[mythtv-users] HD-PVR power cycling

Jim Morton Jim at Morton.hrcoxmail.com
Tue May 10 20:58:54 UTC 2011



On 5/5/2011 10:15 AM, Andrew Stadt wrote:
>
> -----Original message-----
>
>     *From: *greg at nodecam.com*
>     To: *Discussion about MythTV <mythtv-users at mythtv.org>*
>     Sent: *Wed, May 4, 2011 19:46:19 GMT+00:00*
>     Subject: *Re: [mythtv-users] HD-PVR power cycling
>
>     > Just to add a data point, I actually haven't had any major issue
>     with
>     > my HD-PVR, I'm more interested in simply turning it off while not in
>     > use. I did have a problem once. It turned out that some loose cables
>     > in my closet had fallen and were restricting airflow to the HD-PVR
>     > (which has a fan pulling air across it most of the time). I
>     moved the
>     > cables and haven't had a problem since. While many say that Windows
>     > users aren't experiencing the issues we have, I'm wondering if there
>     > isn't a subset of problems due solely to heat issues.
>
>     As another data point - I have two HD-PVRs and two backends - one
>     is rock
>     solid, the other one is super flaky. Here's the kicker though, it
>     appears
>     that the issue is more with the backend hardware than with the HD-PVR.
>
>     If I swap which machine each HD-PVR is hooked up to, the same
>     backend is
>     still rock-solid and the other one is still flaky. The stable one
>     is an
>     older AMD box, and the unstable one is a newer Intel box. They're
>     running
>     basically the same custom kernel (with a few different drivers for HD
>     controllers etc)
>
>     The conclusion that I'd come to is that the Intel chipset's USB
>     drivers
>     weren't playing nicely with the HD-PVR, but I haven't had a chance
>     to do
>     more digging on it beyond that.
>
>     Greg
>

> On the flakey machine have you tried plugging the hd-pvr into an 
> external (powered) usb hub?  The only reason I throw this out there is 
> I have had a few other usb devices (CommandIR II for eg) that simply 
> will not work, or are shall we say toublesome, with some usb 
> subsystems in 64 bit mode but work fine with a 32 bit kernel (or vice 
> versa) but work fine with a hub between the computer and the device.
>
> Just a thought,
>
> Andrew.

Ok, I tried this external USB hub and it didn't alter the situation.

So here is yet another data point - I have 2 BEs each with a HDPVR. One 
of the HDPVRs quits everyday if I don't power cycle it. I started by 
swapping power supplies, problem stayed put. Then I swapped the units, 
problem stayed put. Swapped USB plugs around in different ports, no 
change. Got an external USB hub and plugged into that, still no change.

One thing I have noticed here is that when it fails it is always on a 
recording that follows back-to-back recordings. IOW, say it records 
8am-9am and 9am-10am. If it is going to fail that day then it will on 
the next recording after that, maybe 2pm. I noticed this recently and 
will continue to watch for this pattern to see if it continues.

I anxiously await Gavin's hdpvr-killer. I know it is not the correct 
solution but it should work for me and it removes one daily task from my 
list.

-- 
_________________________________________________________

  Jim Morton



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