Mac comskip?

[pratt733]

Made the transition this weekend and, so far, everything's working fine. Has anyone figured out a comskip solution for OSX? I'm able to run comskip.exe under darwine just fine, it's just the passing of variables and the scheduling that I can't seem to get working. DirMon won't run as a service and neither will comskip monitor.

Anyone with a Mac server, did you simply forego commercial skipping?

[bcjenkins]

Here's an implementation for eyeTV http://code.google.com/p/etv-comskip/

On linux I am using a perl script for checking, you could easily write a bash script/perl script and set it up as a launchd service on OS X.

I have been getting a number of requests in PM for a resurrection of my last attempt. I would be willing to set it up and test provided:

1. Somebody will actually test this time
2. That person is not afraid of copying and pasting into terminal
3. Report back on issues.

My implementation would not be a reuse of the EyeTV version. It would make use of Darwine, and the EXE produced by Erik as it is easier to keep up to date with his code and no work on my part.

B

[pratt733]

I'm actually a QA/Business Analyst by trade, so I'd be happy to test for you. This is a perfect time since I am very comfortable with OSX at this point. I did attempt to rewrite the EyeTV scripts, but not being a programmer and not having the time to learn, I abandoned it.

I'd rather not have to run a VM just to run comskip.

[ke4pym]

Originally Posted by pratt733

Made the transition this weekend and, so far, everything's working fine. Has anyone figured out a comskip solution for OSX? I'm able to run comskip.exe under darwine just fine, it's just the passing of variables and the scheduling that I can't seem to get working. DirMon won't run as a service and neither will comskip monitor.

Anyone with a Mac server, did you simply forego commercial skipping?

Pratt - what tuner(s) did you end up using? Were there any issues in setting that tuner up?

I'm thinking about becoming a SageTV Mac user but I'm having trouble finding tuners that'll work.

If I do become a user, I'll be happy to help with this adventure.

[pratt733]

I'm actually using 5 SA 4200HD cable boxes, connected via firewire, using the Hugo Lypens firewire network encoder. Working great so far.

A bit of history:

I started with a PIII XP machine, with one Hauppauge PVR150 for years. Then upgraded to a P4, added an Nvidia DualTV card and ran that way for quite a while (using the MCE blasters), but wanted HD. Since I wanted more than just the locals, I began researching firewire and found the Timmmoore driver set. Unfortunately, it did not work very well on SA boxes and abandoned the project, until I discovered there was a way to do it on the Mac. Got myself a cheap G4 and it worked great, until I had more than 3 cable boxes. Upgraded my Mac and since I was no longer using any of the TV tuner cards and using firewire exclusively, decided to cut out the middle man and use the Mac exclusively. Been running for a few days and it's been great. Still have Windows clients, though, and it will probably stay that way (they're working, why mess with them).

[pratt733]

bjenkins, would you mind posting what you have when you're ready? I lack the programming skills (and patience) to create this myself. I would GREATLY appreciate it.

[karljayne]

I would definately help test.

[sandor]

Originally Posted by ke4pym

Pratt - what tuner(s) did you end up using? Were there any issues in setting that tuner up?

I'm thinking about becoming a SageTV Mac user but I'm having trouble finding tuners that'll work.

If I do become a user, I'll be happy to help with this adventure.

i use my pair of HDHR's on my mac... though i am OTA only.

[bcjenkins]

Ok, script is done. Testing it now on my Mac which is not my server..

Anyone brave enough to be the first? Send me a PM.

B

[bcjenkins]

I have made the application package available on my blog. I am working on an interface to modify the prefs from within the application, but for right now I have included an Applescript which will open the prefs file within the app bundle in TextEdit. I had one person come forward for testing and they are running Leopard. I could use someone running Tiger to test as well.

TIA

B

[bcjenkins]

I am making available version .3a of ComChecker. This is a complete re-work of the system done in AppleScript Studio. It uses a bash script to run the processing, a prefs file for bash preferences, and the Apple defaults system for ComChecker application autostart setting.

To make use of this, you will need Darwine and Erik's comskip. Feedback is welcome but due to the underwhelming response I received for private testers, not likely.

I am not likely to carry on development from this point as I have not had an adequate interest in this tool. However, I am willing to work on bugs. This was tested on my MacBook Pro, which is not my SageTV server. I do not know how it will work on live TV files, but it works in my testing on existing and dropping in of files to the TV directory.

B

PS - Make sure you set your comskip.ini options and edit the bash prefs (Options button) before clicking the start button in the application.