[pvrusb2] Unable to get pvrusb2 to work under Ubuntu (more info).

[Mike Isely]

On Mon, 18 Sep 2006, Bent Lykkebo wrote:

> Thanks Mike and Renan for your very fast response. It helped to select 
> PVR-x50, now I can "Scan for channels", but I'm still unable to watch 
> TV. I have read in the mythtv mail-list that there are a fix for MPEG2 
> problem in MythTV for Hauppauge card, like pvrusb2. I have tried to svn 
> fixes, but cannot get svn to work for mythtv site. I will try again when 
> I get svn to work.

I don't have much to suggest here, unfortunately.  :-(


> 
> Another problem is that the "msp3400: chip reset failed" problem is 
> still there, sometimes. I live in Nepal and we have at lot problems with 
> the electricity, now we have & now we don't. And sometimes, when it come 
> back I get this msp3400 error message.
> 

That "msp3400: chip reset failed" message is the proverbial canary in the 
coal mine.  It's suggestive of a bigger problem.  This can happen when we 
lose control of the PVR USB2 device (other errors are possible but this 
seems to be the most common case).  Loss of control will happen if the FX2 
controller in the device crashes due to a power spike or dropout.  If you 
are getting "unclean" power then that might be a big issue for you.  One 
thing people don't always realize when dealing with external devices (such 
as the PVR USB2) is that these devices don't have the benefit of that big 
300+ watt power supply inside the PC, with all its internal filter caps.  
I've seen PCs survive 1/4 second power hits without a blink - without a 
UPS.  But the PVR USB2 device's power is just that cheap little switcher 
on the end of its cord.  It's going to be a lot more sensitve to power 
problems.  I would start by trying a surge protector if you haven't 
already.  That won't help with short power outages but if you're getting 
spiked then it should solve it.  Otherwise you may really need a UPS to 
clean this up - though even the smallest one will be plenty large enough.

  -Mike


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