Of course, this is the same as installing Xubuntu 14.04. I then installed the xubuntu-desktop meta package.
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I opted for the server version of Ubuntu 14.04 as the starting point, using a standard install just with openssh-server enabled. Then, I ordered the Hauppauge Win TV HVR USB Stick 950Q from Futureshop for $69.99 after $20 discount. The disk was replaced with a 2.5" 256GB OCZ Vertex SSD which was lying around. The specifications are Intel i5 CPU M450 2.4 GHz, and 4GB RAM. I did so on an HP Pavilion DM4 13.3" Laptop with a broken hinge, and a disk that died a few months ago.
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Before spending the money on a proper PC of the correct form factor and a tuner, I opted to test the USB TV Tuner first. So, it seems that going for a regular PC with Intel architecture was inevitable. For example, the Team XBMC PPA has packages for xbmc-pvr-tvheadend-hts for i386 and amd64, but not armhf. However, looking for Ubuntu packages of tvheadend client and server for XBMC on ARM was not encouraging. Also, being so small, having it turned on all the time was both tempting, and guiltless. There is work on getting OpenELEC to work on it, which is an out of the box XBMC distribution.īut in the meantime, since it runs standard Ubuntu 14.04 and therefore I can do with it what I do with any Ubuntu computer. My initial thinking was to get the Odroid U3 computer, which is similar to the Raspberry Pi, but with more features. I was looking for an alternative that would allow me to allow a PVR with a network connection, so the movement of files would not require physically plugging in USB disks.įor that, it seems that XBMC/Kodi was the right fit for being a PVR. But this requires that I unplug the USB disk and plug it into another machine, then unplug it and re-plug it back to the PVR. To get over this, I have a set of custom scripts that reduce the size while preserving acceptable quality, which I will outline in another article. Also, the size of the recordings are around 6.6 GB per hour, since it dumps the video and audio as is to the disk, without any transcoding.
It works, but its user interface is very poorly done. Since I moved from cable TV to free HDTV over-the-air (OTA) ATSC TV, I have been using the Homeworx HW-150PVR as a PVR (personal video recorder) for HD TV.