Client to TV Server connection issue (2 Viewers)

[Anthony Vaughan]

Understood.

Thank you for your prompt response.

Tony

 

[CyberSimian]

Can MediaPortal as a server co-exist with Windows Media Center on the same machine? If a tuner is being used to record a programme by WMC, would MediaPortal know not to try to use it at the same time? I want to be able to use the same machine to fully test MediaPortal.

MP TV server cannot share tuners with other software.

Although MP and WMC cannot share tuners, it is possible to set up MP and WMC to use different tuners. In that way, they could actually record TV concurrently.

The downside is that you would need to perform the setup procedure for WMC, during which you would select fewer tuners than you did previously. The problem is that you would lose your existing series record reservations in WMC, and so would need to set them up again. In addition, WMC would not recognise the new series record requests as belonging to the same series as the previous series record requests, so WMC would record again all of the episodes that you have already recorded.

Finally, there would be difficulties using the remote control. To use the Green Button to start MP, you need to disable WMC services, so WMC would no longer run (and so would not record anything). If you left the WMC services enabled, you could not start MP using the remote (you would need to use a keyboard or mouse, I think).

Being able to run MP and WMC concurrently is a very good idea, because you cannot tell whether MP will be a suitable match for your requirements other than by using it seriously for 2-3 weeks. But the problems above suggest that you should do this using two separate HTPCs.

-- from CyberSimian in the UK

 

[Anthony Vaughan]

Hi CyberSimian

Thank you for your comments.

I have tried separating which tuners I use for WMC and MP. The problem for me is that I have four TBC quad-tuner cards. WMC labels the tuner by card instance and the tuner within the card; the first card would be something like 'TBS 1' and the tuners would be 'TBS 1 1', 'TBS 1 2', 'TBS 1 3', 'TBS 1 4', 'TBS 2 1', 'TBS 2 2' etc. MP only displays the tuner number within the card, but does not display which card each tuner belongs to. This makes it very difficult for me to use both WMC and MP.

Of course, there will be no guarantee that MP (even if it did display the tuner card number) will assign the same tuner card number that is assigned by WMC.

This makes things very difficult because since I configured WMC to only use three of my tuner cards and guessed which tuners MP can use (by recording 12 programs simultaneously using WMC and then trying to scan for channels on the four remaining MP tuners) the MP client says there are no available tuners.

It looks like it is going to be very risky for me to try to run WMC and MP simultaneously - WMC is my live system for recording and watching TV.

I'll restrict my testing to my development machine and play it safe.

Tony

 

[mm1352000]

Hi Tony

I wouldn't give up so soon.

First, I'm very surprised that the WMC and TV Server tuner names don't match. I can only speak for TV Server (MediaPortal), but I guarantee that TV Server uses the names supplied by the tuner driver. I have no idea where WMC is getting its names from.

Of course, there will be no guarantee that MP (even if it did display the tuner card number) will assign the same tuner card number that is assigned by WMC.

True... but there is a guarantee that the mapping between physical tuner and name in both WMC and TV Server will remain constant. In other words, the second tuner from card 1 will always have the same name in WMC and TV Server (...though the names used by WMC and TV Server may not match). That means if you can work out which tuner is which (ie. the mapping), you can get WMC and TV Server to operate harmoniously.

A tip: if you look at the "device path" column in the TV Server tuner list, you should be able to identify which tuners come from each card. Each of the four tuners from the first card should have an identical device path up until the last section enclosed in curly braces ( { } ). Same goes for the second card. So, there should be a set of tuners - 1, 2, 3 and 4 - from one card, and another set of 4 tuners from the other card.

If you don't understand, feel free to take some screenshots of the TV Server tuner list that show the tuner ID, name and device path columns, and I'll tell you which tuners come from the same card.

This makes things very difficult because since I configured WMC to only use three of my tuner cards and guessed which tuners MP can use (by recording 12 programs simultaneously using WMC and then trying to scan for channels on the four remaining MP tuners) the MP client says there are no available tuners.

I strongly suggest you post your log files, because I'm not convinced that the "no available tuners" message was related to tuner sharing.

It looks like it is going to be very risky for me to try to run WMC and MP simultaneously - WMC is my live system for recording and watching TV.

I respectfully disagree with the "risky" characterisation. It just takes a little confidence and know how. I'm here and willing to help if you want to work it out. Ultimately the choice is yours.

Regards,
mm

 

[CyberSimian]

This makes things very difficult because since I configured WMC to only use three of my tuner cards and guessed which tuners MP can use (by recording 12 programs simultaneously using WMC and then trying to scan for channels on the four remaining MP tuners) the MP client says there are no available tuners.

I understand your problems with tuner identification. I currently have two TBS 6284 quad-tuner cards in my HTPC, and prior to that I had three Pinnacle 2000i dual-tuner cards in my HTPC (when I was using WMC).

The method that you used to identify the four tuners that were not assigned to WMC should have given you the correct result. If the client cannot access those tuners, there is probably something wrong with the client setup. I have never used a client separate from the server, so I cannot offer any advice. However, you are in good hands -- if mm1352000 cannot identify the cause of the problem, no one can!

-- from CyberSimian in the UK

 

[Anthony Vaughan]

Hi mm

Thank you for your comments.

When I said that there was a risk for me in trying to make MP and WMC work on the same machine I really meant it. Yesterday, before I realized that tuners cannot be shared, WMC failed to record programmes until I stopped the TVService service.

Please find attached a document containing a screen-shot or the tuners on my production machine. You will notice that the tuner names are 'TBS 6205 DVB-T/T2 1' then 0 then 2 then 3 and then keep repeating so that there are 4 instances of each name. WMC gives each tuner a unique name including the tuner card number and the instance of each tuner on the card.

I have learned from bitter experience that it is better to play safe, so I will do my testing of MP on my development machine; though it's a bit power hungry (1KW). My other half would have my guts for garters if I allowed the WMC processing to fail and we lost programmes!

I attach a log file for the 'no available tuner' error on the client machine.

Thanks again.

Tony

 

[Anthony Vaughan]

Hi CyberSimian

As a matter of interest, I have never used a remote control for a laptop before (which is what I am running the MP client on). Obviously, I have loads of remotes for video recorders, Xbox 360s etc. How do I set-up my laptop to accept remotes (like a WMC remote)?

Thanks.

Tony[DOUBLEPOST=1435605409][/DOUBLEPOST]Hi mm

I've figured out what was wrong with the 'no available tuner' error message. My fault, I hadn't moved the available channels to the channels available to card.

Everything working well now.

I will start playing seriously with MP now.

Thanks for the help.

Tony

 

[Anthony Vaughan]

Hi mm

WMC allows videos in folders on the server to be played using extenders.

I see that the client has the functionality to play videos located on the client, but it is necessary to configure every client machine separately to access common folders (like on the server).

Is there a way to declare folders on the server that can be played from one or more clients? This would have the benefit of only having to declare those folders once, on the server, so that all clients will be able to access the videos automatically.

Tony

 

[CyberSimian]

How do I set-up my laptop to accept remotes (like a WMC remote)?

The easiest remote to get working with MP is an "MCE compatible" remote that has "RC6" stamped on the packaging. These are 100% compatible, and work with MP straight out of the box (once enabled in "MP Config"). You need a corresponding "MCE compatible RC6" infra-red receiver to plug into a USB socket on the laptop.

Beware: there are some remotes that are described as "MCE compatible", but which are not RC6 remotes. These are compatible with WMC, but are not immediately compatible with MP. The Ortek VRC-1100 is an example of one of these remotes (also sold under other brand names). I would recommend avoiding these remotes unless you know that you have a dire need for their special characteristics, and are prepared to put the effort in to get them to work with MP (not easy; I have not succeeded yet!).

I am using MP 1.9.0 pre, which has a "Microsoft MCE" tab in the "Remotes" section of "MP Config". You simply enable that support, and the remote works. More recent versions of MP now deprecate the "Microsoft MCE" tab, because the "General HID" support was completey rewritten to incorporate support for Microsoft MCE and other devices. So, for MP 1.11, I think that you should enable one of "General HID" or "Microsoft MCE", with the former being preferred.

Once the remote is working, you can then customise it to assign the functions that you want to the buttons that you prefer; there is no reason to stay with the default button assignments if you do not like them. This customisation is also done in the "Remotes" section of "MP Config" (click "Mappings").

-- from CyberSimian in the UK

 

[Anthony Vaughan]

Thanks CyberSimian

That's very useful.

Tony