[mythtv-users] hdpvr rmmod hanging

[Ken Truesdale]

On Oct 19, 2014, at 1:52 PM, Martin Compton wrote:

> On 10/19/2014 10:28 AM, Greg wrote:
>> I am using pre 0.28 and Ubuntu 14.04 with kernel version  3.13.0-37-generic..     I have been using a HD-PVR since they first came on the scene,and never had any issues except for one driver version caused the video to wash out.. 
> 
> Hi Ken,
> Yes, I meant USB 2.0/2.1.  I don't think I've tried to unload the module since I have multiple HD-PVRs, and they're both recording most of the day (so no experiments today).
> 
> Have you tried to manually unload the zilog IR module first?
> Does recycling the power to the HDPVR allow it to subsequently record?
> 
> You should check your /etc/modprobe.d folder for an "hdpvr.conf" (or similar) and make sure your are disabling the zilog IR receiver on the hdpvr :
> 
> # SPDIF (optical) audio input, Component video (Dish TV1 HD)
> options hdpvr default_audio_input=2 default_video_input=0
> 
> # Note: April 2011, some users report instability if the HD-PVR is configured as an IR receiver.
> options lirc_zilog tx_only=1
> 
> Regards,
> MC


Thanks again, Martin and Greg.  I do finally have some answers to I wanted to share here and for anyone finding this thread through the mailing list archive.  

I had done a "show-depends" on hdpvr and on lirc_zilog and didn't see either depending on the other so I figured that was not the issue.  But that assumption was wrong - hdpvr was unable to "rmmod" because of lirc_zilog.  If I executed the 'modprobe -r hdpvr' command and rmmod began to hang, simply stopping lirc would allow the rmmod to continue.  So thanks for suggesting I look into that Martin.  (Way better than holding down the power button!)  

I did a lot of testing of channel changing and recording this week.  The HD-PVR got stuck in recording mode only once.  And when it did, trying the now working modprobe -r trick (with lirc being restarted) didn't work.  It wouldn't unload the module because it said it was busy ("FATAL").  And since the only reason I was even trying the modprobe -r hdpvr was to clear this problem, obviously that's the wrong way to go about it.  (More likely is that there is some other process that should be stopped but I couldn't find it on that one test when it got stuck.)  And as you said, cycling the power on the HD-PVR was an easy fix.  I would have preferred something more programmatic so I could have embedded it in the channel change script (maybe add some time-elapsed check or other status check to make sure the HD-PVR is healthy before bothering to try to change the channel on it) but given the infrequency that this particular problem manifests itself, it looks like manual button pushing will be the way to go.  Also, even when doing the process in the right order with stopping lirc, then unloading hdpvr and then loading things back again, the system wasn't always stable afterward.  So even though I found scripts with people doing the modprobe -r  to improve the stability of the hdpvr, I found the opposite.  

I should also comment that I did have the hdpvr.conf set up correctly and I did have the appropriate info in there about the zilog tx_only.  I don't remember what the symptom was before I did that (a few weeks ago) but it did turn out to be important to have, yes.  I did not include the same line about default_audio or default_video since I used the Myth setup to choose them and that part seemed to be working fine.  (Also, my audio input would be different from yours.)  

Yesterday, I got the first successful recording from HBO.  I'd been trying all week and it appears I finally got my channel change script tuned for my cable box.      The old Comcast box has the enter key select Music Choice (instead you just need to wait for the box to assume you have finished entering channel numbers) and I doubled the delay between individual key presses as well as increasing the delay to start recording.  Good thing HBO always has a bunch of junk prior to the start of every program.  Video quality is quite good, as people had suggested it would be.  Not HDMI quality but darned close.  Only nit is that Closed Captions don't come through because the cable box is not passing through the signal for them;  If I wanted them, I'd have to turn them on from the cable box such that they were embedded in the recording - always on or always off, no switching midstream to figure out what somebody said.  


Ken.

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