Linux Mint Debian Mythtv installation and configuration

[neilslade]

I have been using MythTV for several years now. Usually the only MythTV installation I can get working is on either Ubuntu or Linux Mint based on Ubuntu. And the software and instructions from this website seem to be the only ones that work. http://parker1.co.uk/mythtv_ubuntu.php. With both Mint based on Ubuntu and Ubuntu the MythTV installation from the software centre has never worked for me.

I tried Linux mint 14 when that was first released and I tried 14.1. I did several clean installations of Mint 14.1 in my attempt at getting MythTV working but could not get MythTV to work on Linux Mint 14. I had to go back to Mint 13 for MythTV

I would like to use MythTV with Linux Mint Debian Edition but I have had no luck with this. I can get everything else I use working with Linux Mint Debian including my wireless Canon Pixma MG5250 printer and scanner. The only thing I want to use with Linux Mint Debian that I cannot make work is MythTV.

I really want to get away from doing clean installations everytime I want to upgrade my Linux installation and would rather maintain a rolling distribution like Linux Mint Debian, but not having MythTV is a deal breaker.

Can someone please give me clear step by step instructions that makes absolutely no assumptions about any existing skills or knowledge and download links for the correct software? What I really want is the Linux Mint Debian equivalent of the Ubuntu website http://parker1.co.uk/mythtv_ubuntu.php or at least a text document giving similar information and download links.

I appologise if all the relevant information can be found by scouring many websites and piecing it all together. I have spent several hours searching the internet and have tried searching like "Linux mint Debian MythTV installation" "Debian MythTV installation" and I have added words like testing, wheezy and sid to debian in an attempt at finding what i want. I am sure there must be other people who want MythTV on Linux Mint Debian who want to quickly and easily find a good step by step installation and configuration guide on the internet.

Thanks

[neilslade]

It has been a month since I posted my original request for information about installing Mythtv on Linux Mint Debian, more than 60 people have read it and still no-one has replied and still I do not know how to get mythtv working.

So much for the helpful mint community.

I have seen a good step by step guide for installing MythTV on Archlinux. Archlinux is a fully rolling distro and i would rather occasionally fix thngs when an update breaks them or restore a hard drive image made before the update than to format my hard disc, install the latest Ubuntu based Linux Mint and re-install all my other software on Ubuntu based Mint once or twice each year for keeping everything updated.

Linux without Mythtv is not an option for me and I do not want to do clean installations at least once every year.

And Why is Clem wasting time with both Ubuntu based Mint and debian based Mint? For people who are not programmers and just want a system that works then they do not want to have to reformat and install everything again with a newer Mint release at regular intervals for keeping up to date. And with Ubuntu being based upon Debian, but not 100% compatible with Debian I cannot see why just one version of Mint should make a real difference to programmers.

I am still not using the newest version of Ubuntu based Mint because MythTV will not work with that. I am having to use the version of Ubuntu based Mint from Spring 2012 because Mythtv will not work with the newest Ubuntu based Mint. And I have never been able to make Mythtv work with Linux Mint Debian.

Clem, it would be better to do 1 version of Linux Mint very well instead of 2 versions badly, especially as the Ubuntu you base your main distibution upon gets worse with each release. Ubuntu 10.04 was a really good OS and I abandoned Ubuntu because Mark Shuttleworth insisted upon making Ubuntu worse with each release, not better. So why is the main Mint Distro based upon Ubuntu? Surely it would eb better to base Mint upon Debian instead of upon someone elses modified version of Debian, especially as Ubuntu gets worse with each release now.

Programmers have different interests and different wishes. Mint is not targetted at programmers, it is meant to be a newbie friendly OS that works. People who want an OS that just works do not want to wipe clean, install the latest version of Mint and then re-install everything else again at regular intervals. They want to install the OS, set it and then forget it. Mint is supposed to be targetted at people who have little interest in how mint or any other software works, they just want to see and hear their multimedia, use the internet, use their email, facebook, twitter, Skype, type and print letters or whatever.

Mint is aimed mostly at people who do not want to write code and programs, do not want to find and fix bugs, and do not want to reformat and install the latest version of Mint at regular intervals. Mint is aimed mostly at people who just want to get their computer working well and to quickly and easily install and configure whatever third party software they want, for example Mythtv with as little inconvenience as possible. And after they have all the software they want installed and working properly they do not want to have to reformat a few months later and install everything again. What most Mint users want is to get their computer working with the software they want and for the computer to then continue working well with the latest updates and with as little time and effort as possibe being needed for keeping the computer working and updated.

Can Ubuntu be modified for being a rolling distro that will never have to be re-installed if it never breaks?

Most Mint users do not want to do regular re-installations. Most Mint users do not want to find and fix bugs and most Mint users do not want to spend time learning programming skills. They just want their computer to work well with their choice of software.

Ubuntu and Mint are not giving users what they want. I will have to improve my programming skills before I can get what I want with ArchLinux, but at least I will be able to have a rolling distribution with all my software of choice working correctly.

So goodbye Linux Mint.

[kwisher]

First of all, Mint14 does work with MythTV as I am currently using it as a secondary backend that connects to my MythBuntu master backend. If you are wanting a rolling release type distro for Myth as I do, I would recomend MythBuntu as it is based on the latest LTS release of Ubuntu. I make sure to add the .26 Myth repo's and MythTV stays current.

I also tried LMDE/Debian with MythTV and had problems getting everything working correctly. The biggest pain was getting LIRC/remote working so I gave up and went with MythBuntu.