On 10/3/07, leifontheroad <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Hi, > > I'm trying to figure out my options for dealing with the ivtv DMA timeout > issues. Here's what I typically experience: > > - System is fine for a day or so, and then my PVR500 tuners are unusable. > My 250 seems to continue working just fine (not sure why). > - At this point, the entire system starts to degrade (things get pretty > slow, VNC sessions cause freeze ups, attempts to watch/record something on > one of the non-operational PVR150 tuners cause hardware freezes, and a > reboot is usually necessary). Not sure how much of this is related to DMA > timeout, and how much is the result of other gremlins in my setup. > - I have the following errors in my logs, which seem pretty typical of > other people's experience with this problem: > > /var/log/mythtv/mythbackend.log: > > Error: select timeout - ivtv driver has stopped responding > > /var/log/messages: > > ivtv1: DMA TIMEOUT 00000001 > > Here's my system: > > - I'm running mythtv 0.20.2 on CentOS 5 (2.6.18 kernel) with ivtv 0.10.5with > an ASUS M2NPV-VM mobo. I used to run FC5 (with the same HW), but > rebuilt my box recently due to frustrations over the frequent EOL of FC > releases. > - I have a PVR250 and a PVR500 (2x 150) (ivtv init stuff attached) > > Now, I'm somewhat of a linux novice. I've been running mythtv for about 5 > years, so I'm not a complete newbie, but have only ever used packages from > apt-get or other established repositories. I haven't ever compiled my own > kernel or anything like that. My only real experience with Linux is setting > up and using Mythtv (e.g. I don't run Linux at work or anything like > that). > > I see that there's a potential fix to this DMA timeout issue in the > 0.10.6version of IVTV, but I am *really* confused by what my options are for > taking advantage of this fix. I've read through the ivtv mailing list as > well as the mythtv lists, and googled for more info about this. And while I > see that a few people have posted questions about how to ingest this new > driver in a package-based system, I haven't seen an answer that really seems > to spell out the options. So here's what I think my options are for getting > rid of the DMA timeout issues. Any feedback would be much appreciated: > > 1. Wait until 0.10.6 is stable and available in a package repository (like > apt-get) - I really don't want to do this since it will likely cause massive > instability and WAF pain until such time as 0.10.6 is stable. > > 2. Somehow remove the current ivtv drivers by using something like yum > remove, and then build/install the 0.10.6 version (using make install with > this: http://ivtvdriver.org/viewcvs/ivtv/branches/0.10.tar.gz?view=tar). > Or will removing the ivtv packages remove much more than just the ivtv > driver? If not, what's the proper way to build and install new versions of > this driver and not screw up all my packages and dependencies? > > 3. Will this be any better under FC7 and packages from repositories? (I > think the answer is no, but since my CentOS setup has been so unstable, I'm > contemplating a return to the land of Fedora). > > 4. Is there another way to work around this problem that doesn't require > updating drivers or disabling DMA? > > I think #2 is the direction I want to go, I'm just not sure what the > proper steps are. Again, any help would be much appreciated. > > - Leif > >
I'll be interested to see which option you choose. I'm pretty much in the same boat with the DMA errors wreaking havoc with mythtv, although I'm using Ubuntu Feisty, which uses 0.10.1. On this list: http://www.gossamer-threads.com/lists/ivtv/users/36720 I was told that a version of the ivtv driver that fixes the DMA error problem can be found at www.linuxtv.org. Not sure if you had seen that reference in the searching you've done already. This list doesn't see that much traffic, so I tried my question on the mythtv-users list. I got one response claiming that I would need to compile a custom kernel in order to replace the driver, and another stating that it wasn't necessary. As for compiling a custom kernel, I came accross: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Kernel/Compile Blowing by the strongly worded "at your own risk" disclaimer on the top of the page, note the "Reasons for NOT compiling a custom kernel" Now, for the sake of argument, let us suppose I am able to muddle through the directions on the above link without "hosing my box". Unfortunately, I wouldn't know where to start with the driver code I downloaded from linuxtv.org. So I guess I am saying we are most likely stuck with a variation on your #1 - wait until a release of our favorite distro becomes available that uses a kernel containing a version of ivtv that fixes the DMA problem.... In the meantime, I have tried to tweak my scheduling of recordings to minimize the use of the PVR-150. It's sort of sad that this card, touted as "just works out of the box with Mythtv" is the critical weak link in my setup...
_______________________________________________ ivtv-users mailing list [email protected] http://ivtvdriver.org/mailman/listinfo/ivtv-users
