[mythtv-users] update ceton firmware?

Gary Buhrmaster gary.buhrmaster at gmail.com
Sun Jul 22 18:08:54 UTC 2012


On Sun, Jul 22, 2012 at 9:58 AM, Steven Adeff <adeffs.mythtv at gmail.com> wrote:
>> On Sun, Jul 22, 2012 at 12:22 PM, Gavin Hurlbut <gjhurlbu at gmail.com> wrote:
>> Do they have a changelog for you to read to determine if it makes sense?
>
>not that I could find

Have you opened a ticket with Ceton to request they post the changelog?

>> Do
>> they have a user forum where others may have reported problems?
>
> nope

Have you opened a ticket with them to request a user forum?

Note, they do have forums, but are usually limited to special
alpha/beta users;  apparently you are not special enough for
Ceton.

If they do not want their users to communicate, that should feed
into future recommendations on OCUR products.

>> If so, you
>> are far more likely to get a useful answer there than from the likely 5
>> users here with one.
>
> really, only 5 users on this forum are using a Ceton?

Almost certainly a wrong number.  But...

>> And really, why do people think this is the right venue for asking questions
>> that are better asked elsewhere?
>
> because
> A) all our questions are the means to the same end, a well working
> MythTV system.
>     we don't care if the hardware works great in Windows, or works
> fine in other linux software, we care how it works with MythTV. So the
> scope of general knowledge here can be smaller and more refined.
> B) generally a higher level of discourse.
>     have you gone on some of the other linux forums? while there are
> some good ones, most have either poor user participation, people that
> like to chime in when they don't know what they are talking about,
> some are just rude, etc. This, being a mailing list has a higher
> barrier to entry.
> C) greater participation by a smaller group of knowledgeable people
> all in one place.
>     there are a lot of very good resources here, lots of smart people,
> and they like to help others where they can. we could go to 20 other
> forums to try and get the same answer.

Questions on this forum that are non-specific, and provide no useful
configurations or requirements repeatedly result in poor advice.  The
classic examples are hard drive manufactures and video cards.  But
as HLS may become more popular (and the requirements for
real-time transcoding change), the recommendations of those who
run the backend on a Rasberry Pi ("it works for me") could be
suspect.

To get a useful answer to things like Ceton, you have to provide
which type of card (the PCIe or USB one), your Cable Provider
(and CableCARD type; bugs exist with the SA/Cisco card that
do not impact the Motorala), which Linux kernel/distribution
(since various driver versions are in various Linux kernels)
the MythTV version, what bugs they were seeing were fixed,
etc.  Only someone with a similar or (ideally) identical
configuration can tell you whether it "works for them" in a
meaningful way for you.

The only valid answer to a question of the form "Should I upgrade"
is "Why do you want to"?

>> As for firmware upgrades, with almost all hardware, the idea is: don't
>> upgrade without a good reason. Make sure you want or need the new features
>> before messing with it.  Hence, consulting resources from the manufacturer
>> is crucial to your success.
>
> yups.
> and had there been such info I would have used it, but there is not,
> so here I am.

Have you opened a ticket with Ceton requesting firmware changelogs?

I am sure they have a changelog; if they are not making them public,
that should feed into the recommendations on the choice of OCUR
cards to other MythTV users.


Note that I do upgrade firmwares regularly on many of my products.
I read the release notes, and decide if the fixes are critical, important,
nice to have, or cosmetic.  I make a decision based on my judgement
for my needs and risk acceptance.


Gary


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