[TV] Invalid thumbs on H264 material (1 Viewer)

[jameson_uk]

This is on my single seat machine running latest SVN (so not becase of RTSP)

Every single recording from a HD source (H264 video) ends up with a 0KB jpg file in the recording folder.

If I manually run mtn.exe (downloaded version from their website) on these files a jpg file is produced ok

I use the exact parameters provided by Arion_P here

can't provide any logs as not sure how this all works. I close the client when not in use but I guess a background process on client is running mtn.exe?


So running mtn manually has created a valid file but how does this get handled normally? I have a 1.6MB jpg in the recordings folder but I am guessing this gets turned into a smaller file and stored in the thumbs directory???

Let me know if there is any info I can provide

 

[wonkyd]

Same here, don't think it has been working right since 1.01. Will provide any logs necessary.

 

[elliottmc]

Let me know if there is any info I can provide

Logs, logs, logs.

Maybe they show something, maybe not, but if you are going to report a problem, then please provide the logs every time. It saves people like me asking for them, and you can be sure the team will not spend any time looking into the problem until you do.

The other thing that will be useful is if you can provide a small file that reproduces the problem.

Personally, mtn.exe is producing thumbnails in mediaportal for all of my numerous video files, mpeg, mpeg2, mkv (x264), avi (xvid, divx).

Does it work if you change the file extension from .ts to .mkv? This is a common 'trick'.

Which version of mtn.exe from the web site works?

Mark

 

[jameson_uk]

Maybe they show something, maybe not, but if you are going to report a problem, then please provide the logs every time. It saves people like me asking for them, and you can be sure the team will not spend any time looking into the problem until you do.

Will post some logs but the thumbnails are on recordings that have already taken place and MP client had been opened severaL times since so logs from around that time would have been gone. That was partly what I was asking... how can I get the thumbnail creation messages in the log file?

If you can tell me how to create logs that will include the thumbnail creation lines I will happily upload.

After I noticed some 0Kb jpg files I then ran mtn against the same video file using both the one in the MP folder and mtn from the website (200808a) both using same parameters. MP version produced a 0Kb jpg, downloaded version produced a valid jpg.

The other question I was getting it is how these thumbnails are used. Obviously you get a large thumb in the same folder as the recording but how does this make it into the thumbs directory as a different size file? Which file does MP client actually use?

The other thing that will be useful is if you can provide a small file that reproduces the problem.

Personally, mtn.exe is producing thumbnails in mediaportal for all of my numerous video files, mpeg, mpeg2, mkv (x264), avi (xvid, divx).

Does it work if you change the file extension from .ts to .mkv? This is a common 'trick'.

I will try renaming to MKV and see if MP version od mtn works. If not I will try and cut a sample of the file (was just recorded from DVB-S last week using last SVN) If that is reproducable I will upload that sample.

 

[elliottmc]

Maybe they show something, maybe not, but if you are going to report a problem, then please provide the logs every time. It saves people like me asking for them, and you can be sure the team will not spend any time looking into the problem until you do.

Will post some logs but the thumbnails are on recordings that have already taken place and MP client had been opened severaL times since so logs from around that time would have been gone. That was partly what I was asking... how can I get the thumbnail creation messages in the log file?

If you can tell me how to create logs that will include the thumbnail creation lines I will happily upload.

After I noticed some 0Kb jpg files I then ran mtn against the same video file using both the one in the MP folder and mtn from the website (200808a) both using same parameters. MP version produced a 0Kb jpg, downloaded version produced a valid jpg.

How about replacing the one in the MP folder with the one from the mtn website, and seeing if it works 'in situ' - that is, called by MP.

If so, we know that something is broken in out mtn.exe, and might be able to fix it.

As far as I understand, our mtn.exe is based on the 200808a one, but with unicode filename support. However, there is definitely a trade-off, since some versions seem to work better with some files, and others with others. It may just be that the version we are using provides the best overall compatibility, but just not with your files. We'd need comment from someone who understands better than I do to fix if this is the case.

Mark

 

[jameson_uk]

How about replacing the one in the MP folder with the one from the mtn website, and seeing if it works 'in situ' - that is, called by MP.

I can say that the output from the command prompt is definately different. The official version contains far more rows (which are possibly errros that are fixed in the MP version) but I have a feeling a different version of ffmpeg was used?

Anyway I will try tonight but as I said before I am not sure how I can trigger MP gathering thumbnails... If I simply delete any associated thumbs from the thumb directory as well as the jpg stored alongside the recording and then open MP and browse recorded TV will this be sufficient to force MP into attempting to generate new thumb?

(will also try renaming to MKV and running as I should have a little time tonight)

 

[elliottmc]

Anyway I will try tonight but as I said before I am not sure how I can trigger MP gathering thumbnails... If I simply delete any associated thumbs from the thumb directory as well as the jpg stored alongside the recording and then open MP and browse recorded TV will this be sufficient to force MP into attempting to generate new thumb?

I only know one way to find out!

Failing that, you could schedule a new recording.

For what it's worth, I don't always see thumbs generated for TV recordings. I have no idea why this is, but since the thumbs are not visible on multiseat clients, anyway, it does not worry me.

Mark

 

[jameson_uk]

I only know one way to find out!

Lol will give a go tonight

Failing that, you could schedule a new recording.

This is the issue... I do not leave client on all the time as this has been causing me issues with resume. Only TVServer is running all the time and thumbs are generated by client so not sure how it decides it needs to generate thumbs....

Will see what I can find out tonight then

 

[elliottmc]

I only know one way to find out!

Lol will give a go tonight

Failing that, you could schedule a new recording.

This is the issue... I do not leave client on all the time as this has been causing me issues with resume. Only TVServer is running all the time and thumbs are generated by client so not sure how it decides it needs to generate thumbs....

Will see what I can find out tonight then

Hi,

The client will not generate thumbs for recordings. The server sometimes does, but this seems to not be reliable. I occasionally find jpg files in the recording folder, but not always.

Do you use rtsp or SMB for multiseat TV? If you use SMB, then there is a chance that the client will 'see' the recordings directly and create thumbs. If you use rtsp, then the client does not have direct access to the recording files, and cannot possibly generate thumbs.

The only other way I can think to test this is to share the recordings folder over the network, add it to 'my videos' and browse it there. If the thumbs are created, then there is no problem. Please do this to check the files! However, you will still not see the thumbs in 'recorded tv', and this would be normal expected behaviour.

One of the team members is currently looking into this problem at the moment, so please bear with us.

However, your testing and clarification of your setup would be appreciated.

Best wishes,

Mark

 

[elliottmc]

This is on my single seat machine running latest SVN (so not becase of RTSP)

Every single recording from a HD source (H264 video) ends up with a 0KB jpg file in the recording folder.

Hi,

I am getting a bit confused. On the one hand you say that thumbs are generated by client. On the other hand, you say you are using single seat.

Also, your system spec shows a pinnacle 7010ix TV card, which as far as I know is DVB-S, not DVB-S2 - how is it receiving HD h264 content?

Even on your server, please add the recordings folder a share in 'my videos' and see if it then creates thumbs (they won't be in the same folder as the video, but you will know if the thumb is created as you will see it.

Then we can work out whether this is actually a bug, or a situation where your expectation of what mediaportal _should_ be able to do is not quite the same as what it _is_ able to do!

Best wishes,

Mark