[mythtv-users] RE: Some general questions regarding performance

[Garry Cook]

On Apr 6, 2005 12:47 PM, myth at undergroundcandy.com
<myth at undergroundcandy.com> wrote:
> Okay, scratch question 2 and 4.
> 
> I've done some testing and found out some more about question 5:
> "The picture on my TV are sometimes bent in the edges (right and left).
> (Like if the picture is overall quite dark with a light spot somewhere,
> the right and left edges will be curly where the light spot is located
> horizontically.) "
> I'm using an s-video cable (connected to a scart adapter).
> The same thing happens on my brother's TV, which is quite new, so I
> there's probably nothing wrong with my TV. And if I connect his PC to my
> TV (or his TV), there's no problem. It doesn't matter how I connect my PC
> to my TV (my card only has s-video out though).
> 
> QUOTE:
> > Hello,
> >I have installed MythTV on my Fedora Core 3 box using apt (mythtv-suite).
> >It is running quite smoothly on my box. I have some questions though (my
> >hardware is listed below).
> >I would really appreciate it of you could answer any of these questions.
> >
> >1. With my TV-card (Pinnacle PCTV STEREO), should I set it up in MythTV as
> >a v4l card?
> >
> >2. Some of the buttons (like the 'Yes' and 'No' buttons when MythTV asks
> >if you are sure you want to exit, and the next/back/cancel buttons) don't
> >work. I can select them, but if I press enter (or space) the button gets
> >pushed in but nothing happens. This forces me to use the mouse.
> >
> >3. When I check the terminal I launched mythfrontend from while watching
> >Live TV, I find the following errors occuring frequently:
> >QDateTime::fromString: Parameter out of range
> >and
> >2005-04-02 22:08:26.726 WriteAudio: buffer underrun
> >
> >4. The radar map on the weather information center doesn't work. It just
> >says "Map Unavailable". However, the map on MythWeb works. (After
> >searching the archives it seems I need to alter the code? Then I'll just
> >wait).
> >
> >5. The picture on my TV are sometimes bent in the edges (right and left).
> >(Like if the picture is overall quite dark with a light spot somewhere,
> >the right and left edges will be curly where the light spot is located
> >horizontically.)
> >
> >6. When playing videos (with mplayer), the video is ahead of the audio
> >(not synced). The same thing happens sometimes when watching Live TV. The
> >music visualization is also out of sync.
> >
> >7. In my xorg.conf file I set VertRefresh to 60. It works, but is there a
> >chance it might be wrong? When I watch the wall behind my TV, I can see
> >the TV flicker (quite intensly. Doesn't happen when I look directly at the
> >TV).
> >
> >8. What's an OK CPU usage percentage for Live TV? Live TV is set to
> >640x480, mpeg4 codec, 3000 bitrate. CPU: 50%. No Xv picture control, no
> >hardware XvMC MPEG decoding. No libmpeg2 encoding, no deinterlaced
> >playback. Should I enable some of these?
> >
> >9. Sometimes the Live TV audio becomes blurry, just like when you tune in
> >a frequence with no signal. This happens one some channels, especially
> >after mythfrontend has been running for a while.
> >
> >
> >I really appreciate all help! Thanks.
> >
> >------------------
> >Hardware:
> >------------------
> >Motherboard: ASUS A7N8X Deluxe
> >CPU: AMD Athlon XP 2800+
> >Video card: nvidia GeForce FX 5500 (S-video TV-Out)
> >TV-card: Pinnacle PCTV STEREO
> >Harddisks: 20 GB (OS) + 200 GB SATA
> >RAM: 512 MB DDR
> >onboard sound

Most of these questions have already been answered, numerous times.
You should search the mailing list at
http://gossamer-threads.com/lists/mythtv/. For instance, there has
been a TON of traffic on the list lately about the buttons in setup
not working. This requires a roll-back to an older version of QT, or
pressing CTRL-ENTER instead of just ENTER.

I'm also having an issue like you mention in Q3, with 'writeaudio:
buffer underrun' on one of my PVR 250s. When watching live TV or
recording, I only see the left half of the screen (streched to fill)
and there is no audio. I haven't had the time to get all the details
together and post to the list yet, maybe later tonight... So, if you
find a solution to that one, please post back to the list.

There was a thread about the 'writeaudio: buffer underrun' issue a few
days ago, but I think it was hijacked and the conversation went in a
different direction. The thread became quite long, and I gleaned a few
tips from it, but everything that I've tried changing in the setup
screens either gives me the same error, or switches to 'prebuffering
pause'. Perhaps I should be searching for those keywords instead.

HTH
Garry