[mythtv-users] ME6000, PVR350, Myth(TV)ology, /dev/video0 I/O error

[Torsten Schenkel]

Am Di, den 30.03.2004 schrieb Ryan Brancheau (US) um 06:02:

> I'm at my wits' end, almost.  I've followed every word of Jarod's
> instructions to the letter, and I just don't have enough knowledge about
> the situation to have any freakin' clue in the matter.

Can't say anything about Jarod's guide and me6000/pvr350. I'm using
debian (see sig) and get a very stable system out of this.

> Jarod says:
> > # cat /dev/video0 > /tmp/test_capture.mpg (ctrl-c to stop capture)
> 
> and my machine says:
> > [root at otnemem root]# cat /dev/video0 > /tmp/test_capture.mpg
> > cat: /dev/video0: Input/output error

That's a common error, try doing as Jarod says:

> No problem, Jarod says:
> > If you get the following error:
> > cat: /dev/video0: Input/output error
> > 
> > Run the following commands to reload the driver (this won't work for
> PVR-350 users if the ivtv-fb module is loaded -- see above):
> > # /sbin/rmmod ivtv
> > # /sbin/modprobe ivtv

> > Now try the capture again.

And try it more than once, maybe there's even a (cold) reboot necessary.

> Yet, my machine says:
> > [root at otnemem root]# /sbin/rmmod ivtv
> > [root at otnemem root]# /sbin/modprobe ivtv [root at otnemem root]# cat 
> > /dev/video0 > /tmp/test_capture.mpg
> > cat: /dev/video0: Input/output error

I have to do it up to 4 times, till the card comes up al right. Funny
enough this rate goes down when using mythtv and not dd or cat. Maybe
there has to be some initialisation to be done. Never tested it. Usually
it's up on the second time, if not on the first.


> All this stuff is entirely new, purchased after my KT133-based system
> seemed to suffer from typical DMA problems and I replaced that
> overpriced 'silent' (ha!) Overture case and most of the stuff in it. 
> The OS install is new and clean. 

The Epia seems to be more prone to get this error, but on the other hand
seems to be very immune to the other problems the pvr350 can have. The
most problems with the ivtv driver look like race conditions and timing
problems to me, so cpu and bus speed do definitely matter.

> I think I need some encouragement to even continue to try, actually, as
> I'm nearly in a state of mind that would result in my shiny new ME6000
> unit being reduced into a pile of very small bits and lit on fire,
> around which I'll be dancing like a navajo.

Don't do it, send me the board, I'll send you some old hardware you can
use in your rituals instead :-)

The Epia definitely is worth the trouble.

> Judging by the traffic on
> this list, there must be a million people on it.  There's gotta be one
> guy who's successfully set up FC1 Myth on an ME6000 and a PVR350, one
> guy who knows maybe what the hell I'm doing wrong.

Not FC1. But it works. Try a vanilla kernel, redhat used to have
backports from 2.6. and ivtv is a bit problematic with that. It works on
2.4 and it works on 2.6 but on a mixture, who knows. I use 2.4.23 and
ivtv-0.1.10pre1. In combination with the ivtvdev X server (look at the
ivtv list for the links) this is the best I had so far. Not what I'd
call rock solid, but definitely usable by family (my paytv box had to be
rebooted more often, I can even go on a business trip for a week and
find it has recorded all my programmes without interference)

So it's possible. I don't know what's with fc1, but there are posts on
this list with the same problem and related to some update of the ivtv
packages. So you might want to try to compile it on your own. 

Take a look at my sig. But it's a bit outdated. The ivtv version is
0.1.10pre1 now and I'm using the ivtvdev X server.

HTH

Torsten
-- 
Walkthrough: MythTV on Epia with PVR350 using Debian:
http://www-isl.mach.uni-karlsruhe.de/~hi93/myth/mythtv_debian_epia_pvr350_walkthrough