[mythtv-users] HD-PVR issues - is there a solution?

[Greg]

On 02/22/2011 07:58 PM, John P Poet wrote:
> On Tue, Feb 22, 2011 at 5:09 PM, Mark<fairlane at springcom.com>  wrote:
>> I've searched the web high and low for weeks and have yet to get a
>> definitive set of answers on the HD-PVR issues as they stand.  Lots of
>> people seem to have the same issues.
>>
>> 1.  Zero byte files - usually requires a reset
>
> I get this, but very rarely.  Usually the cause (for me) is the
> channel change on my Directv STB failed for some reason.  Still trying
> to figure out why that happens, and what needs to be done about it.
>
>
>> 2.  Unit stops responding - always requires a reset
>
> This happens to me about once every 3 to 7 weeks.  I have been trying
> to come up with a way to "reset" the HD-PVR in software, but have not
> had any luck so far -- partially because it happens so rarely to me.
>
>
>> 3.  Audio records at 59.94Hz, and video at 60Hz, giving a sync issue over
>> time.  Some people change firmware to fix it, only to return to the same
>> state.  Is this a firmware issue or a myth issue?  Who knows?
>
> I believe this is very STB specific.  For example. people on DISH seem
> to have this problem, but I don't.
>
>
>> I'd like to try and collect all this information in one place / thread to
>> give folks out there struggling with the same issues a place to get
>> answers.  There's got to be a fair amount of people who've experienced
>> these issues.  Let them come forth and share experiences!
>>
>> And finally, if there's no solutions to these issues, let's do what we
>> need to do to fix them.  Bug reports, traces, whatever it takes.
>
> Myth absolutely could be better about handling hardware errors.  The
> problem is that it is hard to test the error recovery when you (I)
> can't *make* the error happen.
>
> I have two HD-PVRs.  One is very old (a rev c2) and the other is only
> about a year old.  My newer one is pretty solid.  My older one will
> occasionally stop feeding data in the middle of a recording, but Myth
> will automatically recover from that (It does result in a loss of a
> couple of seconds out of the middle of the show, though).
>
> I have read that at least one person has seen his HD-PVR stop
> "recording" when the S/PDIF supplied audio changed from 5.1 to 2.0 (or
> visa-versa).  This can happen when the show goes to commercial and
> back.  I have not determined if that is what is happening to me, or
> not.
>
>
> Possible issues that could effect some users and not others:
> 1) USB ports.  How many devices are hooked up and contending?  How
> reliable is the USB chip-set?
> 2) Computer speed.  Does the computer have the spare I/O cycles to
> handle and process the data from the HD-PVR?
> 3) STB.  How "clean" is the video/audio from the STB?  Is the STB
> responsible for any glitches?
> 4) ???
>
> Telling the HD-PVR to "record" when the STB is sending out garbage
> (during a channel change, for example) can result in the HD-PVR
> getting confused.  This is why some people are able to reduce their
> problems by adding a sleep at the end of their channel change scripts.
>   Myth 0.24 *tries* to alleviate the need for that sleep by verifying
> the data from the HD-PVR (after a channel change) before it starts
> actually "recording" the show.  To verify the data, Myth tries to read
> from the HD-PVR and once it is able to read any data, it then queries
> the HD-PVR for the video resolution.  Once Myth is able to get a valid
> video resolution from the HD-PVR, it assumes that the STB is producing
> clean data, and allows the recording process to start.
>
>
> John
I haven't had a zero byte file in about 6 months...I used to get them a 
lot,but about 6 months ago I had a stb fail on me (SA4250HDC) and the 
Cable co. (Time Warner) gave me a Samsung STB...No more zero bytes for 
me from that time on....