I'm having some issues with my current remote setup that are resulting in hard Linux lockups under the right conditions.

Currently I'm using a Streamzap PC remote with R5A22. All is well as long as I don't send rapid repeat keystrokes from another remote to control other devices (DVD player, Xbox, satellite receiver, etc).

The Streamzap receiver will pick up these stray signals (receiver light flashes wildly) and frequently locks up the MythTV PC in such a way that a hard reset is needed. It took a while to narrow this down, but now I can reproduce the crashes at will.

This is most troublesome with the Xbox. I've installed XBMC on the Xbox and use it daily to play music and watch movies. There's a lot of scrolling through menus, FF/RW and skipping ahead done with XBMC, apparently this creates undue IR traffic that either the Streamzap or Lirc isn't handling correctly. Normal MythTV usage does not produce these lockup conditions, so far I've only been able to get MythTV to crash when controlling other IR devices.

If theres a fix or workaround for this issue, I'd much rather fix the Streamzap than replace it -- it works quite nicely with MythTv. Initially I was using the receiver that came with my PRV-150, it never locked up Linux, but I quickly grew tired of it's cludgy IR reception. It would commonly misinterperate IR input combinations or miss keystrokes completely.

If someone could recommend a workaround for this problem I'd really appreciate it, otherwise maybe replacement recommendations on another IR receiver/remote combination?

I'm considering buying a PCI USB card to connect the Streamzap to while disabling the onboard USB hub, maybe that might help.

A fresh install of R5A26 also resulted in the same problem. Anyhow, here's my hardware config:

Abit VT7 mainboard (Via PT880 Chipset)
P4 2.8Ghz HT
Hauppauge PVR-150
HD5000 HD Tuner
PNY GeForce 6200
SB Live 5.1

Thanks!

I find it odd that not many others have experienced this problem. I wonder if there are other installations out there where the Streamzap is the culprit but not a suspect.

Then again I haven't heard of anyone else using an Abit VT7 mainboard, that with the Streamzap could just be an ugly combination -- but I doubt it.

For what it's worth, I pulled the plug on the Streamzap remote and installed a Microsoft MCE 2005 USB remote (part #A90-00007). So far, not a single lockup (and I've been diligently trying).

When the Streamzap was installed, I was consistently able to get it to crash Linux in under 30 seconds. Since it's been replaced, I've tried crashing MythTV by randomly pressing other remote buttons repeatedly (until I felt silly doing so).

So far (knock on wood) it's looking good. A few more days of normal use without a crash will convince me that this is an issue I can put to bed.

Hey mooselander, I guess I was having the same problem as you, since my machine hasn't crashed in 3 days since I unplugged my Streamzap controller.

I too have an MCE remote, but I had read that the 2005 version wasn't working with lirc - has this changed in the latest version? I have this remote: http://www.pcalchemy.com/product_info.p ... f11ac33c6d

Where did you get the part number from?

I'd also read that the MCE 2005 didn't work, but I can attest that it does work fine. Haven't had an issue with it so far (R5A22 / Lirc 0.7.2).

The part number is Microsoft's PN for the kit itself. The remote has a number on the battery cover: Model 1039 and the receiver is a model 1040. From the looks of the picture in your link, I'd guess you have the same thing -- they look identical.

To get them both working, use the driver and instructions here: http://blatter.com/mceusb

There were a couple slight changes that needed to be made to the instructions listed above. If you read docdaily's notes (towards the end of this thread http://mysettopbox.tv/phpBB2/viewtopic. ... ht=blatter) it should be obvious what you'll need to do differently.

I had it working (with instructions from both links) in about 5 minutes.

I think I might have an issue with the StreamZap remote as well.

I haven't tried unplugging it to test my theory, but I've gotten a few system lock ups when exiting MythTV using the StreamZap.

I have noticed that my regular TV remote will make the light on the StreamZap receiver blink.

I really like the way the StreamZap feels and operates. Hopefully, someone will figure this out.

I have the exact same problem. What you're not seeing is the crash stacktrace. Try stopping your X server so you see your console screen again, and then use your other remotes for a while until such a point that the Streamzap USB module locks up your system. You'll then we the stacktrace. I found this because of a Nvidia bugs that were locking my X server, so I wired my remote to stop the X server with the 'power' button. Then I found the other culprit for my hangs, the Streamzap module, via the crash dump. Now I routinely unload the streamzap USB lirc driver. And when I go to use it again, I reload it. Quite inconvenient (sp), but now my system never locks up.

My states : Athlon64 system running Gentoo, and lirc 0.7.2 . I'm not at home right now or I'd specify more specifics.

-Ack

Well, the problem with the Streamzap appears to now be fixed, with 0.8.0 pre3 and a nice little patch fix from one of the folks on the LIRC list. I assume this will be included into the CVS soon. Check the LIRC list for the patch.