Mythbuntu HTPC

I've recently been introduced to the concept of Home Theater PCs (HTPC) and I'm really interested in copying over my DVDs and converting VHS movies to digital files on a computer HD, accessible to all 'puters on my network. With a little extra software, seems like I could completely abandon my old VHS player and my DVD player/recorder. Enter Mythbuntu...

But I've had problems configuring Linux distros on some of my older hardware. I'd like to "get it right" coming out of the gate, without too much frustration or forum cruising. Seems like hardware selection is the key to that. Checking out the minimum & suggested hardware specs for Mythbuntu installations, it looks like I've got most of the hardware issues covered, except video capture card. I don't understand the terminology and, therefore, the differences between various cards and how they might(?) apply to me. Mythbuntu site provides info for:

2.1 ATSC Cards (only in US/Canada )
2.2 Analogue cards (Hardware Encoder)
2.3 Analogue cards (Software Encoder versions)
2.4 DVB-C cards (Cable viewing)
2.5 DVB-S and DVB-S2 cards (Satellite viewing)
2.6 DVB-T cards (Terrestrial viewing)
2.7 USB Capture Cards
2.8 Firewire Capture Cards

What is an ATSC card?
What is the difference between Analog cards with hardware/software encoding, and does it even matter if the FCC has pressured mfgrs to stop making/selling them?
What is the difference between DVB cable, satellite, and terrestrial? May I assume terrestrial is an over-the-air antenna capture? What about satellite 1 & 2...what is the difference between them...just a matter of personal preference?
I assume a USB capture card plugs into a USB port, but what is firewire capture?

It looks like the Hauppage brand is the most popular, but which one(s) should I be considering? I am currently a DirecTV subscriber with a DVR/Tivo box. I occassionally record movies on my DVR that I want to see. I occassionally burn movies I want to keep, but the DVD burner is "hit & miss"...sometimes it burns, sometimes it fails...might be a faulty burn setting, might be encrypted signal, might just be an old & failing burner.

For now, I just want to accomplish the following objectives:
1) slide a Mythbuntu box in place of the DVD burner to copy/rip store bought DVD and VHS to a digital medium that takes up less storage and is accessible to every computer on my home network (several laptops) that can then be played on any TV in my house
2) record movies/shows from DirecTV onto Mythbuntu box hard drive
3) perhaps someday cancel DirecTV in favor of Mythbuntu programming subscriptions if I like their packages better

Considering my goals and current setup, can anyone offer an explanation of the differing card options and suggest what I should be looking at? Does anyone have Mythbuntu installed and configured? What hardware are you using, i.e. what computer specs, what capture card, what graphics card? Any problems setting it up and configuring it? Any special libraries, codecs, etc... to make it work properly?

Given that my primary goal is to convert my existing store bought DVDs and VHS tapes to computer files, do I have the right idea using Mythbuntu? Any advice/insight from one of you Major Geeks who has already done this? Thank you in advance!!

 

Keylogger...AWESOME STUFF!!! THANK YOU!!!

No disrespect intended, but I HAVE been googling and Wiki-ing, but it seems like whenever I try to learn about terminology I don't understand, they use other terminologies I don't understand to describe the terminoloy I didn't understand to begin with...and it spirals from there.

Anyhow, I really like your Camcorder idea...hadn't thought about that, but what a great idea to set up my HTPC before I spend (several) $100s on HTPC hardware. I alsow appreciate the PCI express tip...that rules out the old soldier I was contemplating for conversion! I'll look for a box with PCI express slot.

To answer some of your questions, I have a 42" flat screen with 1080 capability (I thought 1080i, but maybe it's 1080p...I'll have to look that up if the distinction is important), but I'm not a digital customer (yet!). And I couldn't care less about gaming...it's all about the video for me.

Thanks for the advice and ideas!

 

More good stuff in your hardware thread, especially the PCI VC graphics. By the way, the 82845 onboard graphics chip is indeed a "dog" and WILL NOT work satisfactorily in Linux systems...long story, but I have extensive experience troubleshooting this in Linux and workarounds only make the graphics crashes less frequent.

I'm a bit of a noob, with less than 1 year of Linux experience, but I'm happy to share the knowledge...I think more people would/could use Linux if they had someone to tap into for knowledge, guidance, and troubleshooting. Don't want to hi-jack this thread, so can you PM me? Does MG allow that?

 

Hey Keylogger,

Sorry for the delay...been out of the country on vacation. Thanks for the re-post, as I never received your friend request. Turns out I needed to enable PM functions. Tried to respond, but I got the 50 post message also. I'm at 35, so I've got to make some "junk" posts to pad my account to that level. Soon...

In the meantime, I'll check out your links and ask some questions here on the forum...I'm sure I'll have a few!