I'm using Slackware 12.1. I use a Samsung SyncMaster 712N LCD 17-inch monitor at a native resolution of 1280x1024. I'm using my Asus M2NPV-VM motherboard on-board nvidia graphics chip set for video output.

I have a Hauppauge HVR-1250 capture card. At this time the kernel only supports digital TV. I receive only over-the-air stations.

Overall I'm pleased with the results.

The card works fine with both Xine and Kaffeine. I had kdetv and tvtime installed but they do not support digital TV and I removed those packages. Although I prefer Xine for watching DVDs and DVD ISO images because of the better "remote control" simulation, Kaffeine seems better suited for watching TV because of the immediate listing of the stations.

Is there a way to configure Xine to display a listing of the stations? I have to rotate the outdoor antenna before selecting a station and so far all I can figure out is to use the Next button to select a TV station with Xine. Yet that approach causes Xine to "stall" because the station can't be received. With the Kaffeine pick list I can directly select only stations to where the antenna is pointed.

Second, the stations transmit at different resolutions and screen widths/aspect ratios. The result is when changing channels the viewing picture resizes and is a viewing nuisance. This is particularly irritating when Xine or Kaffeine decide to display the signal full screen. I prefer the Kaffeine or Xine output display to remain the same size and only adjust the picture inside the viewing screen. If this computer was a dedicated PVR and TV viewer I'd want full screen all the time, but this computer is a workstation too. (Edit: I accidentally discovered that Kaffeine has an auto-size option that can be disabled. )

Is there a way to maintain the viewing screen size?

Third, Kaffeine creates two zero-byte kaxtv.ts pipe files in my user home directory. I dislike the presumption of developers that they can dump files into the top level of a user's home directory. Xine properly stores such files in its own directory (~/.xine).

Is there a way to configure Kaffeine likewise?

Thanks again.

I have a setup similar to yours except that I receive DVB-S from satellite.

I use xine/kaffeine and also mplayer/kplayer. Both sets of packages have their strengths and weaknesses, so I find I need to have both installed.

I don't use xine natively. Kaffeine is good for recording while watching, which I've not been able to get kplayer to do. But with kplayer I can crop the top and bottom of an image, and then zoom to get full screen instead of letterboxing. Kplayer also has a drop-down menu, showing all the DVB channels, so you can select a channel out-of-sequence. I can receive HDTV (so far only one PBS channel) and display it without reducing....my monitor is 1920x1200.

In /root/.kde/share/apps/kaffeine there is a file called dvbrc. You can change the RecordDir and ShiftDir options to point to the directory of your choice.

Hope this helps.

With regards to channel selection, Is there a station that is normally in line with your antenna? Put that on the top of your channels config in ~/.xine and it should be the first station tuned into unless you have xine set to tune into last station viewed. You can delete lines in your channel config for stations you do not use or cannot tune in

When I rightclick on the xine screen I can select to show controls and when in dvb mode the top left button in controls (playlist) gives me a listing of all stations in channels.conf

I don't watch much dvb in realtime and usually schedule to save with a cli script but when I did watch realtime Klear was my choice. It was just for viewing and saving dvb and very straightforward. I don't know if the project is active though.

Maybe that will give you some ideas.

I can receive only a few stations because several stations are not simulcasting analog and digital. I will not know whether I can receive those stations until the February 17, 2009 drop dead date when the remaining stations convert.

Yes, thank you. I figured that out after I posted. Manually editing worked best.

I was thinking about the MythTV route, but Kaffeine seems to make "one-touch" recording easy.

Yes, I did that too since posting. I manually edited the channels.conf file and moved the most likely watched station to the top of the list.

Hmm. I already had Show Controls enabled but when in DVB mode nothing happens. Then after a few moments of staring I tried the Playlist button, which I never had used before. Now I can pick stations with Xine. Perhaps I'll try using Xine for TV too.

However, Xine is more temperamental with reception. When the reception stalls, which seems to be a common malady with digital signals, Xine proceeds to the next channel. Kaffiene does not do that.

Now that I have this much set up, I'm wondering whether a DVB-S card and buying a used dish might be a reasonable project. I live in a rural area and TV selection is sparse. Not that I watch much TV, but accessing various free TV and radio stations by satellite might be interesting.

Check out the forums here: http://www.satelliteguys.us/index.php/

Lots of good info and helpful people.

Looks like another project brewing. . . .

I had a scare yesterday. I moved my production box from 12.1 to 12.2 and the TV capture card stopped working. Kaffeine, Xine, MPlayer --- nothing. I compared the lsmod outputs between the two systems and noticed the MT2131 tuner module was not loaded in 12.2 but was in 12.1.

Somehow when I compiled my 2.6.27.7 kernel I boinked some dvb options. I restored the options and recompiled. Viewing TV with the PC is back to normal.

I hate these major release updates. Seems no matter how much pre-testing I perform something breaks. . . .

If anybody is interested I posted the entire story at my web site.