I'm currently running KnoppMyth R4V5.
The backend machine has a HD-2000 tuner card and the frontend machine
is a stand alone client.

Things work pretty well. I can record shows, watch them smoothly, etc.
I can even watch live TV. However I'm having problems changing
the channel when watching live TV.

When I change the channel, I get about 3 seconds of video from the new
channel, and the picture freezes. MythTV frontend prints out the following
messages over and over again:
2004-11-06 23:23:59 prebuffering pause
waiting for free video buffers timed out
2004-11-06 23:24:01 prebuffering pause
waiting for free video buffers timed out
2004-11-06 23:24:03 prebuffering pause

The backend acknowledges the channel change. The ringbuf datestamp
keeps updating every second, but the file size doesn't change at all.

If I ctrl-c the frontend (doesn't respond to escape) and restart and
watch live TV, I can successfully watch the new channel. (The backend
detects this, shutdowns down the previous live TV session and starts
up a new one.)

I'm also running a couple of Hauppauge 250's (in another backend machine) and can change the channel on these just fine.

This seems like a backend issue.
Any suggestions/thoughts?

Thanks,

enone

Tell us more about your setup. What processor/motherboard/video are you using for the frontend? Are you using XvMC video on nVidia? Inquiring and occasionally helpful minds want to know. Me too.

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also how are the machines connected wired 100Mb or wireless?

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Have a question search the forum and have a look at the KnoppMythWiki.

Xsecrets

My frontend is:
P4 2.8Hz non-HT w/ 1GB of RAM
It is a somewhat generic Intel MB 845G (in a Compact Evo)
I'm running an nVidia 6800 with XvMC with latest driver (6629) and I also ran successfully under the penultimate one (6111).

I was having a lot of problems with CPU load and playing video on the frontend until I shutdown/disabled mythbackend and mysql:
http://knoppmythwiki.homelinux.org/inde ... nlyInstall

Now mythfrontend connects directly to the backend machine. Skipping commericals works great and the CPU is relatively low. (Although I still get an occasional "prebuffering pause" reported by mythfrontend.)

The backend is:
P4 2.8Hz non-HT w/ 512MB of RAM
Its a Dell Dimension 2400 with another Intel MB.

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The connection beween the frontend and backend is wired 100Mb/s.
I've confirmed large file transfers at 9-10MB/s. Large HDTV shows (CSI @ 1080i) takes about 2MB/s.

Are you using a remote and IR receiver and LIRC on your frontend?

Ah. I thought so.

Your problem is XvMC. This "play a few seconds and hang" is one of the many glitches that make XvMC non-functional under Myth. Change to Xv and this problem will go away.

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Ah, Thank you Liv2Cod, I've been able to confirm that
switching channels works with XvMC disabled.

Unfortunately, with XvMC disabled, my CPU idle drops to zero and my frontend spits up "prebuffering pause" like it has a bad case of stomach flu.
It really isn't watchable. Most of this load is from mythfrontend, with
some X11.

With XvMC enabled, my cpu idle is 85%. And things are butter smooth
as long as I don't try to change the channel or do too much OSD stuff.

Hmm, I wonder how fast of a CPU I would actually need. This current frontend is a loaner, so I need to get something else eventually, but I'd like to make sure whatever I get is going to work without XvMC.

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I haven't tried any IR remote stuff. The frontend is close to the couch, although my eventually be moved into a closet. I would prefer and Radio based solution.

I've tried my Gyration mouse/wand, but it didn't seem to just work. (Works in windows and mac without explicit installing software.) Although the Gryation keyboard does seem to work just fine.