[mythtv-users] Re: mythtv 0.14, bttv 0.9.12/13 + Kernel 2.6.3-4 - low brightness red screen on channel change

[scunacc]

Dear Bruce and Gregory et al.,

Bruce's post:

> In that case, pop open bttv-driver.c and drop in a few debug
> statements to print out what the picture setting are being set
> to (and IF they are being reset =). Let Gerd know what you find.
> If you are diligent, he may offer more specific debugging info.
> That would be a wonderful contribution on your part because this
> is clearly a driver issue that myth is tickling and not a myth
> bug per se.

I agree. I think that is what is happening here. I will probably have to
defer doing this until later in the week given other time constraints
now though.

> Until bttv-0.9.13, I also needed to stay at 0.9.11 to avoid
> this problem. I'm now running linux 2.4.25 and it is unambiguous
> that 0.9.12 has this problem of resetting to distorted colors all
> the time and it hasn't happened since installing 0.9.13.

Well, that's useful info. at least for all: "Stay clear of 0.9.12".
Thanks for that.

Gregory's post

> This little bttv bug has been the bane of my existence (OK, perhaps just
> annoying) for awhile, although there is usually nothing on other than on
> SciFi worth recording anyway. I'm delighted it's fixed, now I can record
> Monster Garage and American Chopper as well as Farscape and such.

So, it appears it *can* be fixed, at least in some setups.

I've communicated with Gregory off-list a little, and we've discussed
board placement. I'm not all that keen to move things around in a system
that works OK with an existing driver/kernel/mythtv setup. My thoughts
were that apart from the register reprogramming issues "fixed" in
0.9.13, there may well be an interrupt timing / communication issue
being exposed here in the 2.6.N kernel series perhaps.

(Helpful MKD10 kernel rebuild notes snipped)

> Fire up xawtv, usually you will have video and no audio on a bttv myth
> setup if you are using a patch cord (muted line in, remember?)
> 
> Mythtv and Tvtime now change channels properly. xawtv always did, it
> seemed to always reset on any channel change, working around the bug.

Here is another difference. xawtv *did* display the same symptoms for
me, although less repeatably. 

Gregory, a question, - what TV hardware are you using? I wonder if
there's a firmware issue on the actual TV board itself that is not being
addressed by later kernel/driver combinations that none of us are
considering. (Anyone know of any such?)

Appreciate all the interaction from everyone. It's something that we
know can be cracked, - just finding the right answer...

Kind regards

Derek.