channel not always tuning (1 Viewer)

[htpchtpc]

Hello,
I receive my tv signal with an antenna,to two hauppauge tuners and use schedulesdirect for epg. One channel (29-1) often takes a long time or does not tune at all. I hooked the cable directly to my tv's tuner and it started right away and it showed it was a strong signal. During the debug, I tried to tune the same channel 3 times, the third time it failed as it does more often than not. I read that this might have something to do with TSID/PSIP?
http://www.rabbitears.info/screencaps/on-lon/9325229-0_0.htm.
Would anyone have a clue what causes this in Mepo ? Thank you

 

[mm1352000]

Hello htpchtpc

Thanks for posting the log files.
It would help if you could clarify what you mean by "long". Definition varies from person to person. One person's long may be another's normal... and "long" may just be how long it takes.

Anyhow...
From a TV Server perspective:

[2014-03-05 14:25:37,115] [Log ] [MPMain ] [INFO ] - TVHome.ViewChannelAndCheck(): View channel=29 CIII
...
[2014-03-05 14:25:38,118] [Log ] [MPMain ] [INFO ] - succeededucceeded TvControl.VirtualCard

[2014-03-05 14:26:02,063] [Log ] [MPMain ] [INFO ] - TVHome.ViewChannelAndCheck(): View channel=29 CIII
[2014-03-05 14:26:02,920] [Log ] [MPMain ] [INFO ] - succeededucceeded TvControl.VirtualCard

[2014-03-05 14:26:28,577] [Log ] [MPMain ] [INFO ] - TVHome.ViewChannelAndCheck(): View channel=29 CIII
...
[2014-03-05 14:26:29,777] [Log ] [MPMain ] [INFO ] - succeededucceeded TvControl.VirtualCard

About 1 second for tuning doesn't seem overly unreasonable... and note that all the tune requests succeed. In other words, I think this is a problem with the MediaPortal side of the equation.

The difference between the second and third tune requests seems to be this:

[2014-03-05 14:26:03,644] [Log ] [MPMain ] [DEBUG] - VMR9Helper: Playing -> Repainting, Frames 50
[2014-03-05 14:26:03,663] [Log ] [MPMain ] [DEBUG] - VMR9: Repainting -> Playing, Frames: 50
[2014-03-05 14:26:05,426] [Log ] [MPMain ] [DEBUG] - VMR9Helper: Playing -> Repainting, Frames 0
[2014-03-05 14:26:19,547] [Log ] [9 ] [DEBUG] - PlaneScene: PresentImage() dispose surfaces
[2014-03-05 14:26:19,554] [Log ] [14 ] [INFO ] - planesceneresentImage() frame:0 enabled:True allowed:False
[2014-03-05 14:26:19,569] [Log ] [MPMain ] [DEBUG] - VMR9: Repainting -> Playing, Frames: 1
[2014-03-05 14:26:20,066] [Log ] [14 ] [DEBUG] - PlaneScene: crop T, B : 0, 0
[2014-03-05 14:26:20,066] [Log ] [14 ] [DEBUG] - PlaneScene: crop L, R : 0, 0
[2014-03-05 14:26:20,067] [Log ] [14 ] [INFO ] - PlaneScene: video WxH : 1920x1080
[2014-03-05 14:26:20,067] [Log ] [14 ] [DEBUG] - PlaneScene: video AR : 16:9
[2014-03-05 14:26:20,067] [Log ] [14 ] [INFO ] - PlaneScene: screen WxH : 1024x768
[2014-03-05 14:26:20,068] [Log ] [14 ] [DEBUG] - PlaneScene: AR type : Zoom
[2014-03-05 14:26:20,068] [Log ] [14 ] [DEBUG] - PlaneScene: PixelRatio : 1
[2014-03-05 14:26:20,069] [Log ] [14 ] [DEBUG] - PlaneScene: src : (240,0)-(1680,1080)
[2014-03-05 14:26:20,069] [Log ] [14 ] [DEBUG] - PlaneScene: dst : (0,0)-(1024,768)

[2014-03-05 14:26:31,605] [Log ] [MPMain ] [DEBUG] - VMR9Helper: Playing -> Repainting, Frames 50
[2014-03-05 14:26:31,625] [Log ] [MPMain ] [DEBUG] - VMR9: Repainting -> Playing, Frames: 50
[2014-03-05 14:26:33,390] [Log ] [MPMain ] [DEBUG] - VMR9Helper: Playing -> Repainting, Frames 0
<and then nothing>

In other words it is like the renderer decides it won't show the video.

@Owlsroost
Any thoughts?

mm

 

[htpchtpc]

Thanks mm,
for unraveling some of the mystery. My meaning of long was longer (10 to 20 sec. or never!) longer than any other channels. The other channels in my repertoire change quickly enough for me.This one just shows black ergo I thought tuning. Is there another renderer or idea you might suggest. This channel has been doing this since I started with Mepo.

 

[mm1352000]

Thanks mm,
for unraveling some of the mystery.

No problem.

My meaning of long was longer (10 to 20 sec. or never!) longer than any other channels. The other channels in my repertoire change quickly enough for me.This one just shows black ergo I thought tuning.

Right, okay. Yeah - it definitely appears to be tuning okay to me, though I've been known to be wrong in the past. Hopefully Tony (Owlsroost) will be able to shed some further light.

Is there another renderer or idea you might suggest. This channel has been doing this since I started with Mepo.

No other renderer... but you might try other codecs... or at least make sure the LAV filters are up to date (you can use the MediaPortal Extension Installer for this).

[edit: One other experiment that might be interesting is trying the "preview" function in TV Server configuration ("TV Channels" section). You could also confirm timeshifting works by using the "manual control" section (select the channel, click "start timeshifting"). I'd be interested to see the results of both of these tests. If you can get timeshifting in manual control to work then you might try playing the timeshift file with VLC or something to absolutely confirm the problem is on the MP side.]

I only recall a few reports with similar symptoms in the last few years. Unfortunately I don't recall the solution if there was one. Such problems are outside my area of expertise so I tend to check the logs, discover that tuning is fine and then move on to the next problem (so I miss the conclusion).

 

[htpchtpc]

Hi mm,
tried preview channel, no go several times. Time shift worked right away and I played it with wmp. I would send you the recording but can't send a ts file on this site. According to the channel test it took 1598 msec. and was OK.

 

[mm1352000]

Interesting, okay.
I think those tests support the claim that the MediaPortal side (splitter [TsReader], codecs [LAV] or renderers) are having trouble...

 

[Owlsroost]

I think those tests support the claim that the MediaPortal side (splitter [TsReader], codecs [LAV] or renderers) are having trouble...

They are....(according to the TsReader.log no samples are getting to the decode filters when it fails)

I would send you the recording but can't send a ts file on this site

Yes please - just zip it up (so it doesn't have the .ts extension), 10s-20s would be enough for testing.

 

[htpchtpc]

attached video