[pvrusb2] Wintv PVR USB2 - no signal

[Mike Isely]

On Thu, 11 Dec 2008, Daniel Pope wrote:

   [...]

> [  285.660478] firmware: requesting v4l-cx2341x-enc.fw
> 
> ...which as far as I can make out with my limited knowledge but from two 
> days of googling is all good.

Yes.  About that last line - I presume there wasn't any error following 
that line about an inability to locate the cx2341x firmware?  That 
firmware image is the program for the mpeg encoder chip, which is 
obviously needed to produce video.


> 
> However, running mplayer /dev/video0 just gives me:
> MPlayer 1.0rc2-4.3.2 (C) 2000-2007 MPlayer Team
> CPU: AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 4200+ (Family: 15, Model: 
> 43, Stepping: 1)
> CPUflags:  MMX: 1 MMX2: 1 3DNow: 1 3DNow2: 1 SSE: 1 SSE2: 1
> Compiled with runtime CPU detection.
> 
> Playing /dev/video0.
> 
> ..though no mplayer window opens. When I hit ctrl+c I get:
> 
> MPlayer interrupted by signal 2 in module: demux_open
> 
> Running scantv just gives me a whole pile of 'no station' results, and a 
> scan within Mythtv show 0% signal and no stations found.
> 
> (Just to cover the obvious - yes it is plugged into a working ariel)
> 
> I've also tried the device in Windows and the Hauppage software, when 
> scanning, scans for a couple of seconds then tells me there's no signal.
> Is this a firmware / driver issue, or have I bought a duff Wintv box..?

That's not a good sign.  If it won't work in Windows or Linux then 
you've just ruled out most of the host software as being a cause :-(  
(Unless you hit bugs in both which seems unlikely.)

The fact that you are able to communicate with the device well enough 
for the Linux driver to detect everything it has reported means that the 
FX2 microcontroller is healthy.  You might have a broken tuner section.  
Without a signal, the encoder can't do its job thus no data.  Here's a 
couple things you can try:

1. Instead of running mplayer directly, copy the output to a file for a 
little while.  Perhaps try "cat /dev/video0 >/tmp/foo.mpg" and then hit 
Ctrl-C after about 10 seconds.  Is the file zero length?  If it saved a 
bunch of stuff then try playing that file through mplayer.  Though I'd 
bet that you'll get a zero length file.  The idea here is to rule out 
any mplayer issues.

2. Try reading the composite or s-video inputs instead of the TV input.  
You can use the driver's sysfs to switch this or it can be directly 
selected from within xawtv.  Doing this will allow you to run the device 
without needing a working tuner section.  For a video feed, you can jack 
a DVD player, camcorder, VHS player into it - anything which emits a 
composite or s-video signal.  If the tuner is fried, then this will 
still work.

You could also try test #2 with Windows.

I could see a scenario where a previous owner got his box zapped by, 
say, an EMP from a nearby lightning strike - and then he sold it to you.  
The circuitry most exposed to that sort of thing will be the tuner 
section.


> 
> Many thanks in advance for your help (this forum has been invaluable in 
> getting me this far) and apologies for the lengthy post.

I've written far more lengthy posts than what you have here :-)

  -Mike


-- 

Mike Isely
isely @ pobox (dot) com
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