[Jimmer]

I've built and played with the latest code for the last few days. I've a few comments/questions below.

1) There doesn't seem to be a way to mark a recording as watched. This is probably something that just hasn't been implemented yet, but it is a blocker for shipping this as an alternative frontend as it breaks the mythtv's ability to manage disk space, and ultimately it's ability to record. I am also unable to workaround this issue as I am unable to delete the recording from inside XBMC. I've spoken with upstream mythtv and it sounds like this is doable in 0.25 using the services API. I was also told if this isn't currently doable in the services API it could be added pretty easily.

2) There doesn't seem to be a way to get any sort of artwork from ttvdb for the recordings using the PVR plugin. I've tried adding it to the Videos section using the PVR plugin, but that doesn't seem to gather anything either when I set the content to TV and ttvdb. To verify that was working, I also added a SMB share with some shows I have and that was able to scan and add the content normally.

I didn't use any other functionality of the plugin nor did I attempt LiveTV, so I cannot comment on those. This plugin and the built in myth:// protocol usage have their benefits and drawbacks.

PVR Plugin
Pros:
Ability to schedule shows
Cons:
Cannot get tv metadata/artwork
Cannot mark show as watched

Built in myth:// protocol
Pros:
Ability to gather tv metadata/artwork
Cons:
Cannot add shows to library if they don't have metadata (eg. not on ttvdb, then forget adding it to the library)
Cannot mark show as watched

Because of these issues, I am unable to recommend this as an alternative to the MythTV frontend (at least from a standpoint of something we would include in the ISO), although I do see that it is on it's way and realize it is still under development.

Now admittedly, as a developer for Mythbuntu I'm way more familiar with MythTV than XBMC (the last time I seriously used XBMC was on my original XBOX), so I could be doing something incorrectly. If this is the case, please point me in the right direction.

This branch is an off-shoot of Dushmaniac's main pvr branch, where there is some code for including PVR recordings in the video database (for example to enable resume on playback). These changes have not been pulled down to this branch yet. When they are, we will see if the other traditional library features (such as artwork) can be included with the pvr stuff as well. It's gonna take patience, since the main pvr stuff (ie Dushmaniac's) isn't going to be merged with mainline XBMC until after Eden is released. I guess Dushmaniac's really focused on the epg stuff and the bug hunting in order to get it up to snuff for the big merge with vanilla xbmc, so anything that looks like a new feature is probably on the back burner....

Reading TSP's previous comments, I think he is sensitive to the way that the myth stuff is ever so slightly off-kilter with the way the general pvr stuff has been implemented and has provided constructive comments about how things need to be tweaked for myth. He is currently working on some interface changes to bring everything more in line with the functionality of myth. I would wait until 1) He pulls down Dushmaniac's latest code (which will include putting recordings into the video database and some epg related fixes) 2) He finalises his myth-centric interface stuff and then see what functionality is still missing after these two things have been achieved.

Finally I would note that TSP has commented that he has one eye on 0.25 api, so he is probably already thinking along the same lines. The previous mythtv plugin author commented himself that TSP's plugin will be easier to adapt to the coming changes in 0.25 which is one of the reasons he has stopped development on his plugin and is happy to see TSP's take over.

I have garnered all the above from reading all the pvr threads and compiling and testing many branches. If anything is historically inaccurate (or just plain wrong) then I hold my hands up to it!

I agree that for your distribution, at this time, there are a few things stopping xbmc being a drop in replacement for mythfrontend. But when those few wrinkles are sorted out..... xbmc as a frontend - wow! It's gonna be the hottest distro on the planet! Just write some xbmc plugins for system-control type stuff and you've got the total package.

Jimmer