[mythtv-users] Firewire recording/configuration difficulties

[Brent Meyer]

Hi list,

I finally decided to give Firewire recording a go, since it seems many
other users have had success with it. The resulting recordings of HD
channels look like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7WcS07l71A.
Actually, that's one of the better results--most have giant green
splotches of macroblocks, and tend to lock up the frontend completely.
SD channels work perfectly.

I am in Seattle, WA, using Comcast cable. I only attempted to record
the OTA channels, all of which I have verified are flagged copy-freely
and are unencrypted. My cable box is a Pace RNG110.

My backend runs Mythbuntu 10.04.1 (kernel 2.6.32), using the older
firewire stack. I have also tested Mythbuntu 10.10 (running kernel
2.6.35 and the newer juju firewire stack) on a different disk on the
same machine, with similar results. My firewire card is a cheapo Syba
card with a VIA VT6307 chipset.

I have followed all of the instructions on the FireWire page on the
wiki. Plugreport shows the following:
Node 1 GUID 0x00509400003f7619
------------------------------
oMPR n_plugs=1, data_rate=2, bcast_channel=63
oPCR[0] online=1, bcast_connection=0, n_p2p_connections=0
	channel=0, data_rate=0, overhead_id=0, payload=146
iMPR n_plugs=1, data_rate=2
iPCR[0] online=1, bcast_connection=0, n_p2p_connections=0
	channel=0

I did the following:

$ plugctl -n 1 "oPCR[0].n_p2p_connections=1"
$ sudo chmod 666 /dev/raw1394 (on the 10.04 installation only; this
doesn't seem to apply to the new stack)
$ test-mpeg2 -r 1 > test.mpg (dozens of times, all with the same result)

The results of firewire_tester lead me to believe something is not
configured correctly:
$ firewire_tester -p -n 1 -r 5
Action: Test P2P connection 5 times, node 1, channel 1
P2P: Testing...libiec61883 warning: No plugs exist on either node;
using default broadcast channel 63.
Failed
P2P: Testing...libiec61883 warning: No plugs exist on either node;
using default broadcast channel 63.
Failed
P2P: Testing...libiec61883 warning: No plugs exist on either node;
using default broadcast channel 63.
Failed
P2P: Testing...libiec61883 warning: No plugs exist on either node;
using default broadcast channel 63.
Failed
P2P: Testing...libiec61883 warning: No plugs exist on either node;
using default broadcast channel 63.
Failed

I've also tried dozens of combinations of models/transfer rates in the
backend setup, all with basically the same results.

I'm hoping this is just a case of a cheap firewire card not working
properly. Can anybody out there tell where I've gone wrong?

Thanks,

Brent