[mythtv-users] 7NIF2 + PVR 250 total system lockup w/ mythbackend

[john lawler]

Hi guys,  I'm relatively new to mythtv, and have been installing some 
new hardware I put together over the past week or so.  Had a bunch of 
trouble getting all of the drivers to work just right, but I finally got 
mythtv-0.13 configured and (kinda) running on my Gentoo system with the 
2.4.22-gentoo-r7 kernel, w/ custom options.

hardware:
	Chaintech 7NIF2 mobo
	on board nvidia nforce2 video (w/ shared system memory) + TVout
		+ audio + net (all on board)
	Athlon-XP 2400+
	512MB PC2700 Crucial RAM
	Hauppauge PVR 250
	Western Digital 60GB hd

software:
	Gentoo 1.4 w/ 2.4.22-gentoo-r7 (gentoo-sources) kernel
	ivtv 0.1.9 (manually built, not with gentoo ebuild)
		w/ pvr48wdm_1.7.21288 firmware for PVR 250
	lirc-0.7.0pre3 (also manually built)
	nvidia driver 1.0.4363-r3 (from gentoo ebuild)
	nvidia net driver (gentoo 'nforce-net' ebuild)
	nvidia sound (through gentoo's alsa-driver ebuild)
	Mythtv-0.13-r1 (through gentoo's ebuild)

I don't have much else installed on the system, just the packages that 
mythtv picked up in the ebuild.  Also, I'd installed KDE before I 
understood that we didn't even need that to run mythtv.

So anyway, everything works reasonably well (except lirc, but I'm more 
concerned with the core of Mythtv first)... at first.  That is, I can 
start mythbackend fine, and get it running, and even start recordings 
(that I see growing out in /mnt/store) and I can view the recordings (at 
least for a short time) and even watch live TV (I went through all of 
the setup procedures as described in the mythtv HOWTO).

The problem happens without fail after 10-15 minutes of activity 
(perhaps even less) as far as I can tell whenever mythbackend is running 
(and probably recording a show).... the system just totally locks up. 
Can't ctrl-alt-del, ctrl-alt-f1, nothing.  Totally frozen, and I have to 
hardware reset to get it back up.  The last thing I see in 
mythbackend.log is 'Changing from None to RecordingOnly'.

Now I know this is a helluva a lot to ask without giving too many 
details, but what kind of suggestions would you guys have for this 
problem?  I've not yet had a chance to disable APIC and ACPI (I'm 
working on that right now, rebuilding the kernel), and I've heard that 
that is just unnecessary and very well could be causing some of my problems.

Also, I'm wondering about some BIOS settings that I might have 
incorrect.  I know on the 7NIF2, there's a:
	Frame Buffer Size
and
	AGP Aperture Size
among other options having to do with the video card.  Originally, I'd 
chosen 64MB for both of them.  I'm pretty sure that's correct for the 
AGP... option, but not about the Frame Buffer Size.

Also, I've found the
	APIC Mode
option, which originally was enabled, and I've since disabled, for the 
same reasons I'm removing it from the kernel.

Other than these options, I'm at a loss for what else to try on it.  I'm 
sure it's either the lirc, nvidia or ivtv drivers causing the problems, 
most likely the ivtv, but I just don't know what else to try.

Anyone feel my pain?  (Or, better yet, have a remedy?)

jl