[mythtv-users] M2NPV-VM mobo fixed?

[Joe Votour]

> I just upgraded my myth system to 0.20 and this new Asus m2npv-vm
> motherboard. It looked like an awesome motherboard but I had some problems
> initially, quirky things were happening with video, sound and the nic. I
> did
> lots of searches on the myth list but couldn't find anyone with a
> solution.
> So I am posting my solution so others can benefit. Apparently the audio
> and
> nic have irq conflicts. The solution is to add this line:
> options disable_msi=1
> to the audio section of your
> /etc/modprobe.conf
> I'm not sure what this does or what it actually disables but there was
> some
> talk on the kernel lists of disabling it by default in the 2.6.19 kernel.
>
> All the quirks seem to be gone after this one change, it boots faster and
> has been rock solid for 48 hours (crossing my fingers).
>
> My system is fc5 ala Jarod's guide with a pvr500 and a pvr250. XvMC
> appears
> to be working although I'm not certain, my cpu never gets above 14% when
> watching a recording, and I haven't ventured into HD yet.

I'm using Fedora Core 5 using x86_64 with this motherboard as a dedicated
frontend.  I haven't had many problems, except for finding the right boot
parameters, the growing pains from the intel-hda driver and flickering
lines in my content every now and then.

The magic boot parameter in 2.6.18-1.2200.fc5 seems to be
"enable_8254_timer".

The sound issue, I have fixed by using ALSA version 1.0.13, with these
lines in modprobe.conf:
remove snd-hda-intel { /usr/sbin/alsactl store 0 >/dev/null 2>&1 || : ; };
/sbin/modprobe -r --ignore-remove snd-hda-intel
alias snd-card-1 snd-mpu401
options snd-mpu401 index=1
remove snd-mpu401 { /usr/sbin/alsactl store 1 >/dev/null 2>&1 || : ; };
/sbin/modprobe -r --ignore-remove snd-mpu401
alias snd-card-0 snd-hda-intel
options snd-card-0 position_fix=1 model=3stack

The flickering has had many suspected issues - could be the drivers, I've
even heard rumors of poor grounding on the 6150 or other parts of the
board.  I suppose I could get a PCIe x16 card to test, but I don't have an
extra one lying around at the moment.  In any case, it's either not as bad
as it used to be or I've just stopped noticing it.

-- Joe