hd install and tv card recording

[ialtaparmakov]

hi i have installed knoppix 6.2 dvd on my hd
i have analog tv card pinnacle and processor pentium 4 2.8 GHz and small 40 Gb HDD
what would be the easiest way to record tv shows ?
i tried installing myth tv but with no success
gtk - record my desktop makes my computer too slow and not useful

on windows mpeg 2 recording was the best possible encoding - it had relatively good compression and
was not so heavy for p4 2.8 GHz. is there some equivalent for linux of pinnacle TV center or Cyberlink Powercinema?
i did not try but is it possible that tv center or powercinema would run in wine and will they have access to the tv card in wine ?
or perhaps there are other free video recording software which is native to linux or will run in wine?

thanks
best regards

[Capricorny]

My first move would be to change to 6.2.1 or 6.3. 6.2 has known pronlems with the kernel, possibly necessitating full kernel recompile for module preparation. (I had to do that.)

In a case of unknown hardware/software combinations, I would probably not have started with Knoppix at all, but rather used a distro known to work in actual case. But, if a setup works under Debian, chances are quite good you can get in to work with Knoppix. Google for experiences with your exact Pinnacle model (I don't think they are all created equal, Linux-wise).

[ialtaparmakov]

i have already posted a question about update of hd install of 6.2 to next version(6.2.1 ) and as i understand it is impossible to upgrade 6.2 .
a new install is needed.

i tried freevo (personal video recorder) - it is installed but it doesn't play tv from the tv card and it seems that configuration is too difficult for me

vlc and tvtime are working but they show only picture and no sound - so knoppix 6.2 recognizes hardware , but there are still some problems - the same problem with sound
was with knoppix 5.3.1 .
perhaps there is configurations of tvtime or vlc that i don't see ? and i don't know how to record mpeg2 with tv time or vlc.

how i know knoppix live dvd contains the biggest collection of software, so it would be easiest way to start using linux. i hope my choice is right .
how to combine knoppix with other distors (some of them based on knoppix) so that i have knoppix with working video recording ?

thanks

best regards

[Harry Kuhman]

... how i know knoppix live dvd contains the biggest collection of software, so it would be easiest way to start using linux.....

As far as I know, all of the software that is contained on any Knoppix CD or DVD is available from the Debian repository, and much much more is there as well, any of which can be installed with a simple apt-get command. Added to that, Debian really is intended for hard disk install (unlike Knoppix) and can be easily and cleanly updated. I actual;ly can't see any reason at all for installing Knoppix rather than real Debian, and there are known issues with "installing" Knoppix.

As to video, I have two usb based TV tuners, one an ATI TV Wonder 600 and the other a Happauge WinTV-HRV 950. I have not been able to watch TV with either under Knoppix (have not tried 6.21 yet), my understand from feedback here is that the wrong drivers are being used by Knoppix. Don't know the answer to your particular problem but you are not alone in having tuner issues.

[ialtaparmakov]

yes the software is available , but i think the choice of the software in knoppix is result of (extended) experience , and i think that it is worth to
use such experience and take advantages of all that work done in knoppix .

my experience shows that it is software install that takes longest time and make greater trouble rather then os install, and knoppix saves me from that trouble .
thats why i think it is worth using knoppix hd install. for example knoppix hd install would take several minutes , but manual install of debian and all knoppix software would take hours , and even days if something goes wrong with installation and configuration.
now with knoppix i have relatively complete and working system for few mouse clicks and few minutes. this is wort some problems which once discovered would be solved in next versions .

the choice of software is very important because the useful thing in the computer is software not os itself , and now i see that obstacle for getting rid of windows will be software .


i wonder whether debian "repair" of knoppix hd install would be good idea? would it save the software installed if iti s possible at all?

thanks
best regards

[Capricorny]

i wonder whether debian "repair" of knoppix hd install would be good idea? would it save the software installed if iti s possible at all?

My immediate guess would be no.
And you can use Unix tools for doing upgrade in a "semi-automatic" manner, completely safe. You can produce a list of all packages installed on your current system.
Then, do an install to USB stick of the new version, run the same command, and take the diff of the two files.
This diff can be used as a package install list for the new version, to a persistent image. Stay away from ordinary HD installs.
This way, you can get the system up and running with the approximaltely same package selection as you have now, and all library versions, modules etc in sync.

Your individual configuration and personal data files reside in directories under your /home directory, I assume you already have a backup scheme in place for that.
In addition, you could take backups of /etc/rc.local end the init files under /etc/init.d and check differences with the new install, updating as necessary.