I've read a lot of posts and got this far but can't figure things out past this point. I think I might be missing something in my /etc/modprobe.conf

I've noticed a lot of people are using Mythtv, I'm using tvtime which differs me from a lot of other posts.

When running tvtime I just get a blue screen and at the bottom it says:
ivtv: invalid argument
unable to open: /dev/video0

I've changed the device to the others I have (example: video, video24, video**) same blue screen. Could somone start me from the root on how to troubleshoot this issue.

Info:
Fedora Core 4 x86_64
kernel: 2.6.13-1.1526
GeForce4 FX5600 TV-Out
Asus K8V Deluxe (Via Chipset)
Hauppauge WinTV PVR 150 (Cable Plugged In

dmesg

Linux video capture interface: v1.00
ivtv: no version for "struct_module" found: kernel tainted.
ivtv: ==================== START INIT IVTV ====================
ivtv: version 0.4.0 (tagged release) loading
ivtv: Linux version: 2.6.13-1.1526_FC4 gcc-4.0
ivtv: In case of problems please include the debug info
ivtv: between the START INIT IVTV and END INIT IVTV lines when
ivtv: mailing the ivtv-devel mailinglist.
ivtv0: Autodetected WinTV PVR 150 card (iTVC16 based)
ACPI: PCI Interrupt 0000:00:0d.0[A] -> GSI 18 (level, low) -> IRQ 193
ivtv0: i2c attach to card #0 ok [client=tveeprom, addr=50]
tveeprom: Hauppauge: model = 26032, rev = C199, serial# = 8003253
tveeprom: tuner = <unknown> (idx = 99, type = -32512)
tveeprom: tuner fmt = NTSC(M) (eeprom = 0x08, v4l2 = 0x00001000)
tveeprom: audio_processor = TDA9850 (type = 3)
: chip found @ 0xc2 (ivtv i2c driver #0)
ivtv0: i2c attach to card #0 ok [client=(tuner unset), addr=61]
cx25840 1-0044: cx25841-23 found @ 0x88 (ivtv i2c driver #0)
cx25840 1-0044: unable to open firmware /lib/modules/HcwMakoA.ROM
ivtv0: i2c attach to card #0 ok [client=cx25840, addr=44]
wm8775 1-001b: chip found @ 0x36 (ivtv i2c driver #0)
ivtv0: i2c attach to card #0 ok [client=wm8775, addr=1b]
ivtv0: loading /lib/modules/ivtv-fw-enc.bin
ivtv0: Encoder revision: 0x02040024
ivtv0 warning: Encoder Firmware can be buggy, use version 0x02040011 or
0x02050032.
ivtv0: Allocate DMA encoder MPEG stream: 128 x 32768 buffers (4096KB
total)
ivtv0: Allocate DMA encoder YUV stream: 194 x 10800 buffers (2048KB
total)
ivtv0: Allocate DMA encoder VBI stream: 120 x 17472 buffers (2048KB
total)
ivtv0: Allocate DMA encoder PCM audio stream: 455 x 4608 buffers (2048KB
total)
tuner 1-0061: tuner type not set
tuner 1-0061: tuner type not set
ivtv0: Initialized WinTV PVR 150, card #0
ivtv: ==================== END INIT IVTV ====================



/etc/modprobe.conf

alias eth0 8139too
alias eth1 sk98lin
alias scsi_hostadapter sata_via
alias snd-card-0 snd-via82xx
options snd-card-0 index=0
options snd-via82xx index=0
remove snd-via82xx { /usr/sbin/alsactl store 0 >/dev/null 2>&1
|| : ; }; /sbin/modprobe -r --ignore-remove snd-via82xx
alias usb-controller ehci-hcd
alias usb-controller1 uhci-hcd
alias ieee1394-controller ohci1394
alias dev1320 8139too
alias dev8448 8139too
alias dev11897 8139too
alias dev28787 8139too
alias dev28719 8139too
alias dev13479 8139too
alias dev16990 8139too
alias dev4079 8139too
alias char-major-81 ivtv

Update:

I tried the following commands:

cat /dev/video > test.mpeg
cat /dev/video0 > test1.mpeg
cat /dev/video24 > test2.mpeg

/dev/video24 was the only one streaming data in the .mpeg file. It grow rather quickly but when trying to view with Kaffeine Player nothing happened. Started and Stopped within seconds.

Could it be streaming a none channel? If so how do I change channel? Either way tvtime does not see any data being streamed to /dev/video24.

update 2:

I've executed the ivtv-detect command:

driver: ivtv-0.4.0 (tagged release)
card: WinTV PVR 150, bus info 0000:00:0d.0, ivtv card #0
hardware: cx25840 wm8775 tveeprom
/dev/video0: MPG encoding (links: /dev/video)
/dev/vbi0: VBI encoding (links: /dev/vbi)
/dev/video24: PCM encoding
/dev/video32: YUV encoding

Hope that helps anyone. Also I've been reading and this is what I found:

Do a modinfo tuner and check the path; if it's
/lib/modules/<kernel-version>/ivtv/tuner.ko, then you're using the correct module. If it points to /lib/modules/<kernel-version>/drivers/media/video/tuner.ko then you
are using the kernel-version which might be unsupported.

I checked and mine is pointing to the kernel which might be unsupported. Changing to the ivtv module fixed the issue for someone else. I would try this but I do not know how to unload/load modules.

What modules are you peeps loading?

You can not use tvtime although at the time that I used my MPEG encoder (PVR-250 model 980) the ivtv developers was working on a yuv output. You have to use an MPEG decoder to make the setup easier. Use mplayer. I do not remember the utilities to control the settings for MPEG-1/MPEG-2 encoder cards, so you have to find out yourself or you can give me time to setup my PVR-250. What I do know. You have to get the firmware for your model and place it to a certain directory. MythTV has great documentation on how to do this. The firmware version that you should be using is the one that is stable for the ivtv modules (drivers). From the logs, it did not setup the tuner. For now use either S-Video or Composite to test different compression settings by using ivtv utilities. After you know that it works, you can then go through the list of tuners. For me it is tuner number 39 if my memory serves me right.

umm I don't know if I'm more confused or what. I just want to watch t.v. thats all. So what is my next step? fireware I guess.

What are you confused on? Are you confused that it is an MPEG-1/MPEG-2 encoder card and you need a program like mplayer to view the incomming video or the steps to set it up.

The ivtv module controls the MPEG-1/MPEG-2 encoder chip on the board. The cx88 module is what will controls your video capture chip on the board. Also the mps3400 module controls the analog switches that lets you select what video and audio you want. Usually NTSC does not require sound decoder chips which is TDA9850.

If you want to use just tvtime, buy a non-MPEG-1/MPEG-2 encoder card. I recommend a video capture card based on Philips SAA713x because it gives much better video quality than the Conexant. I have a working LifeView Flyvideo 3000FM, but reception sensitivity is poor. I use either a cable box or VCR to get good captures from broadcasts.

Ok that helps me out a bit. I noticed that the decoding firmware I have installed is for PVR 250/350 "ivtv-firmware-dec-2.02.023-4.at.x86_64.rpm" and there is no other firmware available for the PVR 150, only audio decoders. Maybe I installed the wrong ivtv drivers from the start v4.0 along with its dependencies. (Is that possible?)

Well, you know were I'm at in the process and know what needs to be done, so is it possible to show me the rest of the steps on being able to view my t.v. stream?

In the meantime I will install mplayer.

Please don't tell me I have to use a windows machine to get this thing running. Someone has to be running the PVR 150.

Do everything by hand. Do not use RPM files because they will screw things up for this card. Also install mplayer through source code.

The firmware have to be downloaded from the Hauppauge site that is compatible with the ivtv modules (drivers). Also read http://ivtvdriver.org/index.php/Firmware

Readt the documentation at http://ivtvdriver.org/index.php/Howto

Make sure you install the ivtv drivers in the right location since this might depend on your distro. I don't you Fedora, but Mandriva 2006, and when I built the ivtv drivers it didn't put it where Mandriva expect them.
Try renaming the old ones to <original_name>_old, then build the drivers. Put the new drivers in the directory Fedora Core expects it.

Set the channel by (channel 3 in this example):
$ ivtv-tune --channel=3

Then try this (or the video source you think it is supposed to be)
$ /bin/cat /dev/video > test.mpg

View it:
$ mplayer test.mpg