[vdr] crashes

[tobias.meyer-janson@sign-lang.uni-hamburg.de (Tobias Meyer-Janson)]

Hello!

I have some problems assembling/using a LinuxVDR-System. Unfortunately I
have no experience with Linux (a little bit another Unix) - except from
this project, so often I do not now how to install something or get
information about the system if something ist wrong or interpret that
(log-) information if I get it.

O. K. my actual main problem:
Something often crashes my vdr system. Very often if I want to do a
cutting during a simultaneusly recording, or if I want to play another
recording during a cutting process. (I thought cutting should be a
backround process.)
But also if I do nothing and vdr idles or records something, it crashes
about once a day (day means some hours, when I'm having a look at vdr).

Also, if I play some recording I often see (and sometimes hear (!))
digital artefacts if my system were to slow. Once the whole Linux system
crashed, not switching to another console anymore. Another day I could
not do anything for more than 5min, while I was playing something and
vdr was cutting in the backround. After that minutes (not 1min like the
watchdog setting!) vdr restarted automatically.

I expect the hardware to be ok (details follows). I found something
about an EPG-Problem (bugfix-level 0, 1 or 2), could this cause my
problems?
Or what about the kernel version (mine ist 2.4.10)? Someone wrote:

> version than 2.4.7. With any newer kernel version the system freezes
> completely after 10-20min without any log messages. I tested kernel
> 10,12,16 and 17 with the same effect. 

My System:
Duron 1GHz/256MB/80GB, 2x DVB-S Futjitsu-Siemens 1.3,
Suse 7.3 Pro, only reiser FS, DVB 2001-12-30, vdr 1.0.0, LIRC 0.6.5,
Elitegroup K7S5A Mainboard with on board 
    "Dual PCI IDE interfaces - support four IDE devices 
    (PIO mode 4, DMA Mode 2, Ultra DMA 33/66/100)"
1st Controller: HD, 2nd: DVD-ROM, 
Midi-Tower 300W, AC-Adapter-Fan, CPU-Fan, Case-Fan (above cards, next to
the CPU).

Momentarily the system runs day & night (someday I want to have some
kind of energy-saving setting). From time to time I checked the
temerature in the BIOS (how can I do that with linux?):
CPU ~50-55 °C, System ~35 °C
I asked top: If I am using my system heavily, e. g. 2 simultaneusly
recordings I have still >94% idle, Cutting costs more but I think less
than 30%.
I asked hdparm: 
    I/O support =  0 (default 16-bit)
    using_dma   =  1 (on)


Perhaps someone has an idea what causes this problem?

Here at last what I found in /var/log/messages about one crash. I tried
to cut something while vdr was recording something on the second card.
Because of I copied this by hand from the vdr-screen, I leaved some
unimportend things, e. g. the word "linux" or the seconds in each line.
But I tried to copy it exactly with all process IDs. If in any line
there is something missing, it should be the same as in the previous
line. Lines that don't start with the time are the rest of the long
previous line.

Perhaps whith this log somebody could help answer the questions if my
DVB-cards are function properly, with the decompression-chip and
revision 1.3? Or got I some false equipment?

The source movie was about 1 hour in length, the result was expected to
be about 45min.
O. K., here it is (one long and two short pieces):

19:17 vdr[3014]: replay /video/Film/test
19:17 vdr[3014]: playing '/video/Film/test'
19:17 vdr[4911]: output thread started (pid=4911)
19:17 vdr[4912]: input thread started (pid=4912)
19:22 vdr[3014]: creating directory /video/Film/%test
19:22 vdr[3014]: creating directory /video/Film/%test/2002<...>
19:22 vdr[3014]: loading /video/Film/test
19:22 vdr[3014]: playing '/video/Film/test'
19:22 vdr[3014]: recording to '/video/Film/%test'
19:22 vdr[4913]: video cutting thread started (pid=4913)
19:22 vdr[3014]: info: Schnitt gestartet
19:22 vdr[4912]: input thread ended (pid=4912)
19:22 vdr[4911]: output thread ended (pid=4911)
19:23 vdr[3014]: PANIC: watchdog timer expired - exiting!
19:23 PAM-unix2[3013]: session finished for user root, service su
19:23 kernel: dvb: 2 dvb(s) released.
19:23 kernel: free irqs
19:23 kernel: VES1893: deteach_client
19:23 kernel: i2c_core.o: client [VES1893] unregistered.
19:23 kernel: i2c_core.o: client [SP5659] unregistered.
19:23 kernel: i2c_core.o: adapter unregistered: saa7146(1)
19:23 kernel: free irqs
19:23 kernel: VES1893: deteach_client
19:23 kernel: i2c_core.o: client [VES1893] unregistered.
19:23 kernel: i2c_core.o: client [SP5659] unregistered.
19:23 kernel: i2c_core.o: adapter unregistered: saa7146(2)
19:23 kernel: i2c_core.o: driver unregistered: L64781 DVB demodulator
19:23 kernel: exit_SP8870:
19:23 kernel: i2c_core.o: driver unregistered: SP8870 DVB demodulator
19:23 kernel: i2c_core.o: driver unregistered: VES1820 DVB demodulator
19:23 kernel: i2c_core.o: driver unregistered: VES1893 DVB demodulator
19:23 kernel: i2c_core.o: driver unregistered: stv0299 DVB demodulator
19:23 kernel: i2c_core.o: driver unregistered: tda8083 DVB demodulator
19:23 kernel: i2c_core.o: driver unregistered: i2c TV tuner driver
19:23 kernel: i2c-core.o. i2c core module
19:23 kernel: Linux video capture interface: v1.00
19:23 kernel: i2c-core.o: driver VES1893 DVB demodulator registered.
19:23 kernel: i2c-core.o: driver VES1820 DVB demodulator registered.
19:23 kernel: i2c-core.o: driver L64781 DVB demodulator registered.
19:23 kernel: init_SP8870:
19:23 kernel: i2c-core.o: driver SP8870 DVB demodulator registered.
19:23 kernel: i2c-core.o: driver tda8083 DVB demodulator registered.
19:23 kernel: i2c-core.o: driver stv0299 DVB demodulator registered.
19:23 kernel: i2c-core.o: driver i2c TV tuner driver registered.
19:23 kernel: saa7146_core.o:saa7146(1): bus:0, rev:1, mem:0xd132fe00.
19:23 kernel: i2c-core.o: client [VES1893] registered to adapter
[saa7146(1)](pos. 0).
19:23 kernel: VES1893: attaching VES1893 at 0x10 to addapter saa7146(1)
19:23 kernel: SP8870: no SP8870 found ...
19:23 kernel: tuner: chip found @ 0x61
19:23 kernel: i2c-core.o: client [i2c tv tuner chip] registered to
adapter [saa7146(1)](pos. 1).
19:23 kernel: i2c-core.o: adapter saa7146(1) registered as adapter 0.
19:23 kernel: saa7146_core.o: saa7146(2): bus:0, rev:1, mem:0xd17b3c00.
19:23 kernel: i2c-core.o: client [VES1893] registered to adapter
[saa7146(2)](pos. 0).
19:23 kernel: VES1893: attaching VES1893 at 0x10 to adapter saa7146(2)
19:23 kernel: SP8870: no SP8870 found ...
19:23 kernel: tuner: chip found @ 0x61
19:23 kernel: i2c-core.o: client [i2c tv tuner chip] registered to
adapter [saa7146(2)](pos. 1).
19:23 kernel: i2c-core.o: adapter saa7146(2) registered as adapter 1.
19:23 kernel: dvb0: AV7111 - firm f0240009, rtsl b0250018, vid 71010068,
app 00012119
19:23 kernel: dvb1: AV7111 - firm f0240009, rtsl b0250018, vid 71010068,
app 00012119
19:23 kernel: dvb: 2 dvb(s) found!
19:23 su: (to root) root on /dev/tty1
19:23 PAM-unix2[5053]: session started for user root, service su
19:23 vdr[5054]: VDR version 1.0.0 started
19:23 vdr[5054]: loading /video/setup.conf
19:23 vdr[5054]: loading /video/channels.conf
19:23 vdr[5054]: loading /video/timers.conf
19:23 vdr[5054]: loading /video/commands.conf
19:23 vdr[5054]: probing /dev/ost/frontend0
19:23 vdr[5056]: EIT processing thread started (pid=5056) - master
19:23 vdr[5054]: probing /dev/ost/frontend1
19:23 vdr[5057]: EIT processing thread started (pid=5057)
19:23 vdr[5054]: probing /dev/ost/frontend2
19:23 vdr[5054]: found 2 video devices
19:23 vdr[5054]: setting primary DVB to 1
19:23 vdr[5054]: reading EPG data from /video/epg.data
19:23 vdr[5054]: switching to channel 17
19:23 vdr[5058]: LIRC remote control thread started (pid=5058)
19:23 vdr[5054]: SVDRP listening on port 2001 <was ist das?>
19:23 vdr[5054]: setting watchdog timer to 60 seconds
19:23 vdr[5054]: timer 8 start



Here vdr has started some recording, I think:

timer 1 start
<...>
record <...>
creating dir
creating dir
buffer usage: 76%
SpinUpDisk took 3,46 seconds
recording to <...>

record
creating dir
<...>
SpinUpDisk took 5,60 seconds
recording to '/video <...>
output thread started (pid=4782)
input thread started (pid=4783)
max. latency time 6 seconds


What about the buffer and SpinUpDisk? Is that o. k.?



TMJ