[mythtvnz] Frontend will not connect to database...

[Stephen Worthington]

On Sat, 31 Oct 2015 12:45:27 +1300, you wrote:

>Ubuntu 14.04
>mythtv 0.27
>
>Combined FE and BE (ie, same PC) but specifying fixed IP in setup for 
>the BE and in config.xml for the FE.
>
>mysql seems OK - I can connect to the mythconverge as user mythtv
>backend seems OK - it runs normally, with no abnormal errors in logs.
>
>But the frontend refuses to load, with the error:
>
>Connection to master server timed out. Either the server is down or the 
>master server settings in mythtv-settings does not contain the proper IP 
>address.
>No address defined for host: localhost
>
>I'm not sure why it should be trying to use localhost - that point of 
>failure is, near as I understand, when the frontend is making the 
>initial contact with the DB using the config.xml information (and then 
>it gets all the other config stuff from the DB???)
>
>Anyone willing to give me some help before TV time starts later today???
>
>Nick Wallingford
>Tauranga

Is this Mythbuntu 14.04?  If so, then first check that mysql is bound
to all IP addresses.  In my setup, that is done in
/etc/mysql/conf.d/mythtv.cnf which looks like this:

[mysqld]
bind-address=0.0.0.0

and in /etc/mysql/my.cnf the bind line is commented out by putting a #
character at the front of it.

If you do:

  cd /etc/mysql
  grep -ir bind *

you should see all the bind settings:

root at mypvr:/etc/mysql# grep -ir bind *
conf.d/mythtv.cnf:bind-address=0.0.0.0
conf.d/mythtv-tweaks-jsw.cnf:bind-address=0.0.0.0
my.cnf:#bind-address            = 127.0.0.1
my.cnf.original:bind-address            = 127.0.0.1

If you change any settings, restart mysql.  Restarting mysql without
stopping the backend is safe only if the backend is idle.  It is
probably better to stop it first, so do this (from a root prompt or
add sudo):

stop mythtv-backend
restart mysql
start mythtv-backend

Then check that the box itself has a static IP address.  And make sure
what it is set to:

ifconfig

Then check that the static IP address is the one in the
/etc/mythtv/config.xml file.

Then check the same in any MythTV user directories eg:

  /home/mythtv/.mythtv/config.xml
  /home/<frontenduser>/.mythtv/config.xml

Then check the MythTV settings for the same IP address in the backend
and frontend settings.  If you do a mysql query like this you should
see your backend settings:

mysql> select * from settings where data like '10.0.2.4';
+-----------------+----------+----------+
| value           | data     | hostname |
+-----------------+----------+----------+
| MasterServerIP  | 10.0.2.4 | NULL     |
| BackendServerIP | 10.0.2.4 | mypvr    |
+-----------------+----------+----------+
2 rows in set (0.00 sec)

And this will show if you have localhost set anywhere:

mysql> select * from settings where data like '127.%' or data like
'localhost';
Empty set (0.00 sec)