[mythtv-users] Frozen Video -- SOLVED!!!
Drew Tomlinson
drew at mykitchentable.net
Sun Nov 6 11:20:16 EST 2005
On 11/5/2005 8:33 PM Drew Tomlinson wrote:
> On 11/5/2005 6:58 PM Robert Denier wrote:
>
>> On Sat, 2005-11-05 at 16:09 -0800, Drew Tomlinson wrote:
>>
>>
>>> I have a Gentoo box running kernel version 2.6.13-r5, and MythTV
>>> 0.18.2 built from Gentoo's portage system. I'm using a video card
>>> with the nvida nv18 chipset (6600?). I also have a custom xorg
>>> modeline for my widescreen HDTV. My video card is connected via a
>>> VGA to component converter. The screen looks good and regular
>>> desktop mode works fine. The mouse moves. MythTV menus are
>>> displayed and the cursor moves around when I hit the arrow keys.
>>>
>>> The problem is when I switch to a video mode. The video freezes at
>>> the first frame. The audio continues and plays just fine. The
>>> freezing problem occurs whether I'm viewing LiveTV, previously
>>> recorded shows, and even video files via MythVideo. All of this
>>> used to work until I upgraded hardware and rebuilt my system.
>>>
>>> I have no idea what the cause might be or where to start looking.
>>> Any ideas?
>>>
>>> Drew
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>> Since your information is relatively generic, I am just tossing out
>> possibilities. You may be able to eliminate some right away.. Your
>> best bet is probably video card drivers though...
>>
>>
>
> Thanks for your reply!
>
>> ---
>>
>> Does mplayer/xine/whatever play videos? If so everything is probably
>> working well. You say mythvideo does not play so I assume this will
>> fail too.
>>
>>
>
> mplayer fails. Haven't installed xine.
>
>> Can you play videos without sound? Try mplayer -nosound <filename.avi>
>> If that works then you probably have sound card/driver issues.
>>
>>
>
> Same problem. Video frozen. When playing with sound, sound plays fine.
>
>> You have an nvidia card. What drivers are you using? Get a pen and
>> paper, or whatever, and note down your current combination. Sometimes
>> one just keeps trying different drivers and/or other things until a clue
>> appears. If you run out of other things you might try more conservative
>> kernel options by turning off anything video card related..
>>
>>
>
> I'm using the nvidia driver, version 1.0.7676-r1. I could try an
> older version.
>
>> Is there a card in the next slot next to your AGP? card? Sometimes that
>> used to cause trouble. Try removing it. For that matter, at some point
>> trying the system with only the video card, and no other cards might be
>> worthwhile...
>>
>>
>
> Yes, and I've experienced this in other systems. But when there's
> failures, they've always been "all or nothing". In other words, the
> card either worked or it didn't work at all, not even during POST.
>
>> Perhaps you should connect a normal computer monitor for testing just to
>> remove that converter from the equation and be able to test
>> independently. Still if the video is freezing, it seems unlikely to be
>> the converter unless the converter is actually sampling the signal,
>> which seems unlikely. Then again I suppose it could be the tv doing the
>> freeze frame..
>>
>>
>
> I have tried the normal monitor and video freezes there too.
>
>> Finally, is this a new card, or a card that has never been fully tested
>> in that board before? If so, can you try something else?
>>
>>
>
> This card has been working in a Windows system for about 2 years.
> Then I upgraded that system and moved the "guts" to my MythTV box.
> It's been a struggle since but I've worked everything out except for
> this final item.
>
>> If that is not possible can you check the card elsewhere? By check I
>> mean, make sure you at least get it playing back videos under as similar
>> a configuration as you can manage. If that works, and you can't think
>> of anything else then perhaps the card doesn't like the motherboard..
>> If it doesn't work, the possibility of a bad card exists.
>>
>> Does the card or your motherboard have spots for more power cables? Is
>> the fan on the card running?
>>
>>
>
> No fan on the card. he motherboard just has the two plugs. It's not
> the newer one that uses the 12v plug. Thanks for your ideas. I will
> try some other drivers and maybe some generic 640x480 modelines to see
> if that changes anything.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Drew
For the archives...
In upgrading my system to use a component to VGA converter, I copied a
xorg.conf file I found on the web as a starting point. One of the
modules it loaded was "fbdevhw" which I have no idea what it does.
Judging by the name, I get "frame buffer" from "fb" and "development"
from "dev". I could not find any info on Google about what modules are
included for X and what they do. But this module just seemed like it
might be interfering and it wasn't included in my old xorg.conf so I
commented it out and restarted X. Now the video works fine.
I'd appreciate any link that describes X modules so I could learn more
about them.
Cheers,
Drew
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