started building a bracket to strap to my chimney.

I must say that this bracket is better than any one you an buy at a store. It won't come off if you don't want it too. Just one final adjustment to adjust the tension and then... sppprrriiiing!!! The metal band I was using slipped, coiled around my hand and cut me pretty bad all over my hands. The worst was on my pinky and was fairly deep. I didn't get any stitches, but it was certainly an option. My hand is still wrapped up, so typing this is quite an effort. Needless to say, I stopped working that day.

Yesterday, I got the antenna up (HORRAY!! ) I connected the antenna to the pcHDTV card and used a command line program to show me the signal strength in real time. I adjusted the antenna and found about 10 Digital signals. That was about what I was expecting, but this took the wind out of my sails: The whole point of building this was to record Enterprise in HDTV and give it to a friend over the internet (scaled down, but still in Digital quality) and THAT CHANNEL IS THE WEAKEST OF THEM ALL!!! There is a minimum signal strength you have to get to be able to lock on to a station (78%) and most are in the 80-90 range but UPN is a pathetic 30%. All the work I did seems pointless now.

There is a bit of good news, I saw a picture! Yep, 3 stations came in. Our local channel: 36, the WB: 20, and a spanish channel: 48 (which was broadcasting a soccer game. Go Brazil!) I switched to another channel, and... black screen! Now nothing works, but this is a common problem so it is well documented.

This is still a cool project and even through the disappointment, I have a new respect for all things unix. (Including OSX)

PS: Debian never did recognize my ethernet port, so I tried other distributions. The only one that seemed to work was knopp. Yea, I can hear some of you booing & hissing, but I took the easy way as a last resort. Maybe if I build another (read cheaper) I will try Debian again.

EDIT: Small update my ass! Its the longest one yet! Sorry about that guys.

^^ One more quality post from the desk of Ebby. ^^
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Last edited by Ebby : 2004-08-15 at 18:28.
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synotic
Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2004
 
2004-07-15, 07:42

I dunno why this doesn't interest anyone else but I just read through it and it seems like some pretty cool stuff I've also wanted to do some sort of electronic project like this. Something like creating a crappy mechanical claw that I can control via C and a 10 dollar micro processor or something. Although recently I've thought about doing a project with someone that involves removing the LCD from his Dell laptop and hacking together some sort of connection with my PowerBook and then mounting the display on my door. Then I can run some sort of web kiosk... latest news, weather, random pictures etc... I'd probably never be able to connect the display to my PowerBook but I still think it'd be a cool idea
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thuh Freak
Finally broke the seal
 
Join Date: May 2004
 
2004-07-15, 10:03

Quote:
Originally Posted by synotic
I dunno why this doesn't interest anyone else but I just read through it and it seems like some pretty cool stuff I've also wanted to do some sort of electronic project like this. Something like creating a crappy mechanical claw that I can control via C and a 10 dollar micro processor or something. Although recently I've thought about doing a project with someone that involves removing the LCD from his Dell laptop and hacking together some sort of connection with my PowerBook and then mounting the display on my door. Then I can run some sort of web kiosk... latest news, weather, random pictures etc... I'd probably never be able to connect the display to my PowerBook but I still think it'd be a cool idea
that kiosk idea sounds kind of like what this guy from work did at his house. he setup a few lcds around the apt, all feeding off a computer in his room. so, when he's cooking, shitting, or watching t.v. a computer monitor is always nearby. he also has his phone hooked in, with caller id, so he can see who's calling from the nearest monitor. and his apt is small enough that his bluetooth keyboard work from everywhere. decadence at its finest.

ebby: do you not have cable?
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Ebby
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Join Date: May 2004
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2004-08-15, 18:27

Sorry, I didn't se your question. No I don't have cable. I am somewhat of a scrooge when it comes to monthly fees which is kind of why I started this project in the first place.

Latest Update:

So I moved the computer in my living room and hooked it up to my projector. It looks pretty nice and glows blue like everything else in the room. It still has an overheating issue, and tends to crash when hooked up to a gigabit ethernet network. Oh well. DVD's don't play yet however I have ripped an unencrypted one to a .AVI file. The CD player took some getting used to (remember the interface it designed for a remote control, not a keyboard) and that plays nicely. The visual effects are not spectacular but suffice for bragging rights. Some other plugins crash but they haven't been updated for a long time so I assume people are working on lots of bug fixes. OH YEA! How could I forget!
Quote:
... but this took the wind out of my sails: The whole point of building this was to record Enterprise in HDTV and give it to a friend over the internet (scaled down, but still in Digital quality) and THAT CHANNEL IS THE WEAKEST OF THEM ALL!!! There is a minimum signal strength you have to get to be able to lock on to a station (78%) and most are in the 80-90 range but UPN is a pathetic 30%. All the work I did seems pointless now.
Yea, well weeks later I bought a amplifier (this has nothing to do with my PVR project, just normal TV) to filter out FM signals because they were interfering with analog channels 2-7 and the signal improved a bit too. I didn't think about digital signals at all until, just for fun, I ran "dtvsignal" (the command line program that checks signal strength) And that amp boosted the signal from channel 45 from a mere 30% to a freaking 80%! I guessed it would help a little but DAAAAAAMMMMM!! I never would have guessed. So guess what... I"M MOTIVATED AGAIN! :smokey:

One little problem though. I am rapidly running out of time. I have to register for school soon and after that, my summer is over. If I run out of time, I may have to take the cowards way out. Still, I will buy one anyway before July 1, 2005 because a FCC mandate requires HDTV cards to obey broadcast flags if they are sold after that date. (Broadcast flag = bad. My opinion.)

Working away...
Ebby

^^ One more quality post from the desk of Ebby. ^^
SSBA | SmockBogger | SporkNET

Last edited by Ebby : 2004-08-15 at 21:33.
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