MythFrontend for Mac OS X PPC/Intel
I needed to upgrade my MythTV backend to the release-19-fixes branch from SVN in order to solve an issue with timeouts to the MySQL server (see: mythtv-users thread). As part of the upgrade, I went ahead and built .19-fixes (checked out 20060407) frontends for Mac OS X PPC and Mac OS X Intel (MMX enabled).
Here are the links:
And for those running older backends, I still have the binaries I built for .19 and .18.1 sitting around:
April 13th, 2006 at 3:20 pm
Just wanted to say thanks so much for binaries. I’ve been having all kinds of trouble getting this configured, and to be able to see it running on my Mac Mini is SO sweet. Thanks so much for posting these and keeping them updated.
April 13th, 2006 at 9:35 pm
No problem - glad it’s helping out someone besides me.
I’ve noticed a few issues on my intel mini, and will be tracking 0.19-fixes branch periodically until it reaches a 0.19-1 release tag.
April 14th, 2006 at 1:39 pm
Using it on my PowerBook G4 and it works rock solid other than rendering the Guid display. It is rather slow with that but I think that is because of the lack of power.
Thanks a ton!
April 14th, 2006 at 4:54 pm
Yeah, the guide display is pretty slow on my G4 PB and G4 mini as well. It’s quite a bit better on the Intel Duo Core mini, though.
April 18th, 2006 at 7:03 pm
Great work, many thanks! I’m using it on a Powermac G5 with Dual-Head Video, and it works perfect on the secondary screen, while I am writing this Text on the primary screen.
Greetings from Germany!
April 29th, 2006 at 6:13 pm
Running this on 10.4 G4 PB, however no matter what i do its always trying to connect to its local ip for the MySQL. Cleared out the .mythtv/mysql.txt a few times…and still its there! Does the .app have to be some where in particular? or the mysql.txt?
Any ideas would be gratefull appreciated.
April 29th, 2006 at 10:58 pm
I am able to run the .app from /Applications, ~/Desktop, or even from the disk image I built. My .mythtv/mysql.txt is in ~/, and seems to work properly. Have you tried manually placing the right values there?
Should be something like:
DBHostName=mythserver.yourdomain.com
DBUserName=dbuser
DBPassword=dbpass
DBName=mythconverg
April 29th, 2006 at 11:55 pm
A huge thank you!! Works perfectly on my 800 mhz G4, even wirelessly on 802.11g. Thanks!
April 30th, 2006 at 5:51 am
Yup, just wanted to check.
Its not a mysql permissions problem either as its not even making the connection to the right ip! Ive even been through all the mysql.txt’s on the backend, incase it was retrieving data from myth-backend.
Strange thing is, ive had this working before, but reinstalled 10.4 a few days ago.
Weird….very werid
May 1st, 2006 at 4:06 pm
I have the following problem:
I get this message:
The server uses network protocl version 29, but this client only understands version 26. Make sure you are running compatible versions of the backend and frontend.
But I am using MythTV 0.19 on the backend.
Any ideas?
May 1st, 2006 at 7:35 pm
Which binary did you download? If you used the .19-fixes branch based binary, this isn’t too surprising. I’m pretty sure the protocol was reved on the branch somewhere. If you used the .19 based binary, I’m somewhat at a loss - it worked fine with my .19 backend when I was using it.
Did you build your .19 backend yourself, or use a package?
May 2nd, 2006 at 4:29 am
I have built my .19 backend myself on a SuSE 10.0 machine.
I downloaded it from svn just yesterday. So it should be all the same.
May 2nd, 2006 at 8:23 am
Did you use the .19 binary or the .19-fixes binary?
May 3rd, 2006 at 1:47 am
I am not quite sure. I used svn co http://svn.mythtv.org/svn/trunk/mythtv for downloading. This should be the latest version, shouldn´t it?
May 3rd, 2006 at 2:30 am
With mythbackend –version it is telling me:
Library API version: 0.19.20060331-1
Source code version: 9838
May 3rd, 2006 at 5:54 am
I downgraded stepwise until rev 8954 and it is working now. Thank you very much.
May 3rd, 2006 at 7:58 am
I’m glad you got it working.
For future reference, checking out /svn/trunk/mythtv will pull the very latest committed changes for the project. At the moment, grabbing this will get you what is being worked on for the .20 release.
To get a particular tag, you need to get /svn/tags/<tag> - for .19 release it would be /svn/tags/release-0-19. To get the latest off the .19-fixes branch, you’d get /svn/branches/release-0-19-fixes.
May 7th, 2006 at 3:03 am
The binary seems to be working great. Video works, I just have no idea what the sound device is supposed to be set to.
June 5th, 2006 at 8:23 pm
Thanks a lot. These run great on my new MacBook
June 8th, 2006 at 4:52 am
Any chance for an Intel 0.18 binary?
June 8th, 2006 at 9:09 am
I’ve not been able to get the patches necessary to apply cleanly and build for .18, so at this point, I don’t think so.
June 11th, 2006 at 11:09 pm
I downloaded the 0.19-fixes (PPC) package. Although connections are made to the MySQL database running on the MythTV machine, I am unable to get a connection to the backend itself. The console says that it tries localhost for it.
Is this frontend hardwired to localhost? I even tried adding some new entries to the MySQL database for this frontend, specifying backend IP, etc., but without any success…
June 18th, 2006 at 5:43 am
I have the same problem as Mario with the intel packages: could not to connect to the master backend server.
Connection to the MySQL db works without problems.
I’m new to OS X, how can I view the console messages for the MythTV packages?
June 21st, 2006 at 10:49 am
Would it be possible to get the 0.18.1 binary for Intel Macs? That would be sweet.
June 24th, 2006 at 7:18 pm
Hi, it’s great on my dual core mini over 802.11g. But, after using a Linux front end where the volume is on the F9/F10 keys I’m missing not being able to control the volume, as these key now do some OSX stuff instead. Where have volume control keys moved too?
June 24th, 2006 at 7:34 pm
10 minutes later… I now see what a DAFT question that was. I’m new to Mac (about 1 hour in so far) and hadn’t spotted the rather handy volume keys. Doh!
June 25th, 2006 at 3:45 pm
Hi,
Thanks again for providing the compiled binaries for the Intel mac. I’m one day in and it’s great to have a silent Myth FE runnning. I have a few questions that I hope aren’t as daft as my last one. I have done a fair bit of searching before asking this time.
In the watch programs view my duo core mini locks up when I go up or down the list too quickly. I get the rotating rainbow cursor. All other lists in the FE work fine, and this works fine too on my Linux FE/BE. Any ideas?
Also, can the OSX FE have the Mythburn feature, or IOWs whats the best way to archive shows to DVD from the Mac?
Thanks
June 27th, 2006 at 9:03 am
Re viewing the console messages.
Easiest way is to open /Applications/Utilities/Console.app.
June 27th, 2006 at 9:04 am
I’ve not had the problem with mythfrontend locking up during the program list navigation. Of course, I don’t think I’ve tried to move very quickly with it, either.
I’ve not come across an easy way to archive shows to DVD on the Mac. The few times I’ve done it, I had to use command line tools to demux the PS, remux into a DVD vob, and use dvdauthor to create a dvd filesystem.
July 4th, 2006 at 2:56 am
I’ve been using your intel-build of 0.19 since it came out and I have been very happy with it. The only annoyance is the ugly keyboard on the table and the beatiful but lifeless Apple remote next to it…
There is now a patch in trac that adds support for the Apple Remote. Any chance of a new build of 0.19-fixes with the patch included?
http://svn.mythtv.org/trac/ticket/2017
July 5th, 2006 at 5:49 pm
Matt,
Have you looked into adding the Apple Remote patch to your intel build. The patch is discussed here:
http://www.mythtv.org/wiki/index.php/Mython_Macx86#EnablingAppleRemote
It would be a sweet addition.
July 5th, 2006 at 8:55 pm
Not sure why, but my last comment was dropped. Have you looked into releaseing a version of the intel build with the Apple Remote patch? It’s attached to MythTV Trac ticket 2017. I’d post a link, but I wonder if that is why my last comment was dropped.
July 10th, 2006 at 11:25 pm
Any chance you might release an Intel version with the Apple Remote patch?
July 11th, 2006 at 11:17 am
I’ve created a build with the patch you requested. New post going up shortly.
July 13th, 2006 at 6:11 pm
Thanks!!! Where is the source code to this front end? I’m running the latest mythbackend (v30) and the OSX frontend (v26) won’t communicate with it.
July 13th, 2006 at 10:08 pm
Source code is from:
http://svn.mythtv.org/svn/branches/release-0-19-fixes/ revision #9647
Patches from http://www.mythtv.org/wiki/index.php/Mython_Macx86
and the second patch here http://svn.mythtv.org/trac/ticket/2017
July 14th, 2006 at 5:48 pm
Sorry about the duplicate requests. They didn’t show up on the page for a couple of days, so I thought they were removed.
July 14th, 2006 at 11:27 pm
No problem Jared.
There appears to be a race in the software that causes the page cache to glitch from time to time.
July 26th, 2006 at 9:56 pm
Thanks for the binaries! One question – the .19-fixes with MMX build can’t quite manage 1080 video with scale video turned on. Do you think there are any optimizations that could be done to improve performance?
July 28th, 2006 at 2:59 pm
I’ve noticed some 1080i does not play back properly, but other 1080i does. I’m not sure what the difference is – possibly bitrate.
Anyway, I’ve not seen further optimizations show up since I built this. If I do see some I will do another build, but I’m guessing at this point it will be .20 before major improvements happen.
You might try asking on the talk page for http://www.mythtv.org/wiki/index.php/Mython_Macx86
July 31st, 2006 at 4:01 pm
Super cool! I’ve been thinking about getting a Mac Mini to run MythFrontend for some time. How hard is it to get this binary to play nicely with the Mac Remote?
July 31st, 2006 at 4:11 pm
Oh never mind, I just see that you released just such a binary on your main site. Thanks!
August 3rd, 2006 at 5:09 pm
The version with the remote works asome with my intel mini!
thanx!
Can you also provide a version with the working plugins like mythgallery and mythvideo?
thanx in advance!
August 23rd, 2006 at 11:17 pm
Thanks a ton, I finally got off my butt and got myth running with a pcHDTV card in my backend box, but since the box runs kinda hot it is in the basement and it is too slow to playback HD content anyway, (an Athlon 1Ghz) so having a frontend that I can run on the Mac upstairs kicks butt… I guess I don’t have to buy that used Xbox now.
August 24th, 2006 at 6:31 pm
Wow! Just returned to your site to see that Apple remote control support has been added. You can do a lot with just a few buttons on the Apple remote. I miss being able to hit ‘i’ though to get programme info and the time position. However, it’s great. The Mac Mini is such a cool Myth FE.
My request now would be to have the ‘Retro’ theme added to the Mac build as it’s so nice looking. Is that possible?
September 21st, 2006 at 7:15 am
Hi there, I absolutely can’t live without your Frontend, it’s amazing! Are you working on a 0.20 version at the moment?
Thank you for your hard work, myself and one helluva lot of other people appreciate it!
October 4th, 2006 at 6:06 am
Thanks for the intel binary. I ran into a problem with my setup. I am using KnoppMyth and I need to dd a mythtv user for inside of my firewall if I want to use a 2nd frontend. Prior to me ruining my current setup myself, is it perhaps possible to summarize the SQL steps/commands I need to execute to add this to my setup?
October 4th, 2006 at 10:50 am
Hmm, ok I got it to ‘work’ using the instructions on the wiki of KnoppMyth: http://knoppmythwiki.org/index.php?page=MacOSXMythFrontend
When I select a show my screen turns black and then just goes back to the selection screen.
October 4th, 2006 at 11:26 am
mcrocker:
Try using Console.app (in Utilities) to determine if MythFrontend is outputting anything to the console log which might help you determine the problem.
October 4th, 2006 at 5:34 pm
Ok, found some interesting errors, the first part tells me the IP was correctly set for the back end, the 2nd part shows it still tries the wrong IP address (127.
2006-10-04 07:46:24.177 Connecting to backend server: 192.168.1.52:6543 (try 1 of 5)
Using protocol version 26,New DB connection, total: 2, Connected to database ‘mythconverg’ at host: 192.168.1.52, TV: Attempting to change from None to WatchingPreRecorded ,RemoteFile::openSocket(control socket): , Could not connect to server “127.0.0.1” @ port 6543 2
October 5th, 2006 at 10:20 am
Ha, found the source of the problem, wrong IP address in the mythtv-setup. Works now!
This looks awesome! Live TV as well as recorded programs of g with a Mac Book Pro! Thanks!
October 16th, 2006 at 4:58 pm
I have been using this for some time now on my powerbook. I recently got my hands on a mac mini and think it would look nice in the living room, so once again I am going to put this to good use. Thanks!
October 16th, 2006 at 11:16 pm
Well just got home to give it a try, and noticed some strange behavior. No matter what IP i use in the settings for the backend, the console shows that Mythfrontend is trying ONLY to connect to 127.0.0.1. Opening ~/.mythtv/mysql.txt shows the correct IP, but the console shows what is really happening. Any ideas?
Thanks again!
October 17th, 2006 at 7:47 am
Brad:
If you look at the settings on the backend, what ip address does it show for the backend? From my understanding, you’ll need to use mythtv-setup and change this to the ip address by which your frontends can reach the backend.
October 17th, 2006 at 1:53 pm
Thanks Matt, but after I posted that last one, i looked up to see mcrocker’s comment that was the trick. Next time I will look throuoghly =]
December 28th, 2006 at 8:03 pm
I have written a little Mac OS X application that generates Growl notifications when your Mythbackend starts or finishes a recording. This seems an appropriate place to post a link - http://www.freethinking.textdriven.com/?p=19
The application operates independently of Mythfrontend.
December 29th, 2006 at 3:35 pm
John:
Very cool! Bravo!
One thing I’d really like to work on putting together is something that monitors mythtv for new shows, streams them off an nfs mount, via the myth streaming protocol, or via mythweb, and transcodes them (with cutlist / detected commercials) to user preset values and files them with metadata under iTunes.
This would make using frontrow for videos very handy… essentially mythtv then just becomes a data source, albeit not configured directly from itunes itself.
Thoughts?