I think I've read most of the postings about getting the PVR-250 to work, however, I'm still getting the "tveeprom: tuner = <unknown>" error on boot.

Things I've tried so far...

1. Commented out the "tuner type = X" in the /etc/mythtv/modules/ivtv file
2. Tried "tuner type = 2"
3. Tried "tuner type = 39"
4. Tried "tuner type = 50"
5. Tried to install the latest ivtv driver using the "OneFiftyInstallation" instructions on KnoppMythWiki. This, however, gave me compile errors because 0.3.9 version of ivtv seemed incompatible with the myth kernel supplied with R5R16.

What else can I try?

Your best bet is to take a step back from the bleeding edge. Search here for recent success stories with the newer IVTV 0.3.x drivers. 0.3.8, 0.3.7, ... and the model 980. It seems like some of the type 50 cards also need some special config options for the driver.

Checking the IVTV mailing list archives is also indicated... http://www.gossamer-threads.com/lists/ivtv/devel/

I took your advice and tried a more stable driver. In fact, I found someone with the same card..

http://forum.byopvr.com/dvr/index.php/topic,3306.0.html

However, I'm still getting the error and I'm stuck watching the Home Shopping Network.

Any other options I should explore?

What compile error are you getting? I was able to compile 3.9 IVTV just the other day. I think all I had to do was untar the kernel sources in /usr/src

What channel is HSN on for you? If it's 5 or 6 then you've most likely chosen the wrong frequency set. Exit the front end, hit Alt-S (which will run mythtv-setup for you) and change that on the 3rd screen under "General". In the US and CA your choices are us-cable or us-cable-hrc, pick the opposite one from what you have now. When you're done, exit mythtv-setup and hit Alt-M to restart the MythTV front end.

yeah, i tried the different frequency.

still no luck....