DVBViewer Recorder: Network encoder

[nickjp]

Originally Posted by StephaneM

It is possible however that the SoftCAM requires a playback graph during the whole recording (the playback graph is stopped as soon as the recording is fine).

Is there an easy way to keep the playback graph running?
Do you know how long it takes to determine that "the recording is fine", does it take about 10 secs?

I did some additional testing in debug mode.
In the log file I see "something" being closed after 10 secs. In fact it is the same entry that shows up when I close down dvbviewer while it is running stand alone. This looks like the playback graph being closed.

[StephaneM]

Originally Posted by nickjp

Is there an easy way to keep the playback graph running?

You can try to use a very long restart delay (like 2 hours)

Do you know how long it takes to determine that "the recording is fine", does it take about 10 secs?

When you set the "Restart delay" at 0 (the default), the recorder check the recording within 20 sec and close the playback graph.

In the log file I see "something" being closed after 10 secs. In fact it is the same entry that shows up when I close down dvbviewer while it is running stand alone. This looks like the playback graph being closed.

Normally you don't see anything related to closing the playback graph (you only see it get created). What you should see is "Release Hardware" (happens when playback graph or recording stops) and "Destroy Hardware" (happens when the hardware is not used for playback and recording).

Regards,
Stéphane.

[nickjp]

What I saw was: "Plugin PIDDelete [pid-id]".
I set the restart delay to 2 hours and now it works.

Great, what are the consequences of this setting?

[Bacon2002]

Hi,
I can't seem to get this plugin to work, I am using the subscriber version and DVBViewer Pro with the latest version of SageTV 3.4.8.
I installed the plugin, set it up, picked a channel, tried to add it to SageTV by clicking on the "Add to SageTV" button, it says it's added and to go to SageTV however when I start SageTV and go into the setup options I do not have a new Video Source to choose from, only the hardware I already have installed?
I am running Vista64, is the plugin compatible?
I think I've followed the instructions but no luck.
Does anyone know what I'm doing wrong?
Many thanks,
David

[StephaneM]

Originally Posted by Bacon2002

I installed the plugin, set it up, picked a channel, tried to add it to SageTV by clicking on the "Add to SageTV" button, it says it's added and to go to SageTV however when I start SageTV and go into the setup options I do not have a new Video Source to choose from

You have to restart SageTV (UI and Service) completely for SageTV to reload the properties file.

Also, as in Vista virtualization takes place, my plugin may have modified the wrong sage.properties file. I usually change the properties file within the C:\Program Files folder, but you real sage.properties file may have been virtualized in the C:\Users\YOURUSERNAME\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Program Files folder

I am running Vista64, is the plugin compatible?

Yes and no. It will run a X64, but may fail to talk with DVBViewer if DVBViewer runs as a 32 bits process (in this case it will be easy to fix). If you already set up the encoder and successfully saw the DVBViewer channels then it works.

Also be careful there is a bug in DVBViewer 3.9.4 : it doesn't set the recording directory my plugin requests, you have to add it manually and add a trailing backslash manually at the end (what you need to do is outlined here)

Regards,
Stéphane.

[Bacon2002]

Hi,

I can't find the Sage.Properties files in the C:\User\My user name\....., could it be that the program Sage files are held in the:-

C:\Program Files (x86)\SageTV\SageTV\......

Which is a different address from Windows XP which probably uses C:\Program Files\SageTV\SageTV\.....

???????

Let me know what you think,

Ta,

David

[StephaneM]

Originally Posted by Bacon2002

I can't find the Sage.Properties files in the C:\User\My user name\....., could it be that the program Sage files are held in the:C:\Program Files (x86)\SageTV\SageTV\......

Yes it could be either in the C:\Program Files (x86) or the VirtualStore (it depends if a process tried to write to the sage.properties file without sufficient privileges, so if you use the SageTV service, it will stay in the Program Files directory)

Regards,
Stéphane.

[Bacon2002]

Hi,

The only way I could get it to work was to add a dummy folder C:\Program Files\SageTV\SageTV\..... and put the sage.properties file in this new folder so that your plugin could amend it.

The plugin then updated the file and I copied it across to the correct folder (C:\Program Files (x86)\SageTV\SageTV\......)

The plugin probably needs updating to support Vista64 filing.

Now I have the option in SageTV to add the new Video Source, in my case "DVBViewer on 192.168.0.2:9090".

But I now have a new problem.

When I select the new video source I get a message box saying "Please wait for the video preview to load" and an egg timer swerling around. After that nothing happens. The eggtimer just keeps going round and around. No video.

In the end I have to manually stop the program from running and restart SageTV.

Any idea what I need to do to get it to work?

For info DVBViewer works fine and the channel I have picked works fine in DVBViewer.

Thanks,

David

[StephaneM]

Originally Posted by Bacon2002

The only way I could get it to work was to add a dummy folder C:\Program Files\SageTV\SageTV\..... and put the sage.properties file in this new folder so that your plugin could amend it.

The plugin then updated the file and I copied it across to the correct folder (C:\Program Files (x86)\SageTV\SageTV\......)

The plugin probably needs updating to support Vista64 filing.

Well, the recorder will search first in the Program Files folder (the one returned by Windows anyway), if the plugin doesn't find a sage.properties file in there, then it will search it on your entire hard drive until it finds one. If it cannot find such a file it will tell you. As in your case it does have acknowledged the sage.properties file modification, it does have found one but it clearly wasn't the good one. There is nothing much I can do here (the real desing flaw is that SageTV store its settings in a folder where it shouldn't...)

When I select the new video source I get a message box saying "Please wait for the video preview to load" and an egg timer swerling around. After that nothing happens. The eggtimer just keeps going round and around. No video.

This "Please wait for the video preview" happens during source setup. When using a network encoder you can't have any preview so just skip this and click on big button on the bottom of this screen (something like "Input to use..."). Note that if the encoder is not working or is blocked by the vista firewall you will have the "Please wait..." for a long time. So be sure to add an exception for the recorder service/standalone recorder in vista firewall.

Also, have you added the SageTV recording directory in DVBViewer as I recommended (and added manually the missing "\" at the end of the path)?

Regards,
Stéphane.

[Bacon2002]

Hi,

Thanks for the email but I'm still stuck.

The option to press "Input to use" (or whatever it says) is not available, that is to say I can not click on it?

Also what program or option do I choose in the Vista firewall settings in order to allow an exception for the recorder service/standalone recorder? There is already an option of DVBViewer and also several for SageTV all of which are checked so as to allow them through the firewall.

Thanks,

David

[StephaneM]

Originally Posted by Bacon2002

The option to press "Input to use" (or whatever it says) is not available, that is to say I can not click on it?

Well it shouldn't because even if the recorder isn't available you should still be able to click on "Device Input to Use : Digital TV Tuner" (as seen here on the screenshots)

Also what program or option do I choose in the Vista firewall settings in order to allow an exception for the recorder service/standalone recorder?

Go to the control panel, click on the "Allow a program through Windows Firewall", then click on the "Add program..." button and browse for the DVBViewer Recorder Services or Standalone Recorder (DVBViewerRecorderSvc.exe or DVBViewerRecorder.exe).

Regards,
Stéphane.

[rtengvad]

Hi Stephane

A BIG BIG BIG thank you for the latest version of this plug-in where power management is supported. This recorder just keeps getting better

On my system though the recorder seem to have some problems in shutting down Dvbviewer. It usually works well the first time after restart, but after a while the pc keeps on running, and I can see from the task manager that Dvbviewer is running even in long idle periods. If I kill dvbviewer manually the pc enters standby.

I can’t see anything from the recorder log. Only those times when it goes well. In Dvbviewer I have unchecked “Prevent screen saver”.

Any clues to what could be the reason?

Thanks again for you efforts

Rasmus

[StephaneM]

Originally Posted by rtengvad

On my system though the recorder seem to have some problems in shutting down Dvbviewer. It usually works well the first time after restart.../...Any clues to what could be the reason?

Possibly, the "idle" timer is only started if a recording was made. So if your PC went into standby, you manually resumed it to do something else than watching TV, it won't go into standby again (because the the recorders have restarted but has no recordings have taken place, the idle timer wasn't reset).

i'll fix this in an upcoming version.

Regards,
Stéphane.

[rtengvad]

Originally Posted by StephaneM

i'll fix this in an upcoming version.

Great. Thanks!

Rasmus

[kitschcamp]

Originally Posted by rtengvad

I was using the same ports 9091 and 9092 but it turned out that my encoders was competing over those ports with my slim server. I moved my encoders to 9095 and 9096 and that seems to have done the trick.

Many thanks for feeding that back - I've just been struggling with my Slimserver doing the same.

[kitschcamp]

Originally Posted by logsvp

Not sure what NAR stands for but it just seems like standard audio.

NAR is the descriptive audio for the blind/partially sighted - I accidentally recorded Last Man Standing this week with the NAR soundtrack, and you have a person describing what's happening on the screen.

[logsvp]

I am trying to get ITV HD (UK Channel) to work using the Network Encoder without much success at the moment

I have added the ITV HD channel to DVBVIEWER (beta 3.9.4.101) and in DVBViewer native I can see & hear the channel. I have then added the channel to the list of channels in DVBViewer recorder and added it sage (I also have it in the EPG - I use the LMGestion XMLTV setup).

When I view the channel on the HD Extender it looks as if it is receiving something (the LAN light is flashing a lot) but only a blank screen is displayed.
The recorder trace shows the channel being sent to SageTV. Likewise if I view the channel on the PC it displays a blank screen. By way of contrast, BBC HD works well on the PC and HD Extender.

has anyone else got ITV HD working using a similar setup?

[Whitey]

Originally Posted by logsvp

I am trying to get ITV HD (UK Channel) to work using the Network Encoder without much success at the moment

I have added the ITV HD channel to DVBVIEWER (beta 3.9.4.101) and in DVBViewer native I can see & hear the channel. I have then added the channel to the list of channels in DVBViewer recorder and added it sage (I also have it in the EPG - I use the LMGestion XMLTV setup).

When I view the channel on the HD Extender it looks as if it is receiving something (the LAN light is flashing a lot) but only a blank screen is displayed.
The recorder trace shows the channel being sent to SageTV. Likewise if I view the channel on the PC it displays a blank screen. By way of contrast, BBC HD works well on the PC and HD Extender.

has anyone else got ITV HD working using a similar setup?

No, I could never get this to work with the same set-up, even with the updated files for ITV-HD. I had to go back to using my sat card natively in sage to get ITV-HD working.

Whitey

[StephaneM]

Originally Posted by logsvp

I am trying to get ITV HD (UK Channel) to work using the Network Encoder without much success at the moment

When you set up a recording on ITV HD through SageTV using DVBViewer, then wait for the recording to be complete, are you able to:

* view the recording in SageTV?
* view the recording in Windows Media Player (install Haali Media Splitter)?
* view the recording in DVBViewer?

In the other thread about ITV HD, there is a fix to download regarding the SageTV MPEG demux and TSSplitter (the TSSplitter is not used when using DVBViewer Recorder though).

If you are not able to play the recording in SageTV (but can in WMP and DVBViewer), you'll have to submit a report to SageTV with a small recording.

Note: you can also try the latest SageTV beta (from my experience the new demuxer in this beta works with the DVBViewer recordings even H.264 HD videos)

Regards,
Stéphane.

[rtengvad]

Originally Posted by kitschcamp

Many thanks for feeding that back - I've just been struggling with my Slimserver doing the same.

Only happy to help

A big thanks again to you Stepahane for listening to my request. The latest version now works perfect with power management.

Finally I can reduce the 200 EUR/year electricity bill for my Sage system.

Rasmus