MythTV Configuration Suggestions

###Overview Items listed here should help users solve basic MythTV configuration problems. In no way, is this intended to replace their Wiki. The search box on that page is quite helpful.

###1st things 1st What version of MythTV is running? The answer can be found by typing: mythbackend --version on the backend. The relevant line looks like this:

MythTV Version : v0.27-pre-85-g6122c1b

and the version must be v0.25 or higher. Note that v0.26 and above have significant changes that improve data transfer.

Warning: 0.27-pre2-890-g0770c5d breaks mythtranscode --hls --hlsstream, (and therefore recording playback.) The problem is solved in v0.27-pre2-1497-g3c8f209.

Warning: In 0.27-pre2, the Recording Rules screen no longer works due to Trac ticket 11495. Fix tested in 1.20.0 development sliding_menu branch.

mythbackend must not be started with the --noupnp option.

###What are the requirements for Mythtv for Android and Zeroconf? Mythtv Android Frontend tries to locate all MythTV backend and frontend machines. In order for the application to automatically discover these services, make sure that the avahi-daemon is running. Type: ps ax | grep avahi | grep -v grep to check.

Backend machines can be added manually, but, at this time, there is no preferences editor for frontends. In order to use the MythMote functionality, follow the distribution's instructions on installing and enabling the avahi-daemon.

MythTV must be compiled with libdns-sd enabled. To verify that it is, type: mythfrontend --version. The string: using_libdns_sd must appear in the output. If it isn't there, seek help via the distribution's form or be sure that the --disable-libdns-sd option wasn't used if building from source. Builds also need the proper header files, apt-get install libdnssd-dev in Ubuntu, (expect to have: dns_sd.h.)

Finally, there have been two confirmed reports that if the backend's hostname contains a dot, then Mythtv Android Frontend won't discover the backend. Consider these basic /etc/hosts entries.

192.168.1.123 mythhost.local mythhost
192.168.1.123 mythost.local

The first line above will work. The second won't. Caution: changing hostnames may be simple, but, remember that the hostname is used by MythTV as a profile name for database access. If the hostname is changed, mythtv-setup must be rerun. IP addresses, capture cards, inputs and Storage Groups will need to be redone at a minimum.

It is also legal to leave the machine's hostname alone and change the profile name in config.xml (and mysql.txt if running on 0.25.) The default value (meaning use the system's hostname) follows:

config.xml: <LocalHostName>my-unique-identifier-goes-here</LocalHostName>
mysql.txt:  LocalHostName=my-unique-identifier-goes-here

The same caution applies here. If this method is chosen, be sure to change all copies of the files.

###Where are the log files? This is a very good question because there isn't a simple answer.

Before even explaining how to find them, a special note (if this isn't done, looking at logs could be a waste of time.) MythTV doesn't log all the messages used by this application by default; they must be turned on. Type: mythbackend --setverbose upnp (the backend must be running 1st.) To turn the messages off, type: mythbackend --setverbose general.

Log files are stored in different places. Their directory and filename are the choice of the distribution and/or the user. If the location is unknown, type: ps ax | grep mythbackend | grep -v grep on the backend. The result will look (in part) like one of these lines:

mythbackend --logpath /var/log/mythtv
mythbackend --syslog local7

If --logpath is used, then look in the directory following it for the most active file named mythbackend.<timestamp>.<pid>.log. If --syslog is used, then logs are written to /var/log/syslog, unless rsyslog is configured, in which case the typical place for those logs is back in /var/log/mythtv and the file name is mythbackend.log. There are good details on logging and for rsyslog in the MythTV Wiki pages.

Finally, the most frequently used MythTV log for this application is the backend log. However, users may be asked to look for others, for example, the mythtrasncodelog. The good news is that it is probably in the same directory found above.

###No playback: MythTV logs report missing or inaccessible streaming files Look for errors with text like the following:

Error: Could not create builtinStorage Group directory '/home/mythtv/.mythtv/tmp/hls' for 'Streaming'

If no streaming storage group is defined (which is OK,) then a path to a built-in one will be developed. Or, if there's a need to store the streaming files elsewhere (due to disk space restrictions,) then use the mythtv-setup program on the Master Backend to configure (or repair) a Streaming storage group with one or more directories. A typical directory choice would be /var/lib/mythtv/streaming.

In either case, user mythtv, must have read-write permissions on the directory chosen and be its owner and group.

###Recordings don't play If a distribution or user built MythTV and ran configure without the --enable-libx264 switch, attempts to transcode and stream video will fail. A clue would be text in the backend log file that looks like this:

HLS(): Command '/usr/bin/mythtranscode --hls --hlsstreamid 48 --verbose general --loglevel info --syslog local7' returned 255