[mythtv-users] Hauppauge HD-PVR trials and tribulations.

[Alan Young]

georgia_tech_swagger wrote:
> I figured I would post this to the list in the hopes it would help 
> somebody else as much as me, as most of the similar results I found 
> trying to solve this problem were old threads on this list.
>
> My HD-PVR was running just fine on my old X58 Core i7 920 system.  I 
> just upgraded to X99 on a Core i7 5820k.   An my HD-PVR went nuts on 
> the new machine.
>
> First ... some migration tips:
> - Don't forget to make sure your Storage Directory has proper 
> permissions for user and/or group (depending on distro) mythtv
> - Don't forget to include your change channel script if you're 
> controlling a converter box with a blaster like I am.  If the script 
> isn't there, there is no error what-so-ever... just silent failure.  
> That one was a PITA to figure out.
>
> So ... it would work but hard lock up the HD-PVR, typically in less 
> than 5 minutes, but sometimes taking 15-20 minutes.  I tried the usual 
> myriad of Google suggestions with mixed success:
> - Overheating?  No.  I keep it fairly chilly in the winter.
> - Crap capacitors in power brick?  No.  Was working just fine previously.
> - Try using irqbalance?  This actually helped double the time to lock 
> but did not fix it.
> - Try using a USB2 instead of USB3 port?  This actually helped double 
> the time to lock but did not fix it.
> - Try disabling USB3 on the motherboard?  I haven't done this.  And 
> REALLY don't want to unless it is the full on last resort.
> - Try upgrading firmware of HD-PVR?   I havne't done this.  I don't 
> have immediate access to a Windows box.  I believe I'm using 0x1e
> - Make sure you're not using an old kernel?   I tried 3.16.5-gentoo 
> first.  Horror show.  I am now using 3.17.6 ... which seems to greatly 
> improve things.  In my first test I got up to about 40 minutes before 
> lock up.  I'm in the second test now.
>
> The logging from mythfrontend, mythbackend, and modprobe hdpvr 
> hdpvr_debug=7 aren't particularly helpful.   The HDPVR in debug would 
> return:
>
> config call request for value 0x800 returned -110
>
> Right before that happened you'd get a steady stream of calling for 
> buffer 1 ... but immediately before that error you'd get call for 
> buffer 1 immediately followed by call for buffer 2.  And that is, as 
> far as I can see in the blur of those calls going by, the only time 
> that happens... right before the error.
>
> In mythbackend you would get:
>
> "Poll giving up 2"
> "Device error detected "
>
> I welcome all suggestions/advice/debug tips.  It seems most likely to 
> be a kernel issue in the driver and/or xhci.   My old X58 system was 
> on kernel 3.10 ... but I cannot downgrade that far as I need at least 
> kernel 3.15/3.16 for critical patches for the soundcard on my Asus X99 
> Pro motherboard (ALC1150 Intel HD).
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
Does it lock up outside of myth?  Does it lockup after a while with cat 
/dev/video# > /tmp/tempvideo.mpg (where # is the device number) ? (If 
you don't have drive space for a long test do cat /dev/video# > /dev/null .)

Are you using S/PDIF for sound? If so, check to make sure both ends of 
the cable are firmly seated. To rule the cable out, try capturing with 
stereo instead. If that works, then you may have a bad cable or connector.

Alan