Mailing List Archive: MythTV: Users

Help Diskless frontend

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kingmoffa at gmail

Oct 31, 2005, 3:18 AM

Post #1 of 31 (9182 views)
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Help Diskless frontend

Hi ,

I would like to setup a diskless mythtv frontend. I have a working
gentoo based installation working so far (pxe loader , nfs share based
kernel) , but this sucks for mythfrontend.

I noticed in an earlier post, someone mentioned they had something
similar using knoppymyth. Please could you explain a bit more in
detail.

Any other suggesstions?? Im thinking ramdisk may help.

A
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wigginp at mantech-wva

Oct 31, 2005, 6:14 AM

Post #2 of 31 (9117 views)
Permalink

Re: Help Diskless frontend [In reply to]

Out of curiosity, why does your setup "suck[s] for mythfrontend"? I was
planning on setting up a similar system (to get rid of the HD in my
frontend), but if your problems are the norm, I may have to rethink that
plan...

Phill

Adam Skinner wrote:

>Hi ,
>
>I would like to setup a diskless mythtv frontend. I have a working
>gentoo based installation working so far (pxe loader , nfs share based
>kernel) , but this sucks for mythfrontend.
>
>I noticed in an earlier post, someone mentioned they had something
>similar using knoppymyth. Please could you explain a bit more in
>detail.
>
>Any other suggesstions?? Im thinking ramdisk may help.
>
>A
>_______________________________________________
>mythtv-users mailing list
>mythtv-users[at]mythtv.org
>http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users
>
>

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ben_dash at yahoo

Oct 31, 2005, 7:27 AM

Post #3 of 31 (9119 views)
Permalink

Re: Help Diskless frontend [In reply to]

Adam,

Why do you think that your current gentoo nfs share
based diskless sucks for mythfrontend. My xBox is an
NFS rooted diskless and it seems to work great as a
frontend now that I finally have everything
configured. My only current problem is to figure out
how to get lirc to recognise the DVD remote and to
figure out how to change the colour of the xBox LED.

I'm planning on converting my nfs root to read only
and once I do that I think I'll be very happy.

Please let me know,

Thanks,

Ben

--- Adam Skinner <kingmoffa[at]gmail.com> wrote:

> Hi ,
>
> I would like to setup a diskless mythtv frontend. I
> have a working
> gentoo based installation working so far (pxe loader
> , nfs share based
> kernel) , but this sucks for mythfrontend.
>
> I noticed in an earlier post, someone mentioned they
> had something
> similar using knoppymyth. Please could you explain a
> bit more in
> detail.
>
> Any other suggesstions?? Im thinking ramdisk may
> help.
>
> A
> _______________________________________________
> mythtv-users mailing list
> mythtv-users[at]mythtv.org
>
http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users
>

-----------------------------------------------------
| o |
| _ /<_ |
|(_)>(_) |
|Ben Dash |
|Ask free questions - http://bensqanda.blogspot.com |
|My Blog - http://bensdailythoughts.blogspot.com |
|Info - http://bensinformationstation.blogspot.com |
|Workouts - http://bensworkouts.blogspot.com |
-----------------------------------------------------

__________________________________
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ben_dash at yahoo

Oct 31, 2005, 7:35 AM

Post #4 of 31 (9119 views)
Permalink

Re: Help Diskless frontend [In reply to]

My NFS root xBox is fine, however, I'm using a local
swap on the xBox fatx HDD in case that effects
anyone's choice.

This setup works great for me, if only I could get
lirc working :-(

Good luck,

Ben

--- Phill Wiggin <wigginp[at]mantech-wva.com> wrote:

> Out of curiosity, why does your setup "suck[s] for
> mythfrontend"? I was
> planning on setting up a similar system (to get rid
> of the HD in my
> frontend), but if your problems are the norm, I may
> have to rethink that
> plan...
>
> Phill
>
> Adam Skinner wrote:
>
> >Hi ,
> >
> >I would like to setup a diskless mythtv frontend. I
> have a working
> >gentoo based installation working so far (pxe
> loader , nfs share based
> >kernel) , but this sucks for mythfrontend.
> >
> >I noticed in an earlier post, someone mentioned
> they had something
> >similar using knoppymyth. Please could you explain
> a bit more in
> >detail.
> >
> >Any other suggesstions?? Im thinking ramdisk may
> help.
> >
> >A
> >_______________________________________________
> >mythtv-users mailing list
> >mythtv-users[at]mythtv.org
>
>http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users
> >
> >
>
> _______________________________________________
> mythtv-users mailing list
> mythtv-users[at]mythtv.org
>
http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users
>

-----------------------------------------------------
| o |
| _ /<_ |
|(_)>(_) |
|Ben Dash |
|Ask free questions - http://bensqanda.blogspot.com |
|My Blog - http://bensdailythoughts.blogspot.com |
|Info - http://bensinformationstation.blogspot.com |
|Workouts - http://bensworkouts.blogspot.com |
-----------------------------------------------------

__________________________________
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http://farechase.yahoo.com
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spin667 at mchsi

Oct 31, 2005, 7:43 AM

Post #5 of 31 (9099 views)
Permalink

Re: Help Diskless frontend [In reply to]

On Mon, Oct 31, 2005 at 11:18:55AM +0000, Adam Skinner wrote:
> Hi ,
>
> I would like to setup a diskless mythtv frontend. I have a working
> gentoo based installation working so far (pxe loader , nfs share based
> kernel) , but this sucks for mythfrontend.
>
> I noticed in an earlier post, someone mentioned they had something
> similar using knoppymyth. Please could you explain a bit more in
> detail.
>
> Any other suggesstions?? Im thinking ramdisk may help.

How is anyone going to help you fix anything if you don't explain
what's wrong? In fact, you have subsequent posters wondering if
there's something wrong with disk-less setups in general based on your
condemnation of them as "sucks for mythfrontend." Talk about vague.
For the record, I've used disk-less/nfs-root frontends before and I'm
setting one up now using FC4 and I expect it will work flawlessly (and
quietly, once the drive is removed and the fans are undervolted.)

Aran

denier at umr

Oct 31, 2005, 8:29 AM

Post #6 of 31 (9099 views)
Permalink

Re: Help Diskless frontend [In reply to]

On Mon, 2005-10-31 at 09:14 -0500, Phill Wiggin wrote:
> Out of curiosity, why does your setup "suck[s] for mythfrontend"? I was
> planning on setting up a similar system (to get rid of the HD in my

My diskless system works.. Its gentoo based. I don't have it auto
loading X or even have lirc configured on it yet since, well, I just
haven't spent the time on it. (That and tapping my right control key on
my keyboard switches to that computer anyway...) I did plug in an ati
RF remote and compiled that module, but that was a stop gap until I got
around to doing the full lirc setup which I'll eventually clone to other
systems..

One irritation on my setup is the board doesn't survive a reboot without
turning off the power for ~10 seconds first.

Basically, if your going diskless expect more work to set it up, and you
likely want 512MB of ram. For the 'Ideal' diskless setup, if you can
find a motherboard with a gigabit ethernet jack that will boot diskless
it might improve performance a bit. Basically it might save a few
seconds here and there... (Mine is just 100BT).

Of course if you just want a quiet system you could possibly use a
little laptop drive and pretty much do the same thing..

-Robert

> frontend), but if your problems are the norm, I may have to rethink that
> plan...
>
> Phill
>
> Adam Skinner wrote:
>
> >Hi ,
> >
> >I would like to setup a diskless mythtv frontend. I have a working
> >gentoo based installation working so far (pxe loader , nfs share based
> >kernel) , but this sucks for mythfrontend.
> >
> >I noticed in an earlier post, someone mentioned they had something
> >similar using knoppymyth. Please could you explain a bit more in
> >detail.
> >
> >Any other suggesstions?? Im thinking ramdisk may help.
> >
> >A

kingmoffa at gmail

Oct 31, 2005, 8:48 AM

Post #7 of 31 (9118 views)
Permalink

Re: Help Diskless frontend [In reply to]

My diskless system is only a slow celeron 500 with 256ram. I would
have ruled it out for being two slow, only to get a p2 350 (with HDD)
with half the ram working well

As mentioned b4 , it basically a gentoo setup. Thats no ramdisk in
use. X is slow , but responsive. Im running a icewm , as gnome is far
2 heavy duty. Nothing much else in use. Im not sure if its related to
my X setup or not. Its a std intel graphics chip setup , no direct
rendering on. Not noticed any problems.

This machine is only intended as a front end for myth tv, and doesn't
have to run anything else. Frame buffer may help?
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mythtv-users.spam at isismanor

Oct 31, 2005, 9:05 AM

Post #8 of 31 (9111 views)
Permalink

Re: Help Diskless frontend [In reply to]

> For the record, I've used disk-less/nfs-root frontends before and I'm
> setting one up now using FC4 and I expect it will work flawlessly (and
> quietly, once the drive is removed and the fans are undervolted.)

Agreed, I have two gentoo based diskless front-ends. Both work fine. In
the Bedroom I have an Epia ME6000 fanless system, that is absolutely
silent since it has no moving parts. I don't plug in the power light, and
have it mounted on the wall behing the TV. You wouldn't even know it was
there.

The only problem I have as noted elsewhere in this thread is that it won't
reboot without a power cycle. Luckily it only ever needs rebooting after a
kernel upgrade.

I suspect your problem is lack of memory. I have 512Mb in both fe's
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dan.littlejohn at gmail

Oct 31, 2005, 9:14 AM

Post #9 of 31 (9110 views)
Permalink

Re: Help Diskless frontend [In reply to]

On 10/31/05, Adam Skinner <kingmoffa[at]gmail.com> wrote:
> My diskless system is only a slow celeron 500 with 256ram. I would
> have ruled it out for being two slow, only to get a p2 350 (with HDD)
> with half the ram working well
>
> As mentioned b4 , it basically a gentoo setup. Thats no ramdisk in
> use. X is slow , but responsive. Im running a icewm , as gnome is far
> 2 heavy duty. Nothing much else in use. Im not sure if its related to
> my X setup or not. Its a std intel graphics chip setup , no direct
> rendering on. Not noticed any problems.
>
> This machine is only intended as a front end for myth tv, and doesn't
> have to run anything else. Frame buffer may help?
> _______________________________________________
> mythtv-users mailing list
> mythtv-users[at]mythtv.org
> http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users
>

I am running a 600 MHz Gentoo diskless frontend, nfs mount, and it
rocks. Even use it to flag commercials sometimes, and other intensive
usage and no problems. Have a FX5200 and the display is fast and
responsive. No swap, 1 gig of memory and good to go. Only a CPU and
power supply fan and they only spin up to an audiable level when in
heavy usage. Had a TNT video card on my server and that was really
painful to use, changed it out for a FX5200 and it to rocks. Maybe
look at your video card.

Dan
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sp-23856721 at ggsys

Oct 31, 2005, 9:29 AM

Post #10 of 31 (9107 views)
Permalink

Re: Help Diskless frontend [In reply to]

You may have seen my references to using a diskless
base using Knoppmyth.

Currently I'm still trying to fix a few things, in particular
large memory usage which I don't know where it comes from.

The setup is an Epia M6000 (fanless), which has MPEG 2 decoder
built in. It also has PXE capabilities, so I don't have to use
etherboot.

I installed Knoppmyth while a HD was attached to it (Knoppmyth
R5A16 has been the only thing so far where I've got the Epia
working with hardware accel. and matching my back end) Then
I copied the install to the NFS server, did a new kernel
and got a working system.

Once the problems are fixed, I want to write some more
detailed documentation, but for now I can answer specific
questions.

I guess this is a good time to ask, how many people would want
that kind of document?

Hope this helps,

Alberto

On Mon, 2005-10-31 at 11:18 +0000, Adam Skinner wrote:
> Hi ,
>
> I would like to setup a diskless mythtv frontend. I have a working
> gentoo based installation working so far (pxe loader , nfs share based
> kernel) , but this sucks for mythfrontend.
>
> I noticed in an earlier post, someone mentioned they had something
> similar using knoppymyth. Please could you explain a bit more in
> detail.
>
> Any other suggesstions?? Im thinking ramdisk may help.
>
> A
> _______________________________________________
> mythtv-users mailing list
> mythtv-users[at]mythtv.org
> http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users

stevepugh at yahoo

Oct 31, 2005, 9:39 AM

Post #11 of 31 (9111 views)
Permalink

Re: Help Diskless frontend [In reply to]

--- Alberto Alonso <sp-23856721[at]ggsys.net> wrote:

> You may have seen my references to using a diskless
> base using Knoppmyth.

> I guess this is a good time to ask, how many people
> would want
> that kind of document?

Hi Alberto,

I would absolutely appreciate such a document! I am
currently running a Knoppmyth R5A16 combined BE/FE
(lovingly called "the loud, good-looking machine in
the den") and have the hardware assembled for a
EPIA-based (M10000?) machine for the bedroom.

I would love to go diskless with that machine, the
less noise the better. And having never implemented a
remote boot, I'd love any info you can share!

Best,
Steve

__________________________________
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sp-23856721 at ggsys

Oct 31, 2005, 9:52 AM

Post #12 of 31 (9118 views)
Permalink

Re: Help Diskless frontend [In reply to]

On Mon, 2005-10-31 at 17:05 +0000, Neale Swinnerton wrote:
> Agreed, I have two gentoo based diskless front-ends. Both work fine. In
> the Bedroom I have an Epia ME6000 fanless system, that is absolutely
> silent since it has no moving parts. I don't plug in the power light, and
> have it mounted on the wall behing the TV. You wouldn't even know it was
> there.

This is probably related to a via-rhine issue.

Within your kernel source tree do:

vi drivers/net/via-rhine.c

Find this section and comment out the WOL line (on my version
of the source it was line 1938):

}

/* Hit power state D3 (sleep) */
/* iowrite8(ioread8(ioaddr + StickyHW) | 0x03, ioaddr +
StickyHW);*/

/* TODO: Check use of pci_enable_wake() */

Once I have a working kernel I don't upgrade it unless there
is a security fix, so for me this should be a one time deal.

Also, would you mind telling me what your memory usage is
on the front end? In particular the RES and SHR columns as
reported by top.

Hope this helps,

Alberto

webid at cfl

Oct 31, 2005, 11:56 AM

Post #13 of 31 (9106 views)
Permalink

Re: Help Diskless frontend [In reply to]

On Mon, 2005-10-31 at 12:29, Alberto Alonso wrote:
> You may have seen my references to using a diskless
> base using Knoppmyth.
>
> Currently I'm still trying to fix a few things, in particular
> large memory usage which I don't know where it comes from.
>
> The setup is an Epia M6000 (fanless), which has MPEG 2 decoder
> built in. It also has PXE capabilities, so I don't have to use
> etherboot.
>
> I installed Knoppmyth while a HD was attached to it (Knoppmyth
> R5A16 has been the only thing so far where I've got the Epia
> working with hardware accel. and matching my back end) Then
> I copied the install to the NFS server, did a new kernel
> and got a working system.
>
> Once the problems are fixed, I want to write some more
> detailed documentation, but for now I can answer specific
> questions.
>
> I guess this is a good time to ask, how many people would want
> that kind of document?

I would be interested. Have been researching how to setup a diskless
frontend system for a few weeks. Been looking at the epia boards. I
take that on the epia M10000 the s-video connection can be used going to
the TV along with the audio outputs? And this utilizes the mpeg 2
decoder?

Will this support playing a DVD as well?

>From http://www.jdr.com

Item Number Product Name Price
CASE-MITX-BA Mini-ITX Black Aluminum Case $164.88
DDR512LP-2100 DDR, 512MB, PC2100, Low Profile $179.88
EPIA-M10000 VIA Mini-ITX Motherboard with 1.0GHz C3 CPU $184.88

Just need to add a DVD drive to this and the cables.

Have not shopped around yet. Paid about this much for a slave
backend/frontend using a micro ATX board that I built minus the PVR
cards.

wigginp at mantech-wva

Oct 31, 2005, 12:12 PM

Post #14 of 31 (9092 views)
Permalink

Re: Help Diskless frontend [In reply to]

Robert Denier wrote:

>On Mon, 2005-10-31 at 09:14 -0500, Phill Wiggin wrote:
>
>
>>Out of curiosity, why does your setup "suck[s] for mythfrontend"? I was
>>planning on setting up a similar system (to get rid of the HD in my
>>
>>
>
>
>My diskless system works.. Its gentoo based. I don't have it auto
>loading X or even have lirc configured on it yet since, well, I just
>haven't spent the time on it. (That and tapping my right control key on
>my keyboard switches to that computer anyway...) I did plug in an ati
>RF remote and compiled that module, but that was a stop gap until I got
>around to doing the full lirc setup which I'll eventually clone to other
>systems..
>
>
>
I'm glad to hear your setup works.. it sounds like mine. ;)

I'm running Gentoo and already have lirc working on the current FE. I
was going to just tar up the FE's HD and toss it on my fileserver and
PXE boot (not sure if it'll work out that easily, but I figure it's
worth a shot).

>One irritation on my setup is the board doesn't survive a reboot without
>turning off the power for ~10 seconds first.
>
>
>
I think I can deal with that. Thanks for the heads-up.

>Basically, if your going diskless expect more work to set it up, and you
>likely want 512MB of ram. For the 'Ideal' diskless setup, if you can
>find a motherboard with a gigabit ethernet jack that will boot diskless
>it might improve performance a bit. Basically it might save a few
>seconds here and there... (Mine is just 100BT).
>
>
ATM, I've only got 256M in my FE, but I can remedy that easily enough.
My mobo only has 100BT onboard, but I can move it up to GigE by getting
"creative" with a half-height tech-tool*.

>Of course if you just want a quiet system you could possibly use a
>little laptop drive and pretty much do the same thing..
>
>-Robert
>
>
I considered the laptop HD, but figured I'd remove a point of failure
rather than adding an additional one. :)

Thanks for the info,

Phill W.

----------------------------------------

* tech-tool - Backplate cover screwed into place where you don't have
expansion cards installed. Various usages, each more suprising than the
last.

I spent a few years doing Tech support (and managing the poor folks that
build/repaired computers). Our technicians used them in all kinds of
crazy ways...
Need a flathead screwdriver? "Tech-tool"...
Need a prybar to get that floppy loose? "Tech-tool"...
Need something to fish that screwdriver out from under the motherboard?
"Tech-tool!"
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sp-23856721 at ggsys

Oct 31, 2005, 12:21 PM

Post #15 of 31 (9103 views)
Permalink

Re: Help Diskless frontend [In reply to]

On Mon, 2005-10-31 at 09:39 -0800, Steve Pugh wrote:
> EPIA-based (M10000?) machine for the bedroom.
>

The 10000 has a fan in it, if you have already bought
it then there are some people that are replacing it,
otherwise I would recommend to buy a fanless board

> I would love to go diskless with that machine, the
> less noise the better. And having never implemented a
> remote boot, I'd love any info you can share!
>
> Best,
> Steve
>
>
>
> __________________________________
> Yahoo! FareChase: Search multiple travel sites in one click.
> http://farechase.yahoo.com
> _______________________________________________
> mythtv-users mailing list
> mythtv-users[at]mythtv.org
> http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users

sp-23856721 at ggsys

Oct 31, 2005, 12:25 PM

Post #16 of 31 (9107 views)
Permalink

Re: Help Diskless frontend [In reply to]

On Mon, 2005-10-31 at 14:56 -0500, Scot L. Harris wrote:

> I would be interested. Have been researching how to setup a diskless
> frontend system for a few weeks. Been looking at the epia boards. I
> take that on the epia M10000 the s-video connection can be used going to
> the TV along with the audio outputs? And this utilizes the mpeg 2
> decoder?

Haven't tried the S-video (I have old cheap tvs :-)
>
> Will this support playing a DVD as well?

My DVD rom drives are in place on other computers, I actually don't
watch DVDs on the computer, but will try it out for completeness sake.

Alberto

>
> >From http://www.jdr.com
>
> Item Number Product Name Price
> CASE-MITX-BA Mini-ITX Black Aluminum Case $164.88
> DDR512LP-2100 DDR, 512MB, PC2100, Low Profile $179.88
> EPIA-M10000 VIA Mini-ITX Motherboard with 1.0GHz C3 CPU $184.88
>
> Just need to add a DVD drive to this and the cables.
>
> Have not shopped around yet. Paid about this much for a slave
> backend/frontend using a micro ATX board that I built minus the PVR
> cards.
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> mythtv-users mailing list
> mythtv-users[at]mythtv.org
> http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users

stevepugh at yahoo

Oct 31, 2005, 12:40 PM

Post #17 of 31 (9116 views)
Permalink

Re: Help Diskless frontend [In reply to]

--- Alberto Alonso <sp-23856721[at]ggsys.net> wrote:

> > EPIA-based (M10000?) machine for the bedroom.
> >
>
> The 10000 has a fan in it, if you have already
> bought
> it then there are some people that are replacing it,
> otherwise I would recommend to buy a fanless board

Yeah, the fan is a little loudish, so I'm already
thinking about replacing it with a quieter model.
Also need to see if I can get one tied to a thermostat
or something, I'm sure that'd help.

Best,
Steve

__________________________________
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sphing at gmail

Nov 1, 2005, 2:26 AM

Post #18 of 31 (9099 views)
Permalink

Re: Help Diskless frontend [In reply to]

i had this problem for months because I didn't have my usb module's
loaded... whats the output of lsusb?

Vic

Ben Dash wrote:

>My NFS root xBox is fine, however, I'm using a local
>swap on the xBox fatx HDD in case that effects
>anyone's choice.
>
>This setup works great for me, if only I could get
>lirc working :-(
>
>Good luck,
>
>Ben
>
>--- Phill Wiggin <wigginp[at]mantech-wva.com> wrote:
>
>
>
>>Out of curiosity, why does your setup "suck[s] for
>>mythfrontend"? I was
>>planning on setting up a similar system (to get rid
>>of the HD in my
>>frontend), but if your problems are the norm, I may
>>have to rethink that
>>plan...
>>
>>Phill
>>
>>Adam Skinner wrote:
>>
>>
>>
>>>Hi ,
>>>
>>>I would like to setup a diskless mythtv frontend. I
>>>
>>>
>>have a working
>>
>>
>>>gentoo based installation working so far (pxe
>>>
>>>
>>loader , nfs share based
>>
>>
>>>kernel) , but this sucks for mythfrontend.
>>>
>>>I noticed in an earlier post, someone mentioned
>>>
>>>
>>they had something
>>
>>
>>>similar using knoppymyth. Please could you explain
>>>
>>>
>>a bit more in
>>
>>
>>>detail.
>>>
>>>Any other suggesstions?? Im thinking ramdisk may
>>>
>>>
>>help.
>>
>>
>>>A
>>>_______________________________________________
>>>mythtv-users mailing list
>>>mythtv-users[at]mythtv.org
>>>
>>>
>>http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users
>>
>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>_______________________________________________
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>>
>>
>>
>http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users
>
>
>
>
>-----------------------------------------------------
>| o |
>| _ /<_ |
>|(_)>(_) |
>|Ben Dash |
>|Ask free questions - http://bensqanda.blogspot.com |
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>|Workouts - http://bensworkouts.blogspot.com |
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myth at dgreaves

Nov 2, 2005, 12:51 AM

Post #19 of 31 (9074 views)
Permalink

Re: Help Diskless frontend [In reply to]

Phill Wiggin wrote:

> Out of curiosity, why does your setup "suck[s] for mythfrontend"? I
> was planning on setting up a similar system (to get rid of the HD in
> my frontend), but if your problems are the norm, I may have to rethink
> that plan...

My diskless frontend is fantastic.

Motherboard, CPU, fan, RAM, PSU, case, homemade lirc.
All the rest is on the m/b.

Debian too.

David
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ben_dash at yahoo

Nov 4, 2005, 9:03 PM

Post #20 of 31 (9054 views)
Permalink

Re: Help Diskless frontend [In reply to]

Could someone please share their fstab for their
diskless frontend that is working?

I found that my diskless xBox is stuttering a little
although CPU usage is only ~50%. The 766mhz PIII
PVR250 backend is fine, and is able to broadcast
stutter free to my wife's 1Ghz PIII with only 0.3% CPU
usage while the xBox continues to stutter.

Since the CPU usage is relatively low on the xBox I am
wondering if the problem could be the MFS root mount:

xbox ~ # cat /etc/fstab
# <fs> <mountpoint> <type>
<opts> <dump/pass>
192.168.0.1:/mnt/data/xbox / nfs
rw,sync,hard,intr,nolock,nfsvers=2
0 0
/dev/hda50 /mnt/fatx/E fatx
defaults 0 0
/mnt/fatx/E/linuxswap none swap
sw 0 0
/dev/cdroms/cdrom0 /mnt/cdrom iso9660
noauto,ro 0 0
proc /proc proc
defaults 0 0

#network nfs volumes
192.168.0.1:/mnt/data/music /mnt/music nfs
noauto,ro,users,nolock,nfsvers=2 0 0

I notice that the memory usage is close to full, at
118MB or 122MB. It seems like there are several big
mythfrontend processes:

xbox ~ # ps -ef |grep myth
root 6252 1 0 16:56 ? 00:00:00 login
-- mythtv
mythtv 6258 6252 0 16:56 tty1 00:00:00 -bash
mythtv 6265 6258 0 16:56 tty1 00:00:00
/bin/sh /usr/bin/startx
mythtv 6278 6265 0 16:56 tty1 00:00:00 xinit
/home/mythtv/.xinitrc -- -nolisten tcp -br
-deferglyphs 16
mythtv 6281 6278 0 16:56 tty1 00:00:00 xclock
-digital -padding 2 -g -0+0
mythtv 6284 6281 0 16:56 tty1 00:00:00
/usr/bin/evilwm -snap 6 -bw 0
mythtv 6289 6281 0 16:56 tty1 00:03:06
mythfrontend
mythtv 6290 6289 0 16:57 tty1 00:00:00
mythfrontend
mythtv 6291 6290 0 16:57 tty1 00:00:00
mythfrontend
mythtv 6745 6290 0 21:30 tty1 00:00:05
mythfrontend
mythtv 6746 6290 34 21:30 tty1 00:29:46
mythfrontend
mythtv 6747 6290 1 21:30 tty1 00:00:58
mythfrontend
mythtv 6749 6290 0 21:30 tty1 00:00:12
mythfrontend
mythtv 6750 6290 0 21:30 tty1 00:00:35
mythfrontend
root 6751 6201 0 21:37 ? 00:00:00 sshd:
mythtv [priv]
mythtv 6754 6751 0 21:37 ? 00:00:00 sshd:
mythtv[at]pts/0
mythtv 6755 6754 0 21:37 pts/0 00:00:00 -bash
root 6891 6778 0 22:55 pts/0 00:00:00 grep
myth

I'm guessing that the reason why there are so many
instances of mythfrontend is because the system is
using heavy weight threads. Would I improve things by
going to NPTL?

Please let me know if you have any ideas, I'm going to
let lirc wait for now while I get the picture stutter
free, the wife is not quite as happy as I was hoping
:-(

I'm using a 2.6.12.5 kernel and mythTV 0.18.1-r1

Thanks!

Ben

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sp-23856721 at ggsys

Nov 4, 2005, 9:50 PM

Post #21 of 31 (9049 views)
Permalink

Re: Help Diskless frontend [In reply to]

I'd be surprised if the fstab has anything to do
with this.

Memory usage as reported by "free" is not what you
need to look at. Monitor per process usage via
top and look at the RES and SHR columns.

Did you look at xbox specific settings? I would look
at audio buffering, acceleration, resolution, etc. in
that order.

Hope this helps,

Alberto

On Fri, 2005-11-04 at 21:03 -0800, Ben Dash wrote:
> Could someone please share their fstab for their
> diskless frontend that is working?
>
> I found that my diskless xBox is stuttering a little
> although CPU usage is only ~50%. The 766mhz PIII
> PVR250 backend is fine, and is able to broadcast
> stutter free to my wife's 1Ghz PIII with only 0.3% CPU
> usage while the xBox continues to stutter.
>
> Since the CPU usage is relatively low on the xBox I am
> wondering if the problem could be the MFS root mount:
>
> xbox ~ # cat /etc/fstab
> # <fs> <mountpoint> <type>
> <opts> <dump/pass>
> 192.168.0.1:/mnt/data/xbox / nfs
> rw,sync,hard,intr,nolock,nfsvers=2
> 0 0
> /dev/hda50 /mnt/fatx/E fatx
> defaults 0 0
> /mnt/fatx/E/linuxswap none swap
> sw 0 0
> /dev/cdroms/cdrom0 /mnt/cdrom iso9660
> noauto,ro 0 0
> proc /proc proc
> defaults 0 0
>
> #network nfs volumes
> 192.168.0.1:/mnt/data/music /mnt/music nfs
> noauto,ro,users,nolock,nfsvers=2 0 0
>
> I notice that the memory usage is close to full, at
> 118MB or 122MB. It seems like there are several big
> mythfrontend processes:
>
> xbox ~ # ps -ef |grep myth
> root 6252 1 0 16:56 ? 00:00:00 login
> -- mythtv
> mythtv 6258 6252 0 16:56 tty1 00:00:00 -bash
> mythtv 6265 6258 0 16:56 tty1 00:00:00
> /bin/sh /usr/bin/startx
> mythtv 6278 6265 0 16:56 tty1 00:00:00 xinit
> /home/mythtv/.xinitrc -- -nolisten tcp -br
> -deferglyphs 16
> mythtv 6281 6278 0 16:56 tty1 00:00:00 xclock
> -digital -padding 2 -g -0+0
> mythtv 6284 6281 0 16:56 tty1 00:00:00
> /usr/bin/evilwm -snap 6 -bw 0
> mythtv 6289 6281 0 16:56 tty1 00:03:06
> mythfrontend
> mythtv 6290 6289 0 16:57 tty1 00:00:00
> mythfrontend
> mythtv 6291 6290 0 16:57 tty1 00:00:00
> mythfrontend
> mythtv 6745 6290 0 21:30 tty1 00:00:05
> mythfrontend
> mythtv 6746 6290 34 21:30 tty1 00:29:46
> mythfrontend
> mythtv 6747 6290 1 21:30 tty1 00:00:58
> mythfrontend
> mythtv 6749 6290 0 21:30 tty1 00:00:12
> mythfrontend
> mythtv 6750 6290 0 21:30 tty1 00:00:35
> mythfrontend
> root 6751 6201 0 21:37 ? 00:00:00 sshd:
> mythtv [priv]
> mythtv 6754 6751 0 21:37 ? 00:00:00 sshd:
> mythtv[at]pts/0
> mythtv 6755 6754 0 21:37 pts/0 00:00:00 -bash
> root 6891 6778 0 22:55 pts/0 00:00:00 grep
> myth
>
> I'm guessing that the reason why there are so many
> instances of mythfrontend is because the system is
> using heavy weight threads. Would I improve things by
> going to NPTL?
>
> Please let me know if you have any ideas, I'm going to
> let lirc wait for now while I get the picture stutter
> free, the wife is not quite as happy as I was hoping
> :-(
>
> I'm using a 2.6.12.5 kernel and mythTV 0.18.1-r1
>
> Thanks!
>
> Ben
>
>
>
> __________________________________
> Yahoo! FareChase: Search multiple travel sites in one click.
> http://farechase.yahoo.com
> _______________________________________________
> mythtv-users mailing list
> mythtv-users[at]mythtv.org
> http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users

ben_dash at yahoo

Nov 5, 2005, 4:48 PM

Post #22 of 31 (9046 views)
Permalink

Re: diskless xBox stuttering - was Help Diskless frontend [In reply to]

--- Alberto Alonso wrote:
> I'd be surprised if the fstab has anything to do
> with this.

I thought it may be a point of problems due to the
fact that I'm running the xBox pseudo diskless with an
NFS root.

> Did you look at xbox specific settings? I would look
> at audio buffering, acceleration, resolution, etc.
> in that order.

I playing with the varios setting but it made no
difference. There's a stutter/pause approximately
every 5 seconds although CPU usage is relatively low.

Has anyone else managed to get their xBox working as a
totally stutter free Mythfrontend?

Did you have an NFS root?

Did you use the nv Xorg driver?

Please let me know

> > Ben Dash wrote:
> > Could someone please share their fstab for their
> > diskless frontend that is working?
> >
> > I found that my diskless xBox is stuttering a
> little
> > although CPU usage is only ~50%. The 766mhz PIII
> > PVR250 backend is fine, and is able to broadcast
> > stutter free to my wife's 1Ghz PIII with only 0.3%
> CPU
> > usage while the xBox continues to stutter.
> >
> > Since the CPU usage is relatively low on the xBox
> I am
> > wondering if the problem could be the MFS root
> mount:
> >
> > xbox ~ # cat /etc/fstab
> > # <fs> <mountpoint> <type>
>
> > <opts> <dump/pass>
> > 192.168.0.1:/mnt/data/xbox /
> nfs
> > rw,sync,hard,intr,nolock,nfsvers=2
>
> > 0 0
> > /dev/hda50 /mnt/fatx/E fatx
>
> > defaults 0 0
> > /mnt/fatx/E/linuxswap none
> swap
> > sw 0 0
> > /dev/cdroms/cdrom0 /mnt/cdrom iso9660
>
> > noauto,ro 0 0
> > proc /proc proc
>
> > defaults 0 0
> >
> > #network nfs volumes
> > 192.168.0.1:/mnt/data/music /mnt/music
> nfs
> > noauto,ro,users,nolock,nfsvers=2 0 0
> >
> > I notice that the memory usage is close to full,
> at
> > 118MB or 122MB. It seems like there are several
> big
> > mythfrontend processes:
> >
> > xbox ~ # ps -ef |grep myth
> > root 6252 1 0 16:56 ? 00:00:00
> login
> > -- mythtv
> > mythtv 6258 6252 0 16:56 tty1 00:00:00
> -bash
> > mythtv 6265 6258 0 16:56 tty1 00:00:00
> > /bin/sh /usr/bin/startx
> > mythtv 6278 6265 0 16:56 tty1 00:00:00
> xinit
> > /home/mythtv/.xinitrc -- -nolisten tcp -br
> > -deferglyphs 16
> > mythtv 6281 6278 0 16:56 tty1 00:00:00
> xclock
> > -digital -padding 2 -g -0+0
> > mythtv 6284 6281 0 16:56 tty1 00:00:00
> > /usr/bin/evilwm -snap 6 -bw 0
> > mythtv 6289 6281 0 16:56 tty1 00:03:06
> > mythfrontend
> > mythtv 6290 6289 0 16:57 tty1 00:00:00
> > mythfrontend
> > mythtv 6291 6290 0 16:57 tty1 00:00:00
> > mythfrontend
> > mythtv 6745 6290 0 21:30 tty1 00:00:05
> > mythfrontend
> > mythtv 6746 6290 34 21:30 tty1 00:29:46
> > mythfrontend
> > mythtv 6747 6290 1 21:30 tty1 00:00:58
> > mythfrontend
> > mythtv 6749 6290 0 21:30 tty1 00:00:12
> > mythfrontend
> > mythtv 6750 6290 0 21:30 tty1 00:00:35
> > mythfrontend
> > root 6751 6201 0 21:37 ? 00:00:00
> sshd:
> > mythtv [priv]
> > mythtv 6754 6751 0 21:37 ? 00:00:00
> sshd:
> > mythtv[at]pts/0
> > mythtv 6755 6754 0 21:37 pts/0 00:00:00
> -bash
> > root 6891 6778 0 22:55 pts/0 00:00:00
> grep
> > myth
> >
> > I'm guessing that the reason why there are so many
> > instances of mythfrontend is because the system is
> > using heavy weight threads. Would I improve
> things by
> > going to NPTL?
> >
> > Please let me know if you have any ideas, I'm
> going to
> > let lirc wait for now while I get the picture
> stutter
> > free, the wife is not quite as happy as I was
> hoping
> > :-(
> >
> > I'm using a 2.6.12.5 kernel and mythTV 0.18.1-r1
> >
> > Thanks!
> >
> > Ben

__________________________________
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gnassas at mac

Nov 5, 2005, 4:51 PM

Post #23 of 31 (9045 views)
Permalink

Re: diskless xBox stuttering - was Help Diskless frontend [In reply to]

On 5-Nov-05, at 7:48 PM, Ben Dash wrote:

> Has anyone else managed to get their xBox working as a
> totally stutter free Mythfrontend?

Yes. There is an initial hiccup when I start playing any recording but
after that it's rock solid.

> Did you have an NFS root?

No.

> Did you use the nv Xorg driver?

No. XFree as shipped with Xebian.

- George

ben_dash at yahoo

Nov 5, 2005, 5:23 PM

Post #24 of 31 (9027 views)
Permalink

Re: diskless xBox stuttering - was Help Diskless frontend [In reply to]

--- George Nassas wrote:
> On 5-Nov-05, at 7:48 PM, Ben Dash wrote:
> > Has anyone else managed to get their xBox working
> > as a totally stutter free Mythfrontend?
> Yes. There is an initial hiccup when I start playing
> any recording but
> after that it's rock solid.

So it IS possible :-)

Are you running at 640x480 or did you cut the
resolution down?

Please let me know,

Thanks,

Ben

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gnassas at mac

Nov 5, 2005, 5:47 PM

Post #25 of 31 (9036 views)
Permalink

Re: diskless xBox stuttering - was Help Diskless frontend [In reply to]

On 5-Nov-05, at 8:23 PM, Ben Dash wrote:

> Are you running at 640x480 or did you cut the
> resolution down?

640x480. It doesn't look as bad as I expected. Also, during X startup
there are a bunch of messages in the log about how it doesn't like
something about the hardware. They're harmless but they do delay the
start and the TV flickers quite a bit for about 5 seconds. Just in case
that was your next question.... :)

- George

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