[mythtv-users] TV won't play unless you run mythbackend manually from a console

[Nick]

On 6/27/05, Michael Jones <m_g_j at michaelandholly.com> wrote:
> [mythtv at myth ~]$ su -
> Password:
> [root at myth ~]# ps ax | grep mythba
> 24775 ?        Ssl    0:00 /usr/bin/mythbackend --daemon --logfile
> /var/log/mythtv/mythbackend.log --pidfile /var/run/mythbackend.pid
> 
> Anything helpful?
> 
> btw:  If I stop/start (or restart) the mythbackend after rebooting..
> everything works.

This is possibly symptomatic of the capture card driver not having
loaded by the time the backend is started. No capture card - therefore
on the first attempt LiveTV could fail. Restarting the backend may
make it aware of the capture cards again (now that the module is
loaded), so future LiveTV watching is successful.

If nothing else is working, I'd check to see where the capture card
modules are loaded and check the output of the backend log immediately
after trying to view LiveTV after a boot when it fails.

I'd suggest putting the modprobe command for the capture card, a
'sleep 10' to ensure the modules are loaded, and the 'service
mythbackend start' command in rc.local whilst trying to sort out the
kinks. At least this way you'll know whether things are loaded in the
correct order whilst troubleshooting.

I'd also second using 'su -' when gaining superuser status, as the '-'
inherits root's environment variables, such as search path, and
therefore will be more like having logged in as root initially.
Dropping the '-' can put you at a disadvantage. (You could also
instead switch to a spare terminal and log in from there as root
directly, thus eliminating the need to use su. It's sometimes very
helpful to have 2 separate terminals and to switch between the two as
you make changes.)

Nick