[mythtv-users] Summery of my problems

[Dylan R. Semler]

Hello list, I've gotten everything with my myth system set-up marginally 
well, but I'm still having some annoying problems.  So here's what I'm 
running:

Master backend (Dell 8200 circa 2002):
Intel Pentium 4 (probably about 2 GHz)
Nvidia GeForce2 MX
Fedora Core 4 with kernel 2.6.14-1.1656_FC4
mythtv rpms from atrpms
pcHDTV-3000

Frontend (laptop):
Intel Centrino 1.6 GHz
ATI mobility radeon 9700
Fedora Core 4 with kernel 2.6.14-1.1656_FC4
mythtv rpms from atrpms

I've only really been working with LiveTV so far.  HD is able to stream 
pretty well to the frontend, but there are some problems.  In the first 
minute or so after I change a channel, there are a few pauses but 
eventually it smooths out (something I can live with).  However, 
whenever there is fast motion in the video, every other line gets 
slightly offset--I guess this is described as "combing."  How do I fix this?

For analog, the picture quality is pretty bad (noisy) and there are 
about three or four horizontal lines at the top of the screen that have 
some random patterns of black and white streaks.  The picture quality is 
much better using tvtime and those lines do not appear.  Also, the color 
balance is not quite right, but when I press F to 'rotate between 
Picture Adjustments (Colour, Hue, etc.)', nothing happens.  If I press 
'G', I am able to make the adjustments for the recording.  Also, the 
backend logs indicate that its using v4l v1 rather than v4l v2:

> Channel(/dev/video0)::SwitchToInput(in 0): Error -1 while setting 
> video mode (v2), "Invalid argument", trying v4l v1
> 2006-01-26 22:52:21.234 Channel(/dev/video0)::SwitchToInput(in 0): 
> Setting video mode with v4l version 1 worked

Non-mythtv issue but maybe someone has a clue.  The master backend does 
not draw the desktop onto the entire monitor or tv (when using s-video 
out).  There is a black bar on the left side where the monitor and tv 
are scanning, but nothing is drawn (does that make any sense?).  I am 
currently running without any nvidia drivers, but the problem exists 
with a driver installed as well.  Any ideas?