MythTV Official Community Forum

Hi …I am a newbie here. I want to set up a spare Macbook Pro as a streaming video DVR which I can use in place of Tivo and I can use to get rid of cable/satellite TV. It seems that MythTv will do this. I have downloaded what I think is a compilation version for Mac OSX. I have installed it and started to set it up. But all I keep getting is the setup screen. I have searched this forum and some others and looked at some Youtube videos and have looked at the walkthrough on Wikipedia. I am not a software coder so a lot of the instructions I find go beyond my current knowledge. I would like to avoid having to become well versed in that part of the computer world right now. Is there anyplace I can get a simple newbie instruction on how to set MythTV up? Of course I am looking for a simple click and install situation, but I am able to go a little deeper than that. But the confusion is really coming in with setting up a database and other things MythTv seems to be requiring.

I put this in general discussion before realizing there was an OSX forum. But I have now gone through instruction on creating the Myth backend, downloaded Mysql and followed all the instructions.

And just to clarify, the source for all video presently will be over the Internet. I believe that is something MythTv is supposed to be able to do but correct me if I am wrong. The short story is I want to record everything I am going to watch in advance because I am in a rural area and my DSL tends to be slow to watch video in real time.

Thanks in advance.

So, where did you download Myth from? The all-in-one installer from SourceForge <https://sourceforge.net/projects/macpor ... installer/> or something else? The related instructions are at:

http://www.mythtv.org/wiki/MacPorts

You must set up at least one tuner when configuring Myth. You can probably get away with the "Demo" tuner or (more usefully, maybe) the "HTTP Live Streaming Recorder". On OS X, most people use one of SiliconDust's HDHomerun tuner boxes; highly recommended.

OTOH, if you don't want to record video, why are you using Myth at all? Kodi or Plex might be better suited?!?

Craig

Hi Craig. I downloaded it from Sourceforge and the followed the instructions on the link you highlighted in your communication.

So with this dialog, I get the impression that MythTv may not be for me? I want to get rid of Satellite TV. But reception where I am at may not be able to get the required TV in my household, even with some type of antenna solution. My thinking is to then try and download the shows from the Internet and then watch them at our convenience. This solution seems doable since we don't care about sports and have just a few shows that are required here. And then there is Hulu, Netflix or Amazon Prime for movie needs. But if we have to watch in real time streaming that could be a problem because of our DSL speed. Which is also a function of where we are located.

So again …first of all I can't seem to get the backend of Myth working. Then secondly, if MythTV is not a solution for my need I won't bother anyone about this anymore.

headrc wrote:Hi Craig. I downloaded it from Sourceforge and the followed the instructions on the link you highlighted in your communication.

So with this dialog, I get the impression that MythTv may not be for me? I want to get rid of Satellite TV. But reception where I am at may not be able to get the required TV in my household, even with some type of antenna solution.

A one-time investment in a good outdoor antenna may be worthwhile; it was for me. Based on your zip code, you can get a pretty good idea of the available signals:

http://tvfool.com/

My thinking is to then try and download the shows from the Internet and then watch them at our convenience. This solution seems doable since we don't care about sports and have just a few shows that are required here. And then there is Hulu, Netflix or Amazon Prime for movie needs. But if we have to watch in real time streaming that could be a problem because of our DSL speed. Which is also a function of where we are located.

Note that "download from the Internet" can mean several completely different things. The MythTV project firmly rejects anything to do with acquiring copyrighted material via questionable means (eg torrents). You won't get any help here with that. If you have some other legitimate source, please explain what you mean.

So again …first of all I can't seem to get the backend of Myth working. Then secondly, if MythTV is not a solution for my need I won't bother anyone about this anymore.

The problem is almost certainly with the database set-up:

http://www.mythtv.org/wiki/MacPorts#Database

Did you save the Terminal session from when you entered these commands?

In Activity Monitor, do you see 'mysqld' among the processes (user '_mysql')?

If mysqld is running, please find the latest mythtv-setup log (/opt/dvr/var/log/mythtv.27) and post it here.

Craig

Hi Craig,

I won't be doing anything illegal if I can get this working. The lady of the house has specific program needs from the networks. I have checked those programs and they are all available after they have been broadcast via the networks websites. In fact, I do have a download program called AllmyTube by Wondershare that works for this. It's scheduling program is a bit cumbersome though. With that said, recording realtime would be superior to download. I am pessimistic about the antenna solution where we are located because we are down in a hollow with lots of hills to our front and back. I have to use a VOIP setup for cellphone service and I bet broadcast TV signals will be hard to get. I can try one and see though.

Regarding Myth. Yes I gather it is a database problem. But again I followed all the instructions …and in fact went back, did it again and doubled checked. Quite a cumbersome process but one that I can do.

When I type in " /opt/dvr/var/log/mythtv.27" in terminal all I get is "-bash: /opt/dvr/var/log/mythtv.27: is a directory" ….without the quotation marks of course.
I don't get any log activity.

So what does this tell you?

Thanks

headrc wrote:Hi Craig,

I won't be doing anything illegal if I can get this working. The lady of the house has specific program needs from the networks. I have checked those programs and they are all available after they have been broadcast via the networks websites.

I believe you can watch these online but "downloading" is not permitted by their Terms of Service.

... recording realtime would be superior to download. I am pessimistic about the antenna solution where we are located because we are down in a hollow with lots of hills to our front and back. I have to use a VOIP setup for cellphone service and I bet broadcast TV signals will be hard to get. I can try one and see though.

Don't guess; put in your zip code at tvfool.

Regarding Myth. Yes I gather it is a database problem. But again I followed all the instructions …and in fact went back, did it again and doubled checked. Quite a cumbersome process but one that I can do.

Where is the transcript from your Terminal session?

When I type in " /opt/dvr/var/log/mythtv.27" in terminal all I get is "-bash: /opt/dvr/var/log/mythtv.27: is a directory" ….without the quotation marks of course.
I don't get any log activity. ...

That is a path. Starting from the root of your boot drive, open 'opt', then 'dvr', then 'var', etc. Or in Terminal enter 'open /opt/dvr/var/log/mythtv.27' and a Finder window should open to that folder.

Craig

1. I looked at the Terms of Use for one of the shows. Without spending a lot of time on it, I did not find anything regarding downloading. But if there is, I would bet it is the same for recording. And if that is the case, then MythTv as well as any commercial DVR user is already in violation.
2. I had already looked at another site to analyze my potential for over the air signal. However I took your suggestion and looked at TVfool. It indicates I will have to go to extreme measures to get any type of signal. I will probably get a long distance antenna and give it a try, but I am not optimistic. I would rather go to extreme measures to accomplish my needs by video streaming over the net.
3. Directly from Terminal:

Richards-MacBook:~ rhead$ open /opt/dvr/var/log/mythtv.27
Richards-MacBook:~ rhead$

I then get the finder window:

mythfilldatabase.20150101191047.566.log
mythfilldatabase.20150102015929.190.log
mythfrontend.20150101190109.404.log
mythfrontend.20150101190214.420.log
mythfrontend.20150101190919.529.log
mythtv-setup.20150101190242.426.log
old

I opened the first database log on this list I get this:

2015-01-01 13:10:47.121660 C [566/13827] thread_unknown mythcommandlineparser.cpp:2595 (ConfigureLogging) - mythfilldatabase version: fixes/0.27 [v0.27.4-b305eb5b-MacPorts] www.mythtv.org
2015-01-01 13:10:47.122451 C [566/13827] thread_unknown mythcommandlineparser.cpp:2597 (ConfigureLogging) - Qt version: compile: 4.8.6, runtime: 4.8.6
2015-01-01 13:10:47.122458 N [566/13827] thread_unknown mythcommandlineparser.cpp:2599 (ConfigureLogging) - Enabled verbose msgs: general
2015-01-01 13:10:47.136472 W [566/13827] CoreContext mythcorecontext.cpp:264 (Init) - This application expects to be running a locale that specifies a UTF-8 codeset, and many features may behave improperly with your current language settings. Please set the LC_ALL or LC_CTYPE, and LANG variable(s) in the environment in which this program is executed to include a UTF-8 codeset (such as 'en_US.UTF-8').
2015-01-01 13:10:49.287922 E [566/13827] CoreContext mythdbcon.cpp:173 (OpenDatabase) - WOL failed, unable to connect to database!
2015-01-01 13:10:49.287954 E [566/13827] CoreContext mythdbcon.cpp:216 (OpenDatabase) - Unable to connect to database!
2015-01-01 13:10:49.288030 E [566/13827] CoreContext mythdbcon.cpp:217 (OpenDatabase) - Driver error was [1/2003]:
QMYSQL: Unable to connect
Database error was:
Can't connect to MySQL server on '67.212.251.179' (61)

2015-01-01 13:10:49.288401 E [566/13827] CoreContext main.cpp:311 (main) - Failed to init MythContext, exiting.

The second database log I get this:

2015-01-01 19:59:29.497064 C [190/13827] thread_unknown mythcommandlineparser.cpp:2595 (ConfigureLogging) - mythfilldatabase version: fixes/0.27 [v0.27.4-b305eb5b-MacPorts] www.mythtv.org
2015-01-01 19:59:29.512801 C [190/13827] thread_unknown mythcommandlineparser.cpp:2597 (ConfigureLogging) - Qt version: compile: 4.8.6, runtime: 4.8.6
2015-01-01 19:59:29.512816 N [190/13827] thread_unknown mythcommandlineparser.cpp:2599 (ConfigureLogging) - Enabled verbose msgs: general
2015-01-01 19:59:29.581783 W [190/13827] CoreContext mythcorecontext.cpp:264 (Init) - This application expects to be running a locale that specifies a UTF-8 codeset, and many features may behave improperly with your current language settings. Please set the LC_ALL or LC_CTYPE, and LANG variable(s) in the environment in which this program is executed to include a UTF-8 codeset (such as 'en_US.UTF-8').
2015-01-01 19:59:32.029304 E [190/13827] CoreContext mythdbcon.cpp:173 (OpenDatabase) - WOL failed, unable to connect to database!
2015-01-01 19:59:32.029336 E [190/13827] CoreContext mythdbcon.cpp:216 (OpenDatabase) - Unable to connect to database!
2015-01-01 19:59:32.029406 E [190/13827] CoreContext mythdbcon.cpp:217 (OpenDatabase) - Driver error was [1/2003]:
QMYSQL: Unable to connect
Database error was:
Can't connect to MySQL server on '67.212.251.179' (61)

2015-01-01 19:59:32.062987 E [190/13827] CoreContext main.cpp:311 (main) - Failed to init MythContext, exiting.


Does this help and is it what you are looking for?

Thanks for your patience on this.

RH

headrc wrote:1. I looked at the Terms of Use for one of the shows. Without spending a lot of time on it, I did not find anything regarding downloading. But if there is, I would bet it is the same for recording. And if that is the case, then MythTv as well as any commercial DVR user is already in violation.

Recording a broadcast for personal time-shifting is fair use. Downloading a digital version is different.

...
mythtv-setup.20150101190242.426.log

It was the mythtv-setup log that I wanted, but I think the bits below illustrate the problem.

...
2015-01-01 13:10:49.287954 E [566/13827] CoreContext mythdbcon.cpp:216 (OpenDatabase) - Unable to connect to database!
2015-01-01 13:10:49.288030 E [566/13827] CoreContext mythdbcon.cpp:217 (OpenDatabase) - Driver error was [1/2003]:
QMYSQL: Unable to connect
Database error was:
Can't connect to MySQL server on '67.212.251.179' (61)
...

Does this help and is it what you are looking for?

The above indicates the program couldn't connect to the database but doesn't tell us why.

The first step, as I asked before, is to check In Activity Monitor, do you see 'mysqld' among the processes (user '_mysql')?

Also, that is an unusual ip address (67.212.251.179); it appears to be publicly accessible. Don't you have a router between this machine and the internet? MythTV is not designed to be a secure application and should not be accessible from the internet at large.

Craig

Hi …I may be back here but I did a test with a long range antenna. And as expected I got 0 channels where I am. Since it is my impression that Myth TV is really fro recording live shows, I will be pursuing other alternatives for a solution. I have a Tivo unit that does the live recording if I have a feed for it. Thanbks for all your input so fart …and again I may be back but there is no need to trouble you with my problem if MythTv is not a solution for it. All the best, RH