Category: Fedora

I’m really starting to dislike Fedora. It’s bloated and breaks so easily. Unfortunately it currently runs my primary server which hosts DNS, DHCP, SMB and OpenVPN server.

A few weeks ago I finally found my MediaMVP box hidden away in one of the draws in my bed. I’ve used it before to run mvpmc, a client for the MediaMVP which presents a simplified MythTV front-end. This was back on FC4 i think (maybe FC5). Now I’m using FC7 but I’ve discovered, after a lot of pain, that the default DHCP server in Fedora does not work with mvpmc. I don’t know and don’t care why it doesn’t work, but at least I’ve now got a successful DHCP server running on my Unbuntu system – only problem is that system is only on occaisionally. If I can get VMWare Server running on boron though, I can get an Ubuntu VM set up purely to run the DHCP server until I can get around to completely replacing Fedora with the more fashionable (and much more reliable) distro.

So a note to people wanting to boot mvpmc: don’t use Fedora to host your DHCP/TFTP servers.

Another note: there’s a new version out (after 10 months of waiting!).

If you’re interested in open-source media centres, I’m intending to write an article about MythTV and mvpmc, with reference to how it’s being set up in our house.

When I installed Fedora 7 recently, I found that the menus in MythTV had disappeared. At first I thought it may be related to the OpenGL rendering of the menus, but it turned out to be the theme relied upon the Microsoft Core fonts. There’s a handy guide that allows you to install the MS core fonts on an rpm-based system without breaking the licensing (apparently).

If you’re planning on setting up MythTV, especially if you’re living in the UK, I suggest following the MythTV Installation Guide by Garry Parker. Although it is targeted at Ubuntu, it can easily be applied to rpm-based and other distributions with the right knowledge.