Watchdog timeout using more than 4 cameras on 8 channel tw68 card

Question

I have been running 3.1.12 on Lubuntu 12.10 using tw68-v2 driver for 3 years. I have 6 analog cameras attached to an 8 channel pci card. It has been very stable and runs for months without a problem. I would like to upgrade to an LTS version of Lubuntu 14.04 as you can no longer apply any updates to 12.10. Tw68 is supported natively with kernel 3.19. So I installed Lubuntu 14.04 and motion fails when I activate more than 4 cameras, the only message is a watchdog timeout and a thread is killed. The message repeats after a while. I have just install Lubuntu 15.10, the same problem exists. I have no idea if this is a motion or driver problem.

******************* apt-cache showpkg motion *******************
 
Package: motion
Versions: 
3.2.12+git20140228-7 (/var/lib/apt/lists/gb.archive.ubuntu.com_ubuntu_dists_wily_universe_binary-amd64_Packages) (/var/lib/dpkg/status)
 Description Language: 
                 File: /var/lib/apt/lists/gb.archive.ubuntu.com_ubuntu_dists_wily_universe_binary-amd64_Packages
                  MD5: 2699ebee3b63a553c62f7f823c1643ca
 Description Language: en
                 File: /var/lib/apt/lists/gb.archive.ubuntu.com_ubuntu_dists_wily_universe_i18n_Translation-en
                  MD5: 2699ebee3b63a553c62f7f823c1643ca


Reverse Depends: 
  motion:i386,motion
Dependencies: 
3.2.12+git20140228-7 - libavcodec-ffmpeg56 (18 7:2.4) libavcodec-ffmpeg-extra56 (2 7:2.4) libavformat-ffmpeg56 (2 7:2.4) libavutil-ffmpeg54 (2 7:2.4) libc6 (2 2.15) libjpeg8 (2 8c) libmysqlclient18 (0 (null)) libpq5 (0 (null)) libsdl1.2debian (2 1.2.11) libsqlite3-0 (2 3.5.9) debconf (18 0.5) debconf-2.0 (0 (null)) adduser (0 (null)) mysql-client (0 (null)) postgresql-client (0 (null)) ffmpeg (0 (null)) motion:i386 (0 (null)) 
Provides: 
3.2.12+git20140228-7 - 
Reverse Provides: 
 

******************* sudo modinfo tw68 *******************
 
filename:       /lib/modules/4.2.0-16-generic/kernel/drivers/media/pci/tw68/tw68.ko
license:        GPL
author:         Hans Verkuil <hverkuil@xs4all.nl>
author:         William M. Brack
description:    v4l2 driver module for tw6800 based video capture cards
srcversion:     7BA87FB321D95FEE5CCB82A
depends:        videobuf2-v4l2,videodev,videobuf2-dma-sg,videobuf2-core
vermagic:       4.2.0-16-generic SMP mod_unload modversions 
parm:           latency:pci latency timer (int)
parm:           video_nr:video device number (array of int)
parm:           card:card type (array of int)

And a snippet from the motion log.....
------------------------
cap.driver: "tw68"
cap.card: "Techwell Capture Card"
cap.bus_info: "PCI:0000:02:04.0"
cap.capabilities=0x85200001
------------------------
[1] [NTC] [VID] [Mar 01 20:06:35] v4l2_get_capability: - VIDEO_CAPTURE
[1] [NTC] [VID] [Mar 01 20:06:35] v4l2_get_capability: - READWRITE
[1] [NTC] [VID] [Mar 01 20:06:35] v4l2_get_capability: - STREAMING
[1] [NTC] [VID] [Mar 01 20:06:35] v4l2_select_input: name = "Composite 0", type 0x00000002, status 00000104
[1] [NTC] [VID] [Mar 01 20:06:35] v4l2_select_input: - CAMERA
[1] [NTC] [VID] [Mar 01 20:06:35] v4l2_select_input: - video standard PAL
[1] [NTC] [VID] [Mar 01 20:06:35] v4l2_select_input: - video standard PAL-BG
[1] [NTC] [VID] [Mar 01 20:06:35] v4l2_select_input: - video standard PAL-H
[1] [NTC] [VID] [Mar 01 20:06:35] v4l2_select_input: - video standard PAL-I
[1] [NTC] [VID] [Mar 01 20:06:35] v4l2_select_input: - video standard PAL-DK
[1] [NTC] [VID] [Mar 01 20:06:35] v4l2_select_input: Set standard method 255
[1] [NTC] [VID] [Mar 01 20:06:35] v4l2_set_pix_format: Config palette index 5 (GRBG) doesn't work.
[1] [NTC] [VID] [Mar 01 20:06:35] v4l2_set_pix_format: Supported palettes:
[1] [NTC] [VID] [Mar 01 20:06:35] v4l2_set_pix_format: (0) RGBO (16-bit A/XRGB 1-5-5-5)
[1] [NTC] [VID] [Mar 01 20:06:35] v4l2_set_pix_format: 0 - 16-bit A/XRGB 1-5-5-5 (compressed : 0) (0x4f424752)
[1] [NTC] [VID] [Mar 01 20:06:35] v4l2_set_pix_format: (1) RGBQ (16-bit A/XRGB 1-5-5-5 BE)
[1] [NTC] [VID] [Mar 01 20:06:35] v4l2_set_pix_format: 1 - 16-bit A/XRGB 1-5-5-5 BE (compressed : 0) (0x51424752)
[1] [NTC] [VID] [Mar 01 20:06:35] v4l2_set_pix_format: (2) RGBP (16-bit RGB 5-6-5)
[1] [NTC] [VID] [Mar 01 20:06:35] v4l2_set_pix_format: 2 - 16-bit RGB 5-6-5 (compressed : 0) (0x50424752)
[1] [NTC] [VID] [Mar 01 20:06:35] v4l2_set_pix_format: (3) RGBR (16-bit RGB 5-6-5 BE)
[1] [NTC] [VID] [Mar 01 20:06:35] v4l2_set_pix_format: 3 - 16-bit RGB 5-6-5 BE (compressed : 0) (0x52424752)
[1] [NTC] [VID] [Mar 01 20:06:35] v4l2_set_pix_format: (4) BGR3 (24-bit BGR 8-8-8)
[1] [NTC] [VID] [Mar 01 20:06:35] v4l2_set_pix_format: 4 - 24-bit BGR 8-8-8 (compressed : 0) (0x33524742)
[1] [NTC] [VID] [Mar 01 20:06:35] v4l2_set_pix_format: (5) RGB3 (24-bit RGB 8-8-8)
[1] [NTC] [VID] [Mar 01 20:06:35] v4l2_set_pix_format: 5 - 24-bit RGB 8-8-8 (compressed : 0) (0x33424752)
[1] [NTC] [VID] [Mar 01 20:06:35] v4l2_set_pix_format: (6) BGR4 (32-bit BGRA/X 8-8-8-8)
[1] [NTC] [VID] [Mar 01 20:06:35] v4l2_set_pix_format: 6 - 32-bit BGRA/X 8-8-8-8 (compressed : 0) (0x34524742)
[1] [NTC] [VID] [Mar 01 20:06:35] v4l2_set_pix_format: (7) RGB4 (32-bit A/XRGB 8-8-8-8)
[1] [NTC] [VID] [Mar 01 20:06:35] v4l2_set_pix_format: 7 - 32-bit A/XRGB 8-8-8-8 (compressed : 0) (0x34424752)
[1] [NTC] [VID] [Mar 01 20:06:35] v4l2_set_pix_format: (8) YUYV (YUYV 4:2:2)
[1] [NTC] [VID] [Mar 01 20:06:35] v4l2_set_pix_format: 8 - YUYV 4:2:2 (compressed : 0) (0x56595559)
[1] [NTC] [VID] [Mar 01 20:06:35] v4l2_set_pix_format: (9) UYVY (UYVY 4:2:2)
[1] [NTC] [VID] [Mar 01 20:06:35] v4l2_set_pix_format: 9 - UYVY 4:2:2 (compressed : 0) (0x59565955)
[1] [NTC] [VID] [Mar 01 20:06:35] v4l2_set_pix_format Selected palette YUYV
[1] [NTC] [VID] [Mar 01 20:06:35] v4l2_do_set_pix_format: Testing palette YUYV (720x576)
[1] [NTC] [VID] [Mar 01 20:06:35] v4l2_do_set_pix_format: Using palette YUYV (720x576) bytesperlines 1440 sizeimage 829440 colorspace 00000001
[1] [NTC] [VID] [Mar 01 20:06:35] v4l2_scan_controls: found control 0x00980900, "Brightness", range -128,127 
[1] [NTC] [VID] [Mar 01 20:06:35] v4l2_scan_controls:    "Brightness", default 20, current 20
[1] [NTC] [VID] [Mar 01 20:06:35] v4l2_scan_controls: found control 0x00980901, "Contrast", range 0,255 
[1] [NTC] [VID] [Mar 01 20:06:35] v4l2_scan_controls:    "Contrast", default 100, current 100
[1] [NTC] [VID] [Mar 01 20:06:35] v4l2_scan_controls: found control 0x00980902, "Saturation", range 0,255 
[1] [NTC] [VID] [Mar 01 20:06:35] v4l2_scan_controls:    "Saturation", default 128, current 128
[1] [NTC] [VID] [Mar 01 20:06:35] v4l2_scan_controls: found control 0x00980903, "Hue", range -128,127 
[1] [NTC] [VID] [Mar 01 20:06:35] v4l2_scan_controls:    "Hue", default 0, current 0
[1] [NTC] [VID] [Mar 01 20:06:35] vid_v4lx_start: Using V4L2
[1] [NTC] [ALL] [Mar 01 20:06:35] image_ring_resize: Resizing pre_capture buffer to 1 items
[5] [NTC] [STR] [Mar 01 20:06:35] http_bindsock: motion-stream testing : IPV4 addr: 0.0.0.0 port: 8095
[5] [NTC] [STR] [Mar 01 20:06:35] http_bindsock: motion-stream Bound : IPV4 addr: 0.0.0.0 port: 8095
[5] [NTC] [ALL] [Mar 01 20:06:35] motion_init: Started motion-stream server in port 8095 auth Disabled
[5] [NTC] [ALL] [Mar 01 20:06:35] image_ring_resize: Resizing pre_capture buffer to 21 items
[4] [NTC] [STR] [Mar 01 20:06:35] http_bindsock: motion-stream testing : IPV4 addr: 0.0.0.0 port: 8094
[4] [NTC] [STR] [Mar 01 20:06:35] http_bindsock: motion-stream Bound : IPV4 addr: 0.0.0.0 port: 8094
[4] [NTC] [ALL] [Mar 01 20:06:35] motion_init: Started motion-stream server in port 8094 auth Disabled
[4] [NTC] [ALL] [Mar 01 20:06:35] image_ring_resize: Resizing pre_capture buffer to 21 items
[1] [NTC] [STR] [Mar 01 20:06:35] http_bindsock: motion-stream testing : IPV4 addr: 0.0.0.0 port: 8090
[1] [NTC] [STR] [Mar 01 20:06:35] http_bindsock: motion-stream Bound : IPV4 addr: 0.0.0.0 port: 8090
[1] [NTC] [ALL] [Mar 01 20:06:35] motion_init: Started motion-stream server in port 8090 auth Disabled
[1] [NTC] [ALL] [Mar 01 20:06:35] image_ring_resize: Resizing pre_capture buffer to 21 items
[2] [NTC] [STR] [Mar 01 20:06:35] http_bindsock: motion-stream testing : IPV4 addr: 0.0.0.0 port: 8092
[2] [NTC] [STR] [Mar 01 20:06:35] http_bindsock: motion-stream Bound : IPV4 addr: 0.0.0.0 port: 8092
[2] [NTC] [ALL] [Mar 01 20:06:35] motion_init: Started motion-stream server in port 8092 auth Disabled
[2] [NTC] [ALL] [Mar 01 20:06:35] image_ring_resize: Resizing pre_capture buffer to 21 items
[3] [NTC] [STR] [Mar 01 20:06:35] http_bindsock: motion-stream testing : IPV4 addr: 0.0.0.0 port: 8093
[3] [NTC] [STR] [Mar 01 20:06:35] http_bindsock: motion-stream Bound : IPV4 addr: 0.0.0.0 port: 8093
[3] [NTC] [ALL] [Mar 01 20:06:35] motion_init: Started motion-stream server in port 8093 auth Disabled
[3] [NTC] [ALL] [Mar 01 20:06:35] image_ring_resize: Resizing pre_capture buffer to 21 items
[1] [NTC] [EVT] [Mar 01 20:06:43] event_new_video FPS 2
[1] [NTC] [ALL] [Mar 01 20:06:43] create_path: creating directory /AJS2/AJS2_Data10/CCTV/201603/01/20
[1] [NTC] [EVT] [Mar 01 20:06:43] event_newfile: File of type 8 saved to: /AJS2/AJS2_Data10/CCTV/201603/01/20/MD-1-0301-200643.avi
[1] [NTC] [ALL] [Mar 01 20:06:43] motion_detected: Motion detected - starting event 1
[2] [NTC] [EVT] [Mar 01 20:06:48] event_new_video FPS 2
[2] [NTC] [EVT] [Mar 01 20:06:48] event_newfile: File of type 8 saved to: /AJS2/AJS2_Data10/CCTV/201603/01/20/MD-2-0301-200648.avi
[2] [NTC] [ALL] [Mar 01 20:06:48] motion_detected: Motion detected - starting event 1
[0] [ERR] [ALL] [Mar 01 20:07:14] main: Thread 1 - Watchdog timeout, trying to do a graceful restart
[5] [NTC] [EVT] [Mar 01 20:07:23] event_new_video FPS 2
[5] [NTC] [EVT] [Mar 01 20:07:23] event_newfile: File of type 8 saved to: /AJS2/AJS2_Data10/CCTV/201603/01/20/MD-5-0301-200722.avi
[5] [NTC] [ALL] [Mar 01 20:07:23] motion_detected: Motion detected - starting event 1
[4] [NTC] [EVT] [Mar 01 20:08:06] event_new_video FPS 2
[4] [NTC] [EVT] [Mar 01 20:08:06] event_newfile: File of type 8 saved to: /AJS2/AJS2_Data10/CCTV/201603/01/20/MD-4-0301-200806.avi
[4] [NTC] [ALL] [Mar 01 20:08:06] motion_detected: Motion detected - starting event 1
[0] [ERR] [ALL] [Mar 01 20:08:14] main: Thread 1 - Watchdog timeout, did NOT restart graceful,killing it!
[0] [NTC] [STR] [Mar 01 20:08:14] stream_stop: Closing motion-stream listen socket & active motion-stream sockets
[0] [NTC] [STR] [Mar 01 20:08:14] stream_stop: Closed motion-stream listen socket & active motion-stream sockets
[0] [NTC] [VID] [Mar 01 20:08:14] vid_close: Closing video device /dev/video0
[1] [ERR] [VID] [Mar 01 20:08:14] v4l2_next: VIDIOC_DQBUF: Invalid argument
[0] [NTC] [ALL] [Mar 01 20:08:15] main: Motion thread 1 restart
[1] [NTC] [ALL] [Mar 01 20:08:15] motion_init: Thread 1 started , motion detection Enabled
[1] [NTC] [VID] [Mar 01 20:08:15] vid_v4lx_start: Using videodevice /dev/video0 and input -1
[1] [NTC] [VID] [Mar 01 20:08:15] v4l2_get_capability: 
------------------------

Environment

Motion version:	3.2.12
ffmpeg version:
Libraries:	ffmpeg, mysql, postgresql
Server OS:	Lubuntu 15.10, kernel 4.2.0

-- TonySimpson - 01 Mar 2016

Answer