· Maiku's Setting up MythTV under Mandrake 10.1 Guide New byopvr howto article Maiku's Setting up MythTV under Mandrake 10.1 Guide

After many weeks of struggle I finally have a functional MythTV box running. This article is a summary of how I got things working with Mandrake 10.1 Community Edition.

Before deciding on Mandrake I tried KnoppMyth and Fedora:

KnoppMyth: I highly recommend first trying KnoppMyth before pursing a Mandrake or Fedora-based machine. It offers a quick, painless installation that seems to work for many people. The KnoppMyth wiki has lots of useful HOWTOs. There's also good troubleshooting advice available at the KnoppMyth forums. For some reason I encountered kernel panics and general stability issues with the distribution and had to pass on it. Still, if it works for you, go with it!

Fedora: Many people choose Fedora because of Jarod Wilson's detailed MythTV HOWTO. Fedora's popularity is definitely an asset as you're sure to find much help online. While I was able to build a working system with FC2, I again ran into stability issues. Looking back, these were probably caused by my first wireless network card, a DWL-G510.

Mandrake: I ultimately went with Mandrake, specifically the 10.1 Community Edition. The "Community" edition is a less stable (yet still usable) product that usually preceeds the "Official" version. The newest Community version is freely available for download while the newest Official version usually requires purchase. From my experience the Mandrake installation process requires about the same time and effort as Fedora. A set of MythTV RPMs are available thanks to the hard work of Thac of Thac's RPMs.
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