CableCARD tuner support for MediaPortal 1 (12 Viewers)

[Lyfesaver74]

@PABeaver

Does the HDHRPrime have a web interface like my Ceton? One that shows what each tuner is actually doing?

 

[PABeaver]

@PABeaver

Does the HDHRPrime have a web interface like my Ceton? One that shows what each tuner is actually doing?

It does, which it what I meant by this:

If you go into the Prime software on the device itself

Web interface is a much better way of describing it It is the web interface on the device that is reporting that the tuner is still being used and that it is "locked." Obviously, from my testing, it is not locked at all. Here are a couple of screenshots, the first one shows the status of the Tuners and the second one shows Tuner 2 with the "Resource Lock" which is my TVServer address. The "lock" is from about four hours ago and the tuner lights are still on.

 

[mm1352000]

Hello again PABeaver

After testing for a good part of the morning, I stand corrected and I apologize if I caused you a bunch of work. I assumed that the because the light was still on for the tuner that it was locked.

No need to apologise.
I don't think we've yet got to the bottom of this. Let me respond to your comments...

It is in fact, not locked and able to be used by any of the clients. I wasn't sure how to do the test that Jason suggested in the post you linked, but I was able to repeatedly start watching a channel in MP, stop it, open another MP client and watch a channel and it would grab the same tuner.

For me your test does not confirm the tuner is not "locked". MP will always reuse tuners like that - it is MP standard functionality. What I'm concerned about is whether:

1. We're preventing other software (WMC, Sage etc.) from using the tuner.
2. We're causing extra power use and heat.

To do Jason's test, open your internet browser and navigate to http://<IP address of your tuner here>/tuner<tuner number here>/lockkey.
In your case:
<IP address of your tuner here> = 192.168.1.12
<tuner number here> = 0, 1, or 2

For example, go to http://192.168.1.12/tuner0/lockkey to see if the first tuner is locked.
Note for anybody else reading this thread: this only works for HDHR PRIMEs.

If you go into the Prime software on the device itself, and look at the status of the tuner it still says "locked"...

Lets be very clear. In the screenshots you posted "locked" means the tuner has found TV signals from the cable provider. It does not mean that the tuner is in use, and it also doesn't mean that MP is blocking other software from using the tuner.

...but as Jason said "Getting the target will tell you if it is actively streaming, but it is possible to be streaming without a lock, and to be locked without streaming" so I guess it doesn't matter.

Again, it comes back to the definition of locked.
"modulation lock", "PCR lock", "card OOB lock"... these refer to whether the tuners have found cable signal.
"resource lock"... that could mean MP is "hogging" the tuner and blocking other applications from using it.

One thing I am confused about is why the lights on the tuner stay on. They have not turned off despite not being used for about an hour now. They only turn off if I power down the device and power it back up again...

To me this suggests we do need to investigate further.
FYI:
http://www.silicondust.com/forum2/viewtopic.php?t=10225

...and it did not do this with MP v1.3 and the previous patch.

This tells me WMC (PBDA) does things differently. That isn't necessarily bad or good - just another reason for us to investigate and understand.

Again, not that it seems to be affecting the behavior of the device, but I used to monitor whether something was recording by going to the box and looking at the lights. Are any other Prime owners experiencing this same thing or am I unique?

I'd like to know if other Ceton owners are experiencing this too.
Here is a test:
1. Open TV Server configuration.
2. Go to the manual control section.
3. Select the first CableCARD tuner in the bottom area.
4. Select any copy freely channel with the combo/drop-down boxes.
5. Click "start timeshifting"... wait 15 seconds... then "stop timeshifting".
6. Repeat instructions 3 to 5 for all your other CableCARD tuners.
7. Open up WMC or some other software that can be used to test the tuners.
8. Attempt to tune a channel and start streaming with the other software.

Are you able to do step 8, or does MP prevent it?

mm

 

[PABeaver]

Hello,

I am totally impressed with how responsive you are

Are you able to do step 8, or does MP prevent it?

Well, here is the quick answer: MP is preventing it for this HDHomeRun PRIME owner. Media Center would not tune when I went through your steps.

For example, go to http://192.168.1.12/tuner0/lockkey to see if the first tuner is locked.
Note for anybody else reading this thread: this only works for HDHR PRIMEs.

After playing around with this, it turns out you have to open a command prompt, go to the HDHomeRun directory and run this:
hdhomerun_config <id> get /tuner0/lockkey

For me it returned the IP address of the TV Server. So it looks like if we are only using MP we are OK (besides the power and heat loss you mentioned), but if we want to use another program too, it might not work without rebooting the HDHR. If you ever want to remote in to my machine to test, debug, etc. feel free to PM me. I can't thank you enough for your work on this

 

[mediacowboy]

I will test within the next few days. But I haven't noticed the lights staying on for any thing other then power and connection.

 

[mm1352000]

Thanks guys.

PABeaver
Once you've locked all the tuners, rather than rebooting the HDHR what happens if you restart the TV service? In other words:
1. Open TV Server configuration.
2. Go to the "manual control" section and click "stop service"... then "start service".
Hopefully that releases the tuners?

If you've got time would you also be able to check another scenario...
When WMC is using all the tuners, what happens if you then try and view/record a channel with MP - does MP interrupt?

No response from Silicondust yet, but it is still the weekend over your side of the world... (while I'm at work now)
If I have a moment this evening I'll throw together a test version of the TV library with some code juggled around to see whether it makes any difference for you.

mm

 

[mm1352000]

Hello again folks

PABeaver, here is the promised test DLL [for MP 1.4]. To try it, stop the TV service, then download and unzip the attached DLL into your TV Server install folder.
Note the DLL is completely untested (read: it may not work )...

mm

 

[mm1352000]

@breese
I've had a look at your log files and at the corresponding code where the error is occurring. To be completely up front I have no idea what is going on. I'm 99.9% sure it has nothing to do with this patch as I haven't been anywhere near that code...
Are you able to find a way to reproduce the problem consistently?

 

[breese]

MM,
I did a fresh install then did a new rescan of OTA
When I went to timeshift the Unknown error poped back up.

I then rebooted the whole server and attempted to Preview the first channel
Error again.
Between each of these steps I grabed the logs, cleared them and then ran the next test making the logs easier to read at the time of the error.

 

[mm1352000]

breese, I'm confused. Please help me understand...

Are you saying these errors only occur with this patch, or did you also have them previously with standard MP 1.4?
You've previously reported that scanning was working better with this patch when compared with MP 1.4. I assumed you had also tested that tuning (timeshifting and recording) was also working. Was my assumption incorrect?

If nothing else, please can you give a simple yes/no answer: do you think this patch is causing the problem?

Thanks.