UK SKYTV Set top box

[andyc1864]

Hi bolders,

No problem at all. I don't plan on using webEPG, it was just a stab in the dark. I am using the seperate TV server application. I have installed it as a dedicated Server on 1 machine. I then have a TV client installation on another machine. My plan is to control everything from the server (which may be ambitious!!).

Hope your rebuild goes to plan. Looking forward to hearing from you.

Thanks

Andy

[bolders]

Hi Andy

Sorry for the delay but im now fully up and running again - build has gone well btw.

Glad ur using the stand alone TV server makes things a bit easier for me to explain. Also I dont think having a standalone server is too ambitious - I think its the best way to go. I would like to do this myself but I have to keep my analogue card in a PC next to my NTL box in order to keep the video cable as short as possible. 1 PC in the front room is more than enough. But if The MP devs choose to support the new hauppauge HD PVR box I have a plan to accomplish this . Anyway thats for another discussion now to the problem in hand.

Ill start from where we left it - I assume you have XMLTV installed on your system and you have created your tvguide.xml file.

OK open the TV server config and click on plugins in the left hand window - You should now see a list of plugins in the right hand window. Select the XMLTV checkbox - you should now be able to expand the plugins tree in the left hand window and XMLTV should be visible. If you select this you will see the XMLTV configuration appear in the right hand window.

Settings Tab

1. First thing to do is point the TV server to your XMLTV installation folder in the box provided.
2. Ensure that the import new tvguide.xml checkbox is ticked
3. Deselect the import files in new tvguide.lst checkbox (this is important. If ou don't do this you will get an error when hitting the force import button)
4. I also deslect the delete old programs before import checkbox (I find that there are sometimes bits of data missing when XMLTV is scanning and I have found no issues when this box deslected)
5. Switch to the Mappings tab

Mappings Tab - This tab allows you to map specific XMLTV guide channel data to the channels you have set in the TV server.

1. Click the Load/Refresh button - this will add all your channels into the Tuning Channel column. You will probably find that some of the boxes in the Guide channel column are also filled but not all of them - when you click Load/Refresh the channels that are in your tvguide.xml file are matched to the channels you have entered into TV server. Sometimes a good match can't easily be found so you have to add the missing ones manually.
   I have found the quickest way to do this is to click on the first empty guide channel box and type in the first few characters of the channel name. Use the up and down arrows to find an exact match. Pressing ENTER will move down to the next cell and focus it. Keep pressing enter until you get to the next empty box and repeat process.
   If you cant find a match (I have about 11 channels which I dont have guide data for) press delete and enter again to move down to the next cell....... - you get the idea.
2. When you get to the bottom of the list click the save button (this is VERY important - if you don't do this you will loose everything you have just done and the import wont work).
3. Switch back to the settings tab

Now you are back on the settings tab click the import button. After a period of time (sometimes this can take a while) the import status report at the bottom of the window will update.

The last import run at statement should update to the current date and time.
Total channels imported and total programs imported will also update (I get 194 channels and 50069 programs reported for example)
Finally if all is succesful the import status will show tvguide.xml File imported successfully.

That should be it. If you open up Media Portal and go to guide you should find it full of data (I find it takes a bit of time for all channel listings to be populated)

Hope that covers every thing you need. If not post remaining problems.

bolders

[andyc1864]

Hi bolders,

Thats great. It works a treat, and I know where I made the mistake. I imported the channels then went to the mappings and saved. Of course doing it this way no programmes were imported. Thanks again for the comprehensive guide.

Next stop is the serveblaster with Microsoft remote. This should be interesting. I am going to try and figure this out, but just give me a clue, am I in for a whole world of pain with this?

Finally can I just ask one other question. Do you watch DVD's using this system? I have ripped The Matrix into VOB files on my central hard disk using Magic DVD ripper. The playback quality is very good, however if I watch the DVD all the way through some of the scenes repeat. Again I have had a scan through the foums wit no success, and it is one of those problems that you have to watch the entire DVD to replicate. Is there a best practice for using DVD rips with the system, (sorry I should perhaps really post this as a new question)?

Thanks again for all of your help, I do appreciate it.

Andy

[bolders]

Hi Andy

Yes I do use MP to watch DVDs that I have ripped to my HD however I can't really supply much info on this as forum rules prevent discusions of tools that enable copy protection mechanisms to be removed. I can say (i think - if not sry admins and please remove) that I dont use VOB files. I use DVD images stored as an ISO file which I then mount using daemon tools. This has always worked well for me .

Have a look at this site for some info that may help

Doom9

Ok server blaster with MCE remote - are you in for a world of pain

No not really its not totally straight forward and may take few posts to get there but im sure we can sort it out for you .

Ok first can you can confirm - when you mention server blaster are you refering to the MCE blaster itself or an MP plugin. If your refering to a plugin then I cant help much because I dont use it.....but I do use IR server suite for this purpose which I can't help but recommend to everybody because I think its so good. I also use an MCE remote with this so I can provide detailed info about configuring this plugin if you choose to use it.

Ive made a few posts about it earlier in this thread so it might be a good idea for you to have a look before we continue.

WARNING!!!!
When I install IR server suite it has a habbit of deleting my channel configurations and thus also my epg configuration. If you get the same problem you may have to go through some of the processes we have already covered but practice makes perfect I guess - how do you think I am able to provide a detailed setup lol (yep Ive done it that many times ).

I guess we have done the setup a bit back to front - I should of mentioned this earlier

Anyway before you do anything with IR server suite.....EXPORT YOUR TV CHANNELS - it will save having to go through and add them all over again (its good to have this info backed up and stored in a safe location anyway tbh)

So have a look at IR server suite and post your questions

Let the pain commence

bolders

[andyc1864]

Hi bolders,

Thanks - Had a minor setback as one of my machines died.

Already noticed your post about server suite so have downloaded it. I am currently runnin the whole thing in a test environment just to get it right. I am trying to convince my wife that this system is the futire for entertainment so it has to be spot on!!

It might help to explain my ultimate scenario, which may or may not be possible. I plan to end up with 1 TV server, with a Win TV PVR and a standard freecom digital tuner. I want to have a TV client in the lounge, dinning room and bedroom, so we can get a mixture of TV around the house and watch different channels in each room. The Sky box will be plugged into the PVR tuner, and a standard aerial into the freecom usb unit. I would like to be able to control channels etc from any room.

I have an MCE remote, with the IR unit, and to transmitter ports to control the skybox (I have tested this with Vista MCE and know this works). From what I have read I guess I need to have the MCE IR unit plugged into the server with the transmitter mounted on the sky box. I should point out I have not configured any of this in media portal yet!

The bits I am not sure of are...........I guess I will need an IR receiver in each room (lounge, dinning and bedroom)? If my wife is watching a standard channel from the freecom unit in the bedroom and I am watching the sky box in the lounge, if we each change channels will we intefere with each other, i.e. if she changes to say BBC3 will it change the sky box channel that I am currently watching? I dare not even ask if the other ir transmitter output available on the MCE unit is capable of controlling a surround sound amp for the lounge system as well?

Am I dreamland with this setup?

Thanks

Andy

[bolders]

Hi Andy

I don't see a problem with what you have got planned but it may take a bit of work to get going - I am happy to guide you through the process tho as I have learnt quite a bit over the year or so that i've been playing with MP. I have a similar setup to what you describe and with the RC1 and an SVN its working better than ever. I have had a few issues to deal with along the way such as stuttering TV and one of my TV cards bsoding (windows usb driver issue not MP problem). Im am now very close to having a finished setup. My main issue at the moment is a small amount of stuttering when playing blu ray disks - This needs to be flawless for me to be happy else I could of spent the money on a PS3 instead. However saying that my system in its current state is bloody impressive and im really happy with it.

There is one thing that I should point out tho. The picture quality you will get with your analogue card will never be as good as the picture you get straight from your sky box due to the extra layer of conversion that is being done. Using an svideo input to your PVR card should provide a better quality picture than using composite but I have never been able to test this as my NTL box only outputs composite and RGB (scart). Despite this fact I watch TV almost always via MP as the benefits for me far outweigh the slight picture loss - such as an excellent epg, recording and timeshifting, the ability to watch TV from my NTL box in bed, in my comuter room, on my laptop or in my front room etc. Picture quality from my DVB-T card is excellent tho.

I will give you a description of my system to give you an idea of what I have got running (also have a look at my system specs)

Front Room
My media PC is located here which contains A PVR 150 (connected to NTL box) and a Nova T 500 (dual DVB-T tuner). I have 500GB HD in this system for TV recordings (I also use this drive to create backups every night of documents, music, etc that are stored on my file server). I have an MCE remote connected to this system which is used to control MP and to switch channels on my NTL box. This system also has a Blu ray/HD DVD combo drive for HD playback. This is all connected to a 37" LCD TV.

Computer room and bedroom
I have my main PC in the computer room with a dual monitor setup - I run MP on the second monitor so I can work and watch TV/videos at the same time. The secondary monitor is also connected to a VGA splitter. The second output of the splitter is run into my bedroom and connects to another monitor (this shows the same output as the second monitor in my computer room hence I get MP displayed in both rooms). I also run an audio patch and USB extension into my bedroom. The USB connection is used to connect another MCE remote to control MP from my bed . I use the keyboard when using MP in the computer room as im sat at a desk.

Laptop
My laptop is connected via wireless and also runs MP (I get the same functionality on all PCs but can only play blu ray discs from the media PC in my front room).

Work shop
I have my file server stored in my workshop. This contains about 2TB of storage and contains all my music, DVD rips, HD rips, DivX videos, Pictures, etc.

All PCs are connected via Gb ethernet but a 100Mb connection should have more than enough bandwidth to do all of this.

As you can see your requirements are similar to my current setup and can be achieved. I do still have a few issues with getting smooth video playback and I think this is probably the hardest part to get right. My TV setup is running smoothly now tho


So to answer a few of your questions

You will need an MCE remote or alternative for each room that you want to control MP unless you are happy using a keyboard - I think you can only have one MCE device connected to each PC but im not sure on this point.

If you are watching from from your sky box via MP then there will not be any conflicts as the card will be locked so others will not be able to take control of it. Your wife will be able to tap into the stream you are watching tho. Also BBC3 is a freeview channel so assuming you have the digital tuner set to a higher priority than the analogue tuner the digital tuner will be used if it is available. If your wife tries to change to a sky only channel and you are already watching a channel from the sky box she will get message saying that the tuner is locked.

Yes the MCE remote can control your amp via its second blaster assuming that it can accurately learn the comand from the remote.

It may seem quite complicated but if its broken down into steps its fairly straight forward

Im more than happy to help you develop a plan of action

bolders

[andyc1864]

Hi Bolders,

Sorry for the very timely delay in responding to your detailed and helpful walk through. I have had the PC week from hell.

From what you have descibed this is exactly what I want, and it is handy that you confirm I need an MCE remote receiver for each room. Currently I only have the one on the server. Do i need to install the server suite on all the clients as well?

As you suggest I will break it down and tackle each part individually. How do you find the lag through your system. As you know I have rigged the sky box through the mp server, and I get approx 6 seconds lag! Tried it on Vista media center and I get hardly any. Is it the timeshift?

Thanks

Andy

[bolders]

Hi Andy

Sorry for the delay - life/work getting in the way...again

When you say lag do you mean the delay between the actual transmission from ur sky box and the display in media portal or channel change times.

I do have a difference in time between my NTL transmission and MP playing it which i believe is due to the TS buffer however as I run everything through MP it makes no difference as I effectively dont know whats happening at the output of the NTL box only what is happening in MP - usually this difference is only about a second anyway. Therefore the only thing that has any relevance to me is channel changing times which I have to say is very good.

If I start live TV it takes about 4 - 6 seconds to initialize but once running channel changes are 2 seconds or less. However if I change a channel and it switches from my NTL box (analogue) to my DVB-T card channel change is about 3 - 4 seconds.

One other thing to note if I change a channel on my NTL box it takes less than 2 seconds before the picture is displayed again but it takes about another 1 - 2 seconds for the new channel to be displayed. This is mainly due to the time it takes my NTL box to switch channels.

Also how are you changing channels are you using channel up/ channel down or the epg. The channel up/ channel down option has got a delay built in but this is by design.

All in all I have to say channel changing is working very well as is everything else at the moment

bolders

[Spragleknas]

bolders: Just dropping in to say for given such good and detailed information to newcomers!

[bolders]

Hi Spragleknas

Thats very kind of you to say so

Thanks mate

bolders