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Big problems. SOLVED
http://forum.linhes.org/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=18419		 Page 1 of 1
Author:  tophee [ Thu Jun 19, 2008 2:13 pm ]
Post subject:  Big problems. SOLVED
Hi - not quite sure where to put this... it seems to be a load of problems all at once. I will attempt to recount events as best I can.

1. Put DVD into Myth box. DVD began to play but crashed back to front end. Repaced DVD several times. Autoplay started as did DVD then crashed again.
2. Turned off Myth box completely, checked everything was securely plugged in. Turned back on.
3. DVD played correctly
4. Tried to watch live TV, discovered all program listings were unknown
5. Recalled that on reboot had message about CPU perimeters being wrong. I had corrected them. Went back into bios. Date was 2005 so corrected Rebooted
6. Checked for MySQL tables, a number had become corrupted. Fixed.
7. Tried to restart Myth backend. From frontend could not find recordings (however, ripped DVDs were in the video folder).
8. Rebooted to see if I'd cured loss of backend and it hadn't. Tried to watch live TV. Black screen. Counldn't get back to the menu. Opened a consol. Typed "pkill xinit" and I could only get back to the picture of Tux watching TV. Several reboots, still no backend, still no recordings, still couldn't watch tv.
9. Tried to go into mythtv-setup to see if there was a probelm with tuners. Deleted and recreated tuners, tried to rescan. Froze. Pkill xinit, back to tux and the tv.
10. Post on forum.

Any help? Thanks in advance.

Think it's in my sig, but R5F27 and hardware I thnk is upto date - might have a Hauppauge NovaT500 in there too.

Oh and, GAF dropping by the second.
Author:  jmckeown2 [ Thu Jun 19, 2008 3:40 pm ]
Post subject: 
That MoBo is getting a little elderly; it might be going senile. That would explain the date going back to 2005. Replacing the BIOS battery would fix that.
I'm not sure that would explain any of the other issues though.

In step 2, you mention checking everything was secure. Was that just the external connections? Did you open the case? Maybe the innards (esp. the CPU heatsink,) are overheating from a dust blanket, or even dust fouled. When you open it up to replace the BIOS battery take it out back with a can of compressed air.
Author:  ceenvee703 [ Thu Jun 19, 2008 4:17 pm ]
Post subject: 
I'd also check /var/log/mythtv/mythbackend.log and see if there are any clues as to what is making it unhappy.
Author:  tophee [ Fri Jun 20, 2008 12:18 am ]
Post subject: 
I hadn't thought of checking the battery. I think dust might be a contributing factor too.
As it happpens the case is open atm anyway, due to some summer overheating a month or so back when it was really hot here. So the connection check was internal and external.
As for the backend log, I'll have a look at that later today.
Thanks for starters.
Author:  tophee [ Fri Jun 20, 2008 12:30 pm ]
Post subject: 
Hi all,
I had a look in the mythfrontend and backend.logs abd boy were there a lot of enteries for the backend log. As there were so many I had to look through to decide which pieces to post. While doing this, a thought occured: at one point all the dates changed to 2005. I wondered, did I do the Repairs to the DB once I'd booted up with the wrong date?

I put the optimize_db.sh on my memory stick, copied it over. Ran it... and everything worked.

Now, what caused the original problem I don't know. BUT tomorrow I'm replacing the mobo battery.

Thanks to ceevee703 and jmckeown2 for the suggstions and pointing me in the right directions. If I had taken my time, perhaps I wouldn'tve compounded a small issue, however the other issues of DVD's not playing properly... well who knows. Perhaps the battery had fluctuated and the db was already having a hissy fit at that point coz the date had changed... as I say who knows, well I certainly don't.

Thanks
Author:  cliffsjunk [ Fri Jun 20, 2008 5:00 pm ]
Post subject: 
My understanding with the batteries is that a bad one will only hurt you
when the computer is powered off. When it is powered on it will even
run without a battery.

Expect more problems and prepare for them before they hit... At least
blow all the dust out and reseat all the boards and the RAM.

You might even:
Code:
apt-get update
apt-get install smartmontools
smartctl -t short /dev/hda
now wait for a couple minutes, it will tell you how long to wait then:
Code:
smartctl -a /dev/hda | less
from a root prompt. The last command will list out your
current hard disk status (if your hard disk is /dev/hda). Scan thru it
for anything that looks like it is saying there is an error. In particular
there is a line that says:
Quote:
SMART overall-health self-assessment test result: PASSED
and if it says something other than PASSED you have hard
disk problems.

Good luck,
Cliff
Author:  tophee [ Sat Jun 21, 2008 1:54 am ]
Post subject: 
Thanks for the suggestion. As soon as I've reinstated the network connection I'll do that.
Author:  jmckeown2 [ Sat Jun 21, 2008 10:47 am ]
Post subject: 
cliffsjunk wrote:
My understanding with the batteries is that a bad one will only hurt you
when the computer is powered off. When it is powered on it will even
run without a battery.

100% true. -- The problem is unexpected reboots. While I have more confidence in a KM Box than even a standard linux box; I've seen my KM box spontaneously reboot from a power glitch. (but not since I got my UPS :P) If you have a senile Mobo in a database server all hell WILL break loose after an unexpected reboot. Since MoBo batteries are usually under $2 it's cheap peace of mind. 3-4 years is good; but they can probably go longer. Probably longer than a cheap digital watch.

cliffsjunk wrote:
You might even ...install smartmontools...

My problem with SMART is that it misses a lot of problems. I fear a false sense of security.
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