Okay, I think I've found the right forum to post this:

I believe I have everything setup okay, I can view program listings, see my current weather, can access MythTV via the web, was even able to record a program (apparently). I cannot Watch TV though -- everytime I try I only get a black screen, and it stays that way for hours -- overnight if I let it.

What do I do? I have read so many FAQ's and searched forum after forum -- I will need to be walked through the steps, so please be patient with me -- but I can do whatever is suggested. Thank you.

You need to provide more details. What kind of hardware do you have? You can start off by taking a look at the backend log. It is located in /var/log/mythtv/.

Press <CTRL><ALT><F1>
Log in and type
Press <CTRL><ALT><F7>
Start to watch TV.
Press <CTRL><ALT><F1>
What does the log say? You can also get some detail by running mythfrontend from an xterm.

_________________
cesman

When the source is open, the possibilities are endless!

wow -- thanks for the reply -- here is what I've found so far:

root@mythtv:~# tail -f /var/log/mythtv/mythbackend.log
Starting up as the master server.
2005-08-31 13:07:14.997 New DB connection, total: 2
2005-08-31 13:07:15.445 Channel(/dev/video0): CheckChannel failed. Please verify channel "3" in the "setup" Channel Editor.
2005-08-31 13:07:15.557 New DB scheduler connection
2005-08-31 13:07:15.751 mythbackend version: 0.18.1.20050510-1 www.mythtv.org
2005-08-31 13:07:15.845 Enabled verbose msgs : important general
2005-08-31 13:07:18.680 Reschedule requested for id -1.
2005-08-31 13:07:20.961 Scheduled 0 items in 3.1 = 2.96 match + 0.11 place
2005-08-31 13:07:21.127 Seem to be woken up by USER
2005-08-31 13:07:26.152 New DB connection, total: 3


It looks like there is a problem already -- does that mean check channel 3 in the mythtv-setup or in utilities/setup from the mythtv menu? I haven't started to watch TV yet and get the log, as I figure this problem must be solved first.

mythtv-setup

root@mythtv:~# tail -f /var/log/mythtv/mythbackend.log
2005-08-31 14:13:57.104 adding: mythtv as a client (events: 0)
2005-08-31 14:13:57.204 MainServer::HandleAnnounce Playback
2005-08-31 14:13:57.222 adding: mythtv as a client (events: 0)
2005-08-31 14:13:57.256 adding: mythtv as a remote ringbuffer
2005-08-31 14:13:57.316 Changing from None to WatchingLiveTV
Error getting codec params
IVTV_IOC_G_CODEC:: Bad address
2005-08-31 14:13:58.551 TVRec: Recording Prematurely Stopped
2005-08-31 14:14:00.583 MainServer::HandleAnnounce Playback
2005-08-31 14:14:00.695 adding: mythtv as a client (events: 0)
2005-08-31 14:14:01.084 MainServer::HandleAnnounce Playback
2005-08-31 14:14:01.102 adding: mythtv as a client (events: 0)
2005-08-31 14:14:01.307 MainServer::HandleAnnounce Playback
2005-08-31 14:14:01.325 adding: mythtv as a client (events: 0)
2005-08-31 14:14:01.530 MainServer::HandleAnnounce Playback
2005-08-31 14:14:01.546 adding: mythtv as a client (events: 0)
2005-08-31 14:14:01.749 MainServer::HandleAnnounce Playback
2005-08-31 14:14:01.766 adding: mythtv as a client (events: 0)
2005-08-31 14:14:01.969 MainServer::HandleAnnounce Playback
2005-08-31 14:14:01.990 adding: mythtv as a client (events: 0)
2005-08-31 14:14:02.200 MainServer::HandleAnnounce Playback
2005-08-31 14:14:02.217 adding: mythtv as a client (events: 0)
2005-08-31 14:14:02.423 MainServer::HandleAnnounce Playback
2005-08-31 14:14:02.441 adding: mythtv as a client (events: 0)
2005-08-31 14:14:02.648 MainServer::HandleAnnounce Playback
2005-08-31 14:14:02.666 adding: mythtv as a client (events: 0)
2005-08-31 14:14:02.770 MainServer::HandleAnnounce Playback
2005-08-31 14:14:02.785 adding: mythtv as a client (events: 0)
2005-08-31 14:14:02.886 MainServer::HandleAnnounce Playback
2005-08-31 14:14:02.904 adding: mythtv as a client (events: 0)
2005-08-31 14:14:02.943 adding: mythtv as a remote ringbuffer
2005-08-31 14:14:03.003 Changing from None to WatchingLiveTV
Error getting codec params
IVTV_IOC_G_CODEC:: Bad address
2005-08-31 14:14:04.253 TVRec: Recording Prematurely Stopped
2005-08-31 14:14:06.293 MainServer::HandleAnnounce Playback
2005-08-31 14:14:06.314 adding: mythtv as a client (events: 0)
2005-08-31 14:14:06.521 MainServer::HandleAnnounce Playback
2005-08-31 14:14:06.537 adding: mythtv as a client (events: 0)
2005-08-31 14:14:06.743 MainServer::HandleAnnounce Playback
2005-08-31 14:14:06.760 adding: mythtv as a client (events: 0)
2005-08-31 14:14:06.966 MainServer::HandleAnnounce Playback
2005-08-31 14:14:06.984 adding: mythtv as a client (events: 0)
2005-08-31 14:14:07.197 MainServer::HandleAnnounce Playback
2005-08-31 14:14:07.214 adding: mythtv as a client (events: 0)
2005-08-31 14:14:07.419 MainServer::HandleAnnounce Playback
2005-08-31 14:14:07.436 adding: mythtv as a client (events: 0)
2005-08-31 14:14:07.643 MainServer::HandleAnnounce Playback
2005-08-31 14:14:07.658 adding: mythtv as a client (events: 0)
2005-08-31 14:14:07.866 MainServer::HandleAnnounce Playback
2005-08-31 14:14:07.884 adding: mythtv as a client (events: 0)

[2]+ Stopped tail -f /var/log/mythtv/mythbackend.log
root@mythtv:~#

Cannot say I've seen this before. Note: You still have no provided hardware details.

_________________
cesman

When the source is open, the possibilities are endless!

I am sorry about not posting hardware details, I am not sure what would be useful. Is there a log file or something else I can copy into a message that will have any details that might help?

I appreciate your help thus far.

We'll keep this simple... Since the problem seems to be related to your tuner. What type of tuner do you have? Make, model, etc?

_________________
cesman

When the source is open, the possibilities are endless!

I think I can answer that one:

Hauppauge WinTV 61201 rev B226

I was able to view live tv using xawtv -- just no sound -- but I think that is another problem.

Given the IVTV message in your backend log, I think you have mythtv setup incorrectly.
Exit MythTV.
Stop the backend (as root /etc/init.d/mythtv-backend stop).
Run mythtv-setup.
Answer yes to the first question, no to the 2nd.
Go to 2. Capture Cards. Configure your card. From the description and the fact you got it working in Xawtv, this is just a "Standard V4L tuner".
Assuming to already have a source setup, got to step for to bind that source to the input (tuner or television). Then you can exit mythtv-setup.
Start the backend and launch the frontend.

_________________
cesman

When the source is open, the possibilities are endless!

Alright -- changing the capture card to V4L tuner got me a picture, and I can actually record a program and play it back -- although the quality is terrible. Now this is the output of mythbackend.log:

root@mythtv:~# tail -f /var/log/mythtv/mythbackend.log
2005-08-31 17:38:16.919 NVR: Only read -1 bytes of 4096 bytes from '/dev/dsp
read audio: Input/output error
2005-08-31 17:38:27.035 NVR: Only read -1 bytes of 4096 bytes from '/dev/dsp
read audio: Input/output error
2005-08-31 17:38:37.181 NVR: Only read -1 bytes of 4096 bytes from '/dev/dsp
read audio: Input/output error
2005-08-31 17:38:49.817 NVR: Only read -1 bytes of 4096 bytes from '/dev/dsp
read audio: Input/output error
2005-08-31 17:38:59.947 NVR: Only read -1 bytes of 4096 bytes from '/dev/dsp
read audio: Input/output error
2005-08-31 17:39:11.978 NVR: Only read -1 bytes of 4096 bytes from '/dev/dsp
read audio: Input/output error

[3]+ Stopped tail -f /var/log/mythtv/mythbackend.log
root@mythtv:~#