[mythtv-users] 0.00MB recordings...

[Andrew Close]

On Wed, Dec 17, 2008 at 9:09 AM, Kevin Kuphal <kkuphal at gmail.com> wrote:
> On Wed, Dec 17, 2008 at 9:01 AM, Andrew Close <aclose at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> this is becoming more and more common for me :(  originally i was
>> seeing this on a new/dev system that i'm setting up running MythBuntu
>> 8.10 and recording with an HDHR.  i figured i had some settings that
>> needed tweaking, and besides, it was only a play system.  but the
>> problem is now happening (frequently) on my production MythBox running
>> Myth .20 on a semi recent version of KnoppMyth.  my production box
>> contains a PVR-250 and a PVR-500 and i'm recording analog (obviously)
>> cable from Wide Open West in the western Chicago suburbs.  my signal
>> strength is fairly good, as far as i can tell.  other recordings that
>> actually record look good, or as good as analog over cable can look.
>> :)  nothing has changed with my production setup (equipment, cabling,
>> service) for at least 6 months.  as far as i've noticed, these 0MB
>> recordings are occurring on all channels and in various timeslots.
>> Monday night (i think it was Mon :) i noticed 'Chuck' and 'NCIS'
>> recording simultaneously and things seemed to be fine.  Tuesday night
>> my wife and i sat down to watch 'NCIS' and it wouldn't start up.
>> viewing my programs in the 'Manage Recordings, Delete Recordings'
>> screen i noticed that both recordings were 0MB; however, Monday night
>> i know they recorded for at least 30 minutes because i noticed they
>> were recording, watched a previously recorded program, and saw that
>> they were still recording when my program was over.
>>
>> any thoughts on what to look for for possible diagnosis?  i have to
>> admit i haven't checked the logs yet...  i'll do that when i get home
>> tonight and report what i find.
>
> The things that come to mind (in light of you saying nothing has changed)
> would all be hardware related such as overheating or failing cards.  Can you
> tell if all the 0-byte recordings are coming from the same card/input?  Have
> you restarted the machine to make sure you're not running into some kind of
> driver bug?  How is the cooling in the system?

i'll have to check that tonight when i check the logs (if the 0MB
recordings are all happening from the same card).  good thought.  i do
believe one of the PVR-500 tuners records (or did record) more poorly
than the other.  meaning the picture quality was significantly worse.
the machine doesn't get restarted too often since it's only used for
Myth.  but it has been restarted once or twice in the last month.
i'll give that a try as well. :)
cooling is fairly decent.  although it's possible that the machine
needs to be cleaned out (dust).  it's on my AV rack in the family room
in the basement, but it does accumulate dust over time.  i'll check
that as well.
thanks for the suggestions Kevin.

-- 
Andrew Close