Mythtv/Plugins/MythArchive

Dependencies

The MythArchive plug-in itself does not require anything to compile and install, but the script it uses has the following dependencies that need to be installed before it will work properly:

Python - v2.3.5 or later
mysqldb module for python (dev-python/mysql-python on Gentoo) (MySQL-python on Fedora)
imaging (PIL) module for python (dev-python/imaging on Gentoo) (python-imaging-devel on Fedora)
mjpegtools - v 1.6.2 or later
dvdauthor - v 0.6.11
ffmpeg - v 0.4.9
dvd+rw-tools - v5.21.4.10.8
cdrtools - v2.01
transcode (optional only need for tcrequant)

By Installing these files from yum.

transcode.i386
dvdauthor.i386
ffmpeg.i386

Running MythArchive form the Bash Shell

python /usr/local/share/mythtv/mytharchive/scripts/mythburn.py -j /tmp/MythArchive/config/mydata.xml -l /tmp/MythArchive/logs/progress.log

How to use MythArchive

If you run mythfrontend there should now be two extra menu items. In the Optical Disks menu, there is an Archive Files item that runs the MythArchive plugin. In the Utilities / Setup | Setup | Media Settings menu is the item Archive Files Settings to change MythArchives settings.

IMPORTANT - The first thing you should do is check the settings. Make sure you set the temp work directory setting. There should be a lot of space at this location for the script to create all its work files. Change the video format to what you want the script to use (PAL, NTSC) and change the location of your DVD drive. Most of the other setting shouldn't need changing unless some of the tools are not in your PATH in which case you will have to supply the full path so the script knows where to find them.

Now you can run the MythArchive plugin. First you need to cue some files for archiving from the "Find Files To Archive" menu. You can choose MythTV recordings, MythVideo files or any media files accessible from your filesystem.

To create a DVD

Choose Export Video Files | Create DVD
Choose what size DVD you are going to use and whether you want to just create the file system or create an ISO image for later burning or actually burn the ISO image to a blank DVD. Press 'Next'.
Choose what files you want on the DVD. If the file is a MythTV recording and the file has a cut list you can have MythArchive cut out the commercials for you. If you wish to edit the files metadata (title, subtile, description etc) press 'Menu' to show the popup menu and choose 'Edit Details'. Press 'Next'.
Choose the DVD menu theme you would like. Press 'Next'.
The final page of the wizard shows you the shows you have chosen and the order in which they will appear on the DVD and also shows whether a cut list will be used. On this page you can also choose what re-encoding profile to use. Each file can have a different profile if you wish. If the file is already a DVD compliant file the default is to not re-encode the file but you can if you wish choose another profile maybe to reduce the file size so you can squeeze more files on the DVD. Press 'Finish'
The script to create the DVD will now be run and the log viewer will now be shown.

To create a native archive backup

Choose Export Video Files | Create Native Archive
Choose what size DVD you are going to use and whether you want to just create the file system or create an ISO image for later burning or actually burn the ISO image to a blank DVD. Press 'Next'.
Choose what files you want to backup. Only MythTV recordings or MythVideo files are supported.
The final page of the wizard shows you the files you have chosen. Press 'Finish'
The script to create the backup files will now be run and the log viewer will now be shown.

To import a native archive backup

Choose Import Video Files
Use the file selector to find the xml file containing the metadata for the file you want to import. Press 'Next'
On the next page if the file you want to import is a MythTV recording you can choose what TV channel should be associated with the recording - this is mostly usefull if the exporting system and importing system have different channel line ups. MythArchive tries hard to find a reasonable match but there may be instances where it can't find one so you may have to choose a channel yourself. Press 'Finish'
The script to import the archive will now be run and the log viewer will now be shown.

Using the log viewer

Whenever a script is run to create a DVD or native archive or when the import native archive script is run the log viewer will automatically be shown. By default the viewer will automatically update ever 5 seconds. You can turn this off or change the update frequency by changing the options at the top of the viewer. You can if you wish exit the viewer and continue to use Myth. If you do this and return to MythArchive and the script is still runing the log viewer will be shown again automatically. If you want to stop the script you can press 'Cancel' and the script will be asked to stop. It may take several minutes for the script to respond, depending on what it is doing at the time. The update button will force the log viewer to update.

Keys

Up/Down/Left/Right - move focus/change selection
Select - activate push button/toggle selection
Exit - return to myth main menu
C - toggle use cut list

Troubleshooting

Error Message: "ffmpeg: symbol lookup error: /usr/lib/libavcodec.so.51: undefined symbol: dlclose"

Try using atrpms x264.

GO to http://atrpms.net/dist/fc6/x264/ and download x264-svn*.rpm, libx264_54-svn*.rpm, & libx264gtk54-svn*.rpm.

Next as run

sudo rpm -Uvh --force x264*.rpm libx264*.rpm

On 02-Mar-2007 this will fix this error

wget http://dl.atrpms.net/all/libx264gtk54-svn20070206_2245-3.fc6.at.i386.rpm && wget http://dl.atrpms.net/all/libx264_54-svn20070206_2245-3.fc6.at.i386.rpm && wget http://dl.atrpms.net/all/x264-svn20070206_2245-3.fc6.at.i386.rpm && sudo rpm -Uvh --force x264*.rpm libx264*.rpm