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

[Stephen Worthington]

On Sat, 20 Dec 2014 23:16:00 +0000, you wrote:

>?Look at your kernel log and you'll likely see your USB3 is crashing.  I have not yet found stable USB3 drivers for Linux (stick with USB2).
>
>
>
>________________________________
>From: mythtv-users <mythtv-users-bounces at mythtv.org> on behalf of Andrew C. (AFPup) Stadt <acstadt at stadt.ca>
>Sent: Saturday, December 20, 2014 5:15 PM
>To: Myth TV Users List
>Subject: Re: [mythtv-users] Hauppauge HD-PVR trials and tribulations.
>
>On 20/12/2014 5:00 PM, 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).
>
>
>Probably not going to like this answer, but I ended up having to blacklist the xhci driver, which in my case was not a big deal as I don't *need* usb3 on that machine. I tried a couple different aftermarket usb cards (PCIe) to see if that would help, but as soon as the xhci driver got loaded, my troubles would begin.  Haven't tried in a while, but its been working well for the past few months, so I haven't wanted to screw with it.

I guess that it depends on what USB 3 chip your motherboard has,
because I have never had any problems with Mythbuntu on my Asus
M5A97Evo motherboard.  I have been running two hard drives on a dual
external USB 3 drive mount, and occasionally using a USB 3 stick.  I
have not tried USB 2 devices on the USB 3 ports.  And similarly on my
MSI GT70 laptop with Mythbuntu - the only problem I had there was that
my USB 2 DVB-T tuners did not work on my USB 3 ports in Mythbuntu
12.04 the first time I tried them.  I have not tried again with more
recent kernels.  USB 3 devices on the USB 3 ports work flawlessly.  I
certainly have never had any problems on the USB 2 ports due to having
USB 3 working.

The USB 3 ports on the Asus M5A97Evo seem to be an Asmedia ASM1042
chip, and on the GT70 they seem to be part of the main Intel chipset.