Backend crashing system since upgrade 0.21 to 0.22 and Ubunut 9.04 to 9.10

[maxw]

Since accepting an upgrade of my system from Ubuntu 9.04 to 9.10 via Synaptic (which also upgraded myth 0.21 to 0.22), my entire system crashes after a few hours. If I stop mythtv-backend it will run for days without crash, so it is definitely mythtv-backend (or the hardware that mythtv-backend talks to) that is crashing the system. The system is a combination backend & frontend.

max@mythbox1:~$ uname -a
Linux mythbox1 2.6.31-19-generic #56-Ubuntu SMP Thu Jan 28 01:26:53 UTC 2010 i686 GNU/Linux

Initially, I could get nothing from the logs (mythbackend.log nor syslog) at the moment immediately preceding system freeze.

My first step was to upgrade the system hardware - a weak excuse to justify a hardware upgrade from 6-7 year old equipment to the following:

Mainboard: Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD3R - upgrading from ASUS A7N8X-E Deluxe
CPU: i5-750 4-core, 4-thread - upgrading from AMD 2600
RAM: Corsair 4GB 1333 C9 kit DDR4 - upgrading from 500MB
Graphics: Gigabyte FX6200 PCI-e (an old card) upgraded from Gigabyte FX5200 AGP.
HDD: 4x1.5TB Samsung SATAII - added as additional to exisiting 2x1.5TB Seagate drives. System migrated to, and booting from, these 4 drives as raid6, upgraded from old raid1 on original Seagate drives. Original Seagate drives still in system as backup until new system working properly and then they will be reformatted and added to existing raid6 array to form a 6-drive raid6.

Still running same old LeadTek WinFast 2000XP analog capture card (PCI) running as composite video-in from my satellite box just as it has been for the last 6 years, without missing a beat - my myth system has been absolutely stable for the last 6 years as I have gradually upgraded successive versions of myth, until now.

The hardware upgrade is not really relevant because it has achieved nothing to resolve the constant crashing of the entire system since the upgrade from Ubuntu 9.04 to Ubuntu 9.10 (performed as suggested by Synaptic) - this upgrade included a myth upgrade from 0.21 to 0.22. I should also point out that nothing in the hardware upgrade has contributed to the crashing problem since that problem has existed prior to and after the hardware upgrade - the hardware upgrade has not helped nor hindered.

Since the software upgrade the system freezes (or crashes? it freezes but still displays the mythfrontend screen but no keyboard response possible and not possible to login via ssh).

Upon reboot - no evidence of why the system froze (or crashed) in syslog or mythbackend.log

I've done lots of stuff to try to fix it but nothing has helped and is still crashing but now it is logging hundreds of times in mythbackend.log:

NVR(/dev/video0) Error: Ran out of free AUDIO buffers : - (

and then it crashes.

It has caused problems with my raid arrays but I assume that is due to the system crashes. I need to work out why my mythtv-backend is crashing the system.

The ("/dev/video0) Error: Ran out of free AUDIO buffers : - ( " may be a clue but it was crashing prior to this with no such messages in the log. I am thinking it must be an issue of the new kernel talking to the WinFast 2000 hardware, but don't know where to start to troubleshoot this.

I am thinking about trying to reinstall a Ubuntu 9.04 system with Myth 0.21 to try to get a working system again but I don't think I can migrate my upgraded mysql database from Myth 0.22 back to Myth 0.21 without a lot of hassle. So before I try that, I seek advice.

Please any clues to what I can do to help troubleshoot this?

Regards, max

[blackoper]

as much as you've spent upgrading why not just go on ebay and pick up a $15 to 30 pvr-150 and see if the issue goes away? Or maybe get one of those hybrid tuners that do analog and OTA and get some HD video out of getting a new one? I figure the hours you have spent tracking this down have cost you more than that already. May be worth a shot. it's possible there is a hardware issue with card as I know they can go bad like anything else

[maxw]

You know what? I didn't think of that. Excellent suggestion, thank you - I will do that before banging my head against the wall any longer.

Cheers, max