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Resurrecting a Simplified Version of Mythbuntu Control Centre

Posted: Thu May 07, 2020 1:23 am
by heyted
Thomas Mashos at mythbuntu.org (archived) wrote:
Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:00 pm

It's been a long and fun ride from 7.10, but it's time to turn in our badge.

What is happening?
Mythbuntu as a separate distribution will cease to exist. We will take the necessary steps to pull Mythbuntu specific packages from the repositories (17.04 and later) unless someone steps up to take these packages over. MythTV packages in the official repositories and the Mythbuntu PPA will continue to be available and updated at their current rate.

Why is this happening?
Mythbuntu is a necessary distribution for easing some of the setup of MythTV, however through attrition we have dwidled from a team of ten down to two developers doing all of the work. Although we have automated as much as we can, the effort to both fix issues that pop up from underlying changes and release an ISO is more than the team can support in our free time.

What does this mean for users?
[...]For users wanting to install new installations, there will no longer be an ISO, the mythbuntu-desktop package, nor the Mythbuntu-Control-Centre. [...]For users looking for up to date versions of MythTV, we will continue to provide these updates through our PPA.
mythbuntu-control-centre.png
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I have been thinking about resurrecting a simplified version of MCC with just some basic functions such as adding the Mythbuntu PPA and installing MythTV. I'm assuming no work has been done with the code since it was abandoned by the Mythbuntu team?

For those that used it, what are some of the most important functions that the simplified version should include? One of the lesser known abilities of Mythbuntu Control Centre was its ability to be installed on an Ubuntu system and then used to install MythTV. I am thinking that is the most important function with the tweeks that are necessary such as editing mythtv-backend.service when applicable to have the backend wait for the network to be up. I'm thinking it should be compatible with and tested with Ubuntu and Xubutnu.

Anyone want to help with the Python code? Anyone want to help with testing (not sure if/when that will be)? I'm thinking about changing the name. How about Mythbuntu Control Panel? On the east side of the pond, it's "panel" right?

Re: Resurrecting a Simplified Vesion of Mythbuntu Control Centre

Posted: Sat May 09, 2020 2:27 pm
by mythbuntubox
I'm not sure I could help much with this, but I would love to see this piece of Mythbuntu being resurrected. I applaud you for thinking of giving this a go. I was very sorry to see Mythbuntu being discontinued, since it seems to have made installing MythTV more difficult for new users in particular and even things like database maintenance with a click in the Control Centre/Panel, etc. I wish you every success with this. Good on you!

Re: Resurrecting a Simplified Vesion of Mythbuntu Control Centre

Posted: Sun May 10, 2020 11:51 am
by heyted
Thanks. I will try to keep this thread updated with the status of this new simplified version.

Re: Resurrecting a Simplified Version of Mythbuntu Control Centre

Posted: Fri Jul 10, 2020 7:37 pm
by heyted
A new wiki page has been created at https://www.mythtv.org/wiki/Mythbuntu_Control_Panel, and MCP can be downloaded at https://github.com/mythcp/mythbuntu-con ... l/releases. The wiki page has additional screenshot images. I have tested MCP on Ubuntu and Xubuntu.

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The MCP widow is a bit smaller than the MCC window. The main portion of the code remains mostly unchanged. The dependency on the separate mythbuntu-common package has been removed. The sort order of the tabs has been changed from alphabetical to the order in which they are used to install and configure MythTV and the system. There is currently no MCP PPA or deb package -- anyone want to help with that? For now, there is an install script.

The Mythbuntu Updates and XMLTV Updates repos have been removed from the Repositories tab. The ability to switch between Ubuntu, Xubuntu and Kubuntu desktops has been removed from the System Roles tab. A new Setup tab has been added, and more information about it is included on the wiki page.

The Developmental tab is used to enable the included unstable modules. These currently include the Plugins and MySQL modules. These are included to hopefully encorage others to help add more features to MCP.

The Mythbuntu name and the Circle of Friends logo are used in accordance with item 7 at https://ubuntu.com/legal/intellectual-property-policy.

Re: Resurrecting a Simplified Version of Mythbuntu Control Centre

Posted: Fri Sep 11, 2020 2:09 pm
by heyted
An option to install XMLTV was added to the System Roles tab, and an option to run the backend setup using the mythtv user was added to the Setup tab. I tested that running the backend setup as the mythtv user with MCP works to configure XMLTV to be used with Schedules Direct using MythTV v31. Also, stopping the backend is now a separate item and no longer combined with the MythTV Backend Setup button. A new release has been added to the Mythbuntu Control Panel PPA, and the wiki has been updated.
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https://www.mythtv.org/wiki/Mythbuntu_Control_Panel
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MCP_scrnshot_setup_02.png
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Re: Resurrecting a Simplified Version of Mythbuntu Control Centre

Posted: Fri Sep 11, 2020 5:14 pm
by Steve Goodey
Ted,

Thanks very much for your work on this.

Steve.

Re: Resurrecting a Simplified Version of Mythbuntu Control Centre

Posted: Sat Sep 12, 2020 12:25 am
by heyted
You're welcome. Thanks for the excellent moderating. Thank you to all the MythTV developers for the wonderful software that MCP installs.

Re: Resurrecting a Simplified Version of Mythbuntu Control Centre

Posted: Sun Dec 06, 2020 2:30 pm
by heyted
MCP now has three methods for the user to select from to have the backend start after the network is up when the computer is booting. As described in many instances on the forum and mailing list, it is important to have the backend start after the network is up when other frontends on the network need to access the backend. The Basic, Ping and HDHomeRun methods are described on the wiki.

Re: Resurrecting a Simplified Version of Mythbuntu Control Centre

Posted: Tue Jan 05, 2021 12:41 am
by heyted
A plugins tab has been added, and the developmental tab has been removed. I will update the wiki shortly.

MCP_scrnshot_plugins_01.png
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Re: Resurrecting a Simplified Version of Mythbuntu Control Centre

Posted: Mon Jan 18, 2021 1:51 am
by Steve Goodey
Ted,

Thanks for this. Just used it to do a clean install of Xubuntu 20.04/Mythtv V31 with a database restore.

One thing, is it possible to have a version which enables SSH?

Regards Steve.

Re: Resurrecting a Simplified Version of Mythbuntu Control Centre

Posted: Tue Jan 19, 2021 1:48 am
by heyted
Sure. I will add that to the to-do list.

Re: Resurrecting a Simplified Version of Mythbuntu Control Centre

Posted: Mon Feb 01, 2021 11:15 am
by Steve Goodey
Ted,

Thanks very much for adding this option, appreciated.

Steve.

Re: Resurrecting a Simplified Version of Mythbuntu Control Centre

Posted: Mon Feb 01, 2021 11:26 pm
by heyted
You're welcome. I will update the wiki soon.

Re: Resurrecting a Simplified Version of Mythbuntu Control Centre

Posted: Tue Feb 02, 2021 12:46 am
by nomotivo
I was going to give this a shot, but apt complains that 'ppa.launchpad.net/mythcp/mcp/ubuntu bionic Release' does not have a Release file.

I know that I could force the install, but would rather not... Any thoughts on signing the repository?

Ubuntu 18.04 LTS

Re: Resurrecting a Simplified Version of Mythbuntu Control Centre

Posted: Tue Feb 02, 2021 2:58 am
by heyted
Ubuntu 18.04 is not currently included, although MCP can be installed on 18.04 by downloading the deb file. I was not planning on including 18.04 due to its age and the age of the packages such as XMLTV in the default 18.04 repository. I will plan on including 18.04 and adding a warning on the wiki page about the age of the packages since it is being requested. It may take a few days. If you want to add the Mythbuntu MythTV Updates PPA for v31 on 18.04 manually, this command can be used:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:mythbuntu/31