If you `cat /dev/urandom`, you get a screen print our of the data being generated by /dev/urandom. If you `cat /dev/<video-device>`, you will see the data the device is dealing with. The `> file.mpg` is just saying redirect the data to this file rather than stdout (the terminal screen in your case). It will be difficult to tell you which device is your tv card, that is something the forums can most definitely help with. Be sure to give them list of devices on your system and what you are looking for.<div> <br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Mon, Feb 8, 2010 at 12:14 AM, Juan Collao <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:collao@sbcglobal.net">collao@sbcglobal.net</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex;"> <div> Well, I had read that MythTV is actually a really good program, but I also read that may people had a hard time installing it. I did notice that MythTV is part of the Ubuntu Software Center and that was encouraging because most of those programs work well, but I also noticed that MythTV had two parts: backend and frontend. So the question becomes: How do I install both in a way that makes them work well together? There has to be a reason they don't come together in one package. What steps should I have to take then to install both parts successfully?<br> <br> Also, a previous message provided this suggestion:<div class="im"><br> <br> <font color="#0000ff">If you're running digital, I believe you should be able to cat</font><br> <font color="#0000ff">/dev/<videodevice> > filename.mpg</font><br> <font color="#0000ff">and then play back that file with most any software.</font><br> <br></div> Yes, I would be running digital, but I'm not sure I understand what this command would do. Also, what would my videodevice be?<br> <br> I really would like to thank everyone for your thoughtful comments and suggestions. The user communities are really the strength of Linux. If I called Apple or Microsoft for help, I'm sure no one would talk to me unless they had my credit card on file. I'm sure I will be able to figure out this TV issue some day, which by the way, would be the last thing on my list of "must have" applications for my computer. I'm happy to say that I have been able to get everything else to work great.<br> <br> Regards,<br><font color="#888888"> <br> Juan</font><div class="im"><br> <br> -----Original Message-----<br> <b>From</b>: Marc Randolph <<a href="mailto:Marc%20Randolph%20%3cmrand@pobox.com%3e" target="_blank">mrand@pobox.com</a>><br> <b>To</b>: <a href="mailto:collao@sbcglobal.net" target="_blank">collao@sbcglobal.net</a><br> <b>Cc</b>: <a href="mailto:ubuntu-us-tx-dallas@lists.ubuntu.com" target="_blank">ubuntu-us-tx-dallas@lists.ubuntu.com</a><br> <b>Subject</b>: Re: [UbuntuDallas] Video issues<br> </div><div><div></div><div class="h5"><b>Date</b>: Sat, 6 Feb 2010 20:07:25 -0600<br> <br> <pre>On Sat, Feb 6, 2010 at 7:44 PM, Juan Collao <<a href="mailto:collao@sbcglobal.net" target="_blank">collao@sbcglobal.net</a>> wrote: > Funny how you mentioned that you were not able to Sync your Windows mobile > device with Linux. I got mine to work with Synce. Their user mailing list is > very helpful too. If you have Ubuntu and Evolution, it works great. Check it > out: > > <a href="http://www.synce.org/moin/" target="_blank">http://www.synce.org/moin/</a> > > Now as far as MythTV, I read that some people have been able to get the same > type of TV card to work with it; however, I'm kind of intimidated by the > installation procedure for MythTV. I'm not that experienced with Linux and I > have already wasted a ton hours trying to make some things work. Besides, I > agree that since one of my programs picks up the TV card, somehow Linux can > detect it, I just need to find out how to point the right device to the > right program. I had read somewhere that there is a way to configure video > devices, but I just don't know how. I'm sure that at some point I will get > it to work. I will be sure to let you all know. It's true that MythTV can be finicky at times. Many pieces of hardware work so well it's hard to believe it's Linux, while other things can turn into black holes. I wasn't necessarily recommending trying MythTV, although with the mythbuntu-media-centre package, is it quite easy to configure now-a-days (disclaimer: I help out on the mythbuntu team). Regardless if you are considering MythTV or not, I would encourage you to research the analog vs. digital portions of your configuration as I described in my previous email. Marc </pre> </div></div></div> <br>--<br> Ubuntu-us-tx-dallas mailing list<br> <a href="mailto:Ubuntu-us-tx-dallas@lists.ubuntu.com">Ubuntu-us-tx-dallas@lists.ubuntu.com</a><br> <a href="https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-us-tx-dallas" target="_blank">https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-us-tx-dallas</a><br> <br></blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><br>-- <br><a href="http://www.volatileminds.net">http://www.volatileminds.net</a><br> </div>