Suddenlink installed the HDTV Cable box today. Before I get to that, I'll cover the remote control setup for my MythTV:

Unfortunately the Hauppauge PVR-250 remote control receiver driver was not included with the standard lirc (Linux Infra-red Remote Control) download in my Ubuntu. I had to download the source and compile it from scratch, enabling the driver I needed. It was actually very easy to do, but obviously not something for a Windows user.Once done, I had to manually add the lirc-i2c 'kernel module' to my startup in /etc/modules or else lirc wouldn't load properly. There were no default key configurations installed so I had to manually place the sample lircd.conf in /etc and set up a ~/.lircrc file before things worked right. A bit more trial and error and I had configured the buttons the way I wanted on my Logitech Harmony remote and within MythTV.

From there it was just a matter of telling Myth what I want recorded every week.

Suddenlink arrived with a Scientific Atlanta Explorer 3250HD converter box. Now, I don't know what other boxes are available out there, but this box was a serious disappointment.

The first and most obvious thing I noticed was that it had a DVI port but no HDMI. When I commented on this to the installer his reply was 'I don't even know what that is, but here' and handed me the set of component video cables they provide. Great. Thanks. I had to disconnect my DVD player to connect the box to the television. Off to Wally-World after he left and I bought a $28 DVI - HDMI cable. Unfortunately that cable doesn't carry the digital audio, so I still had to use analog RCA cables to carry the audio.

The second thing I noticed is that my box does not have a firewire port. From what I understand, there's a version of this 'model' of box that does, but mine definitely does not have it. There's also no serial port on either it or the other standard digital box they brought so there's no way to directly connect either of these boxes to a digital video recorder. I'm limited to using the analog signal on my MythTV until I decide to build an IR transmitter for my Myth box so I can control the cable box from it.

The third thing I noticed is that as soon as you connect the DVI out cable to any device, it disables ALL OTHER outputs. This means that even if I do build an IR transmitter and try to connect it to MythTV, I won't get anything out of it unless I physically disconnect it from my HDTV.

Thank you DRM. It pisses me off that I'm physically prohibited from watching my TV when I want to watch it, instead of being tied into what the cable company wants. If a competitor to Suddenlink popped up here with boxes that supported DVR's I'd jump ship in a heartbeat.