Mailing List Archive

VIA Workaround
Hey everybody,

I've spent the past week trying to get something out of my PVR500 card
and this is whats up.
I have a Shuttle SK43G, which has a VIA 400 chipset (known to have
issues with hauppaugge).
I installed knoppmyth R5A16, and any attempt to access the card (using
cat /dev/video0 or dev/video1) resulted in the computer hanging.
I followed various guides that had me altering files, through some
combination I managed to get my comp to stop hanging, but still no sign
of life from the PVR 500. I tried installing the ivtv-0.4.0 driver but
saw little change (then again by the time I installed ivtv4, I had made
a million other changes, so maybe that is part of the problem)

I found out that someone had gotten a PVR500 to work on a SK43G by
underclocking the CPU, I did that but saw no changes.

I was ready to throw in the towel when I decided to see if the card ran
in windows, so I installed windows media center, and installed GBPVR,
and after about 10 minutes of tweaking got it to function flawlessly.

So today I uninstalled windows, and am trying another knoppmyth install
with the new ivt-0.4.0 driver....I guess DOS partitioned my SATA in
such a way that it is making this install vrey difficult, when I have
cooled down I will try and clear it up.

But I'd basically like to know what this means -- both tuners of my
PVR500 run well under windows using the Hauppauge Driver, but under
linux and mythTV (which i'd prefer to use) the system basically hangs.

Any ideas?

SHUTTLE SK43G
SATA 320 HD
DVD-RW
512 DIMM MEMORY
HAUPPAUGE PVR500

Thanks everyone (btw I'm new to the ivtv mailinglist, and mailing lists
in general) I look forward to your advice.

-danny
VIA Workaround [ In reply to ]
Okay I did a fresh install with everything done by the book.

In BIOS I underclocked my CPU and enable Fast Write

Installed Knoppmyth R5A16
Installed IVTV-0.4.0
Loaded the firmware files
Used ivtvctl to set the correct signal

Then tried cat /dev/video0 > /tmp/temp1.mpg
Computer Locks Up....

Why does it work in windows and not in Linux? Someone please, any
advice.

On Monday, October 10, 2005, at 09:17 PM, akbackup@cox.net wrote:

> Hey everybody,
>
> I've spent the past week trying to get something out of my PVR500 card
> and this is whats up.
> I have a Shuttle SK43G, which has a VIA 400 chipset (known to have
> issues with hauppaugge).
> I installed knoppmyth R5A16, and any attempt to access the card (using
> cat /dev/video0 or dev/video1) resulted in the computer hanging.
> I followed various guides that had me altering files, through some
> combination I managed to get my comp to stop hanging, but still no
> sign of life from the PVR 500. I tried installing the ivtv-0.4.0
> driver but saw little change (then again by the time I installed
> ivtv4, I had made a million other changes, so maybe that is part of
> the problem)
>
> I found out that someone had gotten a PVR500 to work on a SK43G by
> underclocking the CPU, I did that but saw no changes.
>
> I was ready to throw in the towel when I decided to see if the card
> ran in windows, so I installed windows media center, and installed
> GBPVR, and after about 10 minutes of tweaking got it to function
> flawlessly.
>
> So today I uninstalled windows, and am trying another knoppmyth
> install with the new ivt-0.4.0 driver....I guess DOS partitioned my
> SATA in such a way that it is making this install vrey difficult, when
> I have cooled down I will try and clear it up.
>
> But I'd basically like to know what this means -- both tuners of my
> PVR500 run well under windows using the Hauppauge Driver, but under
> linux and mythTV (which i'd prefer to use) the system basically hangs.
>
> Any ideas?
>
> SHUTTLE SK43G
> SATA 320 HD
> DVD-RW
> 512 DIMM MEMORY
> HAUPPAUGE PVR500
>
> Thanks everyone (btw I'm new to the ivtv mailinglist, and mailing
> lists in general) I look forward to your advice.
>
> -danny
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> ivtv-users mailing list
> ivtv-users@ivtvdriver.org
> http://ivtvdriver.org/mailman/listinfo/ivtv-users
>
VIA Workaround [ In reply to ]
> Why does it work in windows and not in Linux? Someone please, any
> advice.

Heh, we'd all love to know. It's a Linux i2c problem that causes it,
not a straight hardware conflict, I'm pretty sure.
VIA Workaround [ In reply to ]
Really?

Wow, that's good news, as I am stuck with the hardware.

Well I guess I will just use some nasty windows PVR software until the
i2c problem is worked out. If any of the developers need me to run
tests on my system, I'd be happy to.

Its a shame, I really did like everything about MythTV.

-danny

On Wednesday, October 12, 2005, at 01:31 AM, Adam Forsyth wrote:

>> Why does it work in windows and not in Linux? Someone please, any
>> advice.
>
> Heh, we'd all love to know. It's a Linux i2c problem that causes it,
> not a straight hardware conflict, I'm pretty sure.
>
> _______________________________________________
> ivtv-users mailing list
> ivtv-users@ivtvdriver.org
> http://ivtvdriver.org/mailman/listinfo/ivtv-users
>
VIA Workaround [ In reply to ]
You did upgrade your BIOS to the newest version first right to make
sure that doesn't fix it?

On 10/12/05, akbackup@cox.net <akbackup@cox.net> wrote:
> Really?
>
> Wow, that's good news, as I am stuck with the hardware.
>
> Well I guess I will just use some nasty windows PVR software until the
> i2c problem is worked out. If any of the developers need me to run
> tests on my system, I'd be happy to.
>
> Its a shame, I really did like everything about MythTV.
>
> -danny
>
> On Wednesday, October 12, 2005, at 01:31 AM, Adam Forsyth wrote:
>
> >> Why does it work in windows and not in Linux? Someone please, any
> >> advice.
> >
> > Heh, we'd all love to know. It's a Linux i2c problem that causes it,
> > not a straight hardware conflict, I'm pretty sure.
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > ivtv-users mailing list
> > ivtv-users@ivtvdriver.org
> > http://ivtvdriver.org/mailman/listinfo/ivtv-users
> >
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> ivtv-users mailing list
> ivtv-users@ivtvdriver.org
> http://ivtvdriver.org/mailman/listinfo/ivtv-users
>
VIA Workaround [ In reply to ]
Unfortunately my system came with Shuttle's latest BIOS Update.

And from the look of their BIOS history, it doesn't seem like they even
attempted to address the problem like ASUS, although I know for a fact
that plenty of people have contacted them about this problem. (Which by
the way they have not yet replied back to me).

You can see the BIOS History here:
http://www.shuttle.com/share/fae/hq/download/bios_rdm/readmefx43g.htm

Hauppauge recommended installing the ATI 4-in-1 update, but I believe
that that is a windows application.


Still Open to suggestions

-danny

On Wednesday, October 12, 2005, at 02:29 AM, Adam Forsyth wrote:

> You did upgrade your BIOS to the newest version first right to make
> sure that doesn't fix it?
>
> On 10/12/05, akbackup@cox.net <akbackup@cox.net> wrote:
>> Really?
>>
>> Wow, that's good news, as I am stuck with the hardware.
>>
>> Well I guess I will just use some nasty windows PVR software until the
>> i2c problem is worked out. If any of the developers need me to run
>> tests on my system, I'd be happy to.
>>
>> Its a shame, I really did like everything about MythTV.
>>
>> -danny
>>
>> On Wednesday, October 12, 2005, at 01:31 AM, Adam Forsyth wrote:
>>
>>>> Why does it work in windows and not in Linux? Someone please, any
>>>> advice.
>>>
>>> Heh, we'd all love to know. It's a Linux i2c problem that causes it,
>>> not a straight hardware conflict, I'm pretty sure.
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> ivtv-users mailing list
>>> ivtv-users@ivtvdriver.org
>>> http://ivtvdriver.org/mailman/listinfo/ivtv-users
>>>
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> ivtv-users mailing list
>> ivtv-users@ivtvdriver.org
>> http://ivtvdriver.org/mailman/listinfo/ivtv-users
>>
>
> _______________________________________________
> ivtv-users mailing list
> ivtv-users@ivtvdriver.org
> http://ivtvdriver.org/mailman/listinfo/ivtv-users
>
VIA Workaround [ In reply to ]
man i didn't realize there was a known via/haupauge issue. my
mythbox appears to work most of the time but reboots ocassionally.
ocassionally a lot, and sometime not a lot. is this symptomatic of
the problems?

Paul

On 10/12/05, Adam Forsyth <agforsyth@gmail.com> wrote:
> You did upgrade your BIOS to the newest version first right to make
> sure that doesn't fix it?
>
> On 10/12/05, akbackup@cox.net <akbackup@cox.net> wrote:
> > Really?
> >
> > Wow, that's good news, as I am stuck with the hardware.
> >
> > Well I guess I will just use some nasty windows PVR software until the
> > i2c problem is worked out. If any of the developers need me to run
> > tests on my system, I'd be happy to.
> >
> > Its a shame, I really did like everything about MythTV.
> >
> > -danny
> >
> > On Wednesday, October 12, 2005, at 01:31 AM, Adam Forsyth wrote:
> >
> > >> Why does it work in windows and not in Linux? Someone please, any
> > >> advice.
> > >
> > > Heh, we'd all love to know. It's a Linux i2c problem that causes it,
> > > not a straight hardware conflict, I'm pretty sure.
> > >
> > > _______________________________________________
> > > ivtv-users mailing list
> > > ivtv-users@ivtvdriver.org
> > > http://ivtvdriver.org/mailman/listinfo/ivtv-users
> > >
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > ivtv-users mailing list
> > ivtv-users@ivtvdriver.org
> > http://ivtvdriver.org/mailman/listinfo/ivtv-users
> >
>
> _______________________________________________
> ivtv-users mailing list
> ivtv-users@ivtvdriver.org
> http://ivtvdriver.org/mailman/listinfo/ivtv-users
>
VIA Workaround [ In reply to ]
> Hauppauge recommended installing the ATI 4-in-1 update, but I believe
> that that is a windows application.

Well I don't know what that updtes but if it changes bios settings
then it will stick around if you run windows then reboot to linux...
VIA Workaround [ In reply to ]
What if you omit "alias char-major dev_i2c" from modprobe.conf?
Is the i2c required for video capture?

>>Why does it work in windows and not in Linux? Someone please, any
>>advice.
>>
>>
>
>Heh, we'd all love to know. It's a Linux i2c problem that causes it,
>not a straight hardware conflict, I'm pretty sure.
>
>
>
VIA Workaround [ In reply to ]
Negative,

Doesn't stop the lockups.

Keep 'em coming.



(is there anything I can learn from playing with ivtvctl?)


-danny

On Wednesday, October 12, 2005, at 04:41 PM, Allan McIntosh wrote:

>
> What if you omit "alias char-major dev_i2c" from modprobe.conf?
> Is the i2c required for video capture?
>
>>> Why does it work in windows and not in Linux? Someone please, any
>>> advice.
>>>
>>
>> Heh, we'd all love to know. It's a Linux i2c problem that causes it,
>> not a straight hardware conflict, I'm pretty sure.
>>
>>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> ivtv-users mailing list
> ivtv-users@ivtvdriver.org
> http://ivtvdriver.org/mailman/listinfo/ivtv-users
>
VIA Workaround [ In reply to ]
I had this happen to me too. I sent this message a in April, but I wasn't a
subscriber then, so the post got rejected.

I got my pvr500 to stop resetting the machine - it appears to be a VIA chipset
problem.

I posted this to the ivtv list a few weeks ago, but since I'm not a subscriber
I guess the message didn't make it. Would you send this out so the list gets
the benefit. Thanks.
--Dean

---- Original message -----

I was browsing the archives and came across this post a few days ago.

http://www.gossamer-threads.com/lists/ivtv/devel/18811

I *had* the same problem and want to share my solution. YMMV. I have a
Shuttle XPC SN45G V3 box - not sure about the exact mobo, but it is a VIA chipset.

I suspected the problem was likely a hardware problem (as the post suggested)
and I began playing around with my BIOS settings. Not sure which of the
following switches fixed the problem, but here's what I remember toggling just
before the resets went away:

Advanced Chipset Features
- CPU & PCI Bus Control
- PCI1 Post Write: Enabled
- PCI2 Post Write: Enabled
- PCI Delay Transaction: Enabled
- PCI Bus Parking: Enabled


--Dean - Unscrambler of eggs
--
Take your time, take your chances
[2045.2, 273.7] Apparent Rennerian
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It matters not how strait the gate / How charged with punishment the scroll
I am the master of my fate / I am the captain of my soul. -- Invictus --
-- William E Henley --


--
--Dean - Unscrambler of eggs
--
Take your time, take your chances
[3278.7 km, 273.4] Apparent Rennerian
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It matters not how strait the gate / How charged with punishment the scroll
I am the master of my fate / I am the captain of my soul. -- Invictus --
-- William E Henley --
Re: VIA Workaround [ In reply to ]
Hello, I can just relay what I had done with my VIA KT 400 box.
I run gentoo, and in the kernel config I unselected all power management and added
the following options to the boot line in grub.conf:
noapic nolapic pci=noacpi acpi=off

This seems to make it work fine, I just have a PVR-350 so the most I have is one
recording while I am watching a different recording.

I have DMA enabled on all my drives(3 of them in LVM2 as vg myth and mounted as /mythtv)

The draw back is that to shutdown and reboot the box I have to issue
shutdown -h now

and then after it has finished its shutdown process(3 minutes or so) the box is still powered. I have
to manually turn it off and back on again. This can be tricky as the TV out doesn't display the
shutdown process so I have to kind of listen for the hard drives to spin down, then I wait a little
longer.
The up side is that I don't expect to turn this off much.
I kind of think that I want to test compiling power management features back into the kernel and
seeing if I can make some combo work, but I like watching TV more then compiling the kernel, so
I can only share what has worked for me and hope it helps someone else.
Thank you for your time and have a good day