[mythtv-users] mythtv newcomer.. need help setting up live tv

[Michael Ford]

On Tuesday 19 October 2004 11:45 pm, Evan Burrows wrote:
> I really need some help.. I just started setting up my myth box
> recently running fedora core 2.  I have been following Jarod's fc2
> installation guide but havent figured out what is wrong.  Right now
> all i want to do is view live tv but i am not sure what to do to get
> this done.  I ran the mythtvsetup and started to go through that.  My
> PVR-350 is set to /dev/video0 but i don't know what inputs to set.  I
> have digital cable and connected it to the pvr-350 card.
>
> for the host address backend setup i kept everything defualt. I am
> running the front end and backend on one machine. When it asks for tv
> format which option do i choose? right now i have it set to ntsc but i
> don't know anything about this stuff, the same with vbi format.  I
> have the channel frequency set to us-cable and i believe everything
> else was kept default.
>
> I added the capture card chose PVR-350 option for card type
> video device: /dev/video0
> VBI: /dev/vbi
> Audio device: /dev/dsp  .. I enabled ALSA so do i need to do anything
> for this? I haven't even got around to see if the sound works since i
> haven't gotten the live tv to work yet.  But i do get sound when i
> play snes9x through mythtv.
> Default input:  I have no idea what to set this to.  I set TUNER-0
> since that made the most sense to me.
> Under video sources I believe all that is working because i can do a
> mythfilldatabase and go through the listings.
> Under Imput connection what do i change.  I tried changing tuner 0 to
> cable but I am not sure if that was what i was supposed to do.
>
> I saved all that stuff and started up mythfronted and and selected
> watch tv and the screen just goes black.  Usign Jarods guide I did run
> some of the commands to set up tv out since i knew I would eventually
> be goign that direction but I didn't finish it since l didn't feel
> like ripping my entertainment center apart like i said before.. So i
> don't know if that is what is cauign my problem.
>
> I followed the directions for ivtv and i believe all that went out
>
> Here is some output from my terminal when i started mythfrontenf:
> [mythtv at localhost mythtv]$ mythfrontend
> 2004-10-19 23:37:40 mythfrontend version: 0.16.20040906-1 www.mythtv.org
> 2004-10-19 23:37:40 Enabled verbose msgs : important general
> mythtv: could not connect to socket
> mythtv: Connection refused
> lirc_init failed for mythtv, see preceding messages
> 2004-10-19 23:37:42 Registering Internal as a media playback plugin.
> 2004-10-19 23:37:42 Registering MythDVD DVD Media Handler as a media
> handler 2004-10-19 23:37:42 Registering MythDVD VCD Media Handler as a
> media handler 2004-10-19 23:37:43 Registering MythMusic Media Handler as a
> media handler SIP listening on IP Address 192.168.0.101:5060 NAT address
> 192.168.0.101 SIP: Cannot register; proxy, username or password not set
> 2004-10-19 23:40:06 Connecting to backend server: 127.0.0.1:6543 (try 1 of
> 5) 2004-10-19 23:40:06 Using protocol version 13
> 2004-10-19 23:40:06 Using protocol version 13
> 2004-10-19 23:40:06 Using protocol version 13
> Using the PVR-350 decoder/TV-out
> 2004-10-19 23:40:10 Changing from None to WatchingLiveTV
> pthread_setschedparam: Operation not permitted
> 2004-10-19 23:40:11 Running as SUID root would allow some threads to
> run with realtime priority, improving video smoothness.
> 2004-10-19 23:40:13 Waited 2 seconds for data to become available,
> waiting again...
> 2004-10-19 23:40:15 Waited 2 seconds for data to become available,
> waiting again...
> 2004-10-19 23:40:17 Waited 2 seconds for data to become available,
> waiting again...
> 2004-10-19 23:40:20 Waited 2 seconds for data to become available,
> waiting again...
> bad newframes: 665 0 325 0
> bad newframes: 665 0 325 0
> bad newframes: 665 0 325 0
> bad newframes: 665 0 325 0
> bad newframes: 665 0 359 0
> bad newframes: 665 0 359 0
> bad newframes: 665 0 359 0
> bad newframes: 665 0 359 0
> bad newframes: 665 0 359 0
> bad newframes: 665 0 359 0
> bad newframes: 665 0 359 0
> bad newframes: 665 0 359 0
> bad newframes: 665 0 359 0
>
> SO it looks like it isn't even making the connection.  Any ideas? I am
> sure this will take quite a few threads to straighten out but I would
> really appreciate any help i can get.. I have to justify my expenses
> on all the stuff I have had to purchase to build this box to my
> wife...So the sooner i get this working the better for me lol
>
> thanks in advance and please let me know if you guys need any
> additional info because i am sure i left most of the stuff you need
> out.
I don't run Fedore Core 2 but i've been running Myth for a couple of years now 
and i've used Jarod's guide as a reference a few times.  At any rate, one 
thing jumped out at me when reading your post.  How are you connecting your 
digital cable to the PVR-350?  Is it from the wall to the card or from the 
box to the card?  If your running the coax from the box to the card that may 
be your problem since Myth will not be able to tune the frequency.  You'll 
need an external method of changing the channel for that setup and it's much 
more complicated.  You should try using a splitter and running the coax 
directly from the wall to your myth box to get things started.

You may also want to verify that you can capture video successfully with just 
the ivtv driver.  Try:

cat /dev/video0 > test.mpg
wait a few seconds
ctrl-C

Then use mplayer to play the test.mpg file.  If you get video then ivtv is not 
the problem.

Also, it's very important that you have the video source and input connected 
properly in mythsetup.  Make sure you define the video source and name it 
something in step 3 (I think) and then make sure you connect that video 
source to the tuner input of your video card in step 4.  If that's not done 
properly nothing will work correctly.
-- 
Michael Ford