MyTheatre DVB Network Encoder Plugin

[Mahoney]

Is this plugin still valid?

Yes, very much so. The network encoder setup hasn't changed for ages, so any network encoder written for another app should remain valid for a very long time; the API is so simple I can't think why Sage would change it.

[vividweb]

I can't seem to get this to work.

In my logs I get an Unknown Sagetv command error. This thread seems kind of dead, Ican post more info if any can help.

[travisbell]

Originally Posted by vividweb

Is this plugin still valid? or is there a way to achieve the same results in Sagetv 6.1?

Is anyone using this plugin successfully?

I have been using this plugin daily for over 6 months. Works great. As long as you follow the PDF that was written you shouldn't have any issues...

Do you get an error?

[stanger89]

Originally Posted by rickgillyon

NP.

Put this code in say checksage.vbs, and run at startup. This checks if MyT is running and starts it, then checks if Sage is running and starts it. This is what I use to start them at reboot.

do
dim taskname
taskname="nothing"
strComputer = "."
Set objWMIService = GetObject("winmgmts:" _
& "{impersonationLevel=impersonate}!\\" & strComputer & "\root\cimv2")
Set colProcessList = objWMIService.ExecQuery _
("Select * from Win32_Process Where Name = 'MyTheatre.exe'")
For Each objProcess in colProcessList
'objProcess.Terminate()
taskname=objprocess.name

Next
if taskname="MyTheatre.exe" then
'Do Nothing Continue Checking
else
'Restart MT Continue Checking
Set objShell = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
objShell.Run "C:\XviD\restartMT.bat",0,True
WScript.sleep(30 * 1000)
end if

taskname="nothing"
strComputer = "."
Set objWMIService = GetObject("winmgmts:" _
& "{impersonationLevel=impersonate}!\\" & strComputer & "\root\cimv2")
Set colProcessList = objWMIService.ExecQuery _
("Select * from Win32_Process Where Name = 'SageTV.exe'")
For Each objProcess in colProcessList
'objProcess.Terminate()
taskname=objprocess.name

Next
if taskname="SageTV.exe" then
'Do Nothing Continue Checking
else
'Restart Sage Continue Checking
Set objShell = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
objShell.Run "C:\XviD\restartsage.bat",0,True
end if

WScript.sleep(60 * 1000)
loop

RestartMT.bat (I have 4 instances):

C:
cd "C:\Program Files\MyTheatre"
start MTStart.exe /toggle /Card1
start MTStart.exe /toggle /Card2
start MTStart.exe /toggle /Card3
start MTStart.exe /toggle /Card4
exit

RestartSage.bat:

C:
cd "C:\Program Files\SageTV\SageTV"
start SageTv.exe -startup

To stop the script running, have a batch file containing the following:

tskill wscript /a

Works a treat. Means I don't have to use service mode, which gave me MVP problems.

rickygillon,

I was trying to give this a shot, but I run Sage as a service, and don't want/need it checking on Sage. So I tried to remove the Sage part, but when I do, wmipvrse.exe (or wscript or something, it's been a few days since I tried it) goes to 100% CPU, any thoughts?

[rickgillyon]

Originally Posted by stanger89

I was trying to give this a shot, but I run Sage as a service, and don't want/need it checking on Sage. So I tried to remove the Sage part, but when I do, wmipvrse.exe (or wscript or something, it's been a few days since I tried it) goes to 100% CPU, any thoughts?

Yes, you've probably also deleted this line at the end of the script:

WScript.sleep(60 * 1000)

That means there is no pause, so it just runs as much as your CPU will let it...

[stanger89]

Looks like that was it. Just to satisfy my curiosity....

Oh, the Sleep ( 30 ) only gets called if you need to restart MT, I see now. I saw that before and figured the Sleep ( 60 ) at the end was specific to Sage or redundant.

Thanks!

[Jabroni]

Does anyone uses mytheater + MVP clients? for some reason I get a lot of pixelation when tunning on some channels with AC3 soundtrack, still I can play xvid, etc with AC3 with no probs at all, its just what it gets tuned from mytheater. Anyone else experiencing that?

[stanger89]

My guess is it's due to extraordinarilly long GOPs used by broadcasters to reduce bandwidth. I'm guessing the MVP doesn't have the memory to deal with really-long GOPs (like 50 frames), vs something more standard (15 frames) like the PVR250 puts out.

[technazz]

Originally Posted by Jabroni

Does anyone uses mytheater + MVP clients? for some reason I get a lot of pixelation when tunning on some channels with AC3 soundtrack, still I can play xvid, etc with AC3 with no probs at all, its just what it gets tuned from mytheater. Anyone else experiencing that?

I get the same. Its bad, maybe is I have time I'll run a recording through video redo quickfix to see if that clears it up.

Technazz

[voidpt]

Do anyone know if MyTheatre can feed MPEG4 HD streams through this plug-in to SageTV ? I do know MyTheatre do not officially support MPEG4 yet. But would it still be able to pass on the stream ? I haven't tried myself yet, just asking if anyone know.

I'm really happy with this plug-in, together with MyTheatre + 2x FloppyDTV DVB-C tuners & SageTV. Gives me rock solid stability. I do try the built-in DVB-C support in SageTV now and then. But stability can't compare yet.

[kwallin]

Originally Posted by voidpt

I'm really happy with this plug-in, together with MyTheatre + 2x FloppyDTV DVB-C tuners & SageTV. Gives me rock solid stability. I do try the built-in DVB-C support in SageTV now and then. But stability can't compare yet.

I think you should try again, I watched the World Championship in Athletics a week ago Live in DVB-C h.264 without any problems at all

Best Regards, Kenneth

[derpderpy]

I just started using this the other day, and the only problem I'm having with it (other than MyTheatre instability...) is that when a show ends and it tries to start the new one, 90% of the time it hangs on the last frame of the previous show, even though the new show is recording to the HD properly. Really I think some delay needs to be added between program stop and program start, but I don't know where or what that setting is. It's probably in the properties somewhere, but I can't find one that sounds enough like that to try it out.

I can change the channel then change it back and everything is fine except that I miss that much of the beginning of the next show, but I've also found out that I can hit "reload media player" and it'll work perfectly.

Has anyone resolved this? The only other solution I can think of is coming up with a way to do the "reload media player" like, 2 seconds after the program changes.

[Motofreak75]

seeker/fast_mux_switch=false
videoframe/safe_fast_file_switching=false



Make sure that these two lines are in your Sage.properties and you'll be fine.

[derpderpy]

Originally Posted by Motofreak75

seeker/fast_mux_switch=false
videoframe/fast_file_switching=false



Make sure that these two lines are in your Sage.properties and you'll be fine.

I had the first, but not the second. The second reloads the graph every time a file is opened, right?

It appears to have worked... Thanks

[grooves12]

Originally Posted by voidpt

Do anyone know if MyTheatre can feed MPEG4 HD streams through this plug-in to SageTV ? I do know MyTheatre do not officially support MPEG4 yet. But would it still be able to pass on the stream ? I haven't tried myself yet, just asking if anyone know.

I'm really happy with this plug-in, together with MyTheatre + 2x FloppyDTV DVB-C tuners & SageTV. Gives me rock solid stability. I do try the built-in DVB-C support in SageTV now and then. But stability can't compare yet.

No it can not... because the stream still has to be decoded and split, and Mytheatre is only looking for video PIDs flagged as Mpeg2. The next version of mytheatre is supposed to support Mpeg4, and that may solve that problem, but MT is pretty slow with releases.

If you look in that thread I linked above about the DVBDream encoder though, it has pretty active development going, and the author of DD has even got on board, and has said he will help in modifying the core program to better work with Sage and other HTPC apps, so we are trying to work with him to get a solution for the Mpeg4 stuff. That looks a little more promising to me... plus I think DD is a better overall application.

[derpderpy]

Originally Posted by derpderpy

I had the first, but not the second. The second reloads the graph every time a file is opened, right?

It appears to have worked... Thanks

After further review, it happens less often, but it still freezes about 50% of the time when a program finishes and a new one starts. Any ideas?

Also, has anyone had any luck passing just the audio channels through? I've set Mytheatre to output audio channels as mpeg2, and SageTV will play what's recorded just fine if I find it using "browse media files", but as a live tv channel it just says "no signal." It's just icing at this point, but I was curious...

[mrcandu]

Hello,
I am afraid I seem to be suffering the same problems as derpderpy, except so far 100% of the time playback will hang on the last frame of the program.
I have the following settings in sage.properties:

seeker/fast_mux_switch=false
videoframe/fast_file_switching=false
videoframe/network_encoding_to_playback_delay=1500

I have a attached some log files if anyone fancies having a crack at solving the problem. In this case the problem occured at 11.00 when the new program was due to start.

Thanks in advance.
Mat.

[derpderpy]

I believe the problem could be solved if SageTV waited one second before starting playback of the new file.

It starts recording just fine, it's just when it tries to play the file it craps its pants. I have to assume that it tries to play the file too quickly and that there's not enough info to start playback because if I go to "Reload Media Player" it will start playing just fine, and I don't lose the rest of the video before that point.

I'd be just fine if I could map a button on my remote to "Reload Media Player", but I don't know what command it would be.

The fact that you can't play any of the FTA audio stations on SageTV is particularly annoying, too... I would think these problems could be easily addressed by someone who knows the guts of the software. Audio doesn't play because there is no video muxed with the audio, even though it's mpeg2. The exact same audio file that doesn't play in live tv will play just fine if you browse to it in "Media Center."

Minor annoyances...but annoyances nontheless which I am powerless to resolve.

[Motofreak75]

please use the following,

seeker/fast_mux_switch=false
videoframe/safe_fast_file_switching=false


just a few posts ago I told people to use "videoframe/fast_file_switching=false"

this is only good for Version4 and under.

For version5& UP please use "videoframe/safe_fast_file_switching=false"

(i'll be fixing my mistakes in a few posts) DOH

[Motofreak75]

Originally Posted by mrcandu

Hello,
I am afraid I seem to be suffering the same problems as derpderpy, except so far 100% of the time playback will hang on the last frame of the program.
I have the following settings in sage.properties:

seeker/fast_mux_switch=false
videoframe/fast_file_switching=false
videoframe/network_encoding_to_playback_delay=1500

I have a attached some log files if anyone fancies having a crack at solving the problem. In this case the problem occured at 11.00 when the new program was due to start.

Thanks in advance.
Mat.

sorry try using "videoframe/safe_fast_file_switching" and see if that helps you out.