[mythtvnz] hdhomerun doesn't connect on restart when connected directly to the lan port

[Stephen Worthington]

On Thu, 25 Apr 2013 01:06:22 +1200, you wrote:


>Ok,just a clarification needed.In the network connections gui for mythbuntu
>there are 6 options under method:
>Automatic (DCHP)
>Automatic (DCHP) addresses only
>Manual
>Link-Local only
>Shared to other computers.
>Disabled
>
>I assumed Manual was for static IP addresses - am I correct?
>I had that method set ,it did not seem to help.

Yes, the Manual option is for a static IP address.  But the HDHomerun
as delivered is using DHCP assigned addresses, or failing that
link-local addresses.

>I had set the address as 169.254.1.10 subnet mask: 255.255.0.0 gateway:  
>0.0.0.0
>and that worked.
>when did hdhomerun_config discover I got : hdhomerun device found at
>169.254.227.211    should I use that address?
>
>Also do I need to set anything for eth0 as I use wifi for all other  
>connections?

The 169.254.x.x address block is link-local addresses.  They are not
normally used for static addresses - they are assigned automatically.
It probably does not hurt to assign the eth0 address to one in that
range as long as it is not the same as any address automatically
assigned by some other device.  But it is not normal practice to do
that - if you actually want to use link-local addresses, you just let
them be assigned automatically, by selecting the link-local only
option for eth0.

If you are doing static addresses, it is normal to use one of the
"non-routable" private address blocks:

  https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc1918

It is likely that your WiFi router is already using the 192.168.x.x
block, as most devices as delivered are in that address block, so you
normally want to choose different blocks for other parts of your home
network.  I just assign sub-blocks from the 10.x.x.x block for my
subnets, so I would suggest using a block like 10.99.0.x which is very
unlikely to ever clash with any other addressing.  So then you would
assign eth0 an address like 10.99.0.1 netmask 255.255.255.0.

However, using static addresses will only work if the HDHomerun can be
talked to first and assigned a static address in that block.  I am not
at all sure it has that capability.  If it does, use the link-local
addressing to talk to it and assign it a static address, for example
10.99.0.2 netmask 255.255.255.0 gateway 10.99.0.1.  Once it has been
assigned a static address, it will likely stop being able to talk on
the link-local addressing, but would work again once you assigned an
appropriate static address to eth0.  To get the HDHomerun back to
working on DHCP or link-local addressing if it would not then talk,
you would need to use its reset button.

Static addresses are best for timing problems because the IP address
is assigned immediately the network hardware starts up.  There is no
need to wait for anything.

If the HDHomerun is, as I suspect, unable to do static addressing,
then the next best option is DHCP - just install the standard DHCP
server on Mythbuntu and tell it to talk to eth0 only (unless you want
it doing DHCP for your WiFi subnet also), and to use an address block
not also in use already on your network.  Again, 10.99.0.2/24 would be
appropriate.  Set eth0 to use DHCP and the HDHomerun should also get a
DHCP address.  By doing that, you will avoid the long timeout that
happens when the HDHomerun tries first to get a DHCP address before
giving up and using a link-local address.  That timeout is the cause
of it not responding in time for mythbackend to see its tuners.

>While I'm about it: another observation I have made since putting the
>wait period in mythtv-backend.conf is that I used to always get a
>message dialogue after mythfrontend started when the box booted from
>cold. "Could not connect to mythbackend.Is myth backend running?"
>This was not a problem as the back was actually running clicking ok
>was all I needed to do BE probably started just after the message was
>generated.
>Since I added the delay I don't get that dialogue anymore.
>I used to get the same message on my 11.10 installation too.
>
>Paul

I am not sure why that message would have gone away unless the delay
in starting mythbackend has also delayed the start of mythfrontend.
That message can mean that mythbackend is not running yet, but it can
also mean that networking has not fully started yet so mythbackend and
mythfrontend can not talk to each other.  And it can also mean that
mythbackend is running but has a huge database to process (like mine)
and will take up to another minute or so before it is willing to talk
to mythfrontend - I always expect to get that message when I boot.