There has been sporadic talk about using a SheevaPlug as a master backend for MythTV. I was under the impression that nobody had attempted to do this. I was wrong.

The verdict: if you want the SheevaPlug to do serious backend work you will probably be disappointed. However, if you want to have a device that is low power and can wake up a slave backend then this is ideal.

It seems the real challenge is that currently the MythTV (0.22) codebase does not support a master backend configuration that has no tuner. This can be worked around by using a round-robin scheme or by using a fake (or development) tuner on the master backend (see also here).

I built a mythtv box way back at the beginning of 2007. I am still using it. I tune all of my television Over-The-Air (OTA) which simply means I use an antenna to receive my television service. Below is what the box is composed of today.

Hardware

CPU: AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+.

MOTHERBOARD: Gigabyte GA-M55SLI-S4. This motherboard has built-in sound (the Realtek ALC850) which is supposedly supported out-of-the-box by ALSA. I could not get it to work so I eventually bought a Turtle Beach Riviera card. This card worked perfectly from the moment I installed it.

CASE: I bought the silver SilverStone LC16M. This case has a number of buttons and knobs on the front, as well as a small LED. All the features worked out-of-the-box.

VIDEO CARD: An nVidia 8400 GS with no fan. These can be had for cheap from just about any on-line store. It also supports VDPAU. If you are going to be recording and playing back HD then you really should have a card that supports VDPAU.

MEMORY: Corsair 1GB (2 x 512MB) 240-Pin DDR2 800

HARD DRIVE: 2 hard drives actually. One is a 200GB SATA drive and the other is a 500G SATA drive. I purchased both drives from my local Fry's. I use the larger drive to record to and the smaller one I use for music files, mythtv, and the OS.

POWER SUPPLY: Since this was an all-in-one Myth box and since it was to be placed in the entertainment center it needed to be quiet. I consulted Silent PC Review for advice on silent power supplies. I ended up with a SeaSonic S12-330 ATX power supply.

TUNERS: I purchased the HD Homerun. This is an off-board device that has two ATSC tuners and sends the data over the network. It is small, quiet, and I have never had any trouble with it. I use it to capture Over The Air (OTA), i.e. I use an antenna. It can also tune QAM.

REMOTE CONTROL: I bought a One For All 10 remote from Fry's. It has worked very well. It is uncomplicated and exremely easy to program.

Software

OPERATING SYSTEM: I run Mythbuntu 9.10. By default Mythbuntu uses the XFCE window manager and its associated environment. I get rid of this and use the openbox window manager.