Mythtv: no EIT data (program table crashed)

An attempt to save somebody, somewhere, some time if they run into the same problem as me.

SYMPTOMS: No guide data at all, for no good reason. System status says “no guide data – is mythfilldatabase running?”. If you stop the backend then run mythbackend from a terminal (I did it with options “-v eit” thinking I had a different problem but I suspect that was irrelevant) there’s a message in the output saying mythconverg/program has crashed/is in a crashed state.

FIXING IT: is easy-peasy, thanks to Drew at dinomite.net and with clarification from JimJ.

In short, and purely to provide a backup as Drew’s site seems to be the only hit for the obvious google (copying Drew, the relevant part of the error is “Table ‘./mythconverg/program’ is marked as crashed and should be repaired” – pro bono google-o):

  1. stop the backend (“/etc/init.d/mythtv-backend stop” on my Xubuntu-based box)
  2. type “mysql -p” (you may need your database password here if you set one)
  3. type “use mythconverg”
  4. type “repair table program;” and remember the semicolon after program. Wait until this completes
  5. type quit to return to the shell, then restart the backend and frontend. Cross your fingers!
On my system at least, that was it. All back to normal…

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