how to record only new episodes of a series? (1 Viewer)

[KevinJ]

Been trying to figure this out for an hour or so...
try and figure it out on my own... check
forum search... check
read faq... check
read manual... check

Can't seem to find a way to do it.

I want to record a series that -frequently- airs reruns during the regular season. I only want to record the new (non-rerun) episodes of the series. Before I spend another hour trying to figure it out, I thought I'd better confirm that it's even possible or not.

If it's possible, how do you do it?


TV-Server Version: 1.0.2
MediaPortal Version: 1.0.2
MediaPortal Skin: Blue3
Windows Version: XP Pro SP3
CPU Type: AMD Phenom 9600 Quad-Core 2.30 GHz
HDD: Seagate 1.0 TB SataII
Memory: 4gb Corsair DDR2
Motherboard: Gigabyte MA790GP-DS4H
Video Card: ATI Radeon HD 3300
Video Card Driver: 8.640.0.0 (7/14/2009)
Sound Card: Realtek HD
Sound Card AC3:
Sound Card Driver: 5.10.0.5657
1. TV Card: Silicondust HDHomerun dual tuner
1. TV Card Type: ATSC
1. TV Card Driver: 20090830
2. TV Card: Hauppauge PVR500 dual tuner
2. TV Card Type: analog
2. TV Card Driver: 2.0.48.25037
3. TV Card: Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-2250 dual tuner
3. TV Card Type: hybrid analog/ATSC
3. TV Card Driver: 7.6.1.27118
4. TV Card: Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-2250 dual tuner
4. TV Card Type: hybrid analog/ATSC
4. TV Card Driver: 7.6.1.27118
MPEG2 Video Codec: Mediaportal v1.0.2 supplied codec
MPEG2 Audio Codec: Mediaportal v1.0.2 supplied codec
h.264 Video Codec:
Satelite/CableTV Provider: Comcast
HTPC Case: Antec (TvServer), DVine (client)
Cooling: 5x 120mm fans (TVServer), 4x 80mm fans (client)
Power Supply: Antec 650W
Remote: MCE (harmony)
TV: Sony Trinitron
TV - HTPC Connection: S-Video

 

[Bussiebaer]

Don't know how the inbuild record-engine handles this. I use the Plugin For The Record, with that this is no problem at all.

 

[KevinJ]

Brilliant... exactly what I was looking for (if it does what it says).

I was about to start down the dark path of having my epg grabber inject an asterisk at the end of every firstrun show in the listings.

Thanks,

PS: this would be a nice feature for MP to build into future versions.

 

[alank]

I hope you will post back your experience with FTR. I am interested to install too but read some things that make me a bit concerned. Plugins like MovingPictures and MyTVSeries just simply run and work. I've read FTR can be a bit of a bear to setup and possibly break a perfectly good running MP. Please let me know how you make out. Thanks!

 

[KevinJ]

So, I've been using For The Record for several days now. Here are my initial observations.

1. Getting the server running was a bit of a pain. If you install this, then launch it before enabling the MP Server plugin it installs, it will never work no matter how many times you try. I had to uninstall it, reinstall it, then enable the MP Server plugin before launching the management console. After that it just worked.
2. Client stuff: it seems to completely replace the My Tv client with it's own stuff. In my opinion it is superior. Gives user much more comprehensive recording options and is just easier to use. Since my wife found it to be much better it is staying.
3. Recording options: 4TR does indeed give you the option to record only first run shows, but that functionality is not exposed in the client experience. You have to open the management console and manually enable the "only first run" checkbox for every series you record where you want that feature. This is done outside of the MP client experience.
4. There seems to be a big memory leak in the guide handler of the 4TR client plugin. Every couple of days, searching the guide becomes very slow on the client until I reboot that machine. I didn't have this problem before installing. Hopefully will be fixed in a future update. Still, I'm going to live with this for now.

All in all, it's a good plugin once you have it setup and working.

 

[ap90033]

Surely this has been added to Media Portal?