[mythtv-users] 2 of 3 HD-5500 cards seen on power up, all 3 on reboot?

[Brian Wood]

On Saturday, October 09, 2010 08:58:29 am Tom Dexter wrote:
> On Fri, Oct 8, 2010 at 8:18 PM, Brian Wood <beww at beww.org> wrote:
> > On Friday, October 08, 2010 06:05:17 pm Tom Dexter wrote:
> >> This one's been driving me insane forever.  My backend has three
> >> HD-5500 cards.  When I power up, without fail, it sees only two of the
> >> three cards.  However it always sees all three on reboot...drives me
> >> nuts.
> > 
> > Might also be interesting to run lspci when in the "failed" condition, to
> > see if all 3 cards are seen.
> 
> Here's what lspci shows, first after power up (when only two cards are
> recognized) and second after reboot:
> 
> mythback tom # lspci|grep CX
> 01:00.0 Multimedia video controller: Conexant Systems, Inc.
> CX23880/1/2/3 PCI Video and Audio Decoder (rev 05)
> 01:01.0 Multimedia video controller: Conexant Systems, Inc.
> CX23880/1/2/3 PCI Video and Audio Decoder (rev 05)
> 01:01.1 Multimedia controller: Conexant Systems, Inc. CX23880/1/2/3
> PCI Video and Audio Decoder [Audio Port] (rev 05)
> 01:01.2 Multimedia controller: Conexant Systems, Inc. CX23880/1/2/3
> PCI Video and Audio Decoder [MPEG Port] (rev 05)
> 01:01.4 Multimedia controller: Conexant Systems, Inc. CX23880/1/2/3
> PCI Video and Audio Decoder [IR Port] (rev 05)
> 01:02.0 Multimedia video controller: Conexant Systems, Inc.
> CX23880/1/2/3 PCI Video and Audio Decoder (rev 05)
> 01:02.1 Multimedia controller: Conexant Systems, Inc. CX23880/1/2/3
> PCI Video and Audio Decoder [Audio Port] (rev 05)
> 01:02.2 Multimedia controller: Conexant Systems, Inc. CX23880/1/2/3
> PCI Video and Audio Decoder [MPEG Port] (rev 05)
> 01:02.4 Multimedia controller: Conexant Systems, Inc. CX23880/1/2/3
> PCI Video and Audio Decoder [IR Port] (rev 05)
> 
> mythback tom # lspci|grep CX
> 01:00.0 Multimedia video controller: Conexant Systems, Inc.
> CX23880/1/2/3 PCI Video and Audio Decoder (rev 05)
> 01:00.1 Multimedia controller: Conexant Systems, Inc. CX23880/1/2/3
> PCI Video and Audio Decoder [Audio Port] (rev 05)
> 01:00.2 Multimedia controller: Conexant Systems, Inc. CX23880/1/2/3
> PCI Video and Audio Decoder [MPEG Port] (rev 05)
> 01:00.4 Multimedia controller: Conexant Systems, Inc. CX23880/1/2/3
> PCI Video and Audio Decoder [IR Port] (rev 05)
> 01:01.0 Multimedia video controller: Conexant Systems, Inc.
> CX23880/1/2/3 PCI Video and Audio Decoder (rev 05)
> 01:01.1 Multimedia controller: Conexant Systems, Inc. CX23880/1/2/3
> PCI Video and Audio Decoder [Audio Port] (rev 05)
> 01:01.2 Multimedia controller: Conexant Systems, Inc. CX23880/1/2/3
> PCI Video and Audio Decoder [MPEG Port] (rev 05)
> 01:01.4 Multimedia controller: Conexant Systems, Inc. CX23880/1/2/3
> PCI Video and Audio Decoder [IR Port] (rev 05)
> 01:02.0 Multimedia video controller: Conexant Systems, Inc.
> CX23880/1/2/3 PCI Video and Audio Decoder (rev 05)
> 01:02.1 Multimedia controller: Conexant Systems, Inc. CX23880/1/2/3
> PCI Video and Audio Decoder [Audio Port] (rev 05)
> 01:02.2 Multimedia controller: Conexant Systems, Inc. CX23880/1/2/3
> PCI Video and Audio Decoder [MPEG Port] (rev 05)
> 01:02.4 Multimedia controller: Conexant Systems, Inc. CX23880/1/2/3
> PCI Video and Audio Decoder [IR Port] (rev 05)
> 
> Note that, although it appears to see the card at 01:00:0 in both
> cases, in the first one it doesn't see it's three individual ports.
> 
> Am I correct that that would tend to point towards a power issue as
> apposed to anything related to udev?  I'd think so, as it seems like
> the underling hardware isn't getting seen properly in the first place.
> 

Looks like the card is not behaving properly, whether due to a problem with the card itself, or bad or insufficient power 
getting to it, it's hard to say.

But I definitely don't think it's a UDEV problem. UDEV can't work with something it can't see.

It *could* be a really squirrelly problem with the PCI bus itself, but that's far-fetched.

Not that far-fetched problems don't happen, but we generally don't go after them until all of the more likely problems are 
eliminated.

Might be interesting to put the "bad" card in a different slot, to see if the problem stays with the card or the location.

But I'd start by replacing the PSU.

Note that the "PSU Testers" sold for under $10 are pretty much worthless. They do not load the supplies, and are little 
better than "voltage presence detectors". They give no indication of the value or quality of the power, other than that 
it's capable of illuminating an LED. They will show up a totally dead rail, but other than that they prove nothing.

Checking the voltage, under load, with a good voltmeter, and checking the DC rails for hum and garbage with an 
oscilloscope, is the best way to test voltage quality. Regulation can be tested by varying the load and the source 
voltage. If you don't have a scope, you can use something like a Simpson 260 in AC 'Output' mode to test for non-DC 
components, but interpreting such indications takes experience.

While you have the case open, check all the motherboard capacitors carefully for evidence of bulging or leaking 
electrolyte.

Make a thorough visual inspection of the card itself as well.