[mythtv-users] My experience with MythTV annoyances

[Steven Adeff]

On 6/11/06, Yeechang Lee <ylee at pobox.com> wrote:
> Steven Adeff <adeffs.mythtv at gmail.com> says:
> > I don't know why your mythbox is randomly rebooting,
>
> Nowhere do I say anything of the sort. My MythTV box only reboots when
> I want it to (generally when I'm fiddling with something). If it
> randomly rebooted often I wouldn't give it a 95 on the WAF scale.

ah, ok, I was under the impression it was randomly rebooting since it
was such an issue. I don't know why you have such hardware issues upon
booting, but there should be ways to fix the problems, though I don't
know how easy they will be =(


> > but the rest of the firewire stuff isn't Myth's fault, more so the
> > fault of the linux firewire driver (linux1394.org), bring the issue
> > up with them, they may be able to help solve your issues.
>
> I suspect you're right. As mentioned, once I jumpstart FireWire it
> stays working, so it's not the worst thing in the world (which was
> what I was trying to get across).

I'd count yourself lucky if your firewire captures are good in the
end, I still can't get a stream without glitches from mine, though I
suspect the cablebox itself now that I've tried it with 3 firewire
chipsets (with vary degrees of glitch rate), though I've got it
working without having to run any plugctl commands, so I guess there
are ups and downs =D
Perhaps as more people start using firewire for capture the linux1394
folks may have more incentive to solve some of these problems as I've
not heard of similar problems for OSX and Windows folks (or perhaps
Mac's as capture backends for firewire will just become standard..)


> > >   When the clip starts, the sound and video get out of sync, and
> > >   this continues after the clip ends and we return to the host and
> > >   guest.
> >
> > I've never seen this issue, are you running SVN or fixes?
>
> I am running 0.19-fixes, but saw this with 0.19 as well. Don't
> remember if I also saw it with 0.18.1 (all through ATrpms). I ought to
> file a ticket.

interesting, I'll have to pay more attention for this. Actually I've
got a few late night shows recorded and never noticed the problem yet,
I'll have to see if any of them exhibit this problem for me. I'm
running fixes as well.


> > Again, not a Myth issue, there is a reason ext3 isn't one of the
> > recommended file systems.
>
> That's fair. One does have to do some reading between the lines at
> <URL:http://www.mythtv.org/docs/mythtv-HOWTO-24.html>, though, as I
> didn't ahead of time as thoroughly as I should've.

Yea, the docs seem kind of dated now that the wiki is up and there
seems very little update to the docs (mostly because the process is
more difficult). Perhaps we should look at having a disclaimer added
at the top of all the docs pages to refer to the wiki for the "latest
'n' greatest" information.

> > > . . . That's it. Really. If these issues got resolved, I'd happily
> > > give my setup those remaining five WAF points, plus a whole bunch of
> >
> > sigh, given the fact that none of your issues are really due to Myth,
> > but poor choices,  and poor firewire driver support for your setup, I
> > don't know if any of this is constructive for Myth users.
>
> Hey, wait a minute. Why so defensive? Where in my message do I
> complain at length about the woes of MythTV, its developers, or life
> in general? If I thought something was poor I'd say so, and I
> definitely can't say that about any aspect of my MythTV setup; it's
> *just that good*. I was trying to say that these annoyances were
> pretty darn minor taken collectively.

true true, except that you are sending this to the MythTV list, and
since the issues are not really the fault of MythTV itself its not
very constructive other than perhaps letting people know to stay away
from your hardware combination(?).


> > > inability, in downtown San Francisco, to get my HD5000 ATSC card and
> > > indoor antenna to pull in more than two network-affiliate channels),
> >
> > Get a better antenna, or position it in a better location, or use
> > QAM.
>
> Tried repositioning (for devotees of "Married with Children," imagine
> the "Fox viewing position"). I admit I hadn't thought of using QAM
> with the card, though; maybe it's splitter time.

yea, depending on your location (and with the "hills" that make up San
Fran) ATSC can be a hard beast to tame. If you get cable I'd suggest
trying QAM, it should be the same signal with all the same sources,
and if it works your signal quality will be much better.


> > > * Try to force HD video out of unsupported video cards. Again, I'm
> > >   pointing at you.
> >
> > For <$50 you can get an FX5200, why bother?
>
> No disagreements here.
>
> > > * Fiddle with standard-definition capture cards.
> >
> > these are the best supported, being that basically everyone uses one.
>
> Were that really true I don't think there wouldn't be so many messages
> asking about them on the list. They may be well supported from a
> technical level but I get the impression there's many nuances many
> people have trouble with (again, this is all secondhand, given I've
> never actually had to use one). FireWire, on the other hand, is pretty
> straightforward (barring the issue we discuss above, which admittedly
> can be a doozy the first time you face it). My point, if I have one,
> is that I think FireWire has the potential to become out-of-the-box
> fire-and-forget that I'm not sure the analog capture cards can ever
> quite get to.

true, I agree firewire, when available for all channels, should be the
best option. Right now I have to have a PVR150 and a cablebox
connected to it, if I'm paying for the cable box anyway, why not use
the firewire? Cause I can't, damn 5C!!

I think the few messages pertaining to PVR issues are usually easily
solved improper setup issues, and as they say, you never hear
complaints from the people it works for. Mine worked instantly and
I've never had an issue with my PVR and its in a system with a HD3000
and two A180's, and hopefully soon a PVR500, so I may be one of the
few to complain, but hopefully not =D


> > > * Use LIRC.
> >
> > with properly supprted hardware should not be an issue.
>
> Again, secondhand experience, but there sure are a lot of LIRC-related
> messages I see floating by.

again, when it works you don't complain. Most of what I see from LIRC
issues are mroe setup than hardware not working. Get hardware that
doesn't give (as many) problems to people and you should be good,
getting it working with your remote, etc. may be a different issue.

plus, thats why they call it a hobby.... =D

-- 
Steve
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