Live TV randomly stops working, then nothing will fix then randomly it will work again. (1 Viewer)

[Firemogle]

Something is not OK with my backend, as it will work about 60% of the time without issue but then it will just start dropping streams. I restart the whole computer, the ceton tuner and the front end several times to no avail... then some time later it just works again.

For example tonight I was watching AMC for 4-5 hours without issue, then the stream just up and died and I spent 20 min restarting everything and it wouldn't tune again. Right now the server is cycling through the tuners trying to tune to record and never getting a tune started.

TV server is:
Windows 10
2x quad core 1.87Ghz processors
4GB Ram
Dual NIC

Tuner is a ceton eth6

 

[mm1352000]

Hello Firemogle

First, thanks for reporting.

Your log files contain a ***huge*** number of errors. Honestly, I don't think I'm able to unravel them in full. That would be far too time-consuming.

Fundamentally it looks like TV Server is not able to communicate reliably with your tuners. Over time this means that TV Server is able to use fewer and fewer of your tuners. That in turn is causing a variety of really nasty problems.

Right now the server is cycling through the tuners trying to tune to record and never getting a tune started.

The relevant error is:
[2015-10-04 21:48:31,132] [Log ] [scheduler thread] [INFO ] - dvb: RunGraph returns: 0xFFFFFFFE

...which means TV Server is not receiving a stream from the tuner. From what I can see that error is caused by some kind of external problem.

Some questions:

• Did you remember to install this patch again after upgrading to MP 1.12?
• Do you use both NICs?
• If yes:
  • what for?
  • which NIC is your tuner connected to?

 

[Firemogle]

Now that you posted that I think it may have been the patch, my system HD crashed last weekend and I just re-installed.... will try that.

As far as both NICs I use both, mainly due to the TV server machine copies recordings to another for compression and archiving and it caused jittery playback with just one tuner. If the patch does not work I will try disabling the one mediaportal is not set to and see if that does anything.

To note while typing this I applied the patch and 3 recordings started without much issue so looks much better so far.

Edit:

Forgot to say thanks!

 

[Firemogle]

So it looked like it fixed it to start with but its about the same. Could it be a windows 10 issue? All hardware is the same from a month ago when it was fairly reliable and the only changes were the re-install and a new SSD main drive (all TS/recording are on other drives)

I've read the ceton eth6 can fail like this and I am looking at getting a new tuner, say a HD prime but I am trying to make sure the tuner is dead.

Thanks again

Edit:

One thing to note I have noticed in the manual control on the TV server sometimes when a tuner is stopped, it still shows it as tuned. Not sure if that matters but who knows.

 

[mm1352000]

Could it be a windows 10 issue?

I think that is unlikely... but I still run XP, so what would I know.

I've read the ceton eth6 can fail like this and I am looking at getting a new tuner, say a HD prime but I am trying to make sure the tuner is dead.

Dead? That seems like a really big call to make!

Based on what I saw in your previous log files, the tuner certainly wasn't 100% dead. I don't know if it is/was dying. Ceton are probably the only people who can confirm that.

Was the tuner working 100% reliably... then all of a sudden started having problems and reliability dropped through the floor?

Logically speaking: problems have an explanation. The dying explanation seems really dramatic to me. It just seems odd that the tuner would suddenly die (unless you think it suffered heat death or something?). Personally I'd be more inclined to look for other explanations. For example, I was wondering if this semi-recent firmware update might have something to do with it:
[2015-10-04 15:08:26,898] [Log ] [scheduler thread] [DEBUG] - Image Release Date = Tuesday, 13. January 2015
[2015-10-04 15:08:26,940] [Log ] [scheduler thread] [DEBUG] - Image Install Date = Tue Aug 11 20:45:45 2015
[2015-10-04 15:08:26,981] [Log ] [scheduler thread] [DEBUG] - CVT Image Filename = ceton_infinitv_beta_fw_15_1_13_152.IMAGE

In general, do you recall when the problems started? ...and do you recall making any changes at/around that time?

One thing to note I have noticed in the manual control on the TV server sometimes when a tuner is stopped, it still shows it as tuned. Not sure if that matters but who knows.

One of the things I saw repeatedly in your previous log files was "stop" commands failing:
[collapse]
[2015-10-04 20:36:30,154] [Log ] [TVService] [ERROR] - Exception :UPnP.Infrastructure.CP.UPnPException: Error invoking action 'Stop' ---> UPnP.Infrastructure.CP.UPnPRemoteException: Action Failed
at UPnP.Infrastructure.CP.DeviceTree.CpAction.AsyncActionCallResult.GetOutParams()
at UPnP.Infrastructure.CP.DeviceTree.CpAction.EndInvokeAction(IAsyncResult result)
--- End of inner exception stack trace ---
at UPnP.Infrastructure.CP.DeviceTree.CpAction.EndInvokeAction(IAsyncResult result)
at UPnP.Infrastructure.CP.DeviceTree.CpAction.InvokeAction(IList`1 inParameters)
at TvLibrary.Implementations.Dri.Service.AvTransportService.Stop(UInt32 instanceId)
at TvLibrary.Implementations.Dri.TunerDri.Dispose()
at TvService.TvCardHandler.Dispose()
at TvService.TVController.FreeCards()[/collapse]

I have no idea if that is connected to what you saw.


Did you try disabling the second NIC?

 

[Firemogle]

I put a script on it to reboot everyday and it seems to be more on par with where it was before, and I had this running previously but forgot to put it on the new install.

I started to try the NIC disabling but ended up disabling the network, and since I remote manage it took me a few days to get it back. If the reboot trick hold up I'll consider it close if not I will be trying that again.

As far as the firmware it was running previously and seemed to actually improve the tuner a little, it has always been a little glitchy and after reading some reviews and issues with it I am starting to think it may just be a less than reliable piece of hardware, lots of people have issues like its doing and frequent reboots are a common 'fix.'

Thanks again for the help!

 

[mm1352000]

Okay, thanks for the update.

With my "developer hat" on, this doesn't seem like a particularly nice solution... and I'm disappointed to hear things have "always been a little glitchy". In a perfect world I'd like to have a bullet-proof TV Server, be able to understand and solve every problem, and avoid having to resort to workarounds. However, it sounds like that is not going to be possible in this case. Your reboot solution is practical and will hopefully be effective. Please do let us know if you have further issues, in case there's something we can do to improve the situation.

Regards,
mm

 

[Firemogle]

Its my understanding that the problems is on on the ceton ethx end of things, I've read that WMC exhibits nearly the same behavior as I see on MP. Its still working fine since Friday, so I think my 'fix' will work for me.

FWIW on the WMC forums it sounds like ceton will randomly drop a tuner for some reason and the only way to get the tuner back is restarting the machine. I don't know much about whats behind the curtain but it sounds like when the tuner drops the tuner software gets tripped up since it comes back up but does not respond well. If someone has free time it may be something to look at but I think I am good.

Thanks again for the help.