OK so I fixed all my issues with my clean install of vdr and vdr-xine in Fedora Core 8 except one:

- switching from horizontal to vertical polarization does not work, screen goes black, xine stops responding

- I can record vertical polarized channels and play back the recording so this doesn't seem to be a driver/hardware issue

Fedora Core 8 up to date xine-lib 1.2 pulled from mercurial on the 14th January xine-ui from CVS same day VDR 1.5.13 vdr-xine 0.8.1

DVB drivers from FC8 (after trying older ones with same result) Skystar2 in hush VIA Epia M10000

So the problem lies with switching channels on live TV. Any ideas where to go now greatly welcomed!

Tony