Re: MythTV HD Setup

A few other things I've discovered about the IonITX board:

* I couldn't work out why cpufreq wasn't working ... until I read that the Atom does not support CPU Frequency
Scaling, d'oh!

* mythtv-backend was segfaulting on initial startup during boot. I worked out this was because the driver
for my DVB-S2 card loads firmware, and if the myth backend is started before this has completed, it
crashes. The fix is to edit /etc/init.d/mythtv-backend, add "microcode.ctl" to the Required-Start:
line, then run "update-rc.d mythtv-backend defaults". This ensures that the myth backend waits until
the microcode is loaded before trying to start.

I wrote a MySQL script to update the channels database with the correct Radio Times XMLTV ids, I'll post it if
anyone is interested.

Now just need to get lm-sensors working and I think I'll be done!

5.1 surround sound and HDMI

OK, I have discovered a problem with my new MythTV box that I haven't figured out the solution to yet.

Stereo recordings play back fine--that includes all SD recordings and perhaps some HD content. However, I
can't get 5.1 surround sound to play back.

Working with Doctor Who, recorded on BBC One HD. There are two audio channels with the broadcast, stereo and
5.1. I think the 5.1 is Dolby Digital AC3, need to check that. The stereo channel plays fine, as does the 5.1
channel if I downmix to stereo. But I can't get it to play as surround sound. My TV says it supports both DTS
and Dolby Digital so it ought to work.

Depending on the options I select, I either get left and right channels only (which in Doctor Who gives me the
soundtrack but no dialogue), or silence, or repetitive hissing white noise.

I'm assuming the white noise is DTS passthrough, which ought to be correct, but my TV isn't decoding it.
Maybe the format isn't right for the TV and I need to remix it somehow (with dmix?)

I'm going to keep hacking away at this but does anyone has any suggestions how to troubleshoot it?

Re: 5.1 surround sound and HDMI

Actually looks like this might not be an ALSA problem at all, but a restriction of the TV. I found some info on
Samsung's website:

"From the information I have, the C450 (TV) will only support 2.1 audio out of the optical audio output when
processing a signal from a digital source (HDMI), but will support 5.1 output from a coaxial source (cable)."

That's annoying. And the mobo doesn't have an S/PDIF socket to connect directly to the amplifier.

--- On Mon, 2/5/11, Michael Davis <slithy@...> wrote:

> From: Michael Davis <slithy@...>
> Subject: 5.1 surround sound and HDMI
> To: belfastlinux@...
> Date: Monday, 2 May, 2011, 17:20
> OK, I have discovered a problem with
> my new MythTV box that I haven't figured out the solution to
> yet.
> 
> Stereo recordings play back fine--that includes all SD
> recordings and perhaps some HD content. However, I can't get
> 5.1 surround sound to play back.
> 
> Working with Doctor Who, recorded on BBC One HD. There are
> two audio channels with the broadcast, stereo and 5.1. I
> think the 5.1 is Dolby Digital AC3, need to check that. The
> stereo channel plays fine, as does the 5.1 channel if I
> downmix to stereo. But I can't get it to play as surround
> sound. My TV says it supports both DTS and Dolby Digital so
> it ought to work.
> 

More on IONITX G-E and MythTV

Not sure if anyone is still interested in my MythTV setup, but anyway here's a few comments now that the
system has been running for a couple of weeks:

VIDEO

In general, the IONITX G-E board performs really well. No problems recording HD content and it plays back
flawlessly, with no tearing. Even using OSD didn't cause any jitters.

There are some artefacts when skipping back or forward through H.264 recordings, I guess while the video
syncs to the nearest I-frame.

AUDIO

The board can put 5.1 or 7.1 sound out over the HDMI port, but I discovered that my TV downsamples this to
stereo before passing it along the optical cable, which is REALLY ANNOYING. But apparently it is a feature
not a bug, something to do with DRM and HDCP.

Also the board has no optical out. Some of the IONITX boards do have a S/PDIF socket but not this one, though
there is space for one on the mobo and ALSA reports one analogue and two digital devices, so the hardware may
be there. Perhaps just a case of soldering on a socket?

For the meantime I'm making do with stereo output and Dolby Prologic II, which is pretty good but not quite as
good as it could be with proper digital output.

Possible solutions:

- see if it's possible to solder on a S/PDIF port
- use an external soundcard (USB audio with S/PDIF output)
- is there a splitter or amplifier which can take HDMI in, decode the sound (or send it along an optical cable)
and pass the video on to the TV?

Re: More on IONITX G-E and MythTV

Re: More on IONITX G-E and MythTV

Yeah, thanks for the update, hoping to build myself a new media box in
the coming months so the details are more than welcome.

Ryan

On Sun, May 8, 2011 at 6:26 PM, Michael Davis <slithy@...> wrote:
> Not sure if anyone is still interested in my MythTV setup, but anyway here's a few comments now that the
system has been running for a couple of weeks:TV.
>

--

-- 
Ryan Grieve
http://ryangrieve.com
----
R-R-R-R-R-R-R-R- | R-R-R-R-R-R-R-R- | R-R-R-R-R-R-R-R- | R-R-R-R-R-C-R-R-
B-B-S--S-SBBS--S | B-B-S--S-SBBS--S | B-B-S--S-SB---S- | -SBBS--S-SB---S-

Re: More on IONITX G-E and MythTV

25th May Meet

The last Wednesday of the month is upon us once again. Anyone fancy a
meet tomorrow (Wednesday 25th May) at 7pm in the Tap House?

Re: 25th May Meet

I'll give it a go, haven't made it in a month or two; won't be there
till a bit after 7 though.

G

From: Steven Wilkin <iamthebiscuit@...>
Subject: [blug-chat] 25th May Meet
Date: 2011-05-24 11:00:04 GMT

The last Wednesday of the month is upon us once again. Anyone fancy a
meet tomorrow (Wednesday 25th May) at 7pm in the Tap House?

Re: 25th May Meet

I'm meeting up with some guys beforehand to talk about front-end web
engineering:

https://bitbucket.org/earnubs/fronteng/wiki/Home

It's at 6:30pm in the Rumble Labs office, 21 Ormeau Avenue and all are
welcome!

It should last an hour or so and I'll stop in the Taphouse after.

Steve

On May 24, 9:06 pm, Geoff Macartney <geoff.macart...@...>
wrote:
> I'll give it a go, haven't made it in a month or two; won't be there
> till a bit after 7 though.
>
> G
>
>
>
> [ Attached Message ]From:Steven Wilkin
<iamthebisc...@...>To:Belfast Linux User Group
<belfastlinux@...>Date:Tue, 24 May 2011 04:00:04 -0700
(PDT)Local:Tues, May 24 2011 12:00 pmSubject:[blug-chat] 25th May MeetThe last Wednesday of the
month is upon us once again. Anyone fancy a
> meet tomorrow (Wednesday 25th May) at 7pm in the Tap House?