[pvrusb2] Wintv PVR USB2 - no signal

[Daniel Pope]

Thanks for your quick reply.

No further message about the cx2341x firmware.

I tried recording the stream to an mpeg file but, as you predicted, I 
ended up with an empty file.

I confess I didn't try the sysfs thing - I've managed to avoid getting 
to involved with the driver up to now - but did try the connection with 
xawTV. Oddly, when starting xawTV I saw a light appear on the box that 
I'd not seen before... However, I could get no signal on composite 
despite plugging my DVD player into it. A quick dmesg | tail -n 50 
revealed no record of the box, so I powered down the Wintv unit and 
started it up again. The message below then appeared on checking, but 
xawTV wouldn't run - the terminal told me it couldn't get access to the 
device at /dev/video0.

I've tried this a couple of times with no luck and, given my experiences 
in both Windows and Linux, I get the distinct impression I'm flogging a 
dead horse here. I appreciate your help - any last ideas before I get 
back to my ebay seller..?

Many thanks again,

Dan

Mike Isely wrote:
> On Thu, 11 Dec 2008, Daniel Pope wrote:
>
>    [...]
>
>   
>> [  285.660478] firmware: requesting v4l-cx2341x-enc.fw
>>
>> ...which as far as I can make out with my limited knowledge but from two 
>> days of googling is all good.
>>     
>
> Yes.  About that last line - I presume there wasn't any error following 
> that line about an inability to locate the cx2341x firmware?  That 
> firmware image is the program for the mpeg encoder chip, which is 
> obviously needed to produce video.
>
>
>   
>> However, running mplayer /dev/video0 just gives me:
>> MPlayer 1.0rc2-4.3.2 (C) 2000-2007 MPlayer Team
>> CPU: AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 4200+ (Family: 15, Model: 
>> 43, Stepping: 1)
>> CPUflags:  MMX: 1 MMX2: 1 3DNow: 1 3DNow2: 1 SSE: 1 SSE2: 1
>> Compiled with runtime CPU detection.
>>
>> Playing /dev/video0.
>>
>> ..though no mplayer window opens. When I hit ctrl+c I get:
>>
>> MPlayer interrupted by signal 2 in module: demux_open
>>
>> Running scantv just gives me a whole pile of 'no station' results, and a 
>> scan within Mythtv show 0% signal and no stations found.
>>
>> (Just to cover the obvious - yes it is plugged into a working ariel)
>>
>> I've also tried the device in Windows and the Hauppage software, when 
>> scanning, scans for a couple of seconds then tells me there's no signal.
>> Is this a firmware / driver issue, or have I bought a duff Wintv box..?
>>     
>
> That's not a good sign.  If it won't work in Windows or Linux then 
> you've just ruled out most of the host software as being a cause :-(  
> (Unless you hit bugs in both which seems unlikely.)
>
> The fact that you are able to communicate with the device well enough 
> for the Linux driver to detect everything it has reported means that the 
> FX2 microcontroller is healthy.  You might have a broken tuner section.  
> Without a signal, the encoder can't do its job thus no data.  Here's a 
> couple things you can try:
>
> 1. Instead of running mplayer directly, copy the output to a file for a 
> little while.  Perhaps try "cat /dev/video0 >/tmp/foo.mpg" and then hit 
> Ctrl-C after about 10 seconds.  Is the file zero length?  If it saved a 
> bunch of stuff then try playing that file through mplayer.  Though I'd 
> bet that you'll get a zero length file.  The idea here is to rule out 
> any mplayer issues.
>
> 2. Try reading the composite or s-video inputs instead of the TV input.  
> You can use the driver's sysfs to switch this or it can be directly 
> selected from within xawtv.  Doing this will allow you to run the device 
> without needing a working tuner section.  For a video feed, you can jack 
> a DVD player, camcorder, VHS player into it - anything which emits a 
> composite or s-video signal.  If the tuner is fried, then this will 
> still work.
>
> You could also try test #2 with Windows.
>
> I could see a scenario where a previous owner got his box zapped by, 
> say, an EMP from a nearby lightning strike - and then he sold it to you.  
> The circuitry most exposed to that sort of thing will be the tuner 
> section.
>
>
>   
>> Many thanks in advance for your help (this forum has been invaluable in 
>> getting me this far) and apologies for the lengthy post.
>>     
>
> I've written far more lengthy posts than what you have here :-)
>
>   -Mike
>
>
>