[mythtv-users] Myth crashes system watching live tv

[Scott Herrmann]

I am having problems with Mythtv crashing the system when watching live
tv.  Sometimes it will freeze up after a couple of minutes, other times
it has gone as long as 20 minutes.  No matter what it ultimately freezes
up the entire system, such that I have to power it off and then back
on.  This is my second Myth box, the first one runs flawlessly.  I am running this box as a standalone system.  I can
record shows in the background without a problem, I can play previously
recorded shows without a problem.  Only time it locks up is while
watching live tv.

I think it is an ALSA issue, but am not sure.  The only time I experience this problem is with Mythtv while watching live tv.

Doing a cat /dev/video >test.mpg works fine for at least 75 minutes
worth of video, tested many times with 10-45 minute runs also without an
issue.

My other box is a VIA system and this one is an NForce2 board, thus the
sound architecture is different.  Also, the Alsa setup in the other
system is 9.4 and the new box is 9.6, versions of myth are also
different.  

The new box has the latest released drivers and software, except Lirc is
CVS due to Mandrake problems and Mythtv is CVS as of noon August 16th.  

 I have good sound while playing back recorded shows, while watching
live tv, while playing music, so it seems to work.  The only thing I
have noticed is that in my syslog there are always these statements
(Below) prior to the system freezing.  But, it does not crash when it
first encounters these errors, it can take 10-15 minutes after the first
error before the system crashes.  So my question is:
	1) is the message I am seeing a bad error or warning message as the
system clearly works for some time after initial error.
	2) What does it mean and how do I fix?
	3) Is it really what is causing my problems or is there maybe  something else
causing my problems?

Thanks in advance for any guidance.	

System specs:
	Asus A7N8X deluxe - Nforce2
	Asus GeForce 4 MX440 8X AGP card
	512 MB ram
	120 GB Maxtor hard drive, 75% space free
	PVR250 TV card
	

A brief excerpt of my syslog follows:

Aug 16 14:21:56 Myth kernel: ALSA ../alsa-kernel/core/pcm_lib.c:214:
Unexpected hw_pointer value (stream = 0, delta: -216, max jitter =
8192): wrong interrupt acknowledge?
Aug 16 14:22:01 Myth kernel: ALSA ../alsa-kernel/core/pcm_lib.c:214:
Unexpected hw_pointer value (stream = 0, delta: -64, max jitter = 8192):
wrong interrupt acknowledge?
Aug 16 14:22:02 Myth kernel: ALSA ../alsa-kernel/core/pcm_lib.c:214:
Unexpected hw_pointer value (stream = 0, delta: -64, max jitter = 8192):
wrong interrupt acknowledge?
Aug 16 14:22:42 Myth kernel: ALSA ../alsa-kernel/core/pcm_lib.c:214:
Unexpected hw_pointer value (stream = 0, delta: -1016, max jitter =
8192): wrong interrupt acknowledge?
Aug 16 14:25:34 Myth kernel: ALSA ../alsa-kernel/core/pcm_lib.c:214:
Unexpected hw_pointer value (stream = 0, delta: -1016, max jitter =
8192): wrong interrupt acknowledge?
Aug 16 14:26:59 Myth last message repeated 3 times
Aug 16 14:28:01 Myth last message repeated 2 times
Aug 16 14:28:54 Myth kernel: ALSA ../alsa-kernel/core/pcm_lib.c:214:
Unexpected hw_pointer value (stream = 0, delta: -96, max jitter = 8192):
wrong interrupt acknowledge?