[mythtv-users] HD-PVR failure

[Brian Wood]

On Sunday, December 05, 2010 10:45:37 am James Orr wrote:
> On Sun, Dec 5, 2010 at 12:16 PM, Brian Wood <beww at beww.org> wrote:
> > On Sunday, December 05, 2010 10:07:10 am James Orr wrote:
> > > On Sat, Dec 4, 2010 at 11:18 AM, James Orr <james.orr7 at gmail.com>
> > 
> > wrote:
> > > > On Sat, Dec 4, 2010 at 11:12 AM, Brian Wood <beww at beww.org> 
wrote:
> > > >> On Saturday, December 04, 2010 08:58:18 am James Orr wrote:
> > > >> > Happened again last night, that's now 3 times in one week
> > > >> > with nothing in the preceding 6 months?  Could it be a
> > > >> > temperature thing?
> > > >> > 
> > > >> >  It's a lot colder now and that's the only thing that's
> > > >> >  different.
> > > >> 
> > > >> Is your HD-PVR located in unconditioned space? Is your indoor
> > > >> temperature really different now?
> > > >> 
> > > >> Usually cooler temps are good for electronics, and it's a
> > > >> *change* in temperature that can cause problems with chips
> > > >> migrating out of sockets, PC boards cracking and things like
> > > >> that.
> > > >> 
> > > >> I'd be surprised if your problem is temperature related,
> > > >> unless the unit itself is exposed to extreme or repeated wide
> > > >> temperature swings.
> > > > 
> > > > It is in the basement, it's not totally unheated (in fact it's
> > > > only a few feet from the furnace) but it's certainly colder
> > > > than the rest of the house.
> > > 
> > > It's now starting to happen pretty much all the time, and within
> > > recordings. This one failed 8 minutes into an hour long recording
> > > ...
> > > 
> > > 2010-12-05 09:08:36.657 DevRdB(/dev/video0) Error: Poll giving up
> > > 2010-12-05 09:08:36.673 MPEGRec(/dev/video0) Error: Device error
> > > detected 2010-12-05 09:08:36.697 DevRdB(/dev/video0): Stop(): Not
> > > running. 2010-12-05 09:08:49.845 [h264 @ 0xb7153fa0]error while
> > > decoding MB 95 27, bytestream (-5)
> > > 2010-12-05 09:09:05.559 MPEGRec(/dev/video0) Error: StartEncoding
> > > failed eno: Resource temporarily unavailable (11) 2010-12-05
> > > 09:09:07.569 MPEGRec(/dev/video0) Warning: Unable to set audio
> > > input.
> > > 2010-12-05 09:09:17.036 RecBase(7:/dev/video0):
> > > GetKeyframePositions(894,9223372036854775807,#112) out of 120
> > > 
> > > Is this more than the usual problem?  Is my HD-PVR broken?
> > 
> > A common problem with the HD-PVR (and the HDHR) is a bad power
> > brick. If you have a spare 5 volt source at 3 amps or more of some
> > type I'd try replacing that and see if it makes a difference.
> > 
> > ISTR some of the very early HD-PVRs had a problem that caused them
> > to run very hot, you might also check the temperature of your
> > unit.
> 
> If anything it's cold, and it's not a very early HD-PVR, about 7
> months old.
> 
> I don't have a spare power brick, but that will be a lot cheaper than
> a new HD-PVR.
> 
> Will this one work, it's 2.5A?  http://amzn.com/B002FA5WE2
> 
> There's also this one which is 2A: http://amzn.com/B002XFFHBM but the
> first one has amazon prime so I'd be able to get it sooner.

So both of those are rated less than 3 amps, which is the output rating 
on the brick that came with the unit (at least mine says "3A").

I wouldn't try a power supply that you know is rated for less than 
Hauppauge says is required.