PrimeNetEncoder - HDHomeRun Prime Network Encoder

[Deacon Crusher]

Josh

Nice list of improvements.

I now have 2 Primes and an HD Homerun (as well as 2 USB atsc and 1 HDPVR) working on my sage server and getting the second Prime working was an exercise in very careful cutting and pasting and editing multiple text files and journeying back to the forum for tips before I got it all working. Now that it's working it seems very stable. Occasionally (once every day or two) I get a notice of a recording interruption but it is always just one and it doesn't lock or fail a tuner and it doesn't even appear to be noticeable in the recording.

So, a nicely working system, but not at all friendly to setup.

Making it easier to setup will be great for new folks as the OS Sage moves towards reality.

#s 3 and 5 look very interesting to me.

Good luck and happy to help with testing as you move forward.

Originally Posted by jvl711

Hi all,

I just wanted to let you guys know that there is a new version of PrimeNetEncoder in the works. I am currently testing a bunch of changes that should make the usage a little easier. I hope to have a beta out in the next week or two. Here is a list of some of the features.

1. Network Encoder Discovery (Users will no longer need to add tuners to Sage.properties manually. Sage can automatically get config info from PrimeNetEncoder)
2. Stream to SageTV MediaServer (PrimeNetEncoder does not need to have CIFS/SMB access to the sage server anymore)
3. ffmpeg probesize and analyzedurration are configurable (I have been able to shave off 2-3 seconds from channel change time tweeking these settings)
4. Support direct stream from HDHomeRun -> SageTV MediaSever (This might be useful for non-comcast customers who do not need ffmpeg stream fixes)
5. Change how stream is sent to and received from ffmpeg. (This has made the capture more stable for me. I have been able to remove the ffmpeg.delay and have had no problems with capture halts).

I know there are a lot of users looking for tuner locking features. I will try to get this in soon. I have been spending a lot of time on performance/stability/ease of use.

I also am looking into some other features which will only be usable in v9 of Sage. Some of the features will require changes to SageTV itself. I will let you guys know if those features become mature enough to discuss releasing.

Thanks,
Josh

[uberpixel]

Originally Posted by nyplayer

Do not know what else to tell you .. I do not use WHS maybe you should consider going back to SAGEDCT with the new FFMPEG update. The programmer seems to have abandoned this for now .. I was willing to step up and help anyone that needed help .... but I am really moving on from SageTV and into the HDHomerun DVR.

So I am up and running with no halts or errors for several days now. I was unable to set the Java priority by editing the scheduled task as discussed previously.

What did work was installing the program "Prio" http://www.prnwatch.com/prio/. This adds some functionality to your task manager and allows you the option to change "cpu priority" for a given task (java.exe in this case) and save it so that it will have that priority next time you startup (or run your batch file).

Same idea different method. No idea why one works and the other doesn't... I can't vouch for the quality of the prio application in general but so far it's working fine and hasn't caused any new problems.

-uberpixel

[jvl711]

Hi,

I posted a new beta version. I was able to get tuner locking added to this version . Please let me know if you encounter any issues. I have been running this at home for a while, and I feel that it is pretty stable. Please review the upgrade notes as well as the install guide.

Thanks,
Josh

[nyplayer]

Originally Posted by jvl711

Hi,

I posted a new beta version. I was able to get tuner locking added to this version . Please let me know if you encounter any issues. I have been running this at home for a while, and I feel that it is pretty stable. Please review the upgrade notes as well as the install guide.

Thanks,
Josh

Sounds great saw the features exactly what I was hoping for.

Thank You

[jvl711]

Originally Posted by nyplayer

Sounds great saw the features exactly what I was hoping for.

Thank You

You are welcome. Let me know if you see anything that needs correction. There was a lot of changes in this release.

[nyplayer]

Originally Posted by jvl711

You are welcome. Let me know if you see anything that needs correction. There was a lot of changes in this release.

Your tuner ports and discover ports are incorrect in tuner 0. I just reversed them.

tuners.count=3
tuner0.name=PrimeNetEncoder Tuner 0
tuner0.port=7000
tuner0.enabled=True
tuner0.id=13147C7B
tuner0.number=0
tuner0.transcoder.port=5000
tuner0.transcode.enabled=False
tuner0.transcode.deinterlace=True
tuner0.transcode.bitrate=4000
#Example for h.264 safe scaling to 720p: trunc(oh*a/2)*2:720
#A setting of blank will do no scaling
tuner0.transcode.scaling=
tuner0.transcode.preset=ultrafast
#Codec is an experimental setting for testing hardware encoding
#There are development builds of ffmpeg that incude those features
tuner0.transcode.codec=libx264
tuner1.name=PrimeNetEncoder Prime Tuner 1
tuner1.port=5001
tuner1.id=13147C7B
tuner1.number=1
tuner1.enabled=True
tuner1.transcoder.port=7001
tuner1.transcode.enabled=False
tuner1.transcode.deinterlace=True
tuner1.transcode.bitrate=4000
tuner1.transcode.scaling=
tuner1.transcode.preset=ultrafast
tuner1.transcode.codec=libx264
tuner2.enabled=True
tuner2.id=13147C7B
tuner2.number=2
tuner2.name=PrimeNetEncoder Prime Tuner 2
tuner2.port=5002
tuner2.transcoder.port=7002
tuner2.transcode.enabled=False
tuner2.transcode.deinterlace=True
tuner2.transcode.bitrate=4000
tuner2.transcode.scaling=
tuner2.transcode.preset=ultrafast
tuner2.transcode.codec=libx264
HDHomeRunConfig.path=C:\Program Files\Silicondust\HDHomeRun\hdhomerun_config.exe
ffmpeg.path=ffmpeg.exe
#This setting is in miliseconds.  
#Increasing setting may result in less halts in starting recording
ffmpeg.delay=500
ffmpeg.probesize=2000000
ffmpeg.analyzeduration=5000000
#These setting are for SageTV network encoder discovery
discovery.port=8271
discovery.enabled=True
mediaserver.transfer=True

[nyplayer]

Other then that minor properties setting above ...

1. Sage Discovery worked great.
2. Channel Changes are much quicker.
3. Tuner locking works great.
4. I liked the fact that I was using all tuners in another application and Sage stole it and recorded my show.... no interrupts great work.

PS it took me all of 5 minutes to setup.

[jvl711]

Originally Posted by nyplayer

Other then that minor properties setting above ...

1. Sage Discovery worked great.
2. Channel Changes are much quicker.
3. Tuner locking works great.
4. I liked the fact that I was using all tuners in another application and Sage stole it and recorded my show.... no interrupts great work.

PS it took me all of 5 minutes to setup.

Thanks for the quick feedback. I am glad that it mostly worked correctly. Accept for my inability to created proper documentation/example files .

Do you think I should just not include the PrimeNetEncoder.properties, and just instruct the user to run the application once to generate the properties file? That way I can stop trying to maintain a base file.

[nyplayer]

Originally Posted by jvl711

Thanks for the quick feedback. I am glad that it mostly worked correctly. Accept for my inability to created proper documentation/example files .

Do you think I should just not include the PrimeNetEncoder.properties, and just instruct the user to run the application once to generate the properties file? That way I can stop trying to maintain a base file.

That sounds like a good Idea are they auto generated now? Nevermind I tested it does generate it.

except you are missing the resize sample.

#Example for h.264 safe scaling to 720p: trunc(oh*a/2)*2:720
#A setting of blank will do no scaling
tuner0.transcode.scaling=
tuner0.transcode.preset=ultrafast
#Codec is an experimental setting for testing hardware encoding
#There are development builds of ffmpeg that incude those features


PS it also works with the HDHomerun Connects by remapping channels in Sage (Just an FYI)

[waylo]

Originally Posted by nyplayer

Other then that minor properties setting above ...

1. Sage Discovery worked great.
2. Channel Changes are much quicker.
3. Tuner locking works great.
4. I liked the fact that I was using all tuners in another application and Sage stole it and recorded my show.... no interrupts great work.

PS it took me all of 5 minutes to setup.

We will need to apply the @nyplayer conversion factor for the rest of us:
(@nyplayer setup time) x 4 = mortals setup time



Is it a good thing or not that SageTV stole use of the tuner from another application? I wouldn't say it is, necessarily.

[nyplayer]

Originally Posted by waylo

We will need to apply the @nyplayer conversion factor for the rest of us:
(@nyplayer setup time) x 4 = mortals setup time



Is it a good thing or not that SageTV stole use of the tuner from another application? I wouldn't say it is, necessarily.

Yeah that depends on your needs .... I could see where some people might prefer not stealing the tuner ... but if I have them allocated to SageTV .. pfffffffft to all my other household users

[jvl711]

Originally Posted by waylo

We will need to apply the @nyplayer conversion factor for the rest of us:
(@nyplayer setup time) x 4 = mortals setup time



Is it a good thing or not that SageTV stole use of the tuner from another application? I wouldn't say it is, necessarily.

At this time I currently have no way of telling Sage that the tuner is locked. There would need to be core support for that to work, so for now I think the only benefit we may get from locking the tuner is not allowing another app to steal it from Sage. That was the intention of the change that I made.

So in other words Sage is the overlord of the tuners. If someone wants to use a tuner, and Sage is not using it then it would be allowed. If Sage decides that it needs the tuner then it will steal it back and lock it.

[waylo]

Thanks for the clarification. I figured no other app has or was utilizing this lock ability, so Sage gets first dibs!

[Fuzzy]

Originally Posted by jvl711

At this time I currently have no way of telling Sage that the tuner is locked. There would need to be core support for that to work, so for now I think the only benefit we may get from locking the tuner is not allowing another app to steal it from Sage. That was the intention of the change that I made.

So in other words Sage is the overlord of the tuners. If someone wants to use a tuner, and Sage is not using it then it would be allowed. If Sage decides that it needs the tuner then it will steal it back and lock it.

You could stop responding to NOOP calls if the tuner is locked, and sage would stop using it and schedule around it. But unless you pull in the little commit I have to continuously monitor network encoders, it would only check the tuner again if something explicitly looks for that tuner.

Alternatively, we can add optional responses to calls. Currently, pretty much every call, including NOOP, responds with OK. You could respond with LOCKED, or UNAVAILABLE, and the current code would consider that device non functioning, and we can alter the core to flag a device responding as such as a new state, functioning, but unavailable.

[nyplayer]

Originally Posted by Fuzzy

You could stop responding to NOOP calls if the tuner is locked, and sage would stop using it and schedule around it. But unless you pull in the little commit I have to continuously monitor network encoders, it would only check the tuner again if something explicitly looks for that tuner.

Alternatively, we can add optional responses to calls. Currently, pretty much every call, including NOOP, responds with OK. You could respond with LOCKED, or UNAVAILABLE, and the current code would consider that device non functioning, and we can alter the core to flag a device responding as such as a new state, functioning, but unavailable.

With all the testing I have done I really like SageTV being the overlord ... because right now HDHomerun DVR takes all the tuners even the ones allocated to SageTV there is no way to limit them. The only use I see for the HDHomerun DVR right now is for DRM (and even this is not for a while) ... recording the non-drm stuff does not even come close to SageTV.

I am very happy with the locks and force takeover of tuners.

Because I’m happy
Clap along if you feel like a room without a roof
Because I’m happy

[mikejaner]

Originally Posted by nyplayer

... recording the non-drm stuff does not even come close to SageTV.....

I was wondering how the beta is going, and how a few months of programming a DVR would compare to ~10 years of DVR code in SageTV...

[jm9843]

Originally Posted by mikejaner

I was wondering how the beta is going, and how a few months of programming a DVR would compare to ~10 years of DVR code in SageTV...

Those guys should swallow their pride and fork SageTV already. The path that they're on is not going to result in a great user experience anytime soon. Probably never.

As for the new PrimeNetEncider Version 1.2.2 (Beta), it works flawlessly so far once I sorted out the properties file mentioned above (swap port #'s for tuner 0). I also renamed tuner 0 for consistency sake.

I also prefer the current behavior of Sage "stealing" a tuner if it needs to, the tuner locking, and the network discovery. Copying tuner entries in Sage.properties can be error prone so it was nice to delete those entries and let them automatically be added.

I'm really looking forward to the v9 features that jvl711 has mentioned before: removing ffmpeg dependency and especially the new method for running as a runnable class.

Great job jvl711!

[ThePaladinTech]

So I am trying to get this working in a Win7 VM, running on HyperV. I have not gotten the latest PrimeNetworkEncoder (released today)... But I am not having any luck with it actually working...

I've tried following the directions and the nyplayer tweaks. The tuners show in sageTV as "functioning" but I get 'no signal' when I try to use them. I saw somewheere someone said that if you can't get the SD view utility* working that you can't expect primenetencoder to work. Well my VMs video card doesn't allow the SD View Utility to work - so I hope that is not a required thing.

*SD View Utility - I'm not in front of PC now, this may not be it's name but I hope you know what I am talking about!

Also, I do not know if there is something I need to do to get the channel line up 'right' - I added the tuner, used the EPG data, but a channel scan says '0 tuneable chanels' - The whole shebang is running on the VM, so I wouldn't think it could be firewall / port issues?

Any advice? I will try the newest driver as soon as I can - I'm looking forward to the tuner locking!

Thanks

[nyplayer]

Originally Posted by ThePaladinTech

So I am trying to get this working in a Win7 VM, running on HyperV. I have not gotten the latest PrimeNetworkEncoder (released today)... But I am not having any luck with it actually working...

I've tried following the directions and the nyplayer tweaks. The tuners show in sageTV as "functioning" but I get 'no signal' when I try to use them. I saw somewheere someone said that if you can't get the SD view utility* working that you can't expect primenetencoder to work. Well my VMs video card doesn't allow the SD View Utility to work - so I hope that is not a required thing.

*SD View Utility - I'm not in front of PC now, this may not be it's name but I hope you know what I am talking about!

Also, I do not know if there is something I need to do to get the channel line up 'right' - I added the tuner, used the EPG data, but a channel scan says '0 tuneable chanels' - The whole shebang is running on the VM, so I wouldn't think it could be firewall / port issues?

Any advice? I will try the newest driver as soon as I can - I'm looking forward to the tuner locking!

Thanks

Can you scan the channels doing the HDHomerun setup in the VM ??? If you cannot do that you can forget using this encoder as it uses the hdomerun config to tune channels.

[CptKirk]

With 1.2.2, nothing major, just strange.

Starting PrimeNetEncoder
PrimeNetEncover Version: 1.2.2
Author: jvl711

PrimeNetEncoder>status
(0) PrimeNetEncoder Tuner 0 (13182976-0) - IDLE
(1) PrimeNetEncoder Prime Tuner 1 (13182976-1) - IDLE
(2) PrimeNetEncoder Prime Tuner 2 (13182976-2) - IDLE

PrimeNetEncoder>

Why is (0) not shown as Prime Tuner like (1) and (2)?