Just an idea? Would this work. (1 Viewer)

[elsmandino]

Hi there,

My set up has gone wrong yet again - is suddenly having problems recording.

I realise that there are a number of growing threads on here from people that are gradually moving away from Mediaportal due to various problems and bugs (I usually have a problem at least once a week) adn then there are those who have confirmed that they never have any problems. Although I am constantly having to pop on here for advice, I am striving to make MP work - I won't stop until it works for me!!!

I have decided to do a full wipe and re-install of Mediaportal 1.2.2 (and shall add the Sky EPG Enhancement, which I note is due this week).

It has occurred to me that rather than me set up mediaportal with my usual settings and try and tweak them as various crashes and problems keep happening, it might be good idea to set it up properly from the start.

I know that it is a bit of pain to do and might take a long time, but could someone with a perfect set up (preferably a standalone and at least one client) - meaning one that never crashes, write down exactly what every setting they have?

I am sure that one of the key problems with MP is that although the Wiki is very detailed and explains what the options are, it can sometimes fail to tell you which one you should actually use in the circumstances - please note that this is by no means a criticism of the author, I appreciate how much work goes into the whole MP project.

As a different slant, might it be easier for me to write down exactly what hardware/software/MP Settings I have and then others might be able to compare to mine?

Your views on this would be appreciated.

Thanks a lot.

 

[Jay_UK]

Hi there,

Sorry ot hear you have problems...but glad you are sticking with it.

I must be one of the more fortunate ones... my system works 99% of the time (Yes I do have the odd issue, but I did with my sky box - trying to remember that long ago).

I have been running Miroslavs' SVNs since he released them - No problems.

I am more than happy to try and help out where I can.

J.

 

[powermarcel10]

Hi, good to hear you don't give up! I had also some problems with Mediaportal in the past but to ask and try a lot of things I have a bug free and very stable HTPC now..

Can you tell what your problems are exactly? Do you have only problems with tv and recordings? Or also other ones..

I never get MP tv-server stable.. Had tried it a lot of times but I'm getting always strange messenges like; connection to tv server lost, no free card availible, etc.. I'm using argus (for the record) now for a while and this makes a huge difference in my case!! No bug, no strange messenges and no crashes anymore.. It's absolutely bug free!! But that's on my system.. It can be totally different on your system.. So you have to test a lot of things, a see what's the best solution for you..

Good luck!


---
I am here: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=53.234365,6.611615

 

[elsmandino]

Many thanks to both of you for that.

What I shall do is do a complete re-install of my system tonight and put down exactly what I have got in terms of hardware, software settings and then exactly what problems I come accross if any (unfortunately the errors that Powermarcel has mentioned have cropped up a number of times).

Hopefully it might be possible to work out if there are any schoolboy errors that I keep making with my set up.

Thanks again.

Alex

 

[powermarcel10]

Many thanks to both of you for that.

What I shall do is do a complete re-install of my system tonight and put down exactly what I have got in terms of hardware, software settings and then exactly what problems I come accross if any (unfortunately the errors that Powermarcel has mentioned have cropped up a number of times).

Hopefully it might be possible to work out if there are any schoolboy errors that I keep making with my set up.

Thanks again.

Alex

When you have bugs and you do a fresh install, it's important to install and configure things one by one.. (settings, plugins and skins) than it's easier to find the problem(s)

I think Mediaportal itself is and should be very stable at this moment.. The reason of most problems is often because of plugins..

Also be shure that your system (updates) and drivers (incl. chipsetdrivers) are up-to-date.

I said it before but my system is very, very stable.. So I think you should also be able to get it done!

For me personally the most problems in the past where TV-server related.. Fortherecord solved almost all my problems

So, let us know what you're problems are!

 

[elsmandino]

Hi Powermarcel,

I have decided to hold off with my full reinstall for a few days just to look into "Fortherecord" (given you said that it is very stable). I was not really aware of what this is and having had a look on their website, I don't think i really understand what this program is or what it does - the explanations are quite complex!

What I seem to get is that Fortherecord program is a rival to Mediaportal with it being split into two parts, Fortherecord frontend (Client) and Fortherecord backend (Argus). As this is the case, you can use Argus with the Mediaportal frontend, as Argus is (as some people seem to say) less likely to crash/freeze. Would you say this pretty much sums up Fortherecord?

Also, one thing that is particulary important is the ability to record a Series, which is why I am using Mirosalv's Sky Enhancement. If I were to try using Argus, would I then lose the ability to use series-link?

Thanks

 

[Jay_UK]

Hi there,

4TR replaces the TVServer part of MePo (so all the parts to do with scheduling, tuners, channels, etc)

It creates a virtual tuner (Argus) that MePo can utilise. 4TR also offers some features that MePo does not (natively) offer - Web interface for scheduling, Messaging/email of events, better recording prioritisation/scheduling (offers series recording, but I do not believe it uses Sky's program IDs?), etc.

It does not support any Sky specific features (that Miroslav's or DJ Blu's SVNs do) - eg EPG grabbing.

I looked at 4TR a year or two ago, and it did look good, but for me it was something else to manage, I did not need alot of its features, so stuck with MePo TVServer. Then the Sky specific version of TVServer came out which I love.

If I have my facts wrong (been a while since I ran 4TR) please correct me....

J.

 

[Paranoid Delusion]

Did you try disabling any Asus programs\tuneup\boost utilities, these can play havoc with reliability.

https://forum.team-mediaportal.com/834881-post14.html

As a example of Asus utilities and there effects, not impressed.

 

[elsmandino]

I think that I shall not try and run before I shall walk (does look quite involved) - I shall avoid 4TR just for the moment and see if I can get a regular and stable setup of MP working. If not, I shall consider my further options.

Thanks for the point on ASUS utilities, I shall if there is anything installed on my HTPC that might be affecting things.

Once other quick thing about initial installation - I have just read on this forum that when you first do an install, you should not necessarily pick the MYSQL5 option over Microsoft SQL-Server Express 2005 as the latter is more stable.

I have no idea as to the difference my self (or really what SQL is) and I have always just gone with the default - what are your views on this?

 

[powermarcel10]

I think that I shall not try and run before I shall walk (does look quite involved) - I shall avoid 4TR just for the moment and see if I can get a regular and stable setup of MP working. If not, I shall consider my further options.

Thanks for the point on ASUS utilities, I shall if there is anything installed on my HTPC that might be affecting things.

Once other quick thing about initial installation - I have just read on this forum that when you first do an install, you should not necessarily pick the MYSQL5 option over Microsoft SQL-Server Express 2005 as the latter is more stable.

I have no idea as to the difference my self (or really what SQL is) and I have always just gone with the default - what are your views on this?

Hi,

I know what you mean.. For me it was also very difficult in the beginning to understand what each program exactly does..

You have to try the default TV-server from mediaportal first.. But when you have problems with it, like stability and strange messanges etc.. you can try 4TR. For me is 4TR absolutly stable and TV-server from MP absolutely not.. But in your case it can be very different.

Can you explane wich problems you have with watching/recording live television? And what is your setup exactly?