Introduction:

     LinHES is what I called my home entertainment system.  LinHES is of course based on KnoppMyth, but the setup I describe can be accomplished with any Linux distro and MythTV.  My setup consists of a master and slave backend.  My master backend is in my bedroom and it is used to store all recorded programs.  My slave backend is in my living room.  It's primary function is to entertainment visitors.  Both backends are hooked up to a TV via, TV out(SVIDEO).  SBE is also hooked to a Kenwood receiver w/ surround(works w/o additional tweaking!). NFS is used to share the files between the systems.

MBE hardware:
Chaintech 7NIF2 w/ Athlon XP 2400+
512 megabytes of RAM
120 gigabyte hard drive
Hauppauge PVR 350
Hauppauge PVR 250
DVD-ROM drive

SBE hardware:
Asus A7N266 w/ Athlon XP 1800+
512 megabytes of RAM
160 gigabyte hard drive
nVidia Geforce 4-440mx w/ TV out
Hauppauge WinTV model 401
AverMedia M179
DVD-ROM drive
2 Logitech Wingman Wireless rumblepad
RadioShack 15-2116 universal remote

Installation:

     I performed an auto install on MBE, while SBE was installed manual (I wanted /cache no larger than 5 gigs).  Both systems installed w/o issue all hardware was seen and worked w/o additional configuration.  MBE was recently changed to R5 Alpha(auto upgrade and not ready for the average user), while SBE is running R4V3.  Both are of course running MythTV 0.15.1.

Customization:

MBE:
/etc/hosts:
127.0.0.1       mbe.mysettopbox.tv localhost
192.168.1.91 sbe

Added the following to /etc/fstab:
sbe:/myth /mnt/sbe nfs rsize=8192,wsize=8192,soft,nfsvers=3

/etc/exports:
/myth   *(rw)
update-rc.d nfs-kernel-server defaults

Made a directory under /mnt called sbe and symlinked music and video to sbe/music and sbe/video.
mkdir /mnt/sbe
cd /mnt
ln -s sbe/music music(Setup-Music Settings-General Settings, change the directory to hold music to /mnt/music)
ln -s sbe/video video(Setup-Video Settings-General Settings change directory to hold videos to /mnt/video)

Ran mythtv-setup and change both IPs from 127.0.0.1 to my actual IP.  Modified /etc/mysql/my.cnf, commented skip-networking and restarted mysql.  Finally as the user mythtv:
cd ~/.mythtv
rm -fr MythVideo
ln -s /mnt/sbe/image_cache/MythVideo/ MythVideo


SBE:
/etc/hosts
127.0.0.1       localhost
192.168.1.91 sbe.mysettopbox.tv sbe
192.168.1.92 mbe.mysettopbox.tv mbe

Added the following to /etc/fstab:
mbe:/myth /mnt/mbe nfs rsize=8192,wsize=8192,soft,nfsvers=3

/etc/exports:
/myth   *(rw)
update-rc.d nfs-kernel-server defaults
update-rc.d -f mysql remove
update-rc.d -f apache remove
rm -fr /etc/cron.daily/mythtv-backend

Made a directory under /mnt called mbe and symlinked tv to mbe/tv, music is symlinked to /myth/music and video is symlinked to /myth/video.
mkdir /mnt/mbe
cd /mnt
ln -s mbe/tv tv(mythtv-setup 2nd screen, directory to hold  recordings, change to /mnt/tv)

Run mythtv-setup and change the first IP to the IP for SBE and the second to MBE's IP.  Configure capture cards and bind input to source(configured during MBE setup).  Finally as the user mythtv:
cd ~/.mythtv
rm -fr MythVideo
ln -s /myth/image_cache/MythVideo/ MythVideo
vi mysql.txt

DBHostName=mbe
DBUserName=mythtv
DBPassword=mythtv
DBName=mythconverg
LocalHostName=sbe

At this point, one can reboot boot systems or:
MBE:/etc/init.d/nfs-kernel-server start
SBE:/etc/init.d/nfs-kernel-server start
MBE:mount /mnt/sbe
SBE:mount /mnt/mbe
M/SBE:/etc/init.d/mythtv-backend restart

Conclusion:

     The only issue(s) I have with the setup is that at the times when SBE starts, the backend on MBE dies.  When using MBE to rip my CDs for storage on SBE and watching a recorded show from MBE on SBE, the video would pause every few minutes.  This could probably be corrected by tweaking the NFS configuration.  Having four tuners, it would be great if Myth didn't interrupt while I'm watching live TV and a show is scheduled to be recorded.  I'm certain this will be corrected in a future release. 

     In Setup-TV Settings-Playback-2nd screen, "Action on playback exit", set this to "Save position on exit".  This way you can migrate watching a recorded show from one system to the next.  Of course with four tuners, I can boot two additional system w/ the KnoppMyth CD and watch four different programs!

Cecil