MythTV Freezes after a split second

[B34N]

When I enter MythTV I get a split second of sound and video just before it freezes.

I have not previously gotten MythTV to run. Recently I did get Myth TV backend installed (my sources.list was out of date) and now the system sees my Hauppauge 2250 and allows me to configure it in the media setup. I tried to get it working by populating the channels with my SchedulesDirect account, but I guess that Media setup didn't complete the import because I kept getting an error when I went into MythTV that there were no channels setup. I then went into Myth backend Setup and scanned for channels. Even in MythTV backend setup, when I chose to import the channel listings, it did nothing. I know the schedules direct account is correct because I see listings in my program guide. Any thoughts on why I'm not able to just import the list of channels?

Leaving the importing of channels aside, I did do a scan and add the channels that way. It's not nearly as clean, but it does at least let me get to the next step. The problem now is that when I start MythTV the screen freezes after a split second. LMCE isn't locked because I can still go and exit MythTV. I did a lot of searching and it looks like this might be a problem with a video drivers. I verified xorg.conf and I am using NVIDIA for the display. cat /proc/driver/nvidia/version shows that I have:

Code: [Select]

NVRM version: NVIDIA UNIX x86 Kernel Module  195.36.15  Thu Mar 11 21:41:46 PST 2010
GCC version:  gcc version 4.3.2 (Ubuntu 4.3.2-1ubuntu12)Am I going down the right path to correct the freezing problem? Any thoughts on how to get it working?

Thank you!

[B34N]

I'm starting to feel more confident that the problem is with the video playback under MythTV. I was able to have MythTV record a show and I was able to playback the video under media/video of LMCE but not through the MythTV recordings.

At the suggestion on the chat room, I tried setting the playback profile (under MythTV Frontend/Setup/TV Settings/Playback) to VDPAU slim. I was then informed that my 8200 does not support VDPAU. I tried a few other playback profile settings and I get the same brief bit of sound and video.

[B34N]

I'm still trying to troubleshoot the issue I'm having with the player in MythTV freezing during playback. Since I can record videos and play them back through the LMCE player, I'm thinking it's not a problem with my HVR-2250. I set the vmalloc=192M as suggested http://www.mythtv.org/wiki/Common_Problem:_vmalloc_too_small and I've tried of settings in the playback profile in the frontend settings of MythTV. This issue is really driving me crazy. Which logs should I be looking at and where do I find them?

[fibres]

Hi

What error do you get on-screen when mythtv freezes?

Have you looked at both the frontend and backebd logs in /var/log/mythtv/?

When you playback the recorded video, does it play ok or does it skip and jump on playback?

I had an issue which was the signal lock dropping on channels which produces similar issues. The frontend will drop out if it loses signal lock for too long, the backebd running will not but there will be jumps in recording.

Is your card analogue or DVB?

Regards

[B34N]

What error do you get on-screen when mythtv freezes?

There is no on-screen error. MythTV just locks and I have to have LMCE turn it "off" to get control back.

Have you looked at both the frontend and backebd logs in /var/log/mythtv/?

Yes, I have checked the backend log and it says: http://pastebin.com/f9A4R7w9
I don't know where the frontend log is. I only see mythbackend.log and mythfilldatabase.log is that directory.

When you playback the recorded video, does it play ok or does it skip and jump on playback?

So far, my tests when playing back the recorded videos through LMCE work without a problem. Playing back the same video through the MythTV player has the same problem as when playing live TV. That's what makes me think it's a problem with the LMCE player. I would think that properly setting up the setup/TV settings/playback/profile would fix it, but so far, no luck.

Is your card analogue or DVB?

DVB. Dual tuner. I won't hide the fact that this tuner (HVR-2250) has had many problems with MythTV (or linux for that matter) but since I can record fine and playback in another player, that makes me feel that the problem is not necessarily with the tuner.

[B34N]

It still does not appear to be related to the HVR-2250. I removed the HVR-2250, installed a new DVB (950Q) and had the exact same problem. The problem only happens when playing live tv or videos back through the MythTV player. I am able to record shows and play them back through other players just fine. How can I see the mythtv front end logs? Don't I need to run it from the terminal with the -l option? If so, can someone tell be the directory and command to do that? I tried mythtvfrontend -l and I had no luck.

I have a NVIDIA 8200 on the motherboard. What's the likelihood that that is the problem? Could it be the sound card?

Thank you for your help!

[huh]

Mine is doing this as well on a Dell laptop with an Intel video card...  screen flashes (with very brief audio blip) then screen freezes with screen-filling blue box.  I too have to tell LMCE to stop the process to get control of the media director.  Odd thing is that my Acer Revo has no such problems- tv plays just fine.

I will add, clicking on "TV" at the top of media allows me to watch TV just fine.  I am unable to watch through my cable box which is setup as the 2nd (or 3rd) option in the media.  Not sure I"m being clear- clicking to watch TV by clicking on "TV" from "Media" works just fine, but clicking to watch TV through my cable box causes mythtv to freeze.  All of the signal, regardless on how I watch tv, is piped from a single PVR-150 on the core- nothing is installed on these MDs.

Other than the physical location and the MD hardware, these MDs are essentially identical.  I mean that the peripheral equipment installed (for each only a gyration remote is installed) is the same- no USBUIRTs, external amps over RS232, etc.

I am running a 810 install from June (ish) time frame if I were to guess...  updated everything via apt-get update && apt-get upgrade on the core and MDs.  I have not see if the 810 LMCE release DVD solves this.  I would guess I have had this issue for a month or so.

FWIW

[B34N]

I will add, clicking on "TV" at the top of media allows me to watch TV just fine.

That's a bit different than the problem that I'm having. I cannot play live or recorded shows in the MythTV player.

Try doing this in the MythTV frontend:
"Utilities / Setup" - "Setup" - "TV Settings" - "Playback"  and uncheck "Always stream recordings from the backend"

I thought that fixed the problem for me but it only fixed it when I started MythTV from KDE...although MythTV from KDE didn't have any sound. I still have the same problem when choosing TV from media under LMCE. I'm wondering if it could be a problem with the sound card.

[Medrawd]

Same problem on gf 8200.
Anybody was able to solve it?

[B34N]

Same problem on gf 8200.
Anybody was able to solve it?

I was not able to solve it. My inclination is that the problem is with the 8200 video card, but I don't have any proof.

I installed 10.04. It still doesn't recognize my HVR but I hope to find some time this weekend to manually install the HVR and then try again. I'll keep you updated if the latest version of LMCE solves the problem.

[Medrawd]

I have spare 8400, so I've just installed it in md and there is no improvement.

[l3mce]

As memory serves, your motherboard is an ASUS m3n78-em or -vm.

If so, that board is rock solid and has no problems across any version of lmce (outside of not being able to use vdpau). What settings are you using in webadmin/media directors/interlacing?

It is best to leave those settings as:
Video Card: Standard
Accelleration: xv
Interlacing: none

[Medrawd]

Yes it is ASUS m3n78-vm and md is set for no deinterlacing and xv hardware acceleration. But still there is this freezing  problem after one frame and split second of live tv. Two other MDs and core with m3n78pro are working with live tv.

I tried removing SB Live or puting in gf8400 but there was no improvement. Only thing that helped was installing video drivers from nvidia www but then there was no hw acceleration.

MythTV is set to use CPU+ profile

[purps]

Mine did this once upon a time and it was the playback profile i.e CPU++, VDPAU slim, etc. Play with those.

Cheers,
Matt.

[Medrawd]

I've tried them all and all failed.