Re: LinuxTV firmware blocks all wireless connections / traffic

["Aleksandr V. Piskunov" <aleksandr.v.piskunov@gmail.com>]

On Wed, Sep 09, 2009 at 05:59:07PM -0400, Devin Heitmueller wrote:
> On Wed, Sep 9, 2009 at 5:43 PM, Clinton Meyer<clintonmeyer22@gmail.com> wrote:
> > Purchased a Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-950Q USB Hybrid TV stick to capture ATSC OTA TV.
> >
> > Am running MEPIS 8.06 on all three machines, Debian 5 Lenny based, KDE
> > 3.5.10, kernel 2.6.27-1-mepis-smp
> >
> > All three machines now have wireless blocked, either do not connect or
> > all packets dropped/blocked if a connection is made.
> >
> > Used the resources from LinuxTV (dot) org
> >
> > to get it working, they are referenced and posted as follows:
> >  linuxtv.org/wiki/index.php/Hauppauge_WinTV-HVR-950Q#Firmware
> >
> > ******** *********** **********
> >  Quote:
> > In order to use the LinuxTV driver, you need to download and install
> > the firmware for the xc5000.
> >
> > Quote:
> > wget  ... steventoth (dot) net/linux/xc50...25271_WHQL (dot) zip
> > wget ... steventoth (dot) net/linux/xc5000/extract (dot) sh
> >  sh extract (dot) sh
> > cp dvb-fe-xc5000-1.1 (dot) fw /lib/firmware
> > :Unquote
> >
> > Note: Though the usual directory location in which the firmware file
> > is placed is /lib/firmware, this may differ in the case of some
> > distros; consult your distro's documentation for the appropriate
> > location.
> >
> > The firmware will be added lazily (on-demand) when you first use the driver.
> > Drivers
> >
> > The xc5000 driver needed for this WinTV-HVR-950Q is already part of
> > the latest Linux kernel (part of v4l-dvb drivers).
> >
> > Analog support was merged into the mainline v4l-dvb tree on March 18, 2009.
> > :Unquote
> > ******** *********** ********** ******** *********** **********
> > So on Saturday I got this up and running... and Sunday morning
> > recorded one show successfully that had set up on a timer.
> >
> > Then set up three consecutive shows for the afternoon.
> > They were all part of a series on the same channel. Here are the results:
> >
> >     * Show A, 2.5 hours long, 13.2gb file size, appears to be OK.
> >     * Show B, 2.0 hours long, 3.7gb file size, appears to be OK.
> >      * Show C, supposed to be 2.0 hours long, result was 2.7gb file
> > size, about the first hour is missing.
> >
> > At about this point, I lost wireless internet connectivity on TV
> > recording laptop. Machine sees the access point, but won't connect.
> >
> > Went to my main desktop where i had first worked with this Hauppauge
> > WinTV-HVR-950Q USB Hybrid TV stick and that machine also lost
> > internet, even though it was right next to AP and got a very good
> > signal.
> >
> > Thought it was maybe the AP, so switched it out for a working spare.
> >  Same results.
> > Packed up laptop and a spare laptop, along with a MEPIS 8.06 LiveCD
> > and an 8.06 Live USB stick and hit the road to go to a reliable high
> > speed wifi spot.
> > Same results... changins ISPs resulted in the same issues.
> >  Also same ting happened with the spare laptop, an IBM T43 Thinkpad I
> > had also done the "wget ... steventoth (dot)
> > net/linux/xc5000/HVR-12x0-14x0-17x0_1_25_25271_WHQL (dot) zip"
> > firmware thing to.
> >
> > Was able to get one machine, while running a LIVE USB session, to
> > connect, but zero packets received.. ALL were blocked. The connection
> > information said ALL packets were dropped.
> >  None of the two other machines connected to wireless on a LiveCD or
> > LiveUSB thing too
> > Three machines. All different brands (HP, Dell, and IBM) with
> > different wifi cards. All three see the access point ESSID, but none
> > connect.
> >
> > This does not *feel* good. What got flashed? Can this be resolved?
> >
> > Came home. No difference. Grabbed a laptop that i had NOT done the
> > firmware thing to and that is what I am using to write this. Hooked
> > right up to the AP.
> >
> > Please help... that is too much hardware disabled for me to think calmly.
> > I'd really like to make the USB tv tuner work... what a great way to
> > PVR / DVR, but I need wireless.
> >
> > Can provide any details requested to drive this towards a fix!
> >
> > Thank you,
> > Clinton
> > --
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> >
> 
> Hello Clinton,
> 
> That is indeed curious.  It's hard to imagine how there could be
> interference between the V4L subsystem and the wireless subsystem,
> short of hitting some sort of timing condition on crappy wireless
> drivers.
> 
> Here are a few questions:
> 
> 1.  You specified you followed the instructions for the firmware, but
> are you running the current v4l-dvb code, or are you just using
> whatever came with your Debian kernel?  If you're actually using the
> 1.1 Xceive firmware, I'm assuming you're still using the old code.
> 
> 2.  How reproducible is this?  Does it occur even if the device is
> connected but you do not attempt any capturing with the device?  Does
> it always drop out while capturing?
> 
> 3.  What type of wireless cards are you using?  Are they implemented
> over PCI, or USB?  If the wireless cards are USB based, perhaps there
> is some sort of USB bandwidth issue.
> 
> 4.  Are you actively watching the programs you are capturing?  Or are
> you just saving the content to disk?  What application are you using
> to capture the ATSC video?
> 
> Devin
> 
> -- 
> Devin J. Heitmueller - Kernel Labs
> http://www.kernellabs.com
> --
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Not sure if its the same issue, but on some USB chipsets/motherboards there
definitely are problems with two or more bandwidth-demanding cards like
tuners, wireless sticks, etc. Either its a dvb-usb subsystem issue or lower
level usb problem, who knows.

See this for details, very similar case: usb wifi dongle + usb digital tuner.
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/256492

My problem also described in that bug report, got all the hardware and 100%
reproducible situation, would be nice if somebody helps to debug it.