Custom Data Grabber including Sky UK Channel/EPG Grabber (12 Viewers)

[Benoire]

I'd be interested to know your findings @DragonQ as I never got around to preload on the tuners. Certainly Windows 7 works, so I'm surprised that there are issues with the server range, although 2012 is built on the same tech as Windows 8.

 

[Dils]

Been using 1.5 with sky plugin for a week, on server 2012 r2 essentials, have not really had any issues.

Server 2012 R2 essentials no longer comes with BDA support, you need to do BDA copy from Windows 8.1, and must also install Desktop Experience, i think Media Foundation. without desktop exp, the tv cards do not show in MP, also running MD***, to Raspberry Pi.

I also have TBS 6984 but they are not enabled in MP, using Digital Devices at the moment, will enable the TBS today see how it goes.

 

[DragonQ]

I'd be interested to know your findings @DragonQ as I never got around to preload on the tuners. Certainly Windows 7 works, so I'm surprised that there are issues with the server range, although 2012 is built on the same tech as Windows 8.

Recording one channel, viewing another (each writing to a different HDD), and I got a few continuity errors 7 minutes in.

Going out today so can't test further yet.

 

[Benoire]

What was it like with preload off? If you could do some testing when you get the time that would be good.

 

[mm1352000]

Preloading should make absolutely zero difference for continuity errors. What it does is build all the graphs so that streaming from one tuner is not interrupted when a second tuner starts streaming. I know why that interruption occurs, and it will be fixed in TVE 3.5.

 

[Benoire]

I wish I was able to test Server 2012 with FTA HD channels to confirm that it doesn't seem to work so well but I've only got DVB-S here in Auckland... It has me really stumped by why it works fine in Windows 7 but not so good in Server 2012, yet Argus Recorder works fine in both...

 

[mm1352000]

I wish I was able to test Server 2012 with FTA HD channels to confirm that it doesn't seem to work so well but I've only got DVB-S here in Auckland...

Is it an issue of no tuner, or no line of site to transmitter?

It has me really stumped by why it works fine in Windows 7 but not so good in Server 2012, yet Argus Recorder works fine in both...

I haven't been following your progress particularly closely, but I know you've been trying different software (Argus, TV Server, CDG TV Server), different OS, suspecting LNB...
To be honest I'd advise you to go really basic and logical, something like this:
https://forum.team-mediaportal.com/...-prev-f-bad-signal.121264/page-3#post-1024249

Stick with standard everything and gradually add complexity. That's the best advice I can offer you.

 

[Benoire]

Thanks MM

Its simply a matter of not having an aerial attached to the house Removed it when I bought it as it was very old.

Appreciate the link. Without access to FTA HD channels, my testing is somewhat limited as I have been through 3 different OS's now (Server 2012 R2 Standard with Essentials and BDA installed, Server 2012 Essentials and now Windows 7). No TV engine worked effectively in Server 2012 R2 Standard but that might have been due to a bad BDA installation, Argus Recorder worked fine in Server 2012 Essentials, and both Argus and MP (Native and with mods but with MD***) worked fine in Windows 7.

The process on each new OS was install OS, install native TV engine and test FTA. once working, add sky channels and test... watch 1 channel and record 3 others... With MP in Server editions as soon as I hit record I get continuity errors yet HDD IOPS is well within the limts, signal is fine as its also on the sky box ok, decryption isn't an issue as it works in W7 and with Argus (I use a Raspberry Pi as the server for the card).

apart from DragonQ, does anyone else in this thread run a server edition of windows and sky/mp?

 

[mm1352000]

Its simply a matter of not having an aerial attached to the house Removed it when I bought it as it was very old.

If you've got a pair of bunny ears handy, try 'em. You might be surprised. At the moment I'm in a flatting situation where I don't have access to a dish or aerial, but bunny ears in the window even on the wrong side of the house do a surprisingly reasonable job for me.

Appreciate the link. Without access to...

I think one thing that you're missing here is that although some of the underlying platform is shared/common between W7 and Server 2012, the drivers are not necessarily the same and/or may not behave the same due to potential optimisation for the different target platform/audience (server vs. desktop). In other words, just because the driver for your tuner works okay in W7 doesn't mean it will do the same in Server 2012. Same applies for any other driver. Hence the importance of the DPC latency test - confirm the system latency is good and all the drivers are behaving well.

Access to FTA HD channels might help you narrow down the cause in some respects, but it introduces new variables as well (DVB-T signal strength, different tuner etc.) so it is not the only thing to focus on.

...signal is fine as its also on the sky box ok...

I think this is a false assumption. The tuner hardware in the Sky box is almost certainly totally different to the TBS 6981. Just because one tuner is fine with a signal doesn't mean another one will be. If the Sky box is in a different location, that's more variables (cabling, terminations, interference).

 

[DragonQ]

What was it like with preload off? If you could do some testing when you get the time that would be good.

That was with preloading enabled. I'm gonna try using HDHR Config, Resource Monitor and DPC latency checker (as suggested by mm1352000) next time I have a chance. I also need to try those new drivers at some point, which I really hope work. I have 10 HDDs connected to my server but I made sure the ones I use for timeshifting and recording are connected to the motherboard's SATA 6 Gbps ports to avoid any problems with the PCI-E expansion cards.