[mythtv-users] Mythtvbackend crashes while recording

[Jason Barbee]

Thanks to everyone who has contributed to MythTv. I'm very impressed with all the functionality. I even setup my Xbox to be a remote front end client on 0.14, and it works great! (when the backend works) 

But, I have a serious problem that's really frustrating, and I haven't gotten a high WAF yet because of stability.

 

To summarize this problem - Myth works great if I leave it alone and record shows when no one is watching. If I try to do almost anything while it's recording or before it records, mythtvbackend dies.

 

Quick overview of setup

Asus board, Pentium III 500mhz, 256 ram, PVR-350, 30 gig hard drive.

Started from KnoppMyth R1, now using Myth 0.14 and 0.1.9 recompiled on the system.

 

Problem - Mythbackend stops working, I believe most of the time it's running in ps -aux, but it's not recording data, or responding to the front end.

 

Resolution - I run the /etc/init.d/mythbackend stop and start it again. It works for a minute or two if I'm doing the activities below. Otherwise, it'll last a day or so until you use the front end again, especially while it's recording. If I give it a fresh reboot, it'll usually work fine and record shows fine until someone uses the system.

 

What seems to crash it - It only crashes while recording, from what I have seen.

1. While it's recording - If I delete another show that has already been recorded and processed, it will usually crash(stop recording the current show).

2. While it's recoding  - I can usually start show, check info to confirm it's still recording, close show, start show, and between the 2nd and 3rd time of this, it stops recording the show. However - if I start watching a recorded show currently being recorded without jumping in and out of it, I can make it through the recording about 50% of the time.

3. While it's recording  - If I'm watching a pre-recorded show, I can usually pause it, or fast forward, or skip commercials, almost any action while watching a show and while it's recording a show will crash it. 

4. After using the system (like deleting a show) - (hours can pass) and if a show is set to record, it will usually start recording. It will usually crash between 1 minute and 10 minutes of recording.

 

Symptoms when down- The recording will stop, and the backend goes non-responsive, the front end gives error about "backend gone away for some reason - is it running?".

I check the /var/log/mythtv/mythbackend.log and there's nothing unusual there during, before, or after the crash. 

 

And I'm running 0.14 MythTv and 0.1.9 ivtv both compiled by my own machine. I wish I could provide more details, a trace or log, but I'm not sure what logging settings and which logs would be most helpful.

 

Any ideas on how to try to resolve or further troubleshoot this behavior?