[mythtv-users] Spontaneous Rebooting - Need some help!

[Brian Wood]

On May 31, 2006, at 8:03 PM, Rob Bongiovi wrote:

> I am having a tough time tracking this one down and
> need some help. Not a linux expert. Had a great MythTV
> setup running for about 10 months on FC4 on two
> Biostar 210V (via KM400 based motherboard) with Athlon
> XP+ 3000's. One box is a master backend with a PVR-500
> while the other is the slave backend with a PVR-150.
> Both function as front ends to HDTVs via a Nvidia 5200
> card and a DVI-HDMI cable.
>
> A week or so ago, I upgraded the mythtv, kernel,
> nvidia, and ivtv to the latest FC4 versions. After
> that, started having spontaneous reboots on both
> boxes. To me - that rules out a hardware component
> "breaking." like a bad HD and memory (although I ran
> memtest 86 and they passed).

Wow. In my experience spontaneous re-boots are almost always hardware- 
related, but you certainly do seem to have persuasive reasons for  
thinking it is not.

The VIA/DMA problem is certainly a possibility, and that might be  
better pursued with the IVTV folks.

Only thing I can suggest is have you checked the MCE logs? Although  
they would be cleared by a reboot sometimes you will see machine  
check errors prior to the situation getting so severe it results in a  
reset. Usually the fact that MC errors have been logged is reported  
in the system log, but I have seen cases where they were not.

I don't know if that distro has MCE enabled in its kernel, and you  
now need a special app to read the log, don't know if that's included  
either.

Not much help I know, but it's a thought. I'd certainly hate to see  
your Tribal Acceptance Factor go south.