/usr/share/xsessions

I was trying to find a way to add logging to the frontend.

I noticed how I got this extra "mythtv" session type on my login screen after installing mythtv, as well as gnome, kde, fvwm2, etc (I used the packman rpms) and I figured I could add logging to the command line that calls mythfrontend, if I could just find it. A kind "directhex" on #mythtv-users suggested I look in /usr/share/xsessions, and I think that'll be it!

#mythtv-users

Hanging out on IRC, got an idea from juski...

I wonder if anyone could help me with a frontend that restarts X upon playback?
harvest316: yes. disable compiz or beryl
...
I'm back with good news!
world peace?
I've won the lottery?
juski: yay! mythtv works much better without compiz. THANK YOU!
harvest316: don't thank juski, his head might just explode with the shock!
I havent had to disable or uninstall it yet, as I found there's an option for MythTV where you can select between gnome & KDE at login. That seems to work reasonably well.
...
Lets just say I've nailed my biggest bug: getting mythfrontend to play any kind of video at all.
my next challenge is a little harder to search for, coz I dont yet have the words to describe it.
simply put: how do I get mythfrontend to write to a log?
...
harvest316: you could metacity --replace&
harvest316: that will replace compiz with metacity until you logout
converting it back to old gnome until your done using mythfrontend
i use a similar command to enable compiz temp since my system doesnt allways support it
...

SGID - setgid for directory sharing

Just learned about SGID:

"SGID (set group ID) on a directory: in this special case every file created in the directory will have the same group owner as the directory itself (while normal behavior would be that new files are owned by the users who create them). This way, users don't need to worry about file ownership when sharing directories"

Sounds like just the ticket for my /mnt/video/ directory, where mythbackend writes to it while running as root, but I want to view/delete said videos from my user login.

chmod g+s video

You just replace the x with s in the normal chmod command. Time will tell if it works.

If that fails I can try setuid/SUID instead. And just to tidy things up, I've also changed the group of everything there from users to myth, which should hopefully stay that way going forward:

chgrp myth /mnt/video/*

mplayer command line in mythtv

I've discovered that SMPlayer calls mplayer (successfully) with a whole lot more options than mythtv (unsuccessfully).

SMPlayer:

mplayer -noquiet -nofs -sub-fuzziness 1 -identify -slave -vo xv -ao oss -zoom -nokeepaspect -framedrop -input conf=/usr//share/smplayer/input.conf -stop-xscreensaver -wid 65011726 -colorkey 131586 -monitoraspect 1.25 -fontconfig -font Sans Serif -subfont-autoscale 1 -subfont-text-scale 5 -subcp ISO-8859-1 -aid 6018 -subpos 100 -contrast 0 -brightness 0 -hue 0 -saturation 0 -cache 2000 -osdlevel 0 /mnt/video/1005_20070524230000.mpg

MythTV:

mplayer -fs -zoom -quiet -vo xv %s

Just tried it - no luck. Same old error. Reverting...

/etc/fstab - XFS mounted writable

Had some grief with myth not being able to write to /mnt/video solved by the new last line of my fstab, copied from the auto-generated one for /mnt/win.

harvest@dell5100:~> cat /etc/fstab
/dev/sda6            /                    ext3       acl,user_xattr        1 1
/dev/sda7            /home                ext3       acl,user_xattr        1 2
/dev/sda2            /mnt/win             ntfs       ro,noatime,users,gid=users,umask=0002,nls=utf8 0 0
/dev/sda5            swap                 swap       defaults              0 0
proc                 /proc                proc       defaults              0 0
sysfs                /sys                 sysfs      noauto                0 0
debugfs              /sys/kernel/debug    debugfs    noauto                0 0
usbfs                /proc/bus/usb        usbfs      noauto                0 0
devpts               /dev/pts             devpts     mode=0620,gid=5       0 0
/dev/sda1            /mnt/video           xfs        rw,users,gid=users,umask=0002 1 2

"mkdtemp: private socket dir: No space left on device."

Couldnt boot into X windows due to a disk space error.

Arun Prabha had some useful terminal commands, like:

df -l
du -hc –max-depth=1

I had 10G in /tmp/backup_tmp_yvH4rLRM/tmp/ ...whats going on there? Sounds like an auto-backup ran out of control. Probably tried to backup /mnt/video/ and /mnt/win/ ...yep, that was it. Should be better next time.

Permissions

I've buggered up my permissions on my /mnt/video/ directory. Done so many chmod/chgrp commands I have no idea what it was when I started. A little introduction to permissions has proven helpful. I added a umask=002 to my fstab for /mnt/video/ as the default seems to be 022, which gives you -rw-r--r-- instead of the -rw-rw-r-- I'd like to see. Not sure how to set the umask for my home directory, but this is a jolly good start.

mythfrontend --verbose playback

I get a ton of these file missing errors, (its not writing to /mnt/video/) then it moves on...

2007-05-18 07:11:54.620 Error: File '/mnt/video/1035_20070516200000.mpg' missing.
2007-05-18 07:11:55.069 Error: File '/mnt/video/1035_20070516200000.mpg' missing.
2007-05-18 07:11:55.508 Error: File '/mnt/video/1014_20070516170000.mpg' missing.
2007-05-18 07:11:55.570 Error: File '/mnt/video/1014_20070516170000.mpg' missing.
2007-05-18 07:11:56.421 TV: Attempting to change from None to WatchingPreRecorded
2007-05-18 07:11:56.423 RingBuf(/mnt/video/1030_20070515213300.mpg): OpenFile(/mnt/video/1030_20070515213300.mpg, 12)
2007-05-18 07:11:56.424 RingBuf(/mnt/video/1030_20070515213300.mpg): CalcReadAheadThresh(4000 KB)
                         -> threshhold(146 KB) min read(32 KB) blk size(64 KB)
2007-05-18 07:11:56.532 DPMS Deactivated 
0: start_time: 4648.062 duration: 143.788
1: start_time: 4648.026 duration: 143.778
2: start_time: 4648.157 duration: -9223372036854.775
3: start_time: 4648.026 duration: 143.824
stream: start_time: 51644.731 duration: 1598.044 bitrate=2744 kb/s
2007-05-18 07:11:56.677 AFD: Stream #0, has id 0x501 codec id MPEG2VIDEO, type Video, bitrate 15000000 at 0x0x81f0180
2007-05-18 07:11:56.690 detectInterlace(Detect Scan, Interlaced Scan, 25, 576) ->Interlaced Scan
2007-05-18 07:11:56.691 AFD: Looking for decoder for MPEG2VIDEO
2007-05-18 07:11:56.691 AFD: Opened codec 0x94a72e0, id(MPEG2VIDEO) type(Video)
2007-05-18 07:11:56.691 AFD: Stream #1, has id 0x502 codec id MP3, type Audio, bitrate 192000 at 0x0x82a0d50
2007-05-18 07:11:56.691 AFD: Looking for decoder for MP3
2007-05-18 07:11:56.713 AFD: Opened codec 0x94b1ba0, id(MP3) type(Audio)
2007-05-18 07:11:56.713 AFD: Stream #2, has id 0x503 codec id DVB_SUBTITLE, type Subtitle, bitrate 0 at 0x0x94b20b0
2007-05-18 07:11:56.713 AFD: subtitle codec (Subtitle)
2007-05-18 07:11:56.713 AFD: Looking for decoder for DVB_SUBTITLE
2007-05-18 07:11:56.713 AFD: Opened codec 0x94f4fe0, id(DVB_SUBTITLE) type(Subtitle)
2007-05-18 07:11:56.713 AFD: Subtitle track #1 is A/V stream #2 and is in the English language(6647399).
2007-05-18 07:11:56.713 AFD: Stream #3, has id 0x504 codec id MP3, type Audio, bitrate 0 at 0x0x8264f70
2007-05-18 07:11:56.713 AFD: Looking for decoder for MP3
2007-05-18 07:11:56.714 AFD: Opened codec 0x94f5330, id(MP3) type(Audio)
2007-05-18 07:11:56.714 RingBuf(/mnt/video/1030_20070515213300.mpg): CalcReadAheadThresh(15192 KB)
                         -> threshhold(556 KB) min read(32 KB) blk size(256 KB)
2007-05-18 07:11:56.716 Opening OSS audio device '/dev/dsp'.
2007-05-18 07:11:56.720 Dec: Selected track #1 in the English language(6647399)
2007-05-18 07:11:56.720 Dec: Trying to select track (w/lang)
2007-05-18 07:11:56.720 Dec: Selecting first track
2007-05-18 07:11:56.720 Dec: Selected track #1 in the Unknown language(0)
2007-05-18 07:11:56.720 Resyncing position map. posmapStarted = 0 livetv(0) watchingRec(0)
2007-05-18 07:11:56.783 Position map filled from DB to: 39924
2007-05-18 07:11:56.784 SyncPositionMap prerecorded, from DB: 2219 entries
2007-05-18 07:11:56.784 SyncPositionMap, new totframes: 39924, new length: 1596, posMap size: 2219
2007-05-18 07:11:56.784 AFD: Position map found
2007-05-18 07:11:56.784 AFD: Successfully opened decoder for file: "/mnt/video/1030_20070515213300.mpg". novideo(0)
2007-05-18 07:11:56.797 VideoOutputXv: ctor
2007-05-18 07:11:56.798 Over/underscan. V: 0, H: 0, XOff: 0, YOff: 0
2007-05-18 07:11:56.798 Snapping height to avoid scaling: height: 576, top: 12
2007-05-18 07:11:56.798 Display Rect  left: 0, top: 12, width: 800, height: 576, aspect: 1.33333
2007-05-18 07:11:56.798 Video Rect    left: 0, top: 0, width: 720, height: 576, aspect: 1.33333
2007-05-18 07:11:56.798 VideoOutputXv: Pixel dimensions: Screen 800x600, window 800x600
2007-05-18 07:11:56.798 VideoOutputXv: Estimated display dimensions: 378x302 mm  Aspect: 1.25166
2007-05-18 07:11:56.798 VideoOutputXv: Estimated window dimensions: 378x302 mm  Aspect: 1.25166
2007-05-18 07:11:56.799 VideoOutputXv: XvMCTex: Init failed
2007-05-18 07:11:56.800 VideoOutputXv: @ j=3 Looking for flag[s]: XvInputMask XvImageMask 
2007-05-18 07:11:56.800 VideoOutputXv: Adaptor#0: Xgl Generic Texture Video has flag[s]: XvInputMask XvImageMask 
2007-05-18 07:11:56.800 VideoOutputXv: Grabbed xv port 48
2007-05-18 07:11:56.800 VideoOutputXv: XVideo surface found on port 48
2007-05-18 07:11:56.800 VideoOutputXv: XVideo Adaptor Name: 'Xgl Generic Texture Video'
2007-05-18 07:11:56.800 VideoOutputXv: XVideo Format #0 is 'YUY2'
2007-05-18 07:11:56.800 VideoOutputXv: XVideo Format #1 is 'YV12'
2007-05-18 07:11:56.800 VideoOutputXv: XVideo Format #2 is '
2007-05-18 07:11:56.800 VideoOutputXv: Using XVideo Format 'YV12'
2007-05-18 07:11:56.800 VideoOutputXv: CreateShmImages(32): video_dim: 720x576
mythfrontend: Fatal IO error: client killed
Mutex destroy failure: Device or resource busy

VideoOutputXv: XvMCTex: Init failed

Maybe I should play with Preferred MPEG2 Decoder settings in mythtvsetup

Finish search

"mythfrontend: Fatal IO error: client killed"

Not at home, so here's some ideas I'll try next:

modprobe fglrx
mplayer /dev/video0
mplayer tv://3
mythfrontend --verbose playback
lower screen resolution
disable taskbar always on top

...nope, none of these work. mplayer /dev/video0 gives me:

Cannot seek backward in linear streams!
Seek failed
Cannot seek backward in linear streams!
Seek failed
Win32 LoadLibrary failed to load: avisynth.dll, /usr/lib/codecs/avisynth.dll, /usr/lib/win32/avisynth.dll, /usr/local/lib/win32/avisynth.dll

ATI's Linux Drivers dont support XVMC - that's a bad sign. AIGLX, Beryl, Compiz, MythTV, TV TIME all unsupported. Might be time for an nVidia card.

How to determine if I have XvMC support? Doesnt seem much point, as mythtv.org confirms it.

Found the MythTV Users Mailing List Archive

Andrew Robinson has a fairly good bunch of checks I should do: Watch TV with ivtv and mplayer. Record with ivtvctl and 'cat /dev/video0'.

I should check /var/log/Xorg.0.log, dmesg and /var/log/messages after the crash. Should attempt to set up ssh so I can kill X and recover the session.

Check smart output and do a memtest

mythfrontend log

2007-05-15 22:37:39.111 Current Schema Version: 1160
2007-05-15 22:37:39.111 mythfrontend version: 0.20.20060828-3 www.mythtv.org
2007-05-15 22:37:39.111 Enabled verbose msgs:  important general
2007-05-15 22:37:40.508 Total desktop dim: 1280x1024, with 1 screen[s].
2007-05-15 22:37:40.510 Using screen 0, 1280x1024 at 0,0
2007-05-15 22:37:40.511 Switching to square mode (MythCenter)
2007-05-15 22:37:40.546 Using the Qt painter
Xlib:  extension "XFree86-DRI" missing on display ":0.0".
mythtv: could not open config file /home/harvest/.mythtv/lircrc
mythtv: No such file or directory
Failed to read lirc config /home/harvest/.mythtv/lircrc for mythtv
2007-05-15 22:37:41.816 Joystick disabled.
2007-05-15 22:37:41.915 Loading from: /usr/share/mythtv/themes/default/base.xml
2007-05-15 22:37:42.435 Registering Internal as a media playback plugin.
2007-05-15 22:37:42.562 Registering MythDVD DVD Media Handler as a media handler ext()
no record for '/block/hdb/device' in database
no record for '/block/hdb/holders' in database
no record for '/block/hdb/queue' in database
no record for '/block/hdb/slaves' in database
no record for '/block/hdb/subsystem' in database
no record for '/block/sdb/device' in database
no record for '/block/sdb/holders' in database
no record for '/block/sdb/queue' in database
no record for '/block/sdb/slaves' in database
no record for '/block/sdb/subsystem' in database
no record for '/block/sdc/device' in database
no record for '/block/sdc/holders' in database
no record for '/block/sdc/queue' in database
no record for '/block/sdc/slaves' in database
no record for '/block/sdc/subsystem' in database
no record for '/block/sdd/device' in database
no record for '/block/sdd/holders' in database
no record for '/block/sdd/queue' in database
no record for '/block/sdd/slaves' in database
no record for '/block/sdd/subsystem' in database
no record for '/block/sde/device' in database
no record for '/block/sde/holders' in database
no record for '/block/sde/queue' in database
no record for '/block/sde/slaves' in database
no record for '/block/sde/subsystem' in database
2007-05-15 22:37:42.876 Registering MythDVD VCD Media Handler as a media handler ext()
2007-05-15 22:37:43.006 Registering MythGallery Media Handler 1/2 as a media handler ext()
2007-05-15 22:37:43.006 Registering MythGallery Media Handler 2/2 as a media handler ext(gif,jpg,png)
2007-05-15 22:37:43.006 MonitorRegisterExtensions(0x100, gif,jpg,png)
Failed to run 'cdrecord --scanbus'
Failed to run 'cdrecord --scanbus'
adding: ATAPI:0,1,0 -- DVD+-RW DVD8701 
2007-05-15 22:37:46.658 Registering MythMusic Media Handler 1/2 as a media handler ext()
2007-05-15 22:37:46.658 Registering MythMusic Media Handler 2/2 as a media handler ext(ogg,mp3,aac,flac)
2007-05-15 22:37:46.658 MonitorRegisterExtensions(0x40, ogg,mp3,aac,flac)
SIP listening on IP Address 192.168.0.100:5060 NAT address 192.168.0.100
SIP: Cannot register; proxy, username or password not set
2007-05-15 22:37:48.569 Starting media monitor.
2007-05-15 22:37:48.967 Looking for: '/media/SU1020.001/VIDEO_TS'
2007-05-15 22:37:48.977 Looking for: '/media/SU1020.001/vcd'
2007-05-15 22:37:48.977 Looking for: '/media/SU1020.001/svcd'
2007-05-15 22:37:53.983 Media status changed...  New status is: MEDIASTAT_MOUNTED old status was MEDIASTAT_NOTMOUNTED
2007-05-15 22:37:53.984 Posting MediaEvent
2007-05-15 22:37:53.984 Found a handler
2007-05-15 22:37:53.986 Executing '/bin/mount /dev/sdb'
mount: can't find /dev/sdb in /etc/fstab or /etc/mtab
2007-05-15 22:37:54.044 Failed to mount /dev/sdb.
2007-05-15 22:37:54.045 Media status changed...  New status is: MEDIASTAT_NOTMOUNTED old status was MEDIASTAT_UNPLUGGED
2007-05-15 22:37:54.046 Executing '/bin/mount /dev/sdc'
mount: can't find /dev/sdc in /etc/fstab or /etc/mtab
2007-05-15 22:37:54.068 XMLParse::LoadTheme using /usr/share/mythtv/themes/default/gallery-ui.xml
2007-05-15 22:37:54.092 Failed to mount /dev/sdc.
2007-05-15 22:37:54.152 Media status changed...  New status is: MEDIASTAT_NOTMOUNTED old status was MEDIASTAT_UNPLUGGED
2007-05-15 22:37:54.153 Executing '/bin/mount /dev/sdd'
mount: can't find /dev/sdd in /etc/fstab or /etc/mtab
2007-05-15 22:37:54.169 Failed to mount /dev/sdd.
2007-05-15 22:37:54.171 Media status changed...  New status is: MEDIASTAT_NOTMOUNTED old status was MEDIASTAT_UNPLUGGED
2007-05-15 22:37:54.172 Executing '/bin/mount /dev/sde'
mount: can't find /dev/sde in /etc/fstab or /etc/mtab
2007-05-15 22:37:54.235 Failed to mount /dev/sde.
2007-05-15 22:37:54.237 Media status changed...  New status is: MEDIASTAT_NOTMOUNTED old status was MEDIASTAT_UNPLUGGED
2007-05-15 22:39:38.493 Connecting to backend server: 127.0.0.1:6543 (try 1 of 5)
2007-05-15 22:39:38.494 Using protocol version 31
2007-05-15 22:39:47.447 XMLParse::LoadTheme using /usr/share/mythtv/themes/MythCenter/ui.xml
2007-05-15 22:39:48.822 New DB connection, total: 2
2007-05-15 22:39:48.823 Connected to database 'mythconverg' at host: localhost
0: start_time: 4648.062 duration: 143.788
1: start_time: 4648.026 duration: 143.778
2: start_time: 4648.157 duration: -9223372036854.775
3: start_time: 4648.026 duration: 143.824
stream: start_time: 51644.731 duration: 1598.044 bitrate=2744 kb/s
2007-05-15 22:39:48.988 AFD: Opened codec 0xb340020, id(MPEG2VIDEO) type(Video)
2007-05-15 22:39:49.011 AFD: Opened codec 0xb359b00, id(MP3) type(Audio)
2007-05-15 22:39:49.011 AFD: Opened codec 0xb359fb0, id(DVB_SUBTITLE) type(Subtitle)
2007-05-15 22:39:49.011 AFD: Opened codec 0xb35a460, id(MP3) type(Audio)
0: start_time: 4648.062 duration: 143.788
1: start_time: 4648.026 duration: 143.778
2: start_time: 4648.157 duration: -9223372036854.775
3: start_time: 4648.026 duration: 143.824
stream: start_time: 51644.731 duration: 1598.044 bitrate=2744 kb/s
2007-05-15 22:39:50.107 AFD: Opened codec 0x83007d0, id(MPEG2VIDEO) type(Video)
2007-05-15 22:39:50.107 AFD: Opened codec 0xb4108e0, id(MP3) type(Audio)
2007-05-15 22:39:50.107 AFD: Opened codec 0x830a980, id(DVB_SUBTITLE) type(Subtitle)
2007-05-15 22:39:50.107 AFD: Opened codec 0x8306db0, id(MP3) type(Audio)
[mpeg2video @ 0xb71ea568]ac-tex damaged at 15 5
[mpeg2video @ 0xb71ea568]Warning MVs not available
2007-05-15 22:39:57.538 TV: Attempting to change from None to WatchingPreRecorded
2007-05-15 22:39:57.646 DPMS Deactivated 
0: start_time: 4648.062 duration: 143.788
1: start_time: 4648.026 duration: 143.778
2: start_time: 4648.157 duration: -9223372036854.775
3: start_time: 4648.026 duration: 143.824
stream: start_time: 51644.731 duration: 1598.044 bitrate=2744 kb/s
2007-05-15 22:39:57.729 AFD: Opened codec 0xb519d90, id(MPEG2VIDEO) type(Video)
2007-05-15 22:39:57.729 AFD: Opened codec 0xb58aa60, id(MP3) type(Audio)
2007-05-15 22:39:57.729 AFD: Opened codec 0xb58af10, id(DVB_SUBTITLE) type(Subtitle)
2007-05-15 22:39:57.729 AFD: Opened codec 0xb58b3c0, id(MP3) type(Audio)
2007-05-15 22:39:57.733 Opening OSS audio device '/dev/dsp'.
2007-05-15 22:39:57.789 VideoOutputXv: XvMCTex: Init failed
2007-05-15 22:39:57.790 VideoOutputXv: XVideo Adaptor Name: 'Xgl Generic Texture Video'
mythfrontend: Fatal IO error: client killed
mythfrontend: Fatal IO error: client killed

One small step for man

Have recorded my first show. An old rerun of Friends happened to be my victim. The MPEG file is there in my recordings dir, and mythfrontend shows a soundless moving preview of it in a window, but caused a restart of X windows when I tried to play it. (Hey, at least thats better than a full PC lock!) But the best news is that I made it log using -l parameter...

Gizmo

Want to install Gizmo Project, which would like to have bonjour installed, which seems to come up as avahi in YaST. A little hesitant as this was one of the things that I installed when things broke last time. Might leave this a while till the system is otherwise stable.

freezing mythfrontend

Okay, everything else seems reasonably in order. Thank God my remote works out of the box at least (buy the best supported). Time for to try this front end!

...

Crashed my system. Full lock, had to turn it off at the switch. Now where's the logs?

cron for dummies

I hope the Online Update runs automatically in openSUSE 10.2, but the crontab editing instructions here are invaluable.

Mount challenges

Bit of a snag reading my remounted windows volume:

dell5100:/mnt # chmod g+rx win
chmod: changing permissions of `win': Read-only file system

All the options seem ok in Partitioner. The advice seems to be a reboot. (PS: Which worked.)

Found one other useful little command that will also solve a few other problems I've had cropping up:

chown -R /mnt/video

Installed Skype. Firefox auto-opens with zen-installer.

My first go at Partitioning in Linux

So myth wants to save its recordings in /mnt/store, which doesnt exist. Time to learn about mounting. YaST has this Partitioner utility which looks like it will be able to reallocate the 100GB that I freed for this purpose on of my windows partition, but it's not playing coz I first need to unmount /windows/C. I figure a good console command to start with is mount, which currently says:

harvest@dell5100:~> mount
/dev/sda6 on / type ext3 (rw,acl,user_xattr)
proc on /proc type proc (rw)
sysfs on /sys type sysfs (rw)
debugfs on /sys/kernel/debug type debugfs (rw)
udev on /dev type tmpfs (rw)
devpts on /dev/pts type devpts (rw,mode=0620,gid=5)
/dev/sda7 on /home type ext3 (rw,acl,user_xattr)
/dev/sda2 on /windows/C type ntfs (ro,noexec,nosuid,nodev,gid=100,umask=0002,nls=utf8)
securityfs on /sys/kernel/security type securityfs (rw)
/dev/hdb on /media/SU1020.001 type iso9660 (rw,nosuid,nodev,uid=1000)

So here goes:

umount /windows/C

Said directory is now empty (hope it comes back on its own after reboot!) but YaST Partitioner is still moaning. Tried restarting it, and now I have 100GB floating about free on my disk, somewhere. But where? Create says it's already maxed out on drives. Lets try expanding /home - no luck.

So I'll reuse that 70MB Dell Restore Utility showing up as /dev/sda1, as it's a Windows XP retore thing anyway, which I dont care about any more, and I never used it. Cant resize it currently, so I'm hoping I can after I run this first stage:

Shrink Windows partition /dev/sda2 to 83.0 GB for /mnt/win
Format partition /dev/sda1 (70.5 MB) for /mnt/video with xfs

(you can see I also changed my mount points a little)

Still cant resize /dev/sda1 after format. If I had deleted and recreated it would have come out at 107GB. But now during the delete/recreate I'm getting this error:

Failure occurred during following action:
Deleting partition /dev/sda1
System error code was: -3002

Google search was unhelpful. Turns out closing YaST Partitioner and reopening it did the trick - it had lost the plot again as per last time.

My first experience of Myth: cant find mysql.sock

No error type from QSqlError?  Strange...
2007-05-13 08:56:21.219 Unable to connect to database!
2007-05-13 08:56:21.219 Driver error was [1/2002]:
QMYSQL3: Unable to connect
Database error was:
Can't connect to local MySQL server through socket '/var/lib/mysql/mysql.sock' (2)

QSqlQuery::exec: database not open
QSqlQuery::exec: database not open
2007-05-13 08:56:21.272 DB Error (KickDatabase):
Query was:
SELECT NULL;
No error type from QSqlError?  Strange...
2007-05-13 08:56:21.324 Failed to init MythContext, exiting.

Still get the same thing after installing MySQL (only mysql-shared was already installed). Running mysql at command prompt give the same thing:

harvest@dell5100:~> mysql
ERROR 2002 (HY000): Can't connect to local MySQL server through socket '/var/lib/mysql/mysql.sock' (2)

Tech Recipes has a solution for people who can find their mysql.sock, which will be great once I've found it. Found a useful command to remember though:

find / -name mysql.sock

Ah, the missing key was to turn on the mysql service: YaST > System Services (Runlevel editor). Like services.msc

http://swiftandbored.com/mythtvonsuse.htm installation guide seems quite helpful, though a little outdated. Am adding libdvdcss as per recommendation.

Finally found what seems to be the right set of instructions. OpenSUSE 10.2 at MythTV.org Will follow this from here.

IEs4Linux

My wife pointed out that the latest Hotmail full view no longer works with Firefox 2.0 (only 1.5). But instead of downgrading Firefox, I'm installing IEs4Linux, and therefore Wine, which it depends on. PS: All went fine.

MythTV install was less than seamless but that's expected. More on that later.

xawtv4 works, almost ready for mythtv!

After a little tzap action to find the best spot for my aerial, it looks like everything's dandy. Have been watching channel 5 for at least half an hour with no glitches, so time for a reboot. Once I can get it remembering my "modprobe cx88-dvb", then a backup & install mythtv.

Reboot showed no /dev/dvb/ so I hunted around opensuse.org for modprobe ideas, and when I took a look at /etc/modprobe.d/tv I realised that this was my YaST settings, so I went back into YaST > Hardware > TV Card and set my kernel module to cx88-dvb in Expert Settings, and /dev/dvb is back. No need to reboot, as it seems YaST changes always stick. So I'm backing up now.

I have channels!

dell5100:/home/harvest/linuxtv-dvb-apps-1.1.1/util/scan # ./scan dvb-t/uk-CrystalPalace 
scanning dvb-t/uk-CrystalPalace
using '/dev/dvb/adapter0/frontend0' and '/dev/dvb/adapter0/demux0'
initial transponder 505833333 0 3 9 1 0 0 0
>>> tune to: 505833333:INVERSION_AUTO:BANDWIDTH_8_MHZ:FEC_3_4:FEC_AUTO:QAM_16:TRANSMISSION_MODE_2K:GUARD_INTERVAL_1_32:HIERARCHY_NONE
0x0000 0x1044: pmt_pid 0x1044 BBC -- BBC ONE (running)
0x0000 0x1084: pmt_pid 0x1084 BBC -- BBC TWO (running)
0x0000 0x10ff: pmt_pid 0x10ff BBC -- BBC THREE (running)
0x0000 0x113f: pmt_pid 0x113f BBC -- BBC NEWS 24 (running)
0x0000 0x117f: pmt_pid 0x117f BBC -- BBCi (running)
0x0000 0x123f: pmt_pid 0x123f BBC -- CBBC Channel (running)
...

I feel a Hallelujah chorus coming along!

modprobe.conf

I was gonna add "alias char-major-81 cx88_dvb" to my modprobe.conf on a bit of a whim, but the comments asked me to add it to modprobe.conf.local, which I have done, but am a bit worried that there's already an "alias char-major-81 videodev" in there already.

#
# Copyright (c) 1996-2002 SuSE Linux AG Nuernberg, Germany.
# All rights reserved.
#
# Author: Hubert Mantel , 1996-2002
#
# Configuration file for loadable modules; used by modprobe
#
# Please don't edit this file. Place your settings into
# /etc/modprobe.conf.local instead.
#
#
########################################################################
# Aliases - specify your hardware
########################################################################

install eth0             /bin/true
install eth1             /bin/true
install tr0              /bin/true
install scsi_hostadapter /bin/true
install fb0              /bin/true

########################################################################
# only used for Mylex or Compaq Raid as module
########################################################################

install block-major-48   /bin/true
install block-major-49   /bin/true
install block-major-72   /bin/true
install block-major-73   /bin/true

########################################################################
# only needed for fifth and sixth IDE adaptor
########################################################################

install block-major-56   /bin/true
install block-major-57   /bin/true

########################################################################
# mouse (for older busmice)
########################################################################

install char-major-10    /bin/true

########################################################################
# If you want to use the new autofs4
########################################################################

alias autofs           autofs4

########################################################################
# For parallel port devices, uncomment the following two lines and
# change "frpw" to the protocol type you use
########################################################################

# install paride /sbin/modprobe --ignore-install paride && { /sbin/modprobe --ignore-install frpw; }
# remove paride { /sbin/modprobe -r --ignore-remove frpw; } ; /sbin/modprobe -r --ignore-remove paride

########################################################################
# Options; these are examples; uncomment and modify the lines you need
########################################################################

# options cdu31a         cdu31a_port=0x340 cdu31a_irq=0
# options sbpcd          sbpcd=0x230,1
# options aztcd          aztcd=0x320
# options cm206          cm206=0x340,11
# options gscd           gscd=0x340
# options mcd            mcd=0x300,11
# options mcdx           mcdx=0x300,11
# options optcd          optcd=0x340
# options sjcd           sjcd_base=0x340
# options sonycd535      sonycd535=0x340
# options isp16          isp16_cdrom_base=0x340 isp16_cdrom_irq=0 isp16_cdrom_dma=0 isp16_cdrom_type=Sanyo

# options ne             io=0x300 irq=5

# Use this if you have two cards:
# options ne             io=0x300,0x320 irq=5,7

# options tulip          options=0
# options 3c59x          options=0
# options 3c501          io=0x280 irq=5
# options 3c503          io=0x280 irq=5 xcvr=0
# options 3c505          io=0x300 irq=10
# options 3c507          io=0x300 irq=10
# options 3c509          irq=10
# options at1700         io=0x260 irq=10
# options smc-ultra      io=0x200 irq=10
# options wd             io=0x300 irq=10
# options smc9194        io=0x200 irq=10 ifport=0
# options e2100          io=0x300 irq=10 mem=0xd0000 xcvr=0
# options depca          io=0x200 irq=7
# options ewrk3          io=0x300 irq=10
# options eexpress       io=0x300 irq=10
# options hp-plus        io=0x300 irq=10
# options hp             io=0x300 irq=10
# options hp100          hp100_port=0x380
# options apricot        io=0x300 irq=10
# options ac3200         io=0x300 irq=10 mem=0xd0000
# options de620          io=0x378 irq=7 bnc=1
# options ibmtr          io=0xa20
# options arcnet         io=0x300 irq=10 shmem=0xd0000
# options plip           io=0x378 irq=7
# options eepro          io=0x260 irq=10 mem=0x6000
# options eth16i         io=0x2a0 irq=10
# options fmv18x         io=0x220 irq=10
# options ni52           io=0x360 irq=9 memstart=0xd0000 memend=0xd4000
# options bttv    pll=1 radio=0 card=0
# options tuner   type=0
# options msp3400 once=1 simple=1

# install bttv /sbin/modprobe --ignore-install bttv && { /sbin/modprobe -k tuner; /sbin/modprobe -k msp3400; }
#

install dummy0 /sbin/modprobe -o dummy0 --ignore-install dummy
install dummy1 /sbin/modprobe -o dummy1 --ignore-install dummy
remove dummy0 /sbin/modprobe -r -o dummy0 --ignore-remove dummy
remove dummy1 /sbin/modprobe -r -o dummy1 --ignore-remove dummy

########################################################################
# cipe section
########################################################################

alias cipcb0 cipcb
alias cipcb1 cipcb

options cipcb    cipe_debug=0

########################################################################
# block dev aliases
########################################################################

alias block-major-1       rd
alias block-major-2       floppy
install block-major-3     /bin/true
alias block-major-7       loop
alias block-major-8       sd_mod
alias block-major-11      sr_mod
alias block-major-13      xd
alias block-major-15      cdu31a
alias block-major-16      gscd
alias block-major-17      optcd
alias block-major-18      sjcd
alias block-major-20      mcdx
install block-major-22    /bin/true
alias block-major-23      mcd
alias block-major-24      sonycd535
alias block-major-25      sbpcd
alias block-major-26      sbpcd
alias block-major-27      sbpcd
alias block-major-28      sbpcd
alias block-major-29      aztcd
alias block-major-32      cm206
install block-major-33    /bin/true
install block-major-34    /bin/true
# network block device
install block-major-43    /bin/true
alias block-major-45      pd
alias block-major-46      pcd
alias block-major-47      pf
alias block-major-117     evms

########################################################################
# char dev aliases
########################################################################

alias char-major-6        lp
alias char-major-9        st
alias char-major-10-130   softdog
install char-major-10-134 /bin/true
install char-major-10-135 /bin/true
alias char-major-10-175   agpgart
alias char-major-10-181   toshiba
alias char-major-10-250   sonypi
options sonypi            minor=250
install char-major-15     /bin/true
alias char-major-19       cyclades
alias char-major-20       cyclades
alias char-major-21       sg
alias char-major-27       ftape
install char-major-29     /bin/true
alias char-major-36       netlink_dev
# alias char-major-43       hisax
# alias char-major-44       hisax
# alias char-major-45       hisax
install char-major-43     /bin/true
install char-major-44     /bin/true
install char-major-45     /bin/true
alias char-major-48       riscom8
alias char-major-49       riscom8
alias char-major-67       coda
alias char-major-75       specialix
alias char-major-76       specialix
alias char-major-81       videodev
install char-major-81-0   /bin/true
install char-major-81-1   /bin/true
install char-major-81-2   /bin/true
install char-major-81-3   /bin/true

alias char-major-83       vtx
options vtx quiet=1

alias char-major-89       i2c-dev
alias char-major-96       pt
alias char-major-97       pg
alias char-major-107      3dfx
alias char-major-109      lvm-mod
# remove this if sound is configured
install char-major-116    /bin/true

########################################################################
# ppp over ethernet
# the kernel 2.2 uses pppox
# the kernel 2.4 uses pppoe
########################################################################

alias char-major-108      ppp_generic
alias char-major-144      pppoe
alias net-pf-24           pppoe

########################################################################
# IrDA
########################################################################

alias char-major-161      ircomm-tty

alias char-major-162      raw

########################################################################
# ISDN
########################################################################
install b1pci /bin/true
install c4 /bin/true
install sc /bin/true
install hisax /bin/true
install hisax_fcpcipnp /bin/true
install hfc4s8s_l1 /bin/true
install hysdn /bin/true
install pcbit /bin/true
install t1pci /bin/true
install divas /bin/true
install fcdsl /bin/true
install fcdsl2 /bin/true
install fcpci /bin/true
install fcpnp /bin/true
install fcdslsl /etc/sysconfig/isdn/scripts/hotplug_pci

########################################################################
# USB
########################################################################

install char-major-166    /bin/true

########################################################################
# Moxa Multiport Serial Boards
########################################################################

alias char-major-172      moxa
alias char-major-173      moxa

# options moxa type=2,,, baseaddr=0xdc000,,, numports=8,,,
alias char-major-174      mxser
alias char-major-175      mxser
# options mxser ioaddr=0x180

#alias char-major-180     usbcore

alias InterMezzo intermezzo
alias char-major-185 intermezzo

alias char-major-188      usbserial

alias char-major-195*     nvidia
alias char-major-206      osst
alias char-major-212      /bin/true

alias binfmt-204          binfmt_aout
alias binfmt-263          binfmt_aout
alias binfmt-264          binfmt_aout
alias binfmt-267          binfmt_aout
alias binfmt-0064         binfmt_aout
alias binfmt-0008         binfmt_aout

alias iso9660             isofs
alias tty-ldisc-1         slip
alias tty-ldisc-2         serio
alias tty-ldisc-5         mkiss

# alias tty-ldisc-7       6pack
install tty-ldisc-7       /bin/true

# IrDA
alias tty-ldisc-11        irtty-sir

# alias ax0               mkiss
install ax0               /bin/true
# alias sp0               6pack
install sp0               /bin/true
alias slip0               slip
alias sl0                 slip
alias slip1               slip
alias sl1                 slip

########################################################################
# the kernel 2.2 uses ppp.o as ppp driver,
# the kernel 2.4 uses ppp_generic.o
########################################################################

alias ppp0                ppp_generic
alias ppp1                ppp_generic
alias tty-ldisc-3         ppp_async

alias plip0               plip
alias plip1               plip

# Tunnel interfaces
alias sit0 ipv6
alias gre0 ip_gre
alias ipip0 ipip

alias ppp-compress-18          ppp_mppe
alias ppp-compress-21          bsd_comp
alias ppp-compress-24          ppp_deflate
alias ppp-compress-26          ppp_deflate

alias net-pf-1            unix
alias net-pf-3            ax25
# install net-pf-3          /bin/true
alias net-pf-4            ipx
# install net-pf-4          /bin/true
alias net-pf-5            appletalk
# install net-pf-5          /bin/true
alias net-pf-6            netrom
# install net-pf-6          /bin/true
alias net-pf-10           ipv6
# install net-pf-10         /bin/true
alias net-pf-11           rose
# install net-pf-11         /bin/true
alias net-pf-15           af_key
alias net-pf-17           af_packet
alias net-pf-31           bluetooth

alias bt-proto-0 l2cap
alias bt-proto-2 sco
alias bt-proto-3 rfcomm
alias bt-proto-4 bnep

alias md-personality-1  linear
alias md-personality-2  raid0
alias md-personality-3  raid1
alias md-personality-4  raid5
alias md-personality-7  multipath

alias tap0                ethertap
alias tap1                ethertap
alias tap2                ethertap
alias tap3                ethertap
alias tap4                ethertap
alias tap5                ethertap
alias tap6                ethertap
alias tap7                ethertap
alias tap8                ethertap
alias tap9                ethertap
alias tap10               ethertap
alias tap11               ethertap
alias tap12               ethertap
alias tap13               ethertap
alias tap14               ethertap
alias tap15               ethertap

alias xfrm-type-2-50    esp4
alias xfrm-type-2-51    ah4
alias xfrm-type-2-108   ipcomp
alias xfrm-type-10-50   esp6
alias xfrm-type-10-51   ah6
alias xfrm-type-10-108  ipcomp6

# don't try to reset isa-pnp cards on startup
options isa-pnp isapnp_reset=0

# Linux-ABI
install binfmt_misc /sbin/modprobe --ignore-install binfmt_misc && { mount -t binfmt_misc none /proc/sys/fs/binfmt_misc; }
remove binfmt_misc { umount /proc/sys/fs/binfmt_misc; } ; /sbin/modprobe -r --ignore-remove binfmt_misc

# Bluetooth
alias bt-proto-5 cmtp
alias bt-proto-6 hidp

# NFS
alias nfs4 nfs

# rpc_pipefs
install rpc_pipefs /sbin/modprobe sunrpc

# end of common part for modprobe.conf
# begin of i386 part for modprobe.conf

alias char-major-4        serial
alias char-major-5        serial

alias parport_lowlevel    parport_pc
# options parport_pc io=0x378 irq=none,none
# If you have multiple parallel ports, specify them this way:
# options parport_pc io=0x378,0x278  irq=none,none

# Linux ACP modem (Mwave)
alias char-major-10-219 mwave
# options mwave dspirq=10 dspio=0x130 uartirq=3 uartio=0x2f8

# nVidia nforce chipset (network + audio)
#alias eth0 nvnet
#alias sound-slot-1 nvaudio
#alias usb-interface usb-ohci

# IBM thinkpad tpctl
# see /usr/share/doc/packages/tpctl/
alias char-major-10-170 thinkpad
# options thinkpad enable_smapi=0

# Linux-ABI
alias char-major-30       abi-ibcs
alias binfmt-0004         binfmt_coff
alias binfmt-332          abi-ibcs
alias binfmt-518          abi-ibcs
alias binfmt-002c         abi-ibcs
alias personality-1       abi-ibcs
alias personality-2       abi-ibcs
alias personality-3       abi-sco
alias personality-4       abi-wyse
alias personality-5       abi-ibcs
alias personality-7       abi-ibcs
alias personality-13      abi-solaris
alias personality-14      abi-uw7

# required for DRI support on SiS chips
options sisfb             mode=none mem=12288

# ata_piix can't handle ICH6 in AHCI mode
install ata_piix /sbin/modprobe ahci 2>&1 |:; /sbin/modprobe --ignore-install ata_piix

# end of i386 part for modprobe.conf

# please keep this at the end and add local modifications to modules.conf.local
include /etc/modprobe.d
include /etc/modprobe.conf.local

Thankyou MKrufky!

On #v4l...

The strange thing is that the cx8800 drivers are already part of the SuSE 10.2 distro, autodetected as such, but no /dev/dvb
...
harvest316: modprobe cx88-dvb
AWESOME!
:-D
thank you *very* much, mkrufky!
so do I have to do that at each bootup, or will it remember it now?
no problem at all, harvest316
it will not remember
you can either get the new version of the drivers, which has that issue resolved
or
add cx88-dvb to your init scripts.... that's dependant on your distro, and i dont know how suse does it
okay. I'm sure I can find that out.
you might have /etc/rc.modules
worst case scenario, you can add 'modprobe cx88-dvb' to /etc/rc.local
but thats not the cleanest way
but who cares?
where might I find the new version of cx88-dvb? I notice it's not accessible via YaST.
see "repo howto" link in channel topic
thanks again!
im happy to help, harvest316


The amazing people you meet online. And here this guy gives his time to let us all watch telly on our 'puters. Well, there's my weekend sorted out for me.

Is this the way forward?

My best guess is that I will have to install mercurial and follow linuxtv.org's rather scary sounding installation instructions. I'd really feel a whole lot safer if there was an RPM. Will give this a shot on the weekend.

Sitting on IRC

Tried sitting on linuxtv.org's IRC channels overnight (freenode #linuxtv and #v4l), with no reply. Still, will leave it on while at work too. Never know.

But fortunately the #v4l welcome message gives a url to latest supported hardware, and mine's in the list! So there's hope for this daft TV card after all. Will give the install a shot on Friday night.

Might have some trouble with the Thomson DTT 75105 tuner though, as I cant find it in the HCL. Trusting in the IRC gurus for now.

I dont understand whether we're matching drivers to chips, or drivers to PCI boards. Because I can find the driver for my 0070:9002 Hauppauge chip, but not for the Thomson tuner on the same card. If I find a match for this 0070:9002 number, then I'm sorted, right? The fact that the actual chip says CX23882-39 and I can find no mention of this anywhere kinda worries me. If I've got the driver for one of my card's two big chips, will the other be covered in that?

dmesg -aka- /var/log/boot.msg

The #v4l readme for my card suggested I look in dmesg. Which happens to be /var/log/boot.msg - and there's some useful stuff here:

<6>ACPI: PCI Interrupt 0000:03:02.0[A] -> GSI 18 (level, low) -> IRQ 50
<6>CORE cx88[0]: subsystem: 0070:9002, board: Hauppauge Nova-T DVB-T [card=18,a$
<6>TV tuner 4 at 0x1fe, Radio tuner -1 at 0x1fe
<7>i2c-algo-bit.o: (0) scl=1, sda=1
<7>i2c-algo-bit.o: (1) scl=1, sda=0
<7>i2c-algo-bit.o: (2) scl=1, sda=1
<7>i2c-algo-bit.o: (3) scl=0, sda=1
<7>i2c-algo-bit.o: (4) scl=1, sda=1
<6>i2c-algo-bit.o: cx88[0] passed test.
<6>tveeprom 1-0050: Hauppauge model 90003, rev C2B0, serial# 2264618
<6>tveeprom 1-0050: MAC address is 00-0D-FE-22-8E-2A
<6>tveeprom 1-0050: tuner model is Thompson DTT75105 (idx 110, type 4)
<6>tveeprom 1-0050: TV standards ATSC/DVB Digital (eeprom 0x80)
<6>tveeprom 1-0050: audio processor is None (idx 0)
<6>tveeprom 1-0050: decoder processor is CX882 (idx 25)
<6>tveeprom 1-0050: has no radio, has IR remote
<6>cx88[0]: hauppauge eeprom: model=90003
<6>input: cx88 IR (Hauppauge Nova-T DVB-T as /class/input/input1
<6>cx88[0]/0: found at 0000:03:02.0, rev: 5, irq: 50, latency: 64, mmio: 0xec00$
<6>cx88[0]/0: registered device video0 [v4l2]
<6>cx88[0]/0: registered device vbi0

Games

Installing a few 3D games to test if hardware acceleration works enough to show off to a mate coming over tomorrow. Fingers crossed...

Lucky.

Lost my wobble!

I installed gnome-compiz-preferences and gnome-compiz-preferences-extra to change the window picker to pick it from all windows, not just current desktop, and my wobble's gone! :(

Have tried a few package unintalls, no luck. Attempting a restore from recent backup.

Success. Glad to see System Restoration works. ;)

The end of (EE)

Yay! Turning AIGLX off has nailed my __driCreateNewScreen_20050727 error. Celebration time.

Here's my tuned little command to find errors in logs:

egrep -Hn '\(EE\)|\(WW\)' /var/log/*.log

Xgl.0.log is now error free. Well, that's a start.

Unfortunately /var/log/Xorg.93.log and /var/log/gdm/:0.log still have the warning about the second PCI instance, but no error at least:

(WW) fglrx: No matching Device section for instance (BusID PCI:1:0:1) found

But unfortunately my original error still remains:

dell5100:/var/log # LIBGL_DEBUG=verbose fgl_glxgears
Using GLX_SGIX_pbuffer
Xlib:  extension "XFree86-DRI" missing on display ":0.0".
libGL error: XF86DRIQueryDirectRenderingCapable failed
Error: couldn't get fbconfig

But for now I'm happy to let sleeping dogs lie, as everything else seems fine. Time to backup and then move onto the TV card.

xorg.conf edit 4

So I'm back at square one, having tried a whole bunch of things, no luck.

"cat /var/log/gdm/:0.log" gives me:

(==) Log file: "/var/log/Xorg.93.log", Time: Mon May  7 16:45:59 2007
(==) Using config file: "/etc/X11/xorg.conf"
(WW) fglrx: No matching Device section for instance (BusID PCI:1:0:1) found
(EE) AIGLX error: dlsym for __driCreateNewScreen_20050727 failed (/usr/lib/dri/fglrx_dri.so: undefined symbol: __driCreateNewScreen_20050727)
(EE) AIGLX: reverting to software rendering
Could not init font path element /usr/share/fonts/Speedo, removing from list!
Could not init font path element unix/:7100, removing from list!
error opening security policy file /etc/X11/xserver/SecurityPolicy

man page for xorg.conf

This geezer reckons AIGLX is incompatible with newer Xorg server, so I want a bit of:

  Section "ServerFlags"
      Option  "AIGLX" "off"
  EndSection
  Section "Extensions"
      Option "Composite" "Disable"
  EndSection

...coming right up!

xorg.conf edit 3

That didnt work.

Trying this...
modprobe agpgart
modprobe fglrx
Ctrl-Alt-Backspace

Didnt think it'd work.

Trying two separate Device sections. This guy had some luck with two, although I'm not doing dual head.

No luck. Back to one section now, trying BusID 1:0:1 instead of 1:0:0.

restart xorg

Just discovered Ctrl-Alt-Backspace. Seems to reload a new xorg.conf pretty quick so I'm happy.

Mouse cursor its back to its happy self. fgl_glxgears still unhappy. glxgears up to former 5700 FPS.

Noticed a warning that seems quite helpful...

dell5100:/home/harvest # cat /var/log/Xorg.93.log | grep "(WW)"
(WW) fglrx: No matching Device section for instance (BusID PCI:1:0:1) found

lspci -v shows the device has two PCI Bus IDs. This page reckons I just whack the second BusID in the same Device section. So here goes...

Section "Device"
  BoardName    "RADEON X600 Series (RV380 (X) 5B62)"
  BusID        "1:0:0"
  BusID        "1:0:1"
  Driver       "fglrx"
...

xorg.conf edit 2

Attempting Cerebral's other suggestions. (Yes I know ArchLinux is a different distro.) Also a slight change from "false" to "disable" just in case.

Section "Extensions"
  Option        "Composite" "disable"
  Option        "RENDER" "disable"
...

Section "ServerLayout"
 # Option       "Clone" "off"
 # Option       "Xinerama" "off"
...

Reboot!

Yeouch, that didnt work. Some very nasty blocky transparency action around the mouse, otherwise no change - I still get:

harvest@dell5100:~> LIBGL_DEBUG=verbose fgl_glxgears
Using GLX_SGIX_pbuffer
Xlib:  extension "XFree86-DRI" missing on display ":0.0".
libGL error: XF86DRIQueryDirectRenderingCapable failed
Error: couldn't get fbconfig

Rolling back the above edits, all but Composite disable.

xorg.conf edit 1

Section "Extensions"
  Option        "Composite" "false"

Reboot...

Taking forever to boot up. Lots of changes from prior updates? Blank screen, no keyboard or mouse response. Fan speed is going up and down tho, so somethings happening. Patience?

5 mins and still nothing. Ethernet light flashing, fan goes up and down irregularly, but no screen, kb, mouse. Tried power button to trigger shutdown, no luck so hard power off.

Rebooted okay now, but without autologin

original errant xorg.conf - 'out of the box'

harvest@dell5100:~> cat /etc/X11/xorg.conf
# /.../
# SaX generated X11 config file
# Created on: 2007-05-07T10:26:28+0100.
#
# Version: 8.1
# Contact: Marcus Schaefer , 2005
# Contact: SaX-User list 
#
# Automatically generated by [ISaX] (8.1)
# PLEASE DO NOT EDIT THIS FILE!
#

Section "Files"
  FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/misc:unscaled"
  FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/local"
  FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/75dpi:unscaled"
  FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/100dpi:unscaled"
  FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/Type1"
  FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/URW"
  FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/Speedo"
  FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/PEX"
  FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/cyrillic"
  FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/latin2/misc:unscaled"
  FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/latin2/75dpi:unscaled"
  FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/latin2/100dpi:unscaled"
  FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/latin2/Type1"
  FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/latin7/75dpi:unscaled"
  FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/baekmuk:unscaled"
  FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/japanese:unscaled"
  FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/kwintv"
  FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/truetype"
  FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/uni:unscaled"
  FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/CID"
  FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/ucs/misc:unscaled"
  FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/ucs/75dpi:unscaled"
  FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/ucs/100dpi:unscaled"
  FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/hellas/misc:unscaled"
  FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/hellas/75dpi:unscaled"
  FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/hellas/100dpi:unscaled"
  FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/hellas/Type1"
  FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/misc/sgi:unscaled"
  FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/xtest"
  FontPath     "/opt/kde3/share/fonts"
  FontPath     "unix/:7100"
  InputDevices "/dev/gpmdata"
  InputDevices "/dev/input/mice"
EndSection

Section "ServerFlags"
  Option       "AllowMouseOpenFail" "on"
  Option       "IgnoreABI" "on"
EndSection

Section "Module"
  Load         "dbe"
  Load         "type1"
  Load         "freetype"
  Load         "extmod"
  Load         "glx"
  Load         "v4l"
  Load         "dri"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
  Driver       "kbd"
  Identifier   "Keyboard[0]"
  Option       "Protocol" "Standard"
  Option       "XkbLayout" "gb"
  Option       "XkbModel" "pc105"
  Option       "XkbRules" "xfree86"
EndSection


Section "InputDevice"
  Driver       "mouse"
  Identifier   "Mouse[1]"
  Option       "Buttons" "5"
  Option       "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
  Option       "Name" "Dell USB Mouse"
  Option       "Protocol" "explorerps/2"
  Option       "Vendor" "Sysp"
  Option       "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
EndSection


Section "Monitor"
  Option       "CalcAlgorithm" "XServerPool"
  DisplaySize  376 301
  HorizSync    30-81
  Identifier   "Monitor[0]"
  ModelName    "1905FP"
  Option       "DPMS"
  VendorName   "DELL"
  VertRefresh  56-76
  UseModes     "Modes[0]"
EndSection


Section "Modes"
  Identifier   "Modes[0]"
EndSection


Section "Screen"
  DefaultDepth 24
  SubSection "Display"
    Depth      15
    Modes      "1280x1024" "1280x960" "1280x800" "1152x864" "1280x768" "1024x768" "1280x600" "1024x600" "800x600" "768x576" "640x480" 
  EndSubSection
  SubSection "Display"
    Depth      16
    Modes      "1280x1024" "1280x960" "1280x800" "1152x864" "1280x768" "1024x768" "1280x600" "1024x600" "800x600" "768x576" "640x480" 
  EndSubSection
  SubSection "Display"
    Depth      24
    Modes      "1280x1024" "1280x960" "1280x800" "1152x864" "1280x768" "1024x768" "1280x600" "1024x600" "800x600" "768x576" "640x480" 
  EndSubSection
  SubSection "Display"
    Depth      8
    Modes      "1280x1024" "1280x960" "1280x800" "1152x864" "1280x768" "1024x768" "1280x600" "1024x600" "800x600" "768x576" "640x480" 
  EndSubSection
  Device       "Device[0]"
  Identifier   "Screen[0]"
  Monitor      "Monitor[0]"
EndSection


Section "Device"
  BoardName    "RADEON X600 Series (RV380 (X) 5B62)"
  BusID        "1:0:0"
  Driver       "fglrx"
  Identifier   "Device[0]"
  Option       "FSAADisableGamma" "no"
  Option       "CapabilitiesEx" "0x00000000"
  Option       "ScreenOverlap" "0"
  Option       "FSAAMSPosY0" "0.000000"
  Option       "FSAAMSPosY1" "0.000000"
  Option       "mtrr" "off"
  Option       "FSAAMSPosX4" "0.000000"
  Option       "ForceGenericCPU" "no"
  Option       "FSAAMSPosX5" "0.000000"
  Option       "FSAAMSPosY2" "0.000000"
  Option       "FSAAScale" "1"
  Option       "FSAAMSPosY3" "0.000000"
  Option       "Capabilities" "0x00000000"
  Option       "GammaCorrectionI" "0x00000000"
  Option       "no_accel" "no"
  Option       "FSAAMSPosY4" "0.000000"
  Option       "UseFastTLS" "0"
  Option       "FSAAMSPosY5" "0.000000"
  Option       "FSAACustomizeMSPos" "no"
  Option       "FSAAEnable" "no"
  Option       "BlockSignalsOnLock" "on"
  Option       "GammaCorrectionII" "0x00000000"
  Option       "KernelModuleParm" "locked-userpages=0"
  Option       "FSAAMSPosX0" "0.000000"
  Option       "no_dri" "no"
  Option       "VideoOverlay" "on"
  Option       "UseInternalAGPGART" "no"
  Option       "PseudoColorVisuals" "off"
  Option       "StereoSyncEnable" "1"
  Option       "FSAAMSPosX1" "0.000000"
  Option       "OpenGLOverlay" "off"
  Option       "FSAAMSPosX2" "0.000000"
  Option       "Stereo" "off"
  Option       "FSAAMSPosX3" "0.000000"
  Option       "CenterMode" "off"
  VendorName   "ATI"
EndSection


Section "ServerLayout"
  Identifier   "Layout[all]"
  InputDevice  "Keyboard[0]" "CoreKeyboard"
  InputDevice  "Mouse[1]" "CorePointer"
  Option       "Clone" "off"
  Option       "Xinerama" "off"
  Screen       "Screen[0]"
EndSection


Section "DRI"
    Group      "video"
    Mode       0660
EndSection

Section "Extensions"
  Option       "DAMAGE" "false"
EndSection

TV Card

The root of my problem: there's no /dev/dvb

Reinstall failed rpms & by dependent packages reviewing /var/log/YaST2/y2logRPM

y2logRPM shows a warning for beagle, but beagle seems to be indexing okay, so I'll ignore:

Warn: Unable to set IO priority for process to idle

Couldnt find libpanel-applet-2.so.0, see if error shows in y2logRPM again.

Default fonts (Sans) seemed fine, all but fixed width font (Monospace?), which I changed to Lucida Sans Typewriter.

Installed Opera 9.20.1.1

Online Update (zmd?) shows no packages but Software Updater in system tray says 25. Not sure why, totem is an xine GUI but do I even have xine installed? Yes, its installed (doesnt need xine). Okay, all the others seem to be installed already, so upgrading them.

Reboot

Graphics - Mixed Results

After installing fglrx from ATI repository...

Compiz XGL Desktop Effects are all working, including wobbling (yay!), but its really chunky. Cube rotation feels really slow compared to before.

harvest@dell5100:~> LIBGL_DEBUG=verbose fgl_glxgears
Using GLX_SGIX_pbuffer
Xlib:  extension "XFree86-DRI" missing on display ":0.0".
libGL error: XF86DRIQueryDirectRenderingCapable failed
Error: couldn't get fbconfig

glx_gears gives me 3700 FPS, which is slower than previous 5700 FPS, which had the same DRI problem, and didnt have wobbly windows working.

Hopefully the standard xorg.conf edits will work this time though.

Installed ATI fglrx driver after first reboot

Install fglrx from ATI repository via YaST...

ati-fglrxG01-kmp-default-8.36.5_2.6.18.8_0.3-1.1.i586.rpm
x11-video-fglrxG01-8.36.5-4.1.i586.rpm

Ran SaX2 config from Graphics Card & Monitor shortcut in Control Center. Screen blanked out to Ctrl-Alt-F1 login prompt for a while, had me worried but then it switched back eventually.

Test screen seemed fine, time for another reboot.

PS: Autologin worked well when you tick Passwordless login in Control Center > User Management > Expert Options > Login Settings.

cat /var/log/YaST2/y2logRPM | grep fail

to attempt reinstall:

susehelp_en-2006.06.20-25.noarch.rpm install failed
libcddb-1.3.0-11.i586.rpm install failed
pm-utils-0.20.0.20061114-5.i586.rpm install failed
perl-Bootloader-0.4.5-3.i586.rpm install failed
helix-banshee-engine-gst-0.11.2-17.i586.rpm install failed
libqt4-x11-4.2.1-18.i586.rpm install failed
sax2-8.1-83.i586.rpm install failed
yast2-storage-2.14.18-3.i586.rpm install failed
yast2-packager-2.14.10-3.i586.rpm install failed
yast2-inetd-2.14.1-23.noarch.rpm install failed
yast2-update-2.14.7-12.i586.rpm install failed
yast2-network-2.14.12-3.i586.rpm install failed
gnome-main-menu-0.6.3-47.i586.rpm install failed
yast2-installation-2.14.15-3.noarch.rpm install failed

After first boot

Bookmarked dav: fastmail
Setup keyring

sh installationsources/imp.sh sources

Firefox - FEBE restore

Enable auto online update 6am sunday.

installation sources: turned off all and on all, hoping it would sync with ZENworks, but that didnt work. have to look into this, or enter by hand.

Thunderbird - basic config

Installed xchat to access help groups if necessary

reboot for good measure

Extras installed during setup

I did a full online update using the standard repository, plus...

nano
myspell-australian
compat-expat
gpdf
thunderbird

Things to check out later

Finally reading the 10.2 release notes:

OpenSync - for PocketPC, replaces multisync
wodim - DVD burning, replaces growisofs
opensuseupdater - is this what I was using already?
pm-utils replaces powersaved for suspend

Why reinstall?

My Hauppauge Nova-T PCI TV tuner was autodetected properly when I first put it in, but udev has broken since and now I cant even get a /dev/dvb/ directory.

My ATI Radeon X600SE used to work fine, but now hardware DRI acceleration is stukkend. A rebuild should help this.

Linux is currently taking >3mins to boot, something's definitely wrong there.

Occasionally boots up with no keyboard support.

Suspend to disk doesnt work. Not that I'm hoping a reinstall will fix, but you never know.

I installed too much crap before. And didnt make any appropriately timed backups to roll back to.

And I figure I've practiced enough now. Time for a mildly serious build. Hence starting this blog.

/boot/grub/menu.lst

dell5100:/var/log/YaST2 # cat /boot/grub/menu.lst
# Modified by YaST2. Last modification on Sat May  5 09:47:06 BST 2007
default 0
timeout 8
gfxmenu (hd0,5)/boot/message

title openSUSE 10.2 - 2.6.18.8-0.3
    root (hd0,5)
    kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.18.8-0.3-default root=/dev/sda6 vga=0x31a resume=/dev/sda5 splash=silent showopts
    initrd /boot/initrd-2.6.18.8-0.3-default

title Failsafe -- openSUSE 10.2 - 2.6.18.8-0.3
    root (hd0,5)
    kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.18.8-0.3-default root=/dev/sda6 vga=normal showopts ide=nodma apm=off acpi=off noresume nosmp noapic maxcpus=0 edd=off
    initrd /boot/initrd-2.6.18.8-0.3-default

###Don't change this comment - YaST2 identifier: Original name: windows###
title Windows
    rootnoverify (hd0,0)
    chainloader (hd0,1)+1

Hauppauge Nova-T PCI 90003

FYI: The TV card is a Hauppauge Nova-T PCI, stated as model 909 on the box.

These are the following chip numbers from the card itself:

90003 LF Rev C2B0
CX23882-39
62007315
CX22702-25
900000-03ALF
Thomson DTT 75105

dmesg recognizes it as subsystem 0070:9002

installation_sources

dell5100:~/bin # installation_sources -s
#  | Enabled | Refresh | Type | Name                    | URI                                                                 
---+---------+---------+------+-------------------------+---------------------------------------------------------------------
1  | Yes     | Yes     | YaST | "Guru"                  | http://ftp.gwdg.de/pub/linux/misc/suser-guru/rpm/10.2/              
2  | Yes     | Yes     | YUM  | SUSE-Linux-10.2-Updates | http://ftp.uni-kl.de/pub/linux/suse/update/10.2                     
3  | Yes     | Yes     | YUM  | 20070506-092914         | http://software.opensuse.org/download/Emulators:/Wine/openSUSE_10.2/
4  | Yes     | Yes     | YUM  | 20070403-192730         | http://software.opensuse.org/download/GNOME:/STABLE/openSUSE_10.2   
5  | Yes     | No      | YaST | 20070401-164747         | http://download.opensuse.org/distribution/10.2/repo/non-oss/        
6  | Yes     | No      | YaST | 20070401-163523         | cd:///?devices=/dev/hdb                                             
7  | Yes     | Yes     | YUM  | 20070401-223953         | http://www2.ati.com/suse/10.2/                                      
8  | Yes     | No      | YaST | 20070401-164642         | http://download.opensuse.org/distribution/10.2/repo/oss/            
9  | Yes     | Yes     | YUM  | 20070401-225036         | ftp://ftp.skynet.be/pub/software.opensuse.org/xorg72/openSUSE_10.2  
10 | Yes     | Yes     | YUM  | 20070401-223821         | http://download.videolan.org/pub/vlc/SuSE/10.2                      
11 | Yes     | Yes     | YUM  | "Packman"               | http://packman.unixheads.com/suse/10.2/                             
12 | Yes     | Yes     | YUM  | 20070401-224020         | http://software.opensuse.org/download/X11:/XGL/openSUSE_10.2/       
13 | Yes     | Yes     | YUM  | 20070506-092950         | http://software.opensuse.org/download/mozilla/openSUSE_10.2/        
14 | Yes     | Yes     | YUM  | 20070506-092443         | http://jarpack.com//suse/10.2/RPMS/                                 
15 | Yes     | Yes     | YUM  | 20070401-164942         | ftp://ftp.gwdg.de/pub/suse/update/10.2                              
16 | Yes     | Yes     | YUM  | 20070401-224038         | http://software.opensuse.org/download/mozilla/openSUSE_10.2/    

Installed Apps

I tried fglrx_7_1_0_SUSE102-8.36.5-1.i386.rpm but now its in repository so use that.

ted - torrent episode downloader

/home/harvest/downloads/linuxtv-dvb-apps-1.1.1/util/scan

nano

dav: /installationsources/imp.sh sources

myspell-australian-20030324-47.noarch.rpm

various codecs, MPlayer etc, but lets leave them to see what myth asks for.

avahi is a zeroconf DNS service discovery tool. not reqd.

compat-expat needed for jungledisk

helix banshee seems pretty cool, but leave it till later

various fonts, but leave till later

gizmo project
opera - maybe it will be fixed this time?
google earth - leave till later
skype
flash player in firefox - plays most things except quicktime

xawtv4

lspci -v

dell5100:/home/harvest # lspci -v
00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation 82945G/GZ/P/PL Memory Controller Hub (rev 02)
        Subsystem: Dell Unknown device 01ab
        Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0
        Capabilities: [e0] Vendor Specific Information

00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82945G/GZ/P/PL PCI Express Root Port (rev 02) (prog-if 00 [Normal decode])
        Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0
        Bus: primary=00, secondary=01, subordinate=01, sec-latency=0
        I/O behind bridge: 0000d000-0000dfff
        Memory behind bridge: efd00000-efefffff
        Prefetchable memory behind bridge: 00000000e0000000-00000000e7ffffff
        Capabilities: [88] Subsystem: Intel Corporation Unknown device 0000
        Capabilities: [80] Power Management version 2
        Capabilities: [90] Message Signalled Interrupts: Mask- 64bit- Queue=0/0 Enable+
        Capabilities: [a0] Express Root Port (Slot+) IRQ 0
        Capabilities: [100] Virtual Channel
        Capabilities: [140] Unknown (5)

00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) High Definition Audio Controller (rev 01)
        Subsystem: Dell Unknown device 01ab
        Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 169
        Memory at efffc000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16K]
        Capabilities: [50] Power Management version 2
        Capabilities: [60] Message Signalled Interrupts: Mask- 64bit+ Queue=0/0 Enable-
        Capabilities: [70] Express Unknown type IRQ 0
        Capabilities: [100] Virtual Channel
        Capabilities: [130] Unknown (5)

00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) PCI Express Port 1 (rev 01) (prog-if 00 [Normal decode])
        Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0
        Bus: primary=00, secondary=02, subordinate=02, sec-latency=0
        Memory behind bridge: efc00000-efcfffff
        Capabilities: [40] Express Root Port (Slot+) IRQ 0
        Capabilities: [80] Message Signalled Interrupts: Mask- 64bit- Queue=0/0 Enable+
        Capabilities: [90] Subsystem: Gammagraphx, Inc. Unknown device 0000
        Capabilities: [a0] Power Management version 2
        Capabilities: [100] Virtual Channel
        Capabilities: [180] Unknown (5)

00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI #1 (rev 01) (prog-if 00 [UHCI])
        Subsystem: Dell Unknown device 01ab
        Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0, IRQ 225
        I/O ports at ff80 [size=32]

00:1d.1 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI #2 (rev 01) (prog-if 00 [UHCI])
        Subsystem: Dell Unknown device 01ab
        Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0, IRQ 233
        I/O ports at ff60 [size=32]

00:1d.2 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI #3 (rev 01) (prog-if 00 [UHCI])
        Subsystem: Dell Unknown device 01ab
        Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0, IRQ 50
        I/O ports at ff40 [size=32]

00:1d.3 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI #4 (rev 01) (prog-if 00 [UHCI])
        Subsystem: Dell Unknown device 01ab
        Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0, IRQ 58
        I/O ports at ff20 [size=32]

00:1d.7 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller (rev 01) (prog-if 20 [EHCI])
        Subsystem: Dell Unknown device 01ab
        Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0, IRQ 225
        Memory at ffa80800 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=1K]
        Capabilities: [50] Power Management version 2
        Capabilities: [58] Debug port

00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 PCI Bridge (rev e1) (prog-if 01 [Subtractive decode])
        Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0
        Bus: primary=00, secondary=03, subordinate=03, sec-latency=32
        I/O behind bridge: 0000c000-0000cfff
        Memory behind bridge: ec000000-efbfffff
        Capabilities: [50] Subsystem: Gammagraphx, Inc. Unknown device 0000

00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 82801GB/GR (ICH7 Family) LPC Interface Bridge (rev 01)
        Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0
        Capabilities: [e0] Vendor Specific Information

00:1f.1 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) IDE Controller (rev 01) (prog-if 8a [Master SecP PriP])
        Subsystem: Dell Unknown device 01ab
        Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0, IRQ 169
        I/O ports at 
        I/O ports at 
        I/O ports at 
        I/O ports at 
        I/O ports at ffa0 [size=16]

00:1f.2 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801GB/GR/GH (ICH7 Family) Serial ATA Storage Controller IDE (rev 01) (prog-if 8f [Master SecP SecO PriP PriO])
        Subsystem: Dell Unknown device 01ab
        Flags: bus master, 66MHz, medium devsel, latency 0, IRQ 209
        I/O ports at fe00 [size=8]
        I/O ports at fe10 [size=4]
        I/O ports at fe20 [size=8]
        I/O ports at fe30 [size=4]
        I/O ports at fea0 [size=16]
        Capabilities: [70] Power Management version 2

00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) SMBus Controller (rev 01)
        Subsystem: Dell Unknown device 01ab
        Flags: medium devsel, IRQ 217
        I/O ports at ece0 [size=32]

01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: ATI Technologies Inc RV380 [Radeon X600 (PCIE)] (prog-if 00 [VGA])
        Subsystem: ATI Technologies Inc Unknown device 0602
        Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 169
        Memory at e0000000 (64-bit, prefetchable) [size=128M]
        Memory at efde0000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=64K]
        I/O ports at dc00 [size=256]
        Expansion ROM at efe00000 [disabled] [size=128K]
        Capabilities: [50] Power Management version 2
        Capabilities: [58] Express Endpoint IRQ 0
        Capabilities: [80] Message Signalled Interrupts: Mask- 64bit+ Queue=0/0 Enable-
        Capabilities: [100] Advanced Error Reporting

01:00.1 Display controller: ATI Technologies Inc RV380 [Radeon X600]
        Subsystem: ATI Technologies Inc Unknown device 0603
        Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0
        Memory at efdf0000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=64K]
        Capabilities: [50] Power Management version 2
        Capabilities: [58] Express Endpoint IRQ 0

03:02.0 Multimedia video controller: Conexant CX23880/1/2/3 PCI Video and Audio Decoder (rev 05)
        Subsystem: Hauppauge computer works Inc. Unknown device 9002
        Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 64, IRQ 5
        Memory at ec000000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16M]
        Capabilities: [44] Vital Product Data
        Capabilities: [4c] Power Management version 2

03:02.2 Multimedia controller: Conexant CX23880/1/2/3 PCI Video and Audio Decoder [MPEG Port] (rev 05)
        Subsystem: Hauppauge computer works Inc. Nova-T DVB-T Model 909
        Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 64, IRQ 5
        Memory at ed000000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16M]
        Capabilities: [4c] Power Management version 2

03:02.4 Multimedia controller: Conexant CX23880/1/2/3 PCI Video and Audio Decoder [IR Port] (rev 05)
        Subsystem: Hauppauge computer works Inc. Nova-T DVB-T Model 909
        Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 64, IRQ 5
        Memory at ee000000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16M]
        Capabilities: [4c] Power Management version 2

03:03.0 Modem: Intel Corporation FA82537EP 56K V.92 Data/Fax Modem PCI (rev 04) (prog-if 00 [Generic])
        Subsystem: Dell Unknown device 1000
        Flags: bus master, stepping, medium devsel, latency 64, IRQ 201
        Memory at efbfe000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=4K]
        I/O ports at cc00 [size=256]
        Capabilities: [80] Power Management version 2

03:08.0 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) LAN Controller (rev 01)
        Subsystem: Dell Unknown device 01ab
        Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 64, IRQ 209
        Memory at efbff000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=4K]
        I/O ports at c8c0 [size=64]
        Capabilities: [dc] Power Management version 2

/etc/fstab

dell5100:/home/harvest # cat /etc/fstab
/dev/sda6            /                    ext3       acl,user_xattr        1 1
/dev/sda7            /home                ext3       acl,user_xattr        1 2
/dev/sda2            /windows/C           ntfs       ro,users,gid=users,umask=0002,nls=utf8 0 0
/dev/sda5            swap                 swap       defaults              0 0
proc                 /proc                proc       defaults              0 0
sysfs                /sys                 sysfs      noauto                0 0
usbfs                /proc/bus/usb        usbfs      noauto                0 0
devpts               /dev/pts             devpts     mode=0620,gid=5       0 0

LinuxQuestions.org too busy?

Posted my problem here this morning, no luck yet:

http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/showthread.php?p=2738310

Installed Apps

Compiz seems more robust than Beryl, and they're merging so I'll stick with Compiz.

Evince doesnt print, gpdf does print, but doesnt show some textart too well.

Put JungleDisk in startup.

Gnome vs KDE? Had to go gnome on the laptop as power key & case close werent picked up by kde, known fault.

I dont like how the desktop icons move every time. How to remove nautilus desktop from startup?

Firefox. Use FEBE to restore XPIs, bookmarks no, history yes, cookies yes.

Evolution was interesting, but nothing new. Remember gotcha with Caret Mode. Use Thunderbird for consistency.

Fonts: Tahoma 9 for app, doc & desktop. Trebuchet MS Bold for title. Lucida Sans Typewriter for fixed. Rendering for best shapes. 86dpi, grayscale, medium hinting, RGB.

"Start here"

Yes, I'm an MS boy for 15 years now. Work as a .NET / MSSQL / VBA dev, but Vista's antifunctionality and high HW reqs makes me sick, so I'm boycotting it. My mate Pete has been a linux boy for equally ages, and reckons openSuSE is the go.

I've trashed my linux setup 5 times already, and as I'm about to start my third reinstall after 4 days of doom and gloom*, I reckon its high time I started a log of what I'm doing. Might even regain some sanity through cathartic expression.

*When my PCs are in pain, so am I!