[mythtv-users] My experience with MythTV annoyances

[Yeechang Lee]

Steven Adeff <adeffs.mythtv at gmail.com> says:
> I don't know why your mythbox is randomly rebooting,

Nowhere do I say anything of the sort. My MythTV box only reboots when
I want it to (generally when I'm fiddling with something). If it
randomly rebooted often I wouldn't give it a 95 on the WAF scale.

> but the rest of the firewire stuff isn't Myth's fault, more so the
> fault of the linux firewire driver (linux1394.org), bring the issue
> up with them, they may be able to help solve your issues.

I suspect you're right. As mentioned, once I jumpstart FireWire it
stays working, so it's not the worst thing in the world (which was
what I was trying to get across).

> >   When the clip starts, the sound and video get out of sync, and
> >   this continues after the clip ends and we return to the host and
> >   guest.
> 
> I've never seen this issue, are you running SVN or fixes?

I am running 0.19-fixes, but saw this with 0.19 as well. Don't
remember if I also saw it with 0.18.1 (all through ATrpms). I ought to
file a ticket.

> Again, not a Myth issue, there is a reason ext3 isn't one of the
> recommended file systems.

That's fair. One does have to do some reading between the lines at
<URL:http://www.mythtv.org/docs/mythtv-HOWTO-24.html>, though, as I
didn't ahead of time as thoroughly as I should've.

> > . . . That's it. Really. If these issues got resolved, I'd happily
> > give my setup those remaining five WAF points, plus a whole bunch of
> 
> sigh, given the fact that none of your issues are really due to Myth,
> but poor choices,  and poor firewire driver support for your setup, I
> don't know if any of this is constructive for Myth users.

Hey, wait a minute. Why so defensive? Where in my message do I
complain at length about the woes of MythTV, its developers, or life
in general? If I thought something was poor I'd say so, and I
definitely can't say that about any aspect of my MythTV setup; it's
*just that good*. I was trying to say that these annoyances were
pretty darn minor taken collectively.

> > inability, in downtown San Francisco, to get my HD5000 ATSC card and
> > indoor antenna to pull in more than two network-affiliate channels),
> 
> Get a better antenna, or position it in a better location, or use
> QAM.

Tried repositioning (for devotees of "Married with Children," imagine
the "Fox viewing position"). I admit I hadn't thought of using QAM
with the card, though; maybe it's splitter time.

> > * Try to force HD video out of unsupported video cards. Again, I'm
> >   pointing at you.
> 
> For <$50 you can get an FX5200, why bother?

No disagreements here.

> > * Fiddle with standard-definition capture cards.
> 
> these are the best supported, being that basically everyone uses one.

Were that really true I don't think there wouldn't be so many messages
asking about them on the list. They may be well supported from a
technical level but I get the impression there's many nuances many
people have trouble with (again, this is all secondhand, given I've
never actually had to use one). FireWire, on the other hand, is pretty
straightforward (barring the issue we discuss above, which admittedly
can be a doozy the first time you face it). My point, if I have one,
is that I think FireWire has the potential to become out-of-the-box
fire-and-forget that I'm not sure the analog capture cards can ever
quite get to.

> > * Use LIRC.
> 
> with properly supprted hardware should not be an issue.

Again, secondhand experience, but there sure are a lot of LIRC-related
messages I see floating by.

-- 
Yeechang Lee <ylee at pobox.com> | +1 650 776 7763 | San Francisco CA US