- December 24, 2013
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Well after doing significant testing myself, I have reached precisely the same conclusion that ChairmanMao has reached in this post.
However for the third bullet, the tuner is only released when another recording is scheduled to record in my case. My firewall is configured to allow the passage of ICMP packets as seen here. Its weird because I tried using another PVR software, NPVR, and it seems to have no problems releasing any tuners at all. Assuming MediaPortal is using the same API, I don't see how the implementation could be that different.
Some more information:
I did three experiments:
In addition to whatever the MP install routine does on its own, Windows Firewall was configured using the command line commands listed in the wiki for configuring it (i.e., I ran all the listed commands after doing a standard install). My hardware setup uses an HDHomeRun Prime as a capture device. I verified that Windows Firewall, after all I did, imposes no port or protocol constraints on TVService.exe for outbound connections. For inbound connections, there are no constraints on either UDP or TCP connections (I presume this means other protocols are constrained).
- doing a scheduled recording with Windows Firewall on
- watching live TV with Windows Firewall on
- watching live TV with Windows Firewall off
This shows that the firewall configuration is an issue. But it also shows that it doesn't have to be an issue, and that apparently tuner release is handled differently when doing a scheduled recording as compared to watching a live TV stream.
- Watching live TV with Windows Firewall turned ON results in a tuner getting locked. You have to power cycle the Prime to clear it.
- Watching live TV with Windows Firewall turned OFF does not lock a tuner. When you're done watching the live stream, the tuner is properly released.
- Doing a scheduled recording with Windows Firewall turned ON does not lock a tuner. When the recording is finished, the tuner is properly released.
If I get some time I'll install wireshark and see if I can grab & upload some network activity logs.
However for the third bullet, the tuner is only released when another recording is scheduled to record in my case. My firewall is configured to allow the passage of ICMP packets as seen here. Its weird because I tried using another PVR software, NPVR, and it seems to have no problems releasing any tuners at all. Assuming MediaPortal is using the same API, I don't see how the implementation could be that different.