[mythtv-users] trying to watch TV via mythtvfrontend

[Akos Maroy]

Ray Olszewski wrote:
> have working systems. Since we are not the Psychic Friends Network, we 
> don't know how much a new-to-the-list poster knows about general issues. 

fair enough :)

> Run a backtrace and report the results (assuming that looking at it does 
> not make the answer obvious to you without help) so we can see *what* 
> causes the segfaults you reported.

OK. I'll do it tonight...

> Or search the list archive for other threads that report problems 
> similar to yours and see if any of the suggested solutions there fit the 
> bill.

I was looking, but only found that hint about using ALSA instead of OSS 
audio drivers (quite strange effect, though)

> Next, in these messages --
> 
>> 2003-07-20 12:31:23 adding: destroy as a player 1
>> 2003-07-20 12:31:23 adding: destroy as a player 0
>> 2003-07-20 12:31:23 adding: destroy as a player 0
>> 2003-07-20 12:31:23 adding: destroy as a remote ringbuffer
> 
> 
> -- does "destroy" have some special local meaning (e.g., is it a 
> hostname?) or is this part of the basic message text? (I ask because 

yes, it's my host name.

> Next, have you been able to *record* video for later viewing? I ask 

no. basically I just pressed on the "Watch TV" button, and then on the 
"Watch Recordings" button.

> because you report some STDERR results about selecting "watch 
> recordings", but I do not know from your report (a) if there is anything 
> to watch, (b) if the observed symptom (black screen) is the same here as 
> with "live" TV, or (c) if the symptom occurs when Myth tries to display 
> the file directory or only after you select a file to play.

a) no, nothing to watch (no *.avi files in the store directory)
b) no, when pressing "Watch Recordings", I immediately get a segfault
c) no, the segfault comes right after I press "Watch Recordings"

> Next, I recall your also posting a message about problems with grabbing 
> listings for Hungarian TV. Specifically, you say --
> 
>> One problem was that I the video source, I could not set up tv_grab_hu 
>> as the listings grabber, as it was missing as an option. So I set it 
>> to Germany.
> 
> 
> How did you fill the database for purposes of these tests -- does the 
> German download source really provide TV listings for your locale and 
> provider? -- and are the entries for channels and frequencies an exact 

I don't know / I don't think so

> match to the ones in /etc/X11/xawtvrc (or its RH equivalent, if RH keeps 
> the file in a different location than Debian uses)?

no, I don't know how to import those entries. but when I press on "Watch 
TV", the tuner card gets tuned to a TV channel (and the audio from that 
channel is audible, as comes from the tuner card). also, after killink 
mythfrontend and starting xawtv, it will display that very channel 
mythfrontend tuned to. Also, I can only kill the audio by starting and 
then quitting xawtv. to me, it seems that mythtv tunes into some (valid) 
channel, but failes to display the visual content.

> Bottom line: I infer from the lack of response from others here (more 
> exactly, the lack of the Myth-specific responses you want) that nobody 
> recognizes an "obvious" Myth problem from your descriptions. That means 

sad to hear. it is strange though that during these three days two other 
people reported the same problem (no visuals when pressing "Watch TV"). 
but than again, we might have the same non-MythTv specific issue :)

> taking it to the next level, which involves (a) your supplying a 
> backtrace and (b) your looking more closely at the details of how you 
> set up Myth to see if you introduced an error that we are not thinking of.

I'll do my best, and send the backtrace as soon as I can produce it.


Akos