[SLL] improper grounding while using PVR can might cause problems? -- was: Re: OT--Hardware: New Build Won't go to POST

[Jay Scherrer]

It is very important to make sure that all of your components 
(Mainboard, drives, and cards) are properly grounded to to your Box.
Even if your old house wiring has only two lines.

Jay Scherrer

Ana wrote:
> On Sun, Oct 14, 2007 at 11:48:40AM -0700, Andrew Sweger wrote:
>   
>> On Sun, 14 Oct 2007, Ana wrote:
>>
>>     
>>> How important is properly grounded house-power?
>>>       
>> It's important from a safety perspective. But the _normal_ operation of
>> any electrical device should not depend on the presense of a ground. If a
>> device is leaking current to ground, something is wrong with it (e.g., it
>> would trip a GFI breaker). An improperly wired ground could cause problems
>> for the operator of a device if there's a potential difference between
>> ground and neutral. But that's a separate world of hurt.
>>     
>
> Thanks for your reply.  While on the topic, I have one more question.
>
> A different system, one I use at home, is also connected to a improperly
> grounded electrical source.  (the aforementioned system is at a
> business.)  I have odd problems with the home machine...  that include
> random segfaults of gcc/etc., occasional kernel oops-es, and occasional
> lock ups.  I ran x86memtest+ for a long time, which found no problems.
> I finally brought it to a shop.  They never saw any of the same symptoms
> and found only one problem with the hardware...  which was: reads on the
> real-time-clock failed (if I remember correctly) about 30% of the time
> *when* RAM was also simultaneously being accessed.  That didn't seem
> like a probable cause to me.
>
> I hadn't thought this other element could be an issue until I brought my
> machine back home.  I have a WinTV-pvr-150 (or something very similar);
> a Haupauge, hardware mpeg encoder that I have connected to a co-ax line
> from my cable-tv provider.  The frequency of problems are much greater
> when I'm using that device, or have used it since booting.  They also
> occur though, rarely, even when I haven't used it since booting.  What
> might be more interesting is:  I don't remember my machine ever having a
> single problem when I've left the Haupauge card disconnected from the
> cable/co-ax.
>
> I've wondered if there might be a voltage (potential?) imbalance between
> my machine's ground/neutral and the co-ax ground/neutral...  and if
> maybe that could be causing problems.  I wrote the manufacturer about
> this and they said it was a possibility and that I should run some
> tests...  which I don't have the resources to run.
>
> Anyway, I've wondered what you guys on the linux-list might think about
> the problem.  I think if it were a problem with the driver that I would
> have seen more complaints from the community, because my machine can
> seize quite often.
>
> Thanks,
>
> - Ana
>
>
>