PrimeNetEncoder - HDHomeRun Prime Network Encoder

[rmiller]

Originally Posted by rmiller

For some reason Sage TV all of a sudden is no longer able to tune channels. I have no idea why. I currently get the error: ERROR (-10): No encoders can tune the selected station.

I was able to fix this. I can't say why I was having the issue, but I ended up completely resetting up SageTV, copied over win.biz and sage.properties and voila. Wish I knew what the problem was, but nonetheless, I am happy that I am now able to tune channels.

[Deacon Crusher]

Sorry, haven't been on in a few weeks.

I'm running Win 10, Sage 7 and PNE (older version, not sure which) with 6 tuners via 2 separate HD homerun primes and it all works perfectly.

It's all been working so well that I've stopped messing with things.

I'll try and check PNE version from home tonight.

Originally Posted by jgsouthard

civerson4, are you still using PNE 1.2.4, and is it still working reliably for you with Win 10 and two HDHR Primes (6 tuners)?

I've had to move from SageDCT back to PNE 2.0.0 due to reliability issues with Comcast and EVERY capture option in SageDCT (pixelation/skips with FFMPEG capture, unwatchable recordings with DUMP capture regardless of encode_digital_tv_as_program_stream setting).

But in Windows 10 I cannot get PNE 2.0.0 to work with 6 HDHRP tuners. On many/most recordings, I get "No Signal" and Halt errors, 0-length .ts recordings, and the tuner light on the HDHRP never comes on (i.e. the tuner never starts, but SageTV thinks it did). Unfortunately, whenever this occurs it hangs SageTV and requires a hard restart to recover.

So far, with limited testing, it seems to work OK with only ONE HDHomeRun Prime (3 tuners).

Is anyone reliably using PNE 2.0.0 with TWO HDHomeRun Primes (6 tuners) with SageTV v7 in Windows 10? Can anyone confirm that PNE 1.2.4 works reliably?

[gordyp]

Not sure how it happened - could be one of several things - but my system stopped working several days ago. When I tune a channel I am getting an error in my PrimeNetEncoder-tuner(x).txt files like the one below:

02/14/2016 17:36:00 - Setting local IP address to: 192.168.1.8
02/14/2016 17:36:00 - Starting encoder thread: 13221AC0-1
02/14/2016 17:36:00 - Error binding (13221AC0 1): Address already in use: JVM_Bind

I couldn't find anything in the forums regarding JVM_Bind, but a search of Google indicates an IP address conflict of some kind. About the time this started happening, I started getting an error when I checked the HDHR View program that said 'DVR Storage - disabled, please upgrade VIEW app' - but it would still work. I discovered that there was an update posted dated 2-8 and installed it, but no help for Sage (but it resolved the HDHR VIEW error). I shut down and restarted my cable modem, router and switches which resulted in new IP addresses for my Sage server as well as the HDHR, so I did a reinstall of Sage 7 (keeping only wiz.bin, wiz.bak and my Channel Logos files; didn't touch PNE), but I am still having the issue. Sage is connecting to the HDHR without a problem, just not getting a signal - and Sage is recognizing the problem with error messages. Any ideas?

P.S. - I am running Java version 8u73 - haven't updated my sig yet.

[jvl711]

Originally Posted by gordyp

Not sure how it happened - could be one of several things - but my system stopped working several days ago. When I tune a channel I am getting an error in my PrimeNetEncoder-tuner(x).txt files like the one below:

02/14/2016 17:36:00 - Setting local IP address to: 192.168.1.8
02/14/2016 17:36:00 - Starting encoder thread: 13221AC0-1
02/14/2016 17:36:00 - Error binding (13221AC0 1): Address already in use: JVM_Bind

I couldn't find anything in the forums regarding JVM_Bind, but a search of Google indicates an IP address conflict of some kind. About the time this started happening, I started getting an error when I checked the HDHR View program that said 'DVR Storage - disabled, please upgrade VIEW app' - but it would still work. I discovered that there was an update posted dated 2-8 and installed it, but no help for Sage (but it resolved the HDHR VIEW error). I shut down and restarted my cable modem, router and switches which resulted in new IP addresses for my Sage server as well as the HDHR, so I did a reinstall of Sage 7 (keeping only wiz.bin, wiz.bak and my Channel Logos files; didn't touch PNE), but I am still having the issue. Sage is connecting to the HDHR without a problem, just not getting a signal - and Sage is recognizing the problem with error messages. Any ideas?

P.S. - I am running Java version 8u73 - haven't updated my sig yet.

Can you post your properties file for PNE. The error is stating that the port number is already in use by another application. You can try assigning different port numbers.

[gordyp]

Originally Posted by jvl711

Can you post your properties file for PNE. The error is stating that the port number is already in use by another application. You can try assigning different port numbers.

Here are my files... Thanks for your time - I appreciate it!

Wondering - the sequence of events to change the ports would be: 1) make the changes in the PNE.properties file, 2) restart the system (thereby restarting the scheduled task running the batch file), then 3) remove and re-add the video sources in Sage, correct?

Also, in case anyone is interested, the link to the latest version of the HD HomeRun VIEW app is:

https://www.silicondust.com/forum/vi...?f=119&t=20613

It is also available through the Store if you are running Windows 8.1 or 10...

[jvl711]

Originally Posted by gordyp

Here are my files... Thanks for your time - I appreciate it!

Wondering - the sequence of events to change the ports would be: 1) make the changes in the PNE.properties file, 2) restart the system (thereby restarting the scheduled task running the batch file), then 3) remove and re-add the video sources in Sage, correct?

Also, in case anyone is interested, the link to the latest version of the HD HomeRun VIEW app is:

https://www.silicondust.com/forum/vi...?f=119&t=20613

It is also available through the Store if you are running Windows 8.1 or 10...

I would try and figure out what is using the port. You could be accidentally running more than one instance of PNE. I am almost certain that is what is probably happening. I would run the program manully from a command prompt until you get things working properly. The scheduled task could be throwing you off. If the port is legitimately being used by another application I would then do the following.

1. Shutdown SageTV
2. Remove tuners from the Sage properties file
3. Shutdown PNE
4. Change the tuner.port to an unused port on each tunner.
5. Start PNE
6. Start SageTV
7. Re-add the tuners

[gordyp]

Originally Posted by jvl711

I would try and figure out what is using the port. You could be accidentally running more than one instance of PNE. I am almost certain that is what is probably happening. I would run the program manully from a command prompt until you get things working properly. The scheduled task could be throwing you off. If the port is legitimately being used by another application I would then do the following.

1. Shutdown SageTV
2. Remove tuners from the Sage properties file
3. Shutdown PNE
4. Change the tuner.port to an unused port on each tunner.
5. Start PNE
6. Start SageTV
7. Re-add the tuners

Just a quick note to let you know that I am up and rolling - thanks again for your help! Not to go into too much detail, but I had PNE running on two different machines, not two instances on the same machine... all good now.

[waynedunham]

Originally Posted by gordyp

Just a quick note to let you know that I am up and rolling - thanks again for your help! Not to go into too much detail, but I had PNE running on two different machines, not two instances on the same machine... all good now.

Ok, quick question here. I'm still using SageDCT, but am considering either OpenDCT or this project to alleviate the Comcast unplayable recordings issues.

On the running two processes on two different machines, is that an issue if they aren't pointing to the same machine? The reason I ask is that I have 2 instances of SageTV running on 2 separate machines.

[nyplayer]

Originally Posted by waynedunham

Ok, quick question here. I'm still using SageDCT, but am considering either OpenDCT or this project to alleviate the Comcast unplayable recordings issues.

On the running two processes on two different machines, is that an issue if they aren't pointing to the same machine? The reason I ask is that I have 2 instances of SageTV running on 2 separate machines.

I currently use OPENDCT with my Hdhomerun Primes and OTA connects works great. With pooling enabled I can share The Tuners with my test system and not miss a recording in my production system. Opendct with pooling will check if a tuner is in use and move on to another tuner if available.

[waynedunham]

Originally Posted by nyplayer

I currently use OPENDCT with my Hdhomerun Primes and OTA connects works great. With pooling enabled I can share The Tuners with my test system and not miss a recording in my production system. Opendct with pooling will check if a tuner is in use and move on to another tuner if available.

So does that mean you are running OpenDCT on both systems and not having a problem? That is what I need to do. Sharing tuners isn't what I'm looking for. Both of my systems are essentially recording the same things, just the HD version on my main system and usually the SD version on my old system just in case there was an issue with the HD channel. (it happens)
The way I have my machines set up is that in the HDHR setup one machine can only see one HDHR Prime and one of my old original HDHR's and the other system can only see the other HDHR Prime and the other of my old HDHR's.

So I need OpenDCT running on both systems which are basically separate entities which I don't want interacting with each other, nor their resources.

[nyplayer]

Originally Posted by waynedunham

So does that mean you are running OpenDCT on both systems and not having a problem? That is what I need to do. Sharing tuners isn't what I'm looking for. Both of my systems are essentially recording the same things, just the HD version on my main system and usually the SD version on my old system just in case there was an issue with the HD channel. (it happens)
The way I have my machines set up is that in the HDHR setup one machine can only see one HDHR Prime and one of my old original HDHR's and the other system can only see the other HDHR Prime and the other of my old HDHR's.

So I need OpenDCT running on both systems which are basically separate entities which I don't want interacting with each other, nor their resources.

From what you want to do either PrimeNetencoder or OpenDCT will do ... It appears you do not want to share the tuners so using OpenDCT is not essential.

[nate3thegr8]

Been running 2.0.0 for several months now without issue-- all of a sudden over the past few days, PNE is throwing NullPointerExceptions resulting in recording halts all over the place. Any ideas?

PrimeNetEncoder>java.lang.NullPointerException
at jvl.primenetencoder.Tuner.isTunerLocked(Tuner.java:674)
at jvl.primenetencoder.Tuner.startRecording(Tuner.java:313)
at jvl.primenetencoder.Tuner.run(Tuner.java:235)
java.lang.NullPointerException
at jvl.primenetencoder.Tuner.isTunerLocked(Tuner.java:674)
at jvl.primenetencoder.Tuner.startRecording(Tuner.java:313)
at jvl.primenetencoder.Tuner.run(Tuner.java:235)

[phelme]

OK, this is weird. I upgraded from v1.2.5 to v2.0 and suddenly, CBS network channels have issues for me (via Comcast). CBSSND, their sports network has no audio and the main CBS channel has either streams that the SageTV extenders don't understand (they say "No Signal") or some other container issues.

oddly enough, I can play the CBS network shows with VLC and MPC-HC and they seem fine. it's only the SageTV extenders and client that can't play the recordings. (the client claims there is no audio channel, like the CBSSND recordings).

so far those are the only channels I seem to have issue with.

any ideas? why is it only CBS properties? do I need a new version of ffmpeg to go with 2.0 that I somehow missed?

Edit: upgraded the ffmpeg Windows binary to the latest and that seems to have fixed it. odd though it only effected CBS stations. ¯\_ (ツ)_/¯

[Sparhawk6]

Originally Posted by nate3thegr8

Been running 2.0.0 for several months now without issue-- all of a sudden over the past few days, PNE is throwing NullPointerExceptions resulting in recording halts all over the place. Any ideas?

PrimeNetEncoder>java.lang.NullPointerException
at jvl.primenetencoder.Tuner.isTunerLocked(Tuner.java:674)
at jvl.primenetencoder.Tuner.startRecording(Tuner.java:313)
at jvl.primenetencoder.Tuner.run(Tuner.java:235)
java.lang.NullPointerException
at jvl.primenetencoder.Tuner.isTunerLocked(Tuner.java:674)
at jvl.primenetencoder.Tuner.startRecording(Tuner.java:313)
at jvl.primenetencoder.Tuner.run(Tuner.java:235)

I'm having this exact same issue. What happened?

[Sparhawk6]

I'm guessing this project is dead? I keep getting the errors. Sad to see it, it otherwise was pretty solid.

[jgsouthard]

Originally Posted by Sparhawk6

I'm guessing this project is dead? I keep getting the errors. Sad to see it, it otherwise was pretty solid.

I don't know the status of PrimeNetEncoder and haven't been following the thread lately, but I highly recommend that you check out OpenDCT. After MUCH frustration with repeated errors with SageDCT and PrimeNetEncoder (I used both for extended periods), I'm finding much better success with OpenDCT.

EnterNoEscape is doing regular updates to OpenDCT, and he clearly knows what he's doing. Although my experience wasn't error free at the beginning (and I know a few users are still seeing some issues), I haven't had a single error in weeks of using any of his 0.5.X beta versions (I recommend using the latest beta, currently 0.5.7). Also, installation and updates are much easier than with either of the previous network encoders.

The primary OpenDCT thread is http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/show...=62774&page=56.

I do recommend, however, that you make SURE that your network is solid, with no dropped packets (e.g. NIC in SageTV PC, switches, cables, etc.). Otherwise you can get frustrating halt errors in SageTV with ANY of the network encoders. Digital tuners like the HDHomeRun Primes (I have two of them) are great, but only as long as all of the packets get to SageTV intact. SiliconDust has a packet loss test built into the HDHomeRun Prime software that works great for testing; just make sure that you run it from the SageTV server PC.

[Sparhawk6]

Originally Posted by jgsouthard

I don't know the status of PrimeNetEncoder and haven't been following the thread lately, but I highly recommend that you check out OpenDCT. After MUCH frustration with repeated errors with SageDCT and PrimeNetEncoder (I used both for extended periods), I'm finding much better success with OpenDCT.

EnterNoEscape is doing regular updates to OpenDCT, and he clearly knows what he's doing. Although my experience wasn't error free at the beginning (and I know a few users are still seeing some issues), I haven't had a single error in weeks of using any of his 0.5.X beta versions (I recommend using the latest beta, currently 0.5.7). Also, installation and updates are much easier than with either of the previous network encoders.

The primary OpenDCT thread is http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/show...=62774&page=56.

I do recommend, however, that you make SURE that your network is solid, with no dropped packets (e.g. NIC in SageTV PC, switches, cables, etc.). Otherwise you can get frustrating halt errors in SageTV with ANY of the network encoders. Digital tuners like the HDHomeRun Primes (I have two of them) are great, but only as long as all of the packets get to SageTV intact. SiliconDust has a packet loss test built into the HDHomeRun Prime software that works great for testing; just make sure that you run it from the SageTV server PC.

Turns out my HomeRun Primes just needed a power cycle. I'll soldier on with Prime Encoder. If I have further issues, I'll take a look at OpenDCT when I have time...

[phelme]

yep, I'm still using PrimeNetEncoder because it's just been working fine and haven't had the need to jump to anything else.

But something odd started happening this week. All the recordings from one channel on Comcast out here in the SF Bay Area, KTVU 2, a Fox affiliate, have been with the secondary audio program (SAP) channel being the only audio stream. If I use the HDHomeRun app directly to view the transport stream from that channel, there are the two audio streams, main and SAP as usual. So I'm not sure why PrimeNetEncoder has decided to only encode the SAP to the ts file.

hasn't occured with any other channel that I've seen. part of me believes that KTVU has messed up some ID in their stream and the PrimeNetEncoder software is misinterpreting it.

anyone have any thoughts?

[JustFred]

I'm in Sunnyvale. Recent OTA recordings of KTVU-HD's 10pm news haven't had any issues with audio. This is using an HDHR-3CC tuner. Right now, live viewing of KTVU-HD 8am news (OTA) with a Hauppauge HVR-2250 is good. And KTVU live from Comcast via an HDHomeRun Prime and SageDCT is good, too.

My brother is in Newark with Comcast, using an InfiniTV-6 and OpenDCT. I just now watched the same live KTVU 8AM news program (via PlaceShifter); it's good.

Comcast has been doing some MAJOR reconfiguration and shuffling of channel numbers over the last couple of months throughout various portions of the bay area, moving many stations from a 3-digit to 4-digit channel #. This seems to be in preparation for DOCSIS3.1 and gigibit provisioning. It wouldn't be a surprise that CC buggered something else along the way.

[phelme]

Originally Posted by JustFred

I'm in Sunnyvale. Recent OTA recordings of KTVU-HD's 10pm news haven't had any issues with audio. This is using an HDHR-3CC tuner. Right now, live viewing of KTVU-HD 8am news (OTA) with a Hauppauge HVR-2250 is good. And KTVU live from Comcast via an HDHomeRun Prime and SageDCT is good, too.

My brother is in Newark with Comcast, using an InfiniTV-6 and OpenDCT. I just now watched the same live KTVU 8AM news program (via PlaceShifter); it's good.

it's definitely not show specific, happens to every one on KTVU.

guess I could take this opportunity to check out OpenDCT and see if it has the same issue in my area.

I haven't used SageDCT in years, glad to hear it's still working.

Edit: Hmm, did notice something when looking again at the audio streams via VLC and MPC-HC of KTVU, raw, from the HDHomeRun Prime. The "main" audio stream is curiously marked as "mono" for shows now. I wonder if PrimeNetEncoder sees that and skips it hoping to find a multichannel one instead and lands on the secondary program.

Video: MPEG2 Video 1280x720 59.94fps [V: mpeg2 main, yuv420p, 1280x720]
Audio: Dolby AC3 48000Hz mono 192kbps [A: English [eng] (ac3, 48000 Hz, mono, 192 kb/s)]
Audio: Dolby AC3 48000Hz stereo 192kbps [A: Spanish [spa] (ac3, 48000 Hz, stereo, 192 kb/s)]