After forced reboot with MP running Colossus and TV3 blaster goes out of sync (1 Viewer)

[dpmcrae]

Has anyone with multiple Colossus and/or HDPVR boxes experienced an issue with blasting channels after a forced reboot? I have experienced several times after a forced reboot, from either a Windows update or a power outage, that colossus cards being used are not in sync with the set top box receiving the channel blast. I took the HDPVRs completely out of the equation to make sure it wasn't a USB device ID issue. I am using firewire to blast my channels but I've had the same issue using the USBUIRT. Looking at the TV3 blaster plugin, after the reboot, everything is correct in the configuration but still the wrong card is playing. I've checked the device IDs of cards in the TV server along with the identifier in TV3 blaster plugin and they correctly correspond to the right device. In order the fix the problem I have to completely power down the PC several times in order for the issue to be corrected. Also when using the timeshift such as going back 10 minutes in a show and not changing the channel for a few hours, I can not change the channel and the video will just goes have to the beginning of the timeshift buffer each time I try to change the channel. The only fix I have is to close and restart MP. I have been searching forums for weeks now to no avail for either issue. For not these two issues I would have a rock solid build MP 1.2.1 build. I can not get wife approval until this is fixed.





MediaPortal Version: 1.2.1
MediaPortal Skin: Amped
Windows Version:XP SP3
CPU Type: Intel Core 2 Quad Q8300
HDD: RAID
Memory: 8 but only 4 used
Motherboard: Intel DP45SG
Video Card: Galaxy Geforce GTX 460
Video Card Driver:
Sound Card:
Sound Card AC3:
Sound Card Driver:
1. TV Card: Colossus
1. TV Card Type:
1. TV Card Driver:
2. TV Card: Colossus
2. TV Card Type:
2. TV Card Driver:
3. TV Card: Colossus
3. TV Card Type:
3. TV Card Driver:
4. TV Card: HDPVR
4. TV Card Type:
4. TV Card Driver:
5. TV Card: HDPVR
5. TV Card Type:
5. TV Card Driver:
6. TV Card: HVR-1600
6. TV Card Type:
6. TV Card Driver:
7. TV Card: HVR-1600
7. TV Card Type:
7. TV Card Driver:
MPEG2 Video Codec:
MPEG2 Audio Codec:
h.264 Video Codec:
Satelite/CableTV Provider: Comcast
HTPC Case:
Cooling:
Power Supply:
Remote: harmony One
TV: Panasonic 42" plasma
TV - HTPC Connection:

 

[mm1352000]

Hi and welcome dpmcrae

I have experienced several times after a forced reboot, from either a Windows update or a power outage, that colossus cards being used are not in sync with the set top box receiving the channel blast.

When you say "in sync" do you mean in terms of audio-video synchronisation, or something else? Maybe you mean that when you change channel there is a significant delay before the channel changes?

Looking at the TV3 blaster plugin, after the reboot, everything is correct in the configuration but still the wrong card is playing.

I'm sorry but I don't understand what you mean. In particular what do you mean by "the wrong card is playing"?

Also when using the timeshift such as going back 10 minutes in a show and not changing the channel for a few hours, I can not change the channel and the video will just goes have to the beginning of the timeshift buffer each time I try to change the channel. The only fix I have is to close and restart MP.

Is this issue present in the logs? If so, are you able to specify the time when it happened? Without such information it is *very* hard to track down such issues.

Generally speaking I have to say that I'm not able to spot any problems in your logs. One thing that doesn't help on that front is that the "MediaPortal error" log that you've included doesn't seem to have a matching tv.log to go with it. If possible it would really help us if you could follow the instructions below for collecting logs:

Log Files - MediaPortal Wiki

We don't mind if you post multiple sets of logs. You can even use the instructions for non-reproducible problems to post logs after a problem has actually occurred. What is most important is that we have complete sets of logs and that you give as much detail as you can about (1) what happened, (2) when it happened, and (3) what you expected/want to happen.

I have been searching forums for weeks now to no avail for either issue. For not these two issues I would have a rock solid build MP 1.2.1 build. I can not get wife approval until this is fixed.

I'm glad you've decided to ask for advice/help! Please don't be reluctant to ask questions here as we are very happy to help but we obviously can't do anything if we don't know that there is a problem.

mm

 

[dpmcrae]

Currently I am traveling for Christmas so I have limited internet access and log files. It is not a sync issue with video and audio it is a TV server and TV3 blaster issue sync issue. Each capture card or TV card has a specific device ID number in the windows registry which corresponds to a specic device number in TV Server, e.g. a Colossus card could have a registry ID of 0007 and which might correspond to a TV Server ID of 13. In TV3 Blaster the TV Server device ID would to a specific Firewire blasting parameter that blast to a specific cable box that has a specific device ID in the Windows registry and a executable such as channel 1.exe or channel2.exe. In my case I have 3 Colossus cards each with their own device ID that points to a specific cable box in the blasting parameters. So in TV Server Colossus #13 should correspond to cable box #5 channel1.exe which has the highest priority over all the other cards. After the forced reboot instead of using Colossus card #13 the TV Server uses Colossus card #18 or Colossus card #12 but still blast the channel change to cable box #5.
As far as the timeshifting issue it happened at on Dec 19 6:20 AM in the logs. I had to restart MP to correct the channel change timeshift issue. When I return home in a week or so I’ll recreate the issue and include the logs.

 

[mm1352000]

Hi again dpmcrae

It is not a sync issue with video and audio it is a TV server and TV3 blaster issue sync issue. Each capture card or TV card has a specific device ID number in the windows registry which corresponds to a specic device number in TV Server, e.g. a Colossus card could have a registry ID of 0007 and which might correspond to a TV Server ID of 13. In TV3 Blaster the TV Server device ID would to a specific Firewire blasting parameter that blast to a specific cable box that has a specific device ID in the Windows registry and a executable such as channel 1.exe or channel2.exe. In my case I have 3 Colossus cards each with their own device ID that points to a specific cable box in the blasting parameters. So in TV Server Colossus #13 should correspond to cable box #5 channel1.exe which has the highest priority over all the other cards. After the forced reboot instead of using Colossus card #13 the TV Server uses Colossus card #18 or Colossus card #12 but still blast the channel change to cable box #5.

Okay, I'm with you now. My understanding is that the TVE3 blaster plugin uses the TV Server device IDs, so it should be a question of whether the TV Server device IDs corresponding with each Colossus instance are changing. When you said you'd checked the device IDs in TV Server, did you check the "Id" column with the "Device Path" column in the tuner list in TV Server configuration? TV Server should consistently assign a given ID number to a specific device instance. If that is not happening then we definitely want to know about it and this issue will be fixable.

As far as the timeshifting issue it happened at on Dec 19 6:20 AM in the logs. I had to restart MP to correct the channel change timeshift issue. When I return home in a week or so I’ll recreate the issue and include the logs.

Thanks for the timing info. At that time in the logs I see a ton of timeshifting files getting deleted but interestingly I don't see any seek requests in the TsReader logs. In any case if you're able to reproduce when you get back then that would be great.

Happy holidays!
mm

 

[dpmcrae]

The date that TV server sync issue happened was on Dec 9th and that was the day I received a Windows update. That day I checked registry device ID and the TV Server device ID (which are the same) against the TV Server translated ID and the TV3 blaster device ID path (which is the TV Server translated ID) and they were all the same from when I setup the system. Each cable box has its own specific firewire blaster executable and it was the same as before the reboot. None of the IDs change throughout the ordeal, kind of like the TV Server didn’t which Colossus card to use but the TV3 Blaster knew the correct cable box to blast the channel change to. I looked through the logs I brought with me and the TV log file for Dec 9th is missing so I’ll have to reproduce the issue to create a new list of files.

 

[dpmcrae]

I finally got a chance to get the log files with the reproduced TV Server and Timebuffer issues. I only have the sync issue with the capture cards because they are using the TV Blaster to change the channel the Wintv cards change the channel on the tuner card itself. My cards are set with the priority below.

Dev ID Card Windows ID
13 Hauppaugge Crossbar 0 #0007
5 WinTV 418
4 WinTV 418
12 Hauppaggue Crossbar 1 #0006
18 Hauppaggue Crossbar 2 #0000

 

[dpmcrae]

I guess this is a dificult one. I have since upgraded to 1.2.2 and I can still reproduce both problems in that version.

 

[mm1352000]

Hi again

I confess I hadn't yet looked at the logs. :sorry:
Regarding the sync thing: can you please explain exactly where you're looking in the registry to read the ID that you're talking about. There isn't enough debug info in the logs so I'm attaching a debug version of Tvservice.exe for MP 1.2.2. Please use it to reproduce the problem. I guess what I'm looking for with this is logs showing a difference in the association between TV Server's card ID and device path. If that is not happening then I can only surmise that the sync issue is caused by the Hauppauge drivers not using a consistent way of assigning device paths or the IRSS TVE3 Blaster plugin (which I know very little about).

mm

 

[dpmcrae]

Sorry that would be more so the device ID in Hardware Manager and it matches the device ID in TV Server. I"ll try to reproduce the issues and re-post the logs.

 

[mm1352000]

Hi dpmcrae

Did you manage to collect logs?

mm