[mythtv-users] Misc. PVR-350 TV-out issues

[GERALD SCHEPENS]

----- Original Message -----
From: Scott Anderson <scottanderson at comcast.net>
Date: Monday, March 15, 2004 7:29 am
Subject: Re: [mythtv-users] Misc. PVR-350 TV-out issues

> Gerald Schepens wrote:
> 
> > 1)   My regular video card is an nVidia geforce4 ti4200.  I have 
> a 
> > monitor attached to it, on which my console appears at boot.  
> However, 
> > once my ivtv-fb loads, the console goes back a few pages and 
> sticks 
> > there.  Once I'm in X, it seems that my console out is sort of 
> being 
> > directed to my PVR350!  Is it possible that the ivtv-fb driver 
> is 
> > taking over /dev/fb0 when it shouldn't?  (Because, doesn't the 
> kernel 
> > use fb0 as a video card frame buffer for displaying the 
> console?)  And 
> > is there a fix for this?
> 
> 
> Try adding "vga=normal video=vc:0-0" (without the quotes) to your 
> kernel 
> boot line in lilo.conf or menu.lst.
> 

Did that -- got my consoles back!  I actually ended up finding this tidbit in a random search (and apparently that's documented in ivtv-fb.h which I must admit I didn't read).

> >
> > 2)   When I'm watching live TV and I press "m" on my remote to 
> get the 
> > TV listing display, the PVR350's screen gets dimmer but the 
> picture 
> > continues to update on the screen, as though the picture were 
> > preparing to be overlaid with the osd.  No real problem so far, 
> but 
> > the listing appears on my monitor rather than on the TV.  
> Although 
> > this is workable, I'd rather it continued to function like it 
> did when 
> > I was using my nvidia tv-out, with the tv-display displaying the 
> osd.  
> > I understand the difficulty involved because suddenly we're 
> asking the 
> > card to display something that isn't part of an mpg stream.    
> > Nevertheless, if somebody knows whether this can be done, great, 
> but 
> > it's not enough of an issue to make me switch back to using the 
> nvidia 
> > tv-out.
> 
> 
> Sounds like X isn't using the framebuffer.
> 

Since I was able to get the tv-out on the PVR-350 to work without having an X screen assigned to it, I made the leap that I didn't need to have the PVR-350 in my XF86Config at all.  Currently, it's not.  I did have it assigned in my layout as screen1 RightOf Screen0, but that caused pathetically slow performance on the PVR-350 so I took it out totally.  Maybe I need the device and screen defined but not part of the layout...?

> >
> > 3)   If I rewind or fast forward through a recording too 
> rapidly, 
> > mythfrontend sometimes hangs.  Some of the time, it appears to 
> take 
> > the kernel along with it.  When it's just mythfrontend that gets 
> hung 
> > up, I have to switch to a terminal and kill the mythfrontend 
> process.  
> > When I restart mythfrontend, the pvr-350 TV out usually won't 
> function 
> > any longer.  Sometimes I can't switch to a terminal to kill 
> > mythfrontend -- the remote, the keyboard and the mouse all seem 
> to 
> > have no effect on the system and I have to cycle power on the 
> PC.  In 
> > this case, I wonder if ivtv-fb hasn't misbehaved.  Has anyone 
> else had 
> > this experience?
> 
> 
> This behavior is one of the reasons I use an nVidia tv-out card 
> instead 
> of the PVR at this point. The ivtv drivers are still maturing. Are 
> you 
> by chance using a motherboard with a Via chipset?
> 

My mobo is an Asus P4PE.  It has an Intel 82845PE MCH and an Intel 82801DA ICH4, but there is a Via IEEE1394 controller, which happens to be sharing the PVR350's interrupt.

Thanks for the tips!  

> Regards,
> -scott
> 
> 
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