[mythtv-users] Overlay and blink problems with Lenovo M58

[faginbagin]

On 1/23/2015 7:43 PM, Barry Martin wrote:
> Hi Mark!
> <quote>
> What does mythbackend --version on the backend give? I assume you are running 0.22 - 0.24 whereas Mythbuntu 14.04.01 ships with 0.27 (hence the warning 63 versions old). You could upgrade mythbackend to 0.27 without changing from Mythbuntu 10.10 (I believe). Otherwise I assume you could install Mythbuntu 14.04.01 but checkout the older (0.24?) branch. However you may struggle to get support when your MythTV version is pre fixes/0.25.
> 
> Remember that your OS version and MythTV version are different things and are not hard coded to each other.
> 
> Personally I would be strongly avoiding installing Mythbuntu 10.10 (which is not LTS) on a brand 'new' (modern hardware) computer. It is well out of date. You would be much better off with the 14.04.01 Mythbuntu point release which is LTS.
> <end quote>
> At this point no idea what version the backend is running; it says its Frontend version is "0.23 fixes (26437)". Right now any fiddling to find the information would get me 'shot' by my other half.
> As for 10.10 being out of date - I agree; getting some money together for a new Backend.
> Good news: I did find a way to get things to work: Utilities/Setup > Setup > TV Settings > Playback > Playback Profile (3/8).  Change the top line from CPU+ to CPU++ got the overlays and closed captioning back in the 1080 recordings!

Hi Barry,

Since you're not ready to upgrade your backend, and since the new frontend really isn't new, I would recommend you install mythbuntu 10.04 on the M58 which is an LTS release and which should get security updates until April 2015. I managed to find some CD images here:
http://psg.mtu.edu/pub/mythbuntu/lucid/release/

Once installed, enable the mythbuntu PPA and get the latest 0.23 version. I think you should be able to get version 25362, which should be able to talk to your 26437 backend without any trouble.

As for playback profile, if the CPU++ works well, fine. But if not, you might want to try OpenGL, although I don't know how well it worked in 0.23.

Another option, why not use this machine as a new backend? You can partition the hard drive so it can dual boot. One boot option would let you run it as a frontend that talks to your current backend, with mythbuntu 10.04, as I outlined above. The other boot option would be a more current mythbuntu running mythtv 0.27 and with the backend packages installed. Personally, I would recommend mythbuntu 12.04 for older hardware. I have found it to be more stable than mythbuntu 14.04. But 14.04 is the way to go with new hardware. This machine could be the perfect learning platform for things like multiboot, upgrading mythtv via clean install, etc. Plus, it will help you figure out if the blinking problem, or any other problem, are due to bugs in older software, including drivers.

Regarding the flickering at 1920x1080, I would try a different hdmi cable and/or displayport->hdmi adapter. It could be your cable or adapter are marginal, good enough for lower resolutions but not for the highest.

HTH,
Helen