[mythtv-users] Confused about IEE1394 when upgrading

Jarod Wilson jarod at wilsonet.com
Sun Jan 3 05:04:15 UTC 2010


On Jan 2, 2010, at 10:44 PM, Len Reed wrote:

> Hi,
> 
> The newer kernels have reworked firewire. In the past I've had to put backwards-compatible stuff in mythtv to get firewire working. However, Fedora 12 recorded off firewire "out of the box", so I suspect that much of the wiki, etc., about firewire is now out of date and misleading.

Yep, but nobody who knows better has the time to update it, I think.

> System:
> Motorola DCT6200 connected by firewire (channel changing and record) and svideo (for channels that aren't firewire-enabled).
> Fedora 12 kernel 2.6.31.9-174.fc12.x86_64
> atrpms for mythtv packages, etc.
> Dual-core Athlon 64 5000
> PVT250 for SVIDEO and analog cable channels
> A QAM256 tuner for non-encrypted (works fine).
> HD PVR (still in box awaiting successful upgrade). Will augment or
> replace svideo recording from the cable STB.
> 
> After the upgrade, the firewire tuner changed channels and recorded fine. In fact, it is far more reliable. (On the old system, firewire channel changing was reliable but recording was hit-and-miss; each recording would either work or would fail immediately and get the firewire modules into a messed-up state.)

Win.

> In order to use SVIDEO and/or HD PVR, I'll need to change channels. On the old system, I use 6200ch for that purpose, but it and the other tools like plugreport all look for /lib/raw1394, which doesn't exist.

It looks for /dev/raw1394 with the old stack. It doesn't do that with the new stack. It finds the correct /dev/fw[0-9]* device node and operates on that instead. (One big raw interface for the entire bus was one of the biggest security flaws in the old stack that helped prompt development of the new one, btw). All the tools work just fine here w/the new stack. I should know, since I contributed no small number of patches to actually *make* them work. :) I think you still may need root for some ops though (a udev rule still needs fixing, iirc).

> Clearly *mythbackend* doesn't it to change channels, but I see no way to configure things to use anything but an external changer for non-firewire tuners.

Yep, internal firewire channel changing only works for firewire recordings.

> Questions
> 1. Do I need 6200ch (or some other external program) to change channels when using the HD PVR to record? (Clearly mythbackend "knows" how to change the channel -- it does so when recording from firewire. I see nothing other than "external channel changer" for use with STB+HD-PVR.)

Yes, you do.

> 2. Is there a "more modern" program or better program than 6200ch?

There's something out there on an ubuntu site that is supposed to be the new hotness. Never actually looked at it though, since 6200ch has always worked just fine for me.


> 3. If not, what do I need to get /lib/raw1394?

See above.

-- 
Jarod Wilson
jarod at wilsonet.com





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