[mythtv-users] Decoder timed out waiting for free video buffers

[Gary Buhrmaster]

On Sat, Jun 22, 2013 at 4:04 AM, Kevin Johnson <iitywygms at gmail.com> wrote:
> Could this be a hardware issue?  I am willing to get another video card if
> someone thinks that could be a cure.  It seems to happen more and more often
> now.

It is *possible* that your fan is no longer working (or the
interior of the case is otherwise dusty/dirty/no longer
providing adequate cooling).  You can use the nvclock
tool (nvclock --info) to get the temp (and other useful info).
Since all (current) C/GPUs will throttle down their clock
to stay within operating ranges, inadequate cooling will
result in slow video processing.  Depending on your distro,
you can find nvclock in your packages, or you may need
to compile it yourself.  Note that the temp varies with load,
so you are going to have to be running the frontend to get
a useful number.  Every nVidia GPU has different ranges,
but if you are seeing numbers in the 90s under load, you
are near the limits (the GT430 is specified as 98 max), and
that suggests the current cooling is inadequate.  There are
anecdotal reports of at least some early models of the
GT430 regarding its cooling solution (thermal paste issues
seem to be common).

Gary