[mythtv-users] First Generation Air2PC Card Requires Extended Initialization
I recently purchased first generation Air2PC cards off eBay. I knew there might be issues, but it seemed like a low-cost way to experiment with digital / HD TV and that has proven to be true. In fact, the first card worked extremely well, no issues whatsoever, so I bought a second one. The second card, however, takes much longer to initialize and lock up on its startup channel - usually several minutes as compared to less than 30 seconds for the first card I bought. Once initialized, both cards work fine. However, mythbackend gives up after 30 seconds so getting them both initialized is a problem. I found I could fix that problem by editing 'dvbchannel.h' in libmythtv, the line that reads: bool TuneTransport(dvb_channel_t channel, bool all=false, int timeout=30); Adding an extra zero to the 'timeout' parameter allows the backend to wait long enough for my slow card to achieve a lock. However, I'm curious if there is an easier way. For example, is there some way to condition the card(s) prior to starting the backend that would allow them to successfully lock up within the default 30 seconds? Also, change of subject, is there some trick to getting XvMC to actually work? When I first tried to use it on two machines, both with 0.18.1, FX5200's and the NVIDIA driver, only the Hardware MPEG checkbox was present on the Playback settings page. On both machines, when that checkbox was checked, playback and live TV would both fail with a message saying that the frontend was unable to initialize the display. After fooling around with the stuff mentioned above, including a recompile of 0.18.1, a checkbox to enable OpenGL vsync suddently appeared on the same settings page as the XvMC checkbox and now XvMC works on that machine. But I don't know why it started working and I haven't been able to duplicate the feat on my other Myth box. Bill ___ mythtv-users mailing list mythtv-users@mythtv.org http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users
Re: [mythtv-users] Myth Remote Control
What IR keyboard are you using? I've been using the Chicony KB-9820, but they are getting hard to find... Bill Kevin Kuphal wrote: Buy a one-for-all remote with a JP1 connector and a JP1 interface cable. There are various how-tos on JP1 sites related to this but you basically use that cable to connect to your Windows PC and use software to program your IR remote to send the same IR commands as your IR keyboard. While most Myth users go through LIRC with an IR remote, I have found that programming my IR remote to emulate my IR keyboard allows me to use a standard PS/2 connector and the IR receiver to bypass LIRC. This has resulted, for me, in finer control over keys as well as faster response times from the remote. ___ mythtv-users mailing list mythtv-users@mythtv.org http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users
Re: [mythtv-users] Strange recording and playback issues after crash
I presume you completely unpowered the box, preferably by removing the power cord for 30 seconds or so. If you didn't, there's a chance some device on the motherboard got upset during the power glitch and hasn't been reset since. Other than that, I dunno, unless something was permanently damaged. Wish I could be more helpful. Bill Bruce J Keeler wrote: A few days ago, my myth system suffered a power loss. Ever since, it has been suffering from two problems. Recorded programs have chunks dropped, and lots of the following errors get logged: Jan 2 16:01:19 localhost kernel: ivtv: ENC IRQ OVERFLOW: #0 Stealing a Buffer, 2048 currently allocated List archives suggest that this is due to mythbackend not reading the data from the PVR250 fast enough, but don't suggest any reason why that would be the case, though one suggested fscking the recordings partition which I did to no avail. A SMART self-test ran without errors. A bonnie++ run seemed to indicate reasonable disk performance. When playing back programs (even programs that recorded prior to the power loss event), I get some odd behavior while skipping ahead and back. The total program time varies, sometimes by a few seconds, sometimes by outrageous amounts (e.g. something like 768:45:22 might be displayed for program length). The skip takes a second or two to complete, and the picture stutters and goes all pixelly. Pre-crash, skips were always instantaneous. Recording is via a PVR250, playback is through X on an FX5200. Hardware and software configuration has not been touched for ages. Linux mythbox 2.6.12-20050717 #3 Thu Sep 1 18:53:47 PDT 2005 i686 GNU/Linux Jan 1 14:15:06 localhost kernel: ivtv: version 0.2.0 (rc3j) loading CPU: AMD Athlon(tm) XP 2600+ stepping 00 512MB memory. Can anyone suggest what to look for here? ___ mythtv-users mailing list mythtv-users@mythtv.org http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users ___ mythtv-users mailing list mythtv-users@mythtv.org http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users
Re: [mythtv-users] Avermedia AVerTV GO 007 FM - No Sound in MythTV
wvl wrote: So with the help of the v4l mailinglist I got sound in tvtime by using sox to send everything from /dev/dsp2 (tvcard sound device) to /dev/dsp (regular soundcard). But now I need mythtv to record the sound instead. Usually you'd attach the line-in of your soundcard to the sound output of your tvcard, but this card shouldn't need that (I think...). Nevertheless I tried using a cable to connect the two, but however I configured the devices using kmix (soundcard: line-in muted, but on record. tvtuner sound device: no idea. tried a few things like enabling record on everything and raising the volume to max) it never worked. So does anyone have experience with a simliar setup? I'm sure my configuration should be no different to anyone else with one of these cards that expose their sound via a second sound device instead of the usual connect and record. Forgive me if I'm stating the obvious, but if you've already got the TV sound coming out of dsp2, shouldn't all you need do is specify dsp2 as the audio source for that card in mythtv-setup? In my limited experience with btaudio and snd-bt87x, getting to the point of having a functional /dev/dsp device was 99% of the work. IIRC, the only thing left to do after that point was to select the right dsp device in myth setup and make sure that device wasn't muted. ___ mythtv-users mailing list mythtv-users@mythtv.org http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users
[mythtv-users] snd_bt87x, kernel version, lirc replacement - lessons learned
Because my daughter, who is off at college, complained bitterly about having to constantly swap VHS tapes to record her shows at school, as compared to Mything them at home, I threw together a Myth box for her out of spare parts. In the process, I found out a few things that might be useful to someone else in the future, so I'm posting them here for archival purposes. The only usable capture card I had was an old ATI TV Wonder, which has an MSP3400 chip. In the past I had successfully used that particular card with btaudio on RH9 and with snd_bt87x on FC2. This time, I could not get DMA audio to work with any recent distro. I tried FC4, Ubuntu 5.10, and FC3 with a dist-upgrade. No joy for any of them. I was about to go back to RH9 and btaudio, but I tried installing FC3 again without a dist-upgrade and that worked. So, in short, I was not able to get snd_bt87x to work with any kernel newer than 2.6.9 or so. The symptoms were simple: No /dev/dsp device was created, nor was the capture card recorded in /proc/asound/. But everything is now working fine with the default kernel installed by FC3. Second, I managed to save myself the headache of finding an IR receiver for lirc. Once upon a time I bought, but never used, a Chicony KB-9820 IR keyboard. Using that, along with a Philips six device Universal Digital DVD Learning Remote (PHDVD6ZL, $20 at Fry's) gave me a usable remote control at a tiny fraction of the effort that was required to get lirc working on my original Myth box. I can't say if that particular keyboard is still available anywhere, but it does work well. Other than that, I finally discovered a use for Windows Internet Connection Sharing, as her Internet connection is with Airimba wireless who only allow a single connection per account. That was solved with two old NIC's, an ethernet crossover cable, W2K ICS, and a bash script that retries mythfilldatabase until the connection is available. Of course, daughters being what they are, she was distressed to find out that her Myth can only record one program at a time (unlike the home box). Maybe I can pick up another TV Wonder off Ebay... Hopefully, having this note in the archive will help if someone encounters any of the same problems. ___ mythtv-users mailing list mythtv-users@mythtv.org http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users
Re: [mythtv-users] Silent Fan for Socket A (AthlonXP 3000)
It doesn't meet your cost constraint, but when I was considering doing the same thing you are doing, I went with the Thermalright SI-97A. I got the 'A' model because it is also usable with socket 754 so I could keep using it when if/when I upgrade. It doesn't come with a fan, but I had a 92mm Zalman fan which was fairly quiet to begin with and then I undervolted it to 5V which made it silent. The best place to find out which fans are truly quiet is at www.silentpcreview.com. The only tricky part is that the Thermalright fan mounting clips require your fan have open corners with the mounting holes accessible from the inside. Fans with filled-in corners won't work, unless you're handy with a dremel tool. Believe it or not, I've found that the best way to get a quiet heatsink is to find out what the air-cooling overclockers are using and use a quiet fan instead of the screaming Volcanos they use. In the end, however, I did not upgrade my Athlon XP. At the time, it turned out to be cheaper (and cooler) to upgrade to a socket 754 motherboard with an Athlon or Sempron 64 CPU, so I did that instead. ___ mythtv-users mailing list mythtv-users@mythtv.org http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users
Re: [mythtv-users] Monitor Opinion
It's a very highly rated monitor. See http://www.anandtech.com/displays/showdoc.aspx?i=2400. I tried to get one yesterday for $334, but the $100 coupon code had already run out. I guess I'll just keep an eye out for the next deal. Chris Ribe wrote: Call me paranoid, but that deal is too good to be true. Questions I would want answered before buying : - Is mythtv going to have a problem with the weird resolution? - How well do the internal scaler and component input work together given the weird resolution? - What is the response time really like? I've never met an LCD TV whose picture impressed me. Of course, the pricetag on that one could make up for a lot of shortcomings. On 11/29/05, *Mike Robinson* [EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I'm in the process of putting together a Myth system. I've got the hardware for the combined BE/FE box picked out, but now I'm looking at monitors. This will be a smaller monitor for a bedroom. I was wondering if I should have any concerns about using this monitor: http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/ProductDetail.aspx?sku=20053YRc=uscat=snpcategory_id=6198cs=04l=enmnf=694Page=productlisting.aspx http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/ProductDetail.aspx?sku=20053YRc=uscat=snpcategory_id=6198cs=04l=enmnf=694Page=productlisting.aspx It has a resolution of 1680x1050 (16:10 aspect ratio). I'll be recording OTA with two HD3000 cards. My graphics card will be an FX5200: http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16814125191 Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. Thanks! -Mike ___ mythtv-users mailing list mythtv-users@mythtv.org mailto:mythtv-users@mythtv.org http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users ___ mythtv-users mailing list mythtv-users@mythtv.org http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users ___ mythtv-users mailing list mythtv-users@mythtv.org http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users
Re: [mythtv-users] Feature Request: allowable overlap for recordings?
Am I missing something, or isn't it already possible to do this? If, say, I prefer to always see the beginning of a program but don't mind missing the last minute, then I can (always) set programs to start on time (Start Early = 0) but end one minute early (End Late = -1). If I then set the global pre-roll to zero and the post-roll to sixty seconds, I will always get the whole program unless there's a conflict. If there is a conflict, it will release the tuner one minute earlier to the second program. If I want, I can even increase the pre-roll and/or post-roll to further ensure I get the entire program in a no-conflict case. If I always prefer to see the end (which would be my choice), I would just reverse the settings. Frankly, this doesn't sound burdensome to me since I already set every program to start two minutes early and end two minutes late in order to guarantee I don't lose *either* end. Even so, I am still hoping that Glenn Moloney follows through with his feature to allow overlapping recordings on the same channel with a single tuner. ___ mythtv-users mailing list mythtv-users@mythtv.org http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users
Re: [mythtv-users] Attention 24 watchers: check your upcoming recordings
Whew, I was worried for a sec. If it hadn't gotten recorded I would have been in big trouble. Fortunately, I had it set for Record at any time on channel 9. Thanks for the PSA! Kyle Rose wrote: Just a public service announcement: if you have 24 set up to record with In this timeslot every week, be aware that you do not currently have an upcoming recording for tomorrow night's finale because it starts at 8 and is two hours. ___ mythtv-users mailing list mythtv-users@mythtv.org http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users
Re: [mythtv-users] Channels with poor quality create HUGE recordings
Static and noise don't compress well. The higher the compression you normally use, the more pronounced the file size 'inflation', as it were. If you find a way to clean up the picture, the files should go back to normal size. Actually, if you find a way to clean up the picture, please let me know so I can get rid of the fuzzy diagonal lines I get on AMC. Post processing them with a temporal filter cleans them up pretty good, but for normal viewing it looks pretty bad. Bill Phil Buescher wrote: I've been running Myth for a couple years now. I'm just running it with a software based encoder Happauge WinTV-Radio. I moved to a new town just recently, and a different cable company, of course - I have Comcast now. Anyway, onto the problem... Certain channels come in pretty fuzzy, with bad quality, showing diagonal lines on the screen. Most channels come in just fine and look great. These channels come in all fuzzy on a normal TV as well. Here's the big problem though - on those channels with the poor quality, the recording sizes are abnormally HUGE! We're talking about 3-4 times larger than the recordings should be. For instance, a normal hour-long show will take up 0.74 gigs, but the ones on the flaky channels will take up anywhere from 2.5 to 3.5 gigs! It's really crazy! I didn't change anything besides my tvlisting feeds on my MythTV box, so I know it isn't something I did. I didn't change my recording format, I didn't change my setup, and this is certainly a per-channel problem. Only two channels I know of have this poor quality and HUGE recordings problem. I did get basic cable, nothing digital, no satellite or anything goofy - just the basic standard cable package with no need for a set top box. Could this be that these channels are actually HDTV, and that's why they're taking up so much room and come in all fuzzy on tuners that aren't HDTV-ready? Or can it just be that channels with this poor quality problem simply take up a ton more room to record? I have DSL, but could I be receiving some interferance that has to do with cable Internet? I don't know - I'm totally guessing because I have no clue anymore. I really need some help, as the two channels we record the most shows off (shows that are on while we're at work), are the ones that have this problem - and even with over 300 gigs of HD space, I'm running out rather fast. I really don't want to have to re-transcode/mencode the shows after recording them, since that's a pain - any idea what the problem is? The cable installer thought the poor quality was due to bad wiring, but between him and I, we replaced every single run of cable in and outside of the house with high-quality wiring and ends. The installer even replaced the cable running from the neighborhood box that runs to our house. We never did figure out why these channels come in fuzzy. He left, proclaiming the problem fixed - and it wasn't fixed, he just checked one of the channels that come in just fine. I even bought an expensive coax tester, and all the runs are totally clean. I tried putting a signal booster in front of my MythTV box, but that had no effect. I also tried an RF filter, to no effect. I'm totally stumped and frustrated. Please help - any suggestions or insights are appreciated. ___ mythtv-users mailing list mythtv-users@mythtv.org http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users ___ mythtv-users mailing list mythtv-users@mythtv.org http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users
Re: [mythtv-users] Storage space and PVR-250
Try this: Go into the default recording profile for the PVR250 and set your resolution to 352x480 and your encoder bitrate to 2200 kbit/second. That's about the absolute minimum bitrate/resolution combo I've found to be usable for standard TV. YMMV. Record something and try watching it over your 802.11b link. If the playback is jerky, then you'll probably need to upgrade to 802.11g or faster, regardless of whether you like the picture quality or not. If the playback is smooth, but you can't stand the picture quality, try increasing the bitrate without increasing the resolution and see if you can find a setting that works for you. If you must increase the resolution (to, say, 480x480), then you will have to substantially increase the bitrate (eg., I use at least 4500 kbps/sec at 480x480 or better). The more you must increase the bitrate, the less the chance that 802.11b is going to work for you. Good luck! Bill Derek Tattersall wrote: I just set up a mythtv box using a pvr-250 as the capture card. I scheduled a recording of a 1/2 hour tv show, and it worked well. When I played back the recording it looked great. So far so good. However that 1/2 hour recording takes up 13gb on my disk. I would like to find a more efficient way to store recordings even if I have to sacrifice some quality. How do I set up mythtv to reencode the recordings to a more space efficient format? ___ mythtv-users mailing list mythtv-users@mythtv.org http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users
Re: [mythtv-users] A/V out of sync due to dropped frames
If you use Windows, there's an application called PVAStrumento that does the same thing as ProjectX. Recent versions of PVAStrumento have restored audio sync in 100% of the files I have used it on. I just use the default settings; select the .nuv file, 'make ps', set the output file, set 2048 as the packet size, and 'Start'. Link: http://www.offeryn.de/dv.htm mary wright wrote: There's a really good program called ProjectX it's a java app with fixes most errors in av sync'ing .It hasn't failed to work on eveything I have thrown at it .once I get the output from Project X I use Avidemux2 to edit and re-encode to what ever format needed ___ mythtv-users mailing list mythtv-users@mythtv.org http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users
Re: [mythtv-users] mythfilldatabase problem?
You may be experiencing what I, for lack of a better term, refer to as the Sunday Problem. On three of the last four Sunday's, mythfilldatabase was unable to obtain any new data from Zap2It. On two of those three occasions, the data was available by the Monday request time; on one occasion no new data was available until Tuesday. Since the data shows up eventually, I have decided simply not to worry about it. Scot L. Harris wrote: The mythtv system has been working great the past week or so. Mythtv 0.17 from ATRPMS and Jarod's guide on an FC3 system using PVR-350 and a PVR-250. In the mythweb interface under the backend status I noticed the following under Machine information: Disk Usage: * Total Space: 1042,336 MB * Space Used: 382,265 MB * Space Free: 660,071 MB This machine's load average: * 1 Minute: 0.02 * 5 Minutes: 0.02 * 15 Minutes: 0 Last mythfilldatabase run started on 2005-03-28 03:02 and ended on 2005-03-28 03:02. mythfilldatabase ran, but did not insert any new data into the Guide. This can indicate a potential grabber failure. There's guide data until 2005-04-08 22:00 (11 days). DataDirect Status: Your subscription expires on 05/17/05 03:06:14 My question is regarding what appears to be a warning above that mythfilldatabase ran but did not insert any new data into the Guide. This can indicate a potential grabber failure. However the guide appears to be working just fine. Is this a possible bug or an actual problem? ___ mythtv-users mailing list mythtv-users@mythtv.org http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users ___ mythtv-users mailing list mythtv-users@mythtv.org http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users
