[mythtv-users] Can't get external recorder (HauppaugeUSB/Colossus2) to start

[Neil Bird]

  TL;DR:  I think “PID cache is empty” is the culprit but I can't fix it.


  I've been struggling to get a Hauppauge Colossus2 working with MythTV
to replace an older s-video card I've been using.  I'm using Poet's
HauppaugeUSB interface.

  I /thought/ I'd set it up OK, and the HauppaugeUSB command line works
a treat outside of MythTV.  But it just fails immediately for all
recordings (nomatter the tuning delay) and even more oddly is doesn't
seem to even /try/ to run my channel change script.

  I can see in the logs that it successfully runs the external command
at about the right time, and also interrogates it at start-up.


  After some diving through the code and a bit of
not-terribly-successful gdb-ing, I *think* the most pertinent error is:

 E  DTVChan[11](/usr/local/bin/hauppauge2 --config
/etc/hauppauge2.conf): SetChannelByString(106): PID cache is empty
 E  TVRec[11]: Failed to set channel to 106. Reverting to kState_None


  I did then notice a possibly important step I'd missed when setting up
the card-source link:  “Fetch channels from listing source” (whatever
that does?.  I'm using the source I previously set up for the STB I've
connected.

  However, when I go back into setup and select that, despite it saying
it'll take some time, it doesn't take very long (only a few seconds
before I can back out and save), and actually I get no feedback of it
doing anything.  And it still then gives the same error.

  I do now think that this lack of a “PID cache” is the problem, but
I've no idea now how to get past this.

  Can anyone give me any pointers?  Has missing that step before using
it the first time cocked it up?


  One possible consideration is that I fetch my listings manually
(Schedules Direct) and then run mythfilldatabase from an external cron
script, so Myth itself may not be able to run mythfilldatabase
appropriately - I see mythtvsetup is running:

/usr/bin/mythfilldatabase --only-update-channels --sourceid 2 --cardtype
EXTERNAL --verbose all --loglevel debug, timeout=0

  Is that necessary to work?  I'm reusing the source that is set up for
the older card, so it's populated with channels and listing.


CentOS 8, MythTV 31  (new card added with this version)

-- 
[phoenix at fnx ~]# rm -f .signature
[phoenix at fnx ~]# ls -l .signature
ls: .signature: No such file or directory
[phoenix at fnx ~]# exit