[PLUG] Mythbuntu, Gutsy and Backports; Oops

[JP Vossen <jp@jpsdomain.org>]

Bottom line up front: I accidentally upgraded to MythTV 0.21 from 0.20, 
which caused some compatibility issues between client and server since 
both must speak the same protocol (31 --> 40).  (Why it's not backward 
compatible is beyond me.)


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ubuntu Side

I just did a dist-upgrade on my Myth TV server, but I forgot that 
gutsy-backports was in my sources.list for some reason.  I'm not sure if 
that is or was a Mythbuntu thing, or if I did that in a moment of 
insanity, but it's there.  So I got libmyth-0.21-0 and so forth which is 
NOT compatible with Gutsy-regular libmyth-0.20-0.  (There is no reason 
for this, except MythTV is perverse and will only talk to a Myth server 
using the *same* protocol, no backwards compatibility!  That sucks.  The 
mvpmc project has worked around that by simply hacking their client to 
lie and claim to use whatever protocol the server want, so it can be done.)

Anyway, not a *big* deal, as I can just add gutsy-backports to my 2 
MythTV client machines, pin them, and be happy.  Which I did.  But it 
was an unexpected and unpleasant surprise, even though I basically did 
it to myself.  It also seems like themes got re-orged, as I had to go 
manually install mythtv-theme-mythcenter.

See also https://help.ubuntu.com/community/UbuntuBackports.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
MythTV Side

Everything I tested [1] worked OK except Weather.  The Netflix has fixed 
the broken HTML code and also correctly displays cover shots now too. 
Weather is very different, and I find the new setup method very tedious 
and unintuitive.  But once set up there's a really impressive list of 
stuff you can display though.  For the local screens I needed to use 
"Pottstown"; for the maps and severe weather I use "Northeast".  NOT 
intuitive, and you have to do it for each screen you want.  OTOH, you 
can have as many different screens as you want, all set up however, 
which is really flexible.

The "Searching ... Results: 0" at the bottom of the Weather "screens" 
setup page is also misleading.  It hasn't finished searching yet, so 
there aren't zero hits, there are null hits.  It should be just 
"Searching ..." then "Search Complete.  Results: N".

Also, the mythcenter add-on theme seems like it's buggy.  Going into the 
weather screens setup on 2 out of 3 machines I tested there is a status 
dialog with no text in it, and the "loading..." screen for Weather (once 
set up) is broken.  G.A.N.T. is the default theme, but I find that 
unbearably ugly.

See also http://www.mythtv.org/wiki/index.php/Release_Notes_-_0.21


Just a note to hopefully save someone else a problem,
JP

[1] I tested watching live TV and recordings (with closed captions), 
payback from the MediaMVP using the mvpmc firmware, various InfoCenter, 
Manage/schedule recordings, and search functions, and probably more I'm 
forgetting.
----------------------------|:::======|-------------------------------
JP Vossen, CISSP            |:::======|        jp{at}jpsdomain{dot}org
My Account, My Opinions     |=========|      http://www.jpsdomain.org/
----------------------------|=========|-------------------------------
"Microsoft Tax" = the additional hardware & yearly fees for the add-on
software required to protect Windows from its own poorly designed and
implemented self, while the overhead incidentally flattens Moore's Law.
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