[mythtv-users] Need help troubleshooting cause of DMA Timeouts

[Craig Huff]

After more creative googling, it appears that my problem might be
curable, but I need advice on the best way to get this fixed.

First, here's my configuration:
    Combined FE/BE based on Asus A8N-SLI Premium (socket 939)
motherboard recently upgraded to Athlon 64 X2 3800+ CPU; O/S on an IDE
drive and video recordings on three SATA-II drives; video capture via
a pair of PVR-500s hooked up to Comcast DTAs.
    I also have a couple of remote FEs, which only enter into the
picture in that I need to keep them in sync version-wise.
    Programming updates from Schedules Direct.
    All systems are running the initial release without updates of
MythBuntu 10.04:
$ mythbackend --version
Please include all output in bug reports.
MythTV Version   : 24158
MythTV Branch    : branches/release-0-23-fixes
Network Protocol : 56
Library API      : 0.23.20100314-1
QT Version       : 4.6.2

Up until I upgraded from a single-core Athlon CPU to the dual-core
one, I had no problems with dma timeouts, but since then they've been
popping up at random times with no discernible pattern.

According to this thread,
http://www.gossamer-threads.com/lists/ivtv/users/41409?search_string=dma%20timeout;#41409,
I need to update my kernel, which is currently 2.6.32-21-generic, to
something newer, like 2.6.37.4.

If I am correctly reading the information on the MythBuntu web pages,
such as http://www.mythbuntu.org/node/349, and
http://www.mythbuntu.org/repos, enabling these updates (which I
haven't done up till now), won't fix this problem because they only
update MythTV and/or MythBuntu-specific software.

In short, what is the least painful way to resolve the immediate
problem with dma timeouts, given that MythTV 0.25 / MythBuntu 11.10
will be out in just another couple of months and the next LTS release
is due out next Spring.  Can I upgrade the kernel while staying with
MythTV 0.23?  Can I upgrade to MythTV 0.24 without consuming a weekend
fixing and tweaking (maintain high WAF)?  Can I get to MythTV 0.24
using the MythBuntu update repos?  Note: all previous updating of my
MythTV system (starting with a FC6 build based on Jarrod's excellent
HOWTO and my eventual migration to MythBuntu 10.04) has been done by
building a completely new system on an extra disk and then migrating
the mysql database from the old one once I had fixed all the quirks
that almost inevitably popped up, so I have never "simply" updated a
running MythTV system.

Anything pertinent I left out?

Any advice welcome.

Craig.