[mythtv-users] Firewire source and channel changer

Curtis Stanford curtis at stanfordcomputing.com
Tue Oct 25 15:05:20 EDT 2005


On Oct 25, 2005, at 12:01 PM, Brian C. Huffman wrote:

> All,
>
> Is there anyone that is successfully using Firewire as both a  
> source as
> well as a method to change channels on the DCT6200 (using another
> source).
>
Yes ... well, mostly

> I'm trying to setup Firewire to handle the analog channels and then  
> use
> a PVR-250 w/ the 6200ch contributed program to change channels on the
> other source.  I've setup two different lineups in zap2it and that  
> part
> is working as it should.
>
> However, I have spent hours troubleshooting and trying different
> combinations of point to point vs. broadcast and I can't get both to
> work reliably.  Somtimes the firewire works great by itself -  
> meaning I
> can enter and exit liveTV repeatedly and flawlessly and sometimes it
> doesn't.  Sometimes I can use LiveTV in the Firewire and then switch
> back and forth to the other input and change channel using 6200ch, but
> at most, I've been able to make this flip-flop about 4 times before  
> the
> firewire stops working.
>
> When this happens, sometimes I'm able to stop mythbackend, unload all
> *1394* modules, reload the modules, and then start mythbackend and it
> will work again.  Sometimes not.  This is one of the most finicky and
> unpredictable things that I think I've ever worked with.
>
> FYI - I've experimented w/ the options mentioned in another email:
>
>
>> plugctl -n 1 opcr[0].channel=63
>> plugctl -n 1 opcr[0].bcast_connection=1
>>
>
> or:
>
>> plugctl -n 1 opcr[0].n_p2p_connections=1
>>
>
> Neither one *completely* fixes my problem.  I've gotten either of  
> these
> (with some fiddling) to get the firewire source to work
> predictably....until I bring the other source w/ the 6200ch binary  
> into
> the equation - then it goes to crap again.  :-(
>
> Any advice would be appreciated.
>
> Thanks,
> Brian

The options you mentioned brought me from about 50% reliability to  
more like 95%. Although 6200ch never gives me a problem (I had to add  
my DCT2000 model to 6200ch to get it to work), the firewire video  
itself is sometimes a little flakey.

I've found using the first two plugctl options above works best for  
me with myth set to broadcast and node 1. Sometimes, recordings are  
short as I've mentioned in previous messages and sometimes the video/ 
audio goes choppy after changing channels. Also, LiveTV seems to  
screw things up occasionally so that I have to restart the backend.

It's not quite bad enough that I want to go back to my PVR-250 but  
it's close. If it weren't for HD, I would go back to my PVR-250 in a  
minute.

Curtis



More information about the mythtv-users mailing list