[News] MediaPortal 2 - 2.5 Release (2 Viewers)

[Mike Sutherland]

Managed to get TVM/NET6 working by disabling Malwarebytes before installation and deleting the "Team MediaPortal" folder in the "ProgramData" Folder.
However, it was VERY "clunky" (not very responsive) and I hated the interface; in TVE3/NET4 the "TV" option is always right there when I launch MP2. In this version I have to go hunting for it in the sidebar - NOT an improvement!

 

[joecrow]

Managed to get TVM/NET6 working by disabling Malwarebytes before installation and deleting the "Team MediaPortal" folder in the "ProgramData" Folder.

Much the same for me my AV (Avira Prime) definitely has issues with Net 6 as reported earlier, in terms of using it on my HTPC that alone makes it a non starter.

 

[ge2301]

Launching the MP2 Client there is nothing in the EPG even after about 20 mins. Clicking on any of the channels (or the TV channel indicator on the left of the EPG) gives the following error: Error invoking action "StartTimeshift"

Thanks. The epg is grabbed, but it stops with an error I've not seen yet.

[2024-01-26 22:23:13,915] [794879 ] [207 ] [INFO ] - Epg: card:9 received epg for 177 channels
[2024-01-26 22:23:13,916] [794880 ] [207 ] [INFO ] - epg grabber:epg cancelled
[2024-01-26 22:23:13,916] [794880 ] [EPG Update thread] [INFO ] - Epg: card:9 Updating database with new programs
[2024-01-26 22:23:13,916] [794881 ] [207 ] [INFO ] - EpgCard: card: 9 stop grabbing
[2024-01-26 22:23:13,917] [794881 ] [207 ] [INFO ] - EpgGrabbing: Stop - user epg
[2024-01-26 22:23:13,917] [794881 ] [207 ] [INFO ] - user:epg remove
[2024-01-26 22:23:13,917] [794882 ] [207 ] [WARN ] - Mpeg2TunerController: no CA providers identified
[2024-01-26 22:23:13,926] [794890 ] [207 ] [INFO ] - tuner base: free all sub-channels, count = 0
[2024-01-26 22:23:13,932] [794896 ] [207 ] [INFO ] - EpgCard: Aborted epg grab
[2024-01-26 22:23:14,022] [794986 ] [EPG Update thread] [ERROR] -
System.InvalidOperationException: The instance of entity type 'Channel' cannot be tracked because another instance with the same key value for {'ChannelId'} is already being tracked. When attaching existing entities, ensure that only one entity instance with a given key value is attached. Consider using 'DbContextOptionsBuilder.EnableSensitiveDataLogging' to see the conflicting key values.
at Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.ChangeTracking.Internal.IdentityMap`1.ThrowIdentityConflict(InternalEntityEntry entry)
at Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.ChangeTracking.Internal.IdentityMap`1.Add(TKey key, InternalEntityEntry entry, Boolean updateDuplicate)
at Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.ChangeTracking.Internal.StateManager.StartTracking(InternalEntityEntry entry)
at Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.ChangeTracking.Internal.InternalEntityEntry.SetEntityState(EntityState oldState, EntityState newState, Boolean acceptChanges, Boolean modifyProperties)
at Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.ChangeTracking.Internal.EntityGraphAttacher.PaintAction(EntityEntryGraphNode`1 node)
at Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.ChangeTracking.Internal.EntityEntryGraphIterator.TraverseGraph[TState](EntityEntryGraphNode`1 node, Func`2 handleNode)
at Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.ChangeTracking.Internal.EntityEntryGraphIterator.TraverseGraph[TState](EntityEntryGraphNode`1 node, Func`2 handleNode)
at Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.ChangeTracking.Internal.EntityGraphAttacher.AttachGraph(InternalEntityEntry rootEntry, EntityState targetState, EntityState storeGeneratedWithKeySetTargetState, Boolean forceStateWhenUnknownKey)
at Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.DbContext.SetEntityState(InternalEntityEntry entry, EntityState entityState)
at Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.DbContext.SetEntityStates(IEnumerable`1 entities, EntityState entityState)
at Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.DbContext.UpdateRange(IEnumerable`1 entities)
at Mediaportal.TV.Server.TVDatabase.TVBusinessLayer.ProgramManagement.SavePrograms(IEnumerable`1 programs)
at Mediaportal.TV.Server.TVDatabase.TVBusinessLayer.EPG.EpgDBUpdater.ImportPrograms(Channel dbChannel, IList`1 epgPrograms)
at Mediaportal.TV.Server.TVDatabase.TVBusinessLayer.EPG.EpgDBUpdater.UpdateEpgForChannel(EpgChannel epgChannel)
at Mediaportal.TV.Server.TVLibrary.Epg.EpgCard.UpdateDatabaseThread(Object epgObj)

The logos can not be downloaded due to time out

[2024-01-26 22:18:24,183] [505147 ] [163 ] [ERROR] - SlimTv Logos: Error processing logo image.
System.AggregateException: One or more errors occurred. (The request channel timed out attempting to send after 00:00:20. Increase the timeout value passed to the call to Request or increase the SendTimeout value on the Binding. The time allotted to this operation may have been a portion of a longer timeout.)
---> System.TimeoutException: The request channel timed out attempting to send after 00:00:20. Increase the timeout value passed to the call to Request or increase the SendTimeout value on the Binding. The time allotted to this operation may have been a portion of a longer timeout.
---> System.TimeoutException: The HTTP request to 'Service ChannelManager' has exceeded the allotted timeout of 00:00:20. The time allotted to this operation may have been a portion of a longer timeout.

The timeshift error is also visible. Possibly it's a result of the previous error, but just my guess.

[2024-01-26 22:16:40,083] [401047 ] [155 ] [ERROR] -
System.NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object.
at Mediaportal.TV.Server.TVLibrary.CardManagement.CardHandler.TimeShifterBase.StartTimeShiftingEPGgrabber(IUser user)
at Mediaportal.TV.Server.TVLibrary.CardManagement.CardHandler.TimeShifter.GetTvResultFromTimeshiftingSubchannel(IUser& user)
at Mediaportal.TV.Server.TVLibrary.CardManagement.CardHandler.TimeShifter.Start(IUser& user, String& fileName, Int32 subChannelId, Int32 idChannel)
[2024-01-26 22:16:40,084] [401048 ] [155 ] [INFO ] - user:Local-0 RemoveChannelFromUser
[2024-01-26 22:16:40,085] [401050 ] [155 ] [WARN ] - Mpeg2TunerController: no CA providers identified
[2024-01-26 22:16:40,087] [401051 ] [155 ] [INFO ] - tuner base: free all sub-channels, count = 0
[2024-01-26 22:16:40,089] [401053 ] [155 ] [INFO ] - card: SignalTuneEvent card: 9 / subch: 0
[2024-01-26 22:16:40,089] [401054 ] [155 ] [INFO ] - Controller: Local-0 9 -1
[2024-01-26 22:16:40,093] [401057 ] [155 ] [ERROR] - StopTimeShifting - could not find channel to stop. Local-0 - 1
[2024-01-26 22:16:40,096] [401060 ] [155 ] [INFO ] - EPG: grabber initialized for 5 transponders..
[2024-01-26 22:16:40,100] [401064 ] [155 ] [ERROR] - Starting timeshifting failed with result UnknownError
[2024-01-26 22:16:40,100] [401065 ] [155 ] [WARN ] - SOAPHandler: Error invoking UPnP action 'StartTimeshift'
System.AggregateException: One or more errors occurred. (Failed to start tv stream: UnknownError)
---> System.Exception: Failed to start tv stream: UnknownError
at MediaPortal.Plugins.SlimTv.Service.SlimTvService.SwitchTVServerToChannel(String userName, Int32 channelId) in C:\project\mediaportal-2\MediaPortal\Source\UI\TV\SlimTvService35\SlimTvService35.cs:line 642
at MediaPortal.Plugins.SlimTv.Service.AbstractSlimTvService.StartTimeshiftAsync(String userName, Int32 slotIndex, IChannel channel) in C:\project\mediaportal-2\MediaPortal\Source\UI\TV\SlimTvService\AbstractSlimTvService.cs:line 578
--- End of inner exception stack trace ---
at System.Threading.Tasks.Task.ThrowIfExceptional(Boolean includeTaskCanceledExceptions)
at System.Threading.Tasks.Task`1.GetResultCore(Boolean waitCompletionNotification)
at MediaPortal.Plugins.SlimTv.Service.UPnP.SlimTvServiceImpl.OnStartTimeshift(DvAction action, IList`1 inParams, IList`1& outParams, CallContext context) in C:\project\mediaportal-2\MediaPortal\Source\UI\TV\SlimTvService\UPnP\SlimTvServiceImpl.cs:line 371
at UPnP.Infrastructure.Dv.DeviceTree.DvAction.FireActionInvoked(IList`1 inParams, IList`1& outParams, CallContext context)
at UPnP.Infrastructure.Dv.SOAP.SOAPHandler.HandleRequest(DvService service, Stream messageStream, Encoding streamEncoding, Boolean subscriberSupportsUPnP11, CallContext context, String& result)

and I hated the interface; in TVE3/NET4 the "TV" option is always right there when I launch MP2. In this version I have to go hunting for it in the sidebar - NOT an improvement!

I'm not so sure what you mean. The TV implementation between TVE and TVM is the same in client, there is no difference in the GUI and the server setup is much cleaner and leaner.
If you mean the position of the TV logo in the main menu (just a guess), you can move it where you want with the menu editor (right mouse click or menu press on any menu tile).

 

[ge2301]

@ge2301
Last time I had MP2 installed (2.4.1 I think) TVE 3 channel scan worked, is it possible and if so would someone update the TVE 3.5 ones from the TVE 3???

I can not use TVE3 and TVE3.5 (both are incompatible with my IPTV m3u's, only TVM is finding channels), so I can not try anything myself.
If I'm told what to change I can of course push any changes to a new test version.

 

[joecrow]

I can not use TVE3 and TVE3.5 (both are incompatible with my IPTV m3u's, only TVM is finding channels), so I can not try anything myself.
If I'm told what to change I can of course push any changes to a new test version.

Net 4 TVE 3 channel scanning works OK for me but using an identical set of parameters in Net 6 TVE 3.5 finds nothing! So it does not seem to be the parameters themselves that are at fault (though they may need updating), I have tried Germany all regions but that also finds nothing.
At this point I cannot tell whether the TVE 3.5 DVBT2 Germany or my PC is at fault, have you heard if anyone has successfully got Net 6 TVE 3.5 TV working with fta DVBT2 in Germany?

 

[harryzwo]

I confirm what joecrow wrote.
The DVBT channels in Germany are found in tv3. Not a single one with tv3.5.

 

[CyberSimian]

I have not tested TvMosaic recently, but will do so in the next day or two.

I have now tested TvMosaic on the MP 2.5.0 Net6 that I installed yesterday, so this was an "update install" (the MP2 installer uninstalled TVE 3.5 and then installed the TvMosaic client). No problems occurred (although it did seem to take a long time on my system). I then installed the TvMosaic server (again no problems).

Scanning for channels was successful, as was EPG grabbing (from the broadcast datastream), and when I started the MP2 client I could view the EPG, watch live TV, and listen to the radio. Some comments:

(1) From previous posts, it seems that antivirus software causes problems. I don't use any specific antivirus software on my HTPC, as it is used only as an HTPC. My lack of antivirus may explain my success, while others have problems.

(2) TvMosaic is not beyond criticism. The scroll bars are invisible, which means that you cannot tell where to click to scroll the list of tuners or the list of channels. PAGE_UP and PAGE_DOWN on the keyboard do not scroll the lists either.

(3) The first channel scan was successful, but subsequent channel scans did not scan -- the software recognised that it was the same provider, and simply mapped the channels from the first scan. This may be OK when all of the tuners have the same capability, but may not work when the tuners have different capability. I have four DVB-T2 tuners and two DVB-T tuners. The result of TvMosaic's action may be that it thinks that the DVB-T tuners can receive the UK HD channels (which, of course, they cannot). This would need to be investigated (although it is not obvious how to do this).

(4) The EPG grab is too short. TvMosaic allocates 5 minutes for this, but the UK requires 10-15 minutes for the EPG grab. The result of this is that the MP2 client showed "No program data" in the EPG for many programmes from tomorrow onwards (today's EPG seemed complete, as far as I checked). It may be possible to increase the grab time, but I could not find a config file where this could be set.

(5) I scheduled a recording of a radio programme, which (I think) succeeded. But the file size is enormous. Using TVE 3/3.5, a 30-minute recording from "BBC Radio 4" is about 50 MByte in size. Using TvMosaic it is about 500 MByte in size. For comparison, a 30-minute radio recording using WMC on Vista is stored as a DVR-MS file, and that is about 250 MByte in size, while the same recording using WMC on Windows 7 is stored as a WTV file, and that is about 750 MByte in size.

One difference is the ability to jump forward and jump backward during playback of a radio recording. This is possible with DVR-MS and WTV files, but not with TVE's TS files. I suspect that this is because the latter lacks the necessary timing data within the file. Possibly the TvMosaic TS file does contain this timing data (I have not tried playing it yet, as I will need to create an xml file to be able to import it into TVE's database).

(6) In the MP2 client, on first entry to the EPG, the grid shows "No program data" for about one second before the programme info appears. Once in the EPG, scrolling around does not suffer this problem. However, if one returns to the MP2 "Home" panel and visits some other part of the product, on return to the EPG, once again there is this one-second delay before the programme info appears.

(7) As I mentioned in my comments on a previous build, and echoed by @joecrow in an earlier post, channel selection by entering numbers does not work. I think that this is an important capability that needs to be supported. My TV EPG has about 100 channels. If I want to go from channel 10 to channel 101, I don't want to have to scroll repeatedly; I want to enter the number 101. This is how I use MP1.

(8) While listening to a radio programme, moving between the different tiles and panels in the "Radio" section worked OK. But on return to the "Home" panel, the response to the UP, DOWN, LEFT, and RIGHT buttons on the remote became slow, and the animations became very jerky. One might suppose that the entire client was running on a single thread, and so had to divide the CPU between playing live radio and animating the "Home"panel". My HTPC has a 4-core Intel Q6600, which I don't think is underpowered for mediacenter use.

(9) I have used TvMosaic only a few time via MP2, but from reading elsewhere my impression had been that TvMosaic offers better functionality for scheduling recordings. The problem here is that MP 2.5.0 does not expose any of this better functionality. It would need support in the skin, and in the corresponding underlying code in the MP2 TvMosaic client. So MP 2.5.0 has precisely the same limitations as TVE 3/3.5. Now, one cannot do everything at once, and one has to start somewhere, but it is difficult to see any advantage in using TvMosaic with the current release of MP2.

-- from CyberSimian in the UK

 

[Mike Sutherland]

I'm not so sure what you mean. The TV implementation between TVE and TVM is the same in client, there is no difference in the GUI and the server setup is much cleaner and leaner.
If you mean the position of the TV logo in the main menu (just a guess), you can move it where you want with the menu editor (right mouse click or menu press on any menu tile).

See attached file for TVE3/NET4 in MP2 2.5. When I launch MP2 2.5 I get this screen displayed and I can click on TV to go to the last channel , choose from my favouites/last watched or click on TV Guide to view the EPG.

In TVE3.5 or TVM all the options are hidden in a sidebar which I have to go scrolling down to get to TV. It is NOT an improvement.

 

[joecrow]

In TVE3.5 or TVM all the options are hidden in a sidebar which I have to go scrolling down to get to TV. It is NOT an improvement.

Not sure what your problem is it looks OK to me, see attached sceenshot of the Net 6 TVM version. No idea thoughhow it looks with the TVE 3.5 version as I cannot get it to work.

 

[Mike Sutherland]

Not sure what your problem is it looks OK to me, see attached sceenshot of the Net 6 TVM version. No idea thoughhow it looks with the TVE 3.5 version as I cannot get it to work.

View attachment 213346

Mine looks NOTHING like that. All of the options are hidden in a sidebar to the left of the screen and NO I am not doing another uninstall reinstall to get a screengrab.