[mythtv-users] Query wrt using a pvr150/ivtv card in mythtv - tuner broken?

[Don]

On Sun, Aug 11, 2013 at 12:14 PM, Stephen Worthington
<stephen_agent at jsw.gen.nz> wrote:
> On Sun, 11 Aug 2013 11:23:53 +1000, you wrote:
>
>>I agree - the symptoms suggest something with the V4L drivers/API has changed,
>>but the ivtv-utils package hasn't been updated in about 3 years and
>>still works ; so
>>if something -has- changed, I'm damned if I can figure out what. I
>>also concur with
>>your observations about the status of analog tv (it was recently
>>turned off completely
>>here in .au), and that was the reason I jumped to abandoning the
>>PVR-150 altogether ;)
>>
>>Regarding the idea entering the data for UHF chan69 into the database
>>manually, I
>>tried that, but it doesn't work -- if you switch to that tuner input
>>after setting it up manually
>>like this, I get a blackscreen before it aborts (video failed to
>>start, buffers failed to fill),
>>so it would seem like the trouble with scanning channels (all channels
>>locked but no
>>signal) also squashes this approach...
>
> I am sure it could be made to work by manual changes to the database.
> But it would be much better to go over to using S-Video or composite
> video.

...only ?if? the software in question can actually talk to/control the tuner
(which is what I suspect isn't happening) -- but lets just aside & forget
about the RF/tuner approach right now ; I've long time wanted to hook
it up using the other outputs for a clearer capture anyhow...


>
>>The satbox does have 2 video out ports, 1 x composite & 1 x S-VHS plus
>>RCA sockets
>>for audio ... so I'd need go the composite route (which still should
>>be marginally better
>>quality than doing the RF [de]modulator shuffle =), and yes... it was
>>always hassles with
>>audio input selection that stopped me from using that approach in the
>>past and settle
>>on the RF hookup  -- I'd be very interested in seeing your bash file &
>>giving that a go here!
>>
>
>
> Since the satbox has S-Video, that is your best option. It will produce
> an excellent picture, as long as you do not have any ground
> loops causing 50 Hz bars over the picture.  I suffered from that for a
> long time until I finally worked out it was caused by my amplifier and
> isolated it.  The PVR-150 has S-Video inputs and normally also comes
> with an S-Video to component adapter cable that plugs into the DIN
> socket (third down from the top on the back of the board).  The DIN
> socket is wired for standard S-Video pinout, so just get an S-Video
> cable that has the right plug on each end and it should work.  The
> audio goes into the red and white RCA sockets as expected.  Until you
> get an S-Video cable you can use the yellow composite video RCA
> socket, but you will find the S-Video option gives a much better
> picture.

Ah, ok - I wasn't exactly sure that the 'S-VHS' out on the satbox, would
equate/work with 'S-Video' inputs. The PVR-150 here only has a S-Video
& Composite in (no DIN/cvbs in) and came with a patch cable with the
4pin plug each end for the s-video hookup - that's what I'll use.


>
> Here is the channel change script I use, with the call to the audio
> channel fix at the end of it:
>
//snip//
>
>
> Note that this is set up for my PVR-500 - you may possibly need to
> adjust the audio-input numbers for a PVR-150.  The v4l2-ctl -f 420
> line tunes the TV tuner to an empty frequency, so that it will not
> produce audio that gets mixed with the wanted audio signal by the
> driver bug.  You will need to select a frequency that is empty where
> you are.  And remember that, some time in the future when it has all
> been working nicely, if you suddenly get audio distortion again, then
> something may have started transmitting on your chosen frequency.

..gotcha, and thanks for the script example - shouldn't be hard to find
clear frequency now-a-days ;)


>
> When setting up the PVR-150 to use the S-Video or composite inputs,
> you need to go into mythtv-setup and go to Input Connections.  You
> will currently have an input connection set up on:
>
>   [MPEG : /dev/video0] (Tuner)
>
> and you need to change the connection to be on:
>
>   [MPEG : /dev/video0] (S-Video)
>
> or
>
>   [MPEG : /dev/video0] (Composite)
>
> Just copy the setup you currently have for (Tuner) and I think it
> should work.

Yep, that's how the picture looked in my mind for setup ; when I get a
spare moment, I'll give it a whirl and post back results. Thanks for all
your advice/help =)

Cheers!