Yes… I know about mythbuntu, however I prefer to roll-my-own and use the a standard minimal ubuntu-desktop for consistency, and also use netflix / chrome from the media-centre PC.
# pre-setup
# - backup home, etc and mysqldump
# - minimal install using mini.iso from https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Installation/MinimalCD
# - install. select only open SSH server
apt-get install --no-install-recommends emacs
# login via SSH
# restore /etc/fstab
# restore home directories
chown -R mythtv:mythtv ~mythtv
chown -R adam:adam ~adam
# static IP address
sudo emacs /etc/network/interfaces
auto eth0
iface eth0 inet static
address 10.5.1.51
netmask 255.255.255.0
gateway 10.5.1.254
dns-nameservers 10.5.1.254
# minimum install
sudo apt-get install --no-install-recommends ubuntu-desktop
# mythtv
sudo apt-get install --no-install-recommends mythtv mythweb xmltv-util dvb-apps
# hardware
sudo apt-get install --no-install-recommends nvidia-current
sudo apt-get install r8168-dkms
sudo bash -c "echo 'blacklist r8169' > /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-r8169.conf"
# find applications in unity
sudo apt-get install --no-install-recommends unity-lens-applications
# essentials
sudo apt-get install --no-install-recommends gnome-terminal ethtool nmap git php5-cli
# fonts
sudo apt-get install ttf-ubuntu-font-family
# restore mythtv database
mysql -u root -p < backup.sql
# change mythtv password in database to match /etc/apache2/sites-available/mythweb.conf and ~mythtv/.mythtv/config.xml
mysql -u root -p
update mysql.user set Password=PASSWORD('password') where user = 'mythtv';
# enable auto login
sudo emacs /etc/lightdm/lightdm.conf
[SeatDefaults]
user-session=ubuntu
greeter-session=unity-greeter
autologin-user=mythtv
autologin-user-timeout=0
sudo emacs ~/config/autostart/mythtv-frontend.desktop
[Desktop Entry]
Type=Application
Name=mythtv frontend
Exec=/usr/bin/mythfrontend
Icon=
Comment=mythtv
# Bugfix - Unity desktop show border around myth front end
gconftool --type Boolean --set /apps/compiz-1/plugins/workarounds/screen0/options/legacy_fullscreen true
# Bugfix - stop screen blanking
sudo apt-get remove gnome-screensaver
# chrome browser
sudo apt-get install --no-install-recommends libgconf2-4 libnss3-1d libxss1 libcurl3 xdg-utils
wget https://dl.google.com/linux/direct/google-chrome-stable_current_amd64.deb
sudo dpkg -i google-chrome-stable_current_amd64.deb
# Netflix desktop
sudo apt-get remove nvidia-current
sudo apt-get install nvidia-173 # current drivers broken for fullscreen playback
sudo apt-add-repository ppa:ehoover/compholio
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install netflix-desktop nvidia-settings
# iplayer
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:jon-hedgerows/get-iplayer
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install get-iplayer ffmepg
