Thank you for your advise.<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Thu, Sep 30, 2010 at 4:29 PM, Brian Wood <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:beww@beww.org">beww@beww.org</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); padding-left: 1ex;">
On Thursday, September 30, 2010 05:20:54 pm Simon Hobson wrote:<br>
> Rafic Gho wrote:<br>
> >so if I get the supported tuner, then does it recocognize the tuner<br>
> >without loading the driver?<br>
><br>
> I'm guessing you've come from a Windows background and Linux is new<br>
> to you. It takes a fair bit of adjustment to the many significant<br>
> differences.<br>
><br>
> Generalising and simplifying somewhat ...<br>
><br>
> In the Windows world, many common devices are supported by Windows<br>
> "out of the box" - they still have a driver, it's just that Microsoft<br>
> supply one and it's installed by default. When you buy new hardware,<br>
> it typically comes with a disk for you to install a driver from -<br>
> either because the manufacturer has a better one than Microsoft<br>
> supply (eg it supports all the hardware features rather than just a<br>
> selection of generic ones) or because Microsoft don't supply one at<br>
> all.<br>
> Because Windows is such a dominant OS, no hardware manufacturer would<br>
> consider shipping hardware without a Windows driver.<br>
><br>
> Now, over in the Linux world things are different. We still need<br>
> device drivers, but the difference is that (in general) you don't get<br>
> a disk with a Linux driver with your new hardware. Things are<br>
> improving, but with a few notable exceptions, most vendors just<br>
> haven't realised that there is any other OS than Windows. Those of us<br>
> that use Macs have a similar problem.<br>
><br>
> As a result, in the Linux world, it's a case of the "Linux<br>
> Developers"* who have to supply all the device drivers. Thus, instead<br>
> of installing the driver that came on a disk from your hardware<br>
> vendor, you are reliant on a driver for that device being part of the<br>
> Linux you installed. If you have something that's mature enough to<br>
> have a driver, then it may well already be supported by your current<br>
> installation and you have nothing to install. If it's something new,<br>
> then you may have to upgrade and/or reconfigure your kernel to get a<br>
> driver - the latter is, I would suggest, not something for a complete<br>
> newcomer to tackle.<br>
><br>
> In your case, <a href="http://linuxtv.org/wiki/index.php/ATSC_USB_Devices" target="_blank">http://linuxtv.org/wiki/index.php/ATSC_USB_Devices</a><br>
> shows that the device is supported from kernel version 2.6.26<br>
> onwards. That means plug it in, and the system should recognise it -<br>
> as long as you have a kernel no earlier than that. Most things are<br>
> "plug and play" these days, when you plug in the tuner, the USB<br>
> subsystem will detect the device being plugged in, interrogate it to<br>
> find out what it is, and load the correct driver to operate it. When<br>
> the driver loads, a device file will be created for it in /dev, and<br>
> the device is then 'visible' to any software you run.<br>
><br>
> That is only half the story - you then have to configure Myth to use<br>
> it. The driver merely makes the device visible to software running on<br>
> your system, you need applications (of which Myth is just one) to<br>
> actually use it.<br>
> Someone posted a link to the Wiki earlier where there are step by<br>
> step instructions to install and configure Myth.<br>
><br>
><br>
> * I use the term fairly widely as referring to the very large group<br>
> of developers who contribute to the overall "package". In fact there<br>
> is a group running the Video for Linux section, who look after video<br>
> devices.<br>
<br>
<br>
A very good preliminary explanation, better than I would have done (I think you have more patience).<br>
<br>
I added a subject line, anyone wanting to use this card is unlikely to search for "no subject" :-)<br>
<br>
MythTV is a poor choice for a first exposure to Linux, though many people have been successful taking that route.<br>
<br>
To the OP: Welcome to the Myth list, and good luck with your new and vastly superior DVR.<br>
<br>
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</blockquote></div><br>