Change Friendly Names (and default folder) (1 Viewer)

[supergnome]

Hi,

I have 2 cards (hauppauge 1600 and 350) which list as 3 tuners. They all have friendly names, but where on earth can you change them? They're set to card1, card 2, and card3. Also, they each record into their own subfolders in my TV Recordings folder. I've gone through every option and can't find anywhere to change that either. These both seem like simple questions, so I thought I'd post them here... also my first post.

Thanks in advance!

 

[vur]

Hi Supergnome,
I too have just succeeded in adding a second tuner, set to card3 (I want card2). Did you use the dvbfix by Callifro or Demetrius?
I ask because I tried Callifro's and like others had no luck with it. Demetrius' by contrast simply worked and I'm wondering if that is other people's experience. The thread seems to suggest greater success with Demetrius. If so then should Demetrius' be substituted in the thread as the first choice?

Also when I clicked Add to add my second tuner the following sequence of events occured
1)I got a message saying the card could not be added. I wasted hours checking for errors in the definition file and also with graphedit to create a new definition... all unnecessary as you will see
2) After saying no to two "Unable to create graph" messages an analogue version of my original tuner appeared. That tuner ( a Leadtek Winfast DTV1000 T) is digital-only i.e. not a hybrid. However I was curious to see if any other tuners might be found so
3) I clicked Add again and voila.... the tuner that I wanted, which is a DTV1000 S appeared. I did an uneventful Autotune for it then Deleted the b.s. DTV1000 T analogue.

Was your experience like that too? If this is the norm for multi-tuner installation, then I will submit a tutorial for the benefit of others.

 

[supergnome]

Hi Vur,

I think you might have misinterpreted my post. I do have the tuners functioning just fine (from what I can tell), all I want to do is change the friendly name of the existing cards. Being a friendly name I'd think this would be a simple task.

Another thing I -need- to change is that all recordings for the respective cards dump into their own directories. I have D:\TV Recordings that should be used, and is listed as such. For whatever reason, anything card01 records goes into D:\TV Recordings\card01, and likewise with cards 02 and 03.

I hope this is a bit more clear.

Thanks!

 

[vur]

Hi Vur,

I think you might have misinterpreted my post. I do have the tuners functioning just fine (from what I can tell), all I want to do is change the friendly name of the existing cards. Being a friendly name I'd think this would be a simple task.

Another thing I -need- to change is that all recordings for the respective cards dump into their own directories. I have D:\TV Recordings that should be used, and is listed as such. For whatever reason, anything card01 records goes into D:\TV Recordings\card01, and likewise with cards 02 and 03.

I hope this is a bit more clear.

Thanks!

Hi supergnome,
I had actually gathered that your tuners were OK, but that you wanted to tidy up a couple of things (i.e. change friendly name, and now get your recordings sorted where you want them.) I too want to do the former.

I believe I have achieved the latter via MPConfig\TV \ Capture Cards. Select one e.g. card1 [Edit]. On the Capture card TAB, go down and click Browse and ensure you end up specifying the path to and including e.g. card1 . I found MP had created a card1 and card2 folder for me.

You would have to ensure you have checked the boxes for "Use this card for recording" for each card of course. I am also currently looking into the Priority box and what it does. I guess it means "Use card with priority = 10 before card 9" etc. but it is not stated in the Manual. Don't forget to click OK OK.

I believe that only one tuner will be used if recordings are not overlapping so those recordings will end up in the folder for one card and I expect that would happen too even if they were overlapping but coming from the same "Program Stream". I know a single tuner can record 2 or more simultaneous programs if they are coming from the same stream.
Try setting up 2 scheduled recordings for the same times but using two entirely different broadcasters and I think you'll find them in two different card folders if you have set up the paths correctly.

What I actually wanted to know was whether you had to go through the same rigmarole as me to get 2 tuners installed i.e. which "fix" did you use and also did you experience the analogue tuner phenomenon?

I make no apology for stating all this at beginner level as I wish everyone would always do and you can probably tell I'm a beginner myself. If anything I say is inaccurate then I hope others will correct.

 

[supergnome]

*8) Thanks for all that info... I'll give it a shot when I have some spare time to confront the htpc beast again!

As far as multiple cards and getting them running, I don't recall. I don't think I had any issues getting them listed.

**end of actual response**

(a little background)
I actually have been using GBPVR for quite a while, but since I now have a DEDICATED htpc, I no longer use the hardware out on my PVR-350 and can try out MediaPortal. I'd actually installed it a while ago, so I don't remember the specifics of getting the cards setup. I don't think I had any issues getting them listed, but I haven't made sure they're all functioning either! For various reasons it wouldn't matter if I couldn't iron out the minor issues of the friendly names and extraneous folder use. I say minor, but the devil is in the details!

MediaPortal seems like a very slick, less fidgety beast than GBPVR (which I actually still like very much). The major things appear as though they'll work ok, but I'm taking my time with trying it out. Things like me using SchedulesDirect, and the plugin saying to extract into the a certain folder, but the zip file contains path information so following the instructions puts the dll in the wrong place! Not being familiar with how MP handles plugins, I didn't know if it was doing what it was supposed to or not. I just knew it wasn't showing up in the Plugins part of the configuration screens. Once I got past that, I could actually think of using the program. Now it's this oddly difficult matter of changing where recordings go to and changing the friendly names. I would think it should be much more intuitive than it is, since the interface itself is so nice. IT PLAYS ISO'S DIRECTLY FOR GOODNESS SAKE!

I don't expect any htpc software to be install and forget, so I'm not complaining. It's just interesting to see some of the great ideas in place, and simple things left out I would expect to be there. This goes for ALL htpc software, not just MediaPortal. It's interesting to me how every single similar program out there has a different approach to balancing user control vs ease of use. In GBPVR I say send recordings here, and it does. For MP it adds an extra folder for EACH CARD and I see no option to change that after looking everywhere. MP lets me play ISO's from a folder with zero fuss... that's amazing. In GBPVR I can play them via daemon tools once the image is mounted externally. The man reason I'm looking into MP is a short list of bugs I haven't worked out of GBPVR. Once I have both running as stable as I can manage, then I get to make a decision.