[mythtv-users] Help selecting firewire cable?

[Steven Adeff]

On Fri, Feb 8, 2008 at 6:14 AM, William Munson <w.munson at comcast.net> wrote:
> Tom Greer wrote:
>  > On Feb 7, 2008 3:10 AM, William Munson <w.munson at comcast.net
>
>
> > <mailto:w.munson at comcast.net>> wrote:
>  >
>  >     I recently got a DCT6416 III cable box and want to connect it to
>  >     my myth
>  >     box which has a built in firewire port however I am confused by the
>  >     various pin options. The DCT has a pair of plugs labeled IEEE 1394
>  >     which
>  >     I understand are 6 pin and on the back of my pc there is a plug that
>  >     looks like a stretched letter D. Is this a 4 pin plug?
>  >
>  >     Also I know the DCT6416 III is a dvr box, my local comcast store
>  >     is out
>  >     of the basic HD settop boxes at the moment. I am hoping that I will
>  >     still be able to control the box with the firewire code in SVN. Has
>  >     anyone had any luck with this box?
>  >
>  >     TIA,
>  >     Bill
>  >
>  >
>  > Bill,
>  >
>  > I have successfully recorded off a DCT-6416 via firewire.  It works
>  > exactly the same as a DCT-6200 box.  I'n not sure about the type of
>  > firewire cable (it's been a long time); but I know the ones I'm using
>  > have the same connector on both ends.  I think they are 4 pin - but
>  > I'm not sure.
>  >
>  > Initially I started by renting two DVRs  from my cable company.  I was
>  > frustrated at the lack of features (especially the inability to view
>  > recordings made on a different box - which resulting in physically
>  > swapping boxes between rooms in order to watch recordings).
>  >
>  > That led me to search and find MythTV.  My wife loved the cable DVR.
>  > My first attempt to covert her was going well, until I took a business
>  > trip and the firewire connection stopped working on day 1.  That set
>  > the migration back six months.  I had to keep a DCT-6416 in the
>  > bedroom as a fallback for a number of months.
>  >
>  > Now she loves Myth and boasts about it to all of her friends.
>  >
>  > I WAF (wife acceptance factor) is important to you, then I would
>  > recommend that you implement a couple of key features.
>  >
>  >    1. Program one of your buttons to kill and restart mythfrontend.
>
> >       This allows a quick "reboot" of the frontend application if
>  >       anything goes wrong.  I modified Jared Wilson's
>  >       mythpowerbutton.sh script <http://wilsonet.com/mythtv/tips.php>
>
> >       (which turns mythfrontend on and off) for this purpose.
>  >    2. Use monit to monitor mythbackend and, if it dies, to
>  >       automatically restart the backend process. See the wiki
>  >       <http://www.mythtv.org/wiki/index.php/Status_Monitoring_How_To>for
>  >       details.
>  >    3. For whatever reason, the DCT-6xxx boxes stop responding to
>
> >       firewire commands.  They seem to work best when you keep them
>  >       "primed".  So I have a cron script that runs every 30 minutes
>  >       that checks to see whether the box is busy, and if not, then
>  >       primes the box using firewire_tester.  See this thread
>  >       <http://www.gossamer-threads.com/lists/engine?do=post_view_flat;post=277073;page=1;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;mh=25;list=mythtv>
>  >       for details.
>  >    4. Be sure to install openssh server and to open a hole in your
>
> >       firewall to permit you to ssh in when you are away from home  -
>  >       just in case you need to.
>  >    5. Last but not least, make sure that everything is rock solid
>
> >       stable before "moving it to production".  And only upgrade when
>  >       there is a good reason to do so (that includes upgrading the OS
>  >       or other applications).
>  >
>  > I'm sure others may have tips to improve the WAF.
>  >
>  > Good luck.
>  >
>  > Tom
>
>  Thats great to know. I took a closer look at the connectors and both
>  ends are 6 pin. I am planning on stopping at the local computer retailer
>  and picking up a cable after work tonight so hopefully I will have
>  capture working later this weekend. I am lucky enough not to need to
>  keep a WAF in mind but your tips sound right on and I already have some
>  of them implemented. I monit the backend and mysql but will implement
>  your priming script once I get things working.

similar to Tom, I have a channel change script that will use
firewire_tester to make sure a stream is going before returning back
to mythbackend. Since I began using it in Oct2007 I've yet to have a
failed firewire recording on either of my firewire DCT62xxx boxes
http://www.mythtv.org/wiki/index.php/User:Steveadeff#6200changer.sh

I think whether Tom's script or my script works best for you depends
on the firmware on your box as they can behave differently for
different people. I actually began mine by using Tom's and found that
it didn't completely solve my issue, and after some troubleshooting
found a method that worked 100% of the time in my testing and I began
writing my script to implement my findings. After a couple tweaks I've
been at 100% recording success.

-- 
Steve
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