[mythtv-users] Transcode Woes & Frontend Crashes

[Jon Bishop]

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> So, I have an interesting issue. Well, 2 issues.
>
> The first, whenever I play any video that isn't mpeg2 (ATSC) when it  
> exits, the frontend crashes. This includes videos that were recorded  
> on my WinTV go-plus (xvid encoded) as well as any AVI files in  
> mythvideo (xine -pfhq --nosplash), which are also predominantly xvid  
> encoded, but also some in divx - no h.264 stuff. And finally, any  
> video that I have transcoded (recorded ATSC, transcoded xvid) causes  
> the crash.
>
> I have set my power button to kill/restart the frontend process  
> (thanks to the wilsonet tutorial I used to long ago with fedora4 and  
> 6, skipping 5 and then migrating to opensuse) so this is less of an  
> *issue*, than an *annoyance* for the girlfriend.
>
>
> The other issue is that when I schedule a recording (specifically  
> the olympics) and set it to automatically transcode and commercial  
> flag. It records, and flags commercials, but the transcoding job  
> never gets queued, or happens. If I go through mythfrontend and tell  
> the file to transcode, it immediately queues, and as soon as the  
> backend is available, it starts transcoding.
>
> I've tried deleting the recording schedule altogether and recreating  
> it, and it doesn't make any change. Still doesn't queue them to  
> transcode, and when I queue them, they transcode without error. I'm  
> resizing from 1080p to a 720xAuto xvid file, which shrinks the 20-30  
> gb into 3 or 4. much better for my 200gig storage (I intend to  
> upgrade, but am holding off for a entirely new backend with storage).
>
> Current system:
>
> Combined Frontend: (though, not *really* combined right now)
> 2.8ghz P4HT
> 1gb ram
> GF4 agp video
> WinTV Go-Plus (bt878) - currently not setup in mythtv, backend  
> currently not running.
> OpenSuse 10.3
> Myth Installed via. pacman repository.
> 200gb NFS Mapped /mnt/myth (recordings)
> 80gb NFS Mapped /mnt/myth2 (mythvideo)
>
> Master Backend:
> 2.4ghz P4
> 1gb ram
> (2) Pinnacle HDTV PCI Cards
> OpenSuse 10.3
> Myth installed via. pacman repository.
> 200gb NFS Exporting /mnt/myth (recordings)
> 80gb NFS Exporting /mnt/myth2 (mythvideo)
> Database stored on 60gb partitioned for /, /boot, swap and /home/
>
>
>
> So, my basic questions, why won't the masterbackend automatically  
> transcode after it completes recording and flagging, but will  
> transcode when I tell it specifically? Why are these transcodes  
> crashing the FE?
>
> Is there somewhere I can look in the logs for an answer? (I know I  
> should go to the log first, but it always happens when I'm not  
> around, and when I am around, I'm usually just watching TV, so I  
> restart and keep going... ) Or does somebody know what's going on?
>
> I try to keep my systems pretty much up to date, and except for a  
> new kernel release (which undoubtedly will break the nozomi drivers  
> on the frontend for my 3G option GT datacard) everything is  
> basically current.
>
> Any tips? Thanks!
>
> ~Jon
>
>