[mythtv-users] Interesting Problem - Can't have third PCI Card - USB Suggestions?

Kris B. krisbee at krisbee.com
Sat Aug 20 00:32:41 UTC 2011


On Fri, 19 Aug 2011 18:23 -0600, "Brian Wood" <beww at beww.org> wrote:
> On 08/19/2011 05:56 PM, Kris B. wrote:
> > I have an Nforce 3a motherboard that I use for my mythbackend.  I have
> > upgraded the system with a new 2tb sata HD (jumpered to 1.5 as that is
> > all the motherboard supports).
> >
> > I also treated myself to a third ATI HDTV Wonder - however, when I add a
> > third card, the system freezes up when I try to boot.  I tried swapping
> > ports, etc. to no avail.
> >
> > So, I think I am stuck and I will be limited to 2 PCI Tuners - however,
> > I imagine I could add a USB stick for a third tuner... any suggestions
> > for a cheap one that works?  I am using Mandriva 2010.2, kernel
> > 2.6.33.7-server-2mnb
> >
> > I figured it would be nice to add a third card, but I don't really want
> > to buy an HD Homerun and have all of that network traffic (my dsl router
> > is 10/100, I believe)...  Also, keeping the costs down is important :)
> 
> It's possible your PSU is not capable of producing sufficient power to
> run the system and all three cards.
> 
> 
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> 
That was one thing I had considered as well..  I don't know what my PS
is, but I betcha it is 250-300watts :)  But I figured it wouldn't even
get to a boot screen - it dies at udev in the safe mode, and actually I
get nothing in any other mode.

I am not inclined to replace the ps as I added filtering to prevent
birdies in my ham radio.  Also, spending $50+ on a gamble just doesn't
seem worth it.

Also, this combo of cards and memory and everything seems to be humming,
so I am also inclined to just leave it as is.  I had a 4 port usb 2.0
card in there, but I pulled it just to make sure I wasn't using too much
power.  I downsized the amount of empty usb cords plugged in at one
time.

I do see some single HDHomeRun's going for cheap - $30ish... maybe I
need to reconsider - the third tuner will really only be used in a pinch
- most things are spread out, and there is only one tv that will watch
live tv, the backend will just record.  As it stands now, our satellite
DVR only has two tuners (but we are cutting the cord, so not really a
fair comparison).

Or, is there a magic cheap USB I should consider.  If they are dirt
cheap, I am not opposed to buying two :)


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