<html><body><div style="color:#000; background-color:#fff; font-family:HelveticaNeue, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, Lucida Grande, sans-serif;font-size:16px"><div><span></span></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1420936064431_7987"> <br> <div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1420936064431_7986">----- Original Message -----<br> From: Michael Watson <michael@thewatsonfamily.id.au><br> To: Discussion about MythTV <mythtv-users@mythtv.org><br> Cc: <br> Sent: Saturday, January 10, 2015 8:24 PM<br> Subject: Re: [mythtv-users] Live TV broken?<br> <br>On 11/01/2015 2:32 AM, Peter Schriver wrote:<br clear="none">><br clear="none">> On 01/10/2015 07:00 AM, Raymond Boettcher wrote:<br clear="none">>><br clear="none">>> Hoi Chris,<br clear="none">>><br clear="none">>> Thursday, January 1, 2015, 1:11:36 AM, you wrote:<br clear="none">>><br clear="none">>> > Thanks to all who replied. I think I've nailed it. I have a<br clear="none">>> > switch between my mythtv box and my HD Homerun that is negotiating a<br clear="none">>> > 100MB connection instead of a gigabit connection. That switch has<br clear="none">>> > the HDHR, 5 surveillance cams, an xbox and several other machines<br clear="none">>> > running through it. Looks like I have a physical cable problem<br clear="none">>> > somewhere. When I disconnect everything except the HDHR, my<br clear="none">>> > recordings and LiveTV clear up because there's not much network <br clear="none">>> activity.<br clear="none">>><br clear="none">>><br clear="none">>> > On Wed, Dec 31, 2014 at 3:50 PM, Jay Foster <br clear="none">>> <<a shape="rect" ymailto="mailto:jayf0ster@roadrunner.com" href="mailto:jayf0ster@roadrunner.com">jayf0ster@roadrunner.com</a> <mailto:<a id="yui_3_16_0_1_1420936064431_8034" shape="rect" ymailto="mailto:jayf0ster@roadrunner.com" href="mailto:jayf0ster@roadrunner.com">jayf0ster@roadrunner.com</a>>> wrote:<br clear="none">>><br clear="none">>> > On 12/31/2014 1:43 PM, E James wrote:<br clear="none">>> ><br clear="none">>> > On 31/12/2014 02:20, Chris Gentle wrote:<br clear="none">>> ><br clear="none">>> > Within the last couple of weeks, my Live TV has started breaking<br clear="none">>> > up and distorting really bad. I'm not sure exactly when it started<br clear="none">>> > but it has become unwatchable. I do over-the-air only and have<br clear="none">>> > really good signal strength (90+) coming into my HD Homerun. I<br clear="none">>> > bypassed the HD Homerun and hooked a TV straight to the antenna to<br clear="none">>> > verify that the signal is good. No artifacts in the picture at all.<br clear="none">>> > Also switched out the HD Homerun with a spare one but that didn't <br clear="none">>> make any difference either.<br clear="none">>> > There have been no hardware changes in my myth system in months.<br clear="none">>> ><br clear="none">>> > I did a completely fresh installation of Mythbuntu 14.04.1 today<br clear="none">>> > just to see if that would make a difference but it did not. The<br clear="none">>> > problem persists even after a reinstall. I recorded a show, copied<br clear="none">>> > the recording to another machine and played back with mplayer. The<br clear="none">>> > recording itself is bad. The artifacts show up in the recorded file<br clear="none">>> > so I think I've narrowed the problem to the recording phase rather <br clear="none">>> than playback.<br clear="none">>> ><br clear="none">>> > I'm not sure what to look at next. Any suggestions? Any new <br clear="none">>> known problems with Live TV?<br clear="none">>> ><br clear="none">>> > Version Info:<br clear="none">>> ><br clear="none">>> > MythTV v0.27.4-27-g40506c3<br clear="none">>> > Mythbuntu 14.04.1<br clear="none">>> > nVidia GeForce 210<br clear="none">>> > nVidia driver 331.113-0ubuntu0.0.4<br clear="none">>> ><br clear="none">>> > Thanks.<br clear="none">>> ><br clear="none">>> > --<br clear="none">>> > Chris<br clear="none">>> ><br clear="none">>> ><br clear="none">>> > _______________________________________________<br clear="none">>><br clear="none">>><br clear="none">>><br clear="none">>><br clear="none">>> > First, try always to post at the bottom of the list! :)<br clear="none">>><br clear="none">>> > Next, if you have a free pci-e slot in your machine, I suggest getting<br clear="none">>> > a simple network-card and lay in a dedicated line between the homerun<br clear="none">>> > and the backend. That way you prevent these kind of disturbance!<br clear="none">>><br clear="none">>> > Tot mails,<br clear="none">>> > Hika mailto:<a shape="rect" ymailto="mailto:hikavdh@gmail.com" href="mailto:hikavdh@gmail.com">hikavdh@gmail.com</a> <br clear="none">>> <mailto:<a shape="rect" ymailto="mailto:hikavdh@gmail.com" href="mailto:hikavdh@gmail.com">hikavdh@gmail.com</a>><br clear="none">>><br clear="none">>><br clear="none">>> Hey Chris,<br clear="none">>><br clear="none">>> His solution of course is the best and most guaranteed way to ensure <br clear="none">>> that doesn't happen again. Also, depending on the Network <br clear="none">>> Controller, you may have to use a cross-over cable to directly attach <br clear="none">>> the HDHomerun to the second network card (or have another network <br clear="none">>> switch handy) in your mythbackend and run on a seperate subnet and <br clear="none">>> DHCP Server for that network card so the HDHomerun can obtain an <br clear="none">>> address and use the second link (You will have to reconfigure MythTV <br clear="none">>> for the new IP Address of the HDHomeRun). You could bridge the 2 <br clear="none">>> network cards together using brctl but that gets a little more <br clear="none">>> complex but maybe easier than configuring a separate subnet and DHCP <br clear="none">>> Server just to link up the HDHomeRun and still offers the benefits of <br clear="none">>> a dedicated connection between the HDHomeRun and the Mythbackend <br clear="none">>> while allowing you to use your existing network, DHCP Server and <br clear="none">>> all... Many people aren't running their own dedicated DHCP Server <br clear="none">>> and often use the DHCP Server on their hardware router. They enter <br clear="none">>> MythTV-setup and select the Network Tuner and MythTV detects and does <br clear="none">>> the rest.<br clear="none">>><br clear="none">>> I had the same problem and it was due to a bottleneck in my network <br clear="none">>> as well. My HDHomerun links at 100mb, but in my instance I swapped <br clear="none">>> the 100mb switch for a gigabit switch. Made sure the backend server <br clear="none">>> is connected to that switch and it is linked at gigabit! (dmesg will <br clear="none">>> say or the light on the network controller or switch will be Amber <br clear="none">>> instead of Green or visa versa) Some on-board controllers support <br clear="none">>> gigabit, some don't. I have a dedicated Intel PCI-E Gigabit <br clear="none">>> Controller and it does the trick without issues. Also, make sure the <br clear="none">>> HDHomerun is connected directly to that switch and not 1-2 switches <br clear="none">>> down the line causing some other bottleneck. That is the alternative <br clear="none">>> solution. In theory that gigabit connection should handle the full <br clear="none">>> bandwidth of 10 x 100mb links to that switch all talking to the <br clear="none">>> mythbackend at the same time. Unlike hubs, switches will convert the <br clear="none">>> signaling from 100mb to gigabit while it's passing through the <br clear="none">>> switch. That doesn't mean you will get more bandwidth from the 100mb <br clear="none">>> link as it does just the opposite going from the gigabit to the 100mb <br clear="none">>> link. But it will ensure that you have as much bandwith as possible <br clear="none">>> between the switch and your server for the camera links, HDHomeRun, etc.<br clear="none">>><br clear="none">>> Make sure your hard drive is not the bottleneck... If the drive <br clear="none">>> light is lit solid, this is likely the issue. If you are recording <br clear="none">>> those camera's onto the same hard drive as your DVR Recordings, the <br clear="none">>> drive may not keep up. This will create a lot of seek time and <br clear="none">>> fragmentation between the recording(s) being saved and the 5 camera's <br clear="none">>> recording to separate files on the same disk. It is VERY wise to <br clear="none">>> give MythTV it's own drive, separate of the OS, or any Camera Feed <br clear="none">>> recording you may be tossing at that machine. The drive will likely <br clear="none">>> get very hot and fail much quicker if you run the setup all on 1 <br clear="none">>> drive. Especially if you are pulling a full 30fps from each camera. <br clear="none">>> If they are security camera's, dial them down to 2-3 Frames per <br clear="none">>> second. This will greatly conserve network bandwidth, disk space and <br clear="none">>> possible drive failure.<br clear="none">>><br clear="none">>> Even if they are being recorded on another machine... Dial down the <br clear="none">>> frame rate anyway mainly because of the network bandwidth being <br clear="none">>> used. Or connect that Camera Recorder machine and cameras to a <br clear="none">>> separate network switch. You can still connect the switches <br clear="none">>> together, but it will keep camera bandwidth and recording limited to <br clear="none">>> 1 switch while the other switch handles DVR Recording (MythBackend), <br clear="none">>> Frontend Access and HDHomeRun access... Make sure both switches are <br clear="none">>> gigabit and that they link to each other at gigabit speed. <br clear="none">>> Technically 1 big switch (16 port, etc) can handle it, but this makes <br clear="none">>> your layout easier to understand... Generally two 8 port gigabit <br clear="none">>> switches is cheaper than a 16 port gigabit switch, however the 16 <br clear="none">>> port switch does give dedicated bandwidth to each port without bottle <br clear="none">>> necking the link between the two 8 port switches.<br clear="none">>><br clear="none">>> CPU bottleneck could also be an issue if the program used to record <br clear="none">>> the camera feeds is transcoding the feed live before saving it to <br clear="none">>> disk. Many IP Camera's send out MJPEG Frames and it's often wise for <br clear="none">>> the program to convert that to a "more space saving" format. If you <br clear="none">>> are using ZoneMinder, it tends to create millions of JPEG files on <br clear="none">>> the disk which also creates a lot of activity for your hard disk... <br clear="none">>> I highly recommend using a separate machine for handling the Camera <br clear="none">>> Feeds, especially if they are HD IP Camera's. It can be done on 1 <br clear="none">>> machine cause I've done it, but careful planning over computer specs, <br clear="none">>> program settings (MythTV and the IP Camera Recorder), network <br clear="none">>> bandwidth, etc must be taking into account...<br clear="none">>><br clear="none">>> This option is a little more economical if you don't have spare <br clear="none">>> ethernet controllers laying around and/or your not versed on how to <br clear="none">>> configure a "small network" while using MythBuntu Linux as the "Host" <br clear="none">>> (IE: DHCP Server and perhaps Gateway if needed) of that "small <br clear="none">>> network." MythBuntu is pretty stripped down, and will require <br clear="none">>> installation of some packages to make everything happy. And if you <br clear="none">>> use Windows as your mythbackend host, that makes matters twice as <br clear="none">>> complicated.<br clear="none">>><br clear="none">>> Anyhow, keep that in mind. This community is extremely versed on <br clear="none">>> hardware configuration, linux/windows administration, programming, <br clear="none">>> etc. It's REALLY easy to say things like "setup another network <br clear="none">>> card" but it's easily missed that the person may not know how to or <br clear="none">>> what is involved in doing so. And as you can see from above, that <br clear="none">>> may not be the problem. But he is right, it is the most likely <br clear="none">>> problem. You may know all of this already but I wanted to point out <br clear="none">>> what is involved anyway because some people don't know and it's easy <br clear="none">>> in a Tech Forum to speak "Tech" without first finding out the skill <br clear="none">>> levels of the person that the question is being answered for. <br clear="none">>> MythBuntu is generally the version people install that want to "get <br clear="none">>> their feet wet" with MythTV, but don't really want to jump into the <br clear="none">>> deep end and figure out if they can swim or not (Compiling code, <br clear="none">>> Customizing MythTV, etc). Linux is hard to learn, trust me, been <br clear="none">>> there, done that... Started with RedHat and ended with Slackware. I <br clear="none">>> hope this helps...<br clear="none">>><br clear="none">>> -RayRay-<br clear="none">><br clear="none">><br clear="none">> I love the solution of a second NIC card with HDHomeRun Prime on a <br clear="none">> dedicated Mythbuntu server with a static using a router for DHCP on <br clear="none">> the network but can't find any info on what the <br clear="none">> /etc/network/interfaces should look like with the additional card.<br clear="none">><br clear="none">> Currently it should look like this:<br clear="none">><br clear="none">> auto lo eth0<br clear="none">> iface lo inet loopback<br clear="none">> iface eth0 inet static<br clear="none">> address xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx(enter your ip here)<br clear="none">> netmask xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx<br clear="none">> gateway xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx(enter gateway ip here,usually the address of the router)<br clear="none">Your /etc/network/interfaces would look something like this. Do not <br clear="none">assign a gateway on the second lan or it will break your internet access.<br clear="none"><br clear="none"><b id="yui_3_16_0_1_1420936064431_9134">auto lo eth0 eth1 <---- Don't forget to put eth1 here to make it come online automatically</b><br clear="none"><div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1420936064431_9092">iface lo inet loopback</div><div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1420936064431_9093"><br></div>iface eth0 inet static<br clear="none"> address xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx(enter your ip here)<br clear="none"> netmask xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx<br clear="none"> gateway xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx(enter gateway ip here,usually the address of the router)<br clear="none"><br clear="none">iface eth1 inet static<br clear="none"> address yyy.yyy.yyy.1<br clear="none"> netmask 255.255.255.0<br clear="none"> broadcast yyy.yyy.yyy.255<br clear="none"><br clear="none">There are many examples of how to setup a DHCP for the new network (or <br clear="none">both if your backend is 24x7 and you disable the DHCP in your router). <br clear="none">Or you could assign a static address to the HDHomeRun thus not requiring <br clear="none">the setup of a DHCP Server for the new subnet.<br clear="none"><br clear="none"><a id="yui_3_16_0_1_1420936064431_8044" shape="rect" href="http://www.ubuntugeek.com/setup-dhcp-server-in-ubuntu-14-04-trusty-tahr-server.html" target="_blank">http://www.ubuntugeek.com/setup-dhcp-server-in-ubuntu-14-04-trusty-tahr-server.html</a><br clear="none"><div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1420936064431_9057"><br></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1420936064431_9078">The HDHomeRun doesn't support static address assignment unfortunately... DHCP Server is the only option. Nice URL, I was looking all over the place for an example like that. Props... Once you get the DHCP Server installed, thats providing your not putting a router between the HDHomeRun and the second NIC Card as stated in one of your prior e-mails, let me know. I can drum up a quick really short config for it as long as you provide me the address assignment for that network card.<br></div><div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1420936064431_9080"><br>-RayRay-</div></div> </div> </div></body></html>