MP 1.26 fails to connect to SQL Server (1 Viewer)

[rsbrux]

I have just done a virgin installation of MP 1.26 on a bare metal installation of Windows 8.1 Pro x64 (because Intel does not provide Windows 10 chipset drivers for my motherboard). Before installing MP I installed SQL Server 2017, (which is the latest version for Windows 8.1). During MP installation I connected successfully to SQL Server. The needed tables were created (see attached screenshot) and TV server was connected to the SQL Server DB. However, MP does not find the TV server. The first problem was that the Gentle.config created for MP specifies MySQL instead of SQL Server (see attached zipfile of initial configuration). However, even after copying Gentle.config from the TV Server installation (also attached, identical to the Gentle.config in my previous MP installation) into the MP installation, MP still does not find the TV server. Where else should I look for the problem? I have attached logfiles both before and after replacing Gentle.config.

 

[rsbrux]

TV Server wasn't started, even though startup was configured as "Automatic". Connection mow successful with old Gentle.config. I'll report back when finished with configuration and DB creation.

 

[ajs]

because Intel does not provide Windows 10 chipset drivers for my motherboard

Windows 10 has a lot of drivers on board, especially for older computers, I put Windows 10 on laptops for which there were no drivers even for Windows 7, only for Windows XP.
And everything worked fine.

 

[ajs]

@rsbrux This logs from Mediaportal, but for understanding why the TV Server does not start, we need the logs of the TV server.

 

[rsbrux]

Thanks for responding, @ajs ! Aside from the wrong Gentle.config, the problem seems to have been that TV Server was trying to start before the SQL Express server was ready. I have changed the TV Service Startup Type from "Automatic" to "Automatic (Delayed Start)" and that seems to have resolved the problem. Thanks for your support!

 

[rsbrux]

Windows 10 has a lot of drivers on board, especially for older computers, I put Windows 10 on laptops for which there were no drivers even for Windows 7, only for Windows XP.
And everything worked fine.

It took me so long to get WIndows 8.1 etc. set up that I don't feel like going through that again soon, at least not without some strong motivation, but thanks for the vote of confidence in 10! I only recently updated my main PC (an 8-year old Lenovo laptop) from 8.1 to 10, so I think I'll take some time to get more familiar with 10 before installing it on my HTPC.

 

[doskabouter]

Thanks for responding, @ajs ! Aside from the wrong Gentle.config, the problem seems to have been that TV Server was trying to start before the SQL Express server was ready. I have changed the TV Service Startup Type from "Automatic" to "Automatic (Delayed Start)" and that seems to have resolved the problem. Thanks for your support!

I think there's also a way to specify that the tv service is dependent on sql expres. (didn't test but here might be a starting point: How to add dependency on a Windows Service AFTER the service is installed)
That way it will be a more resilient solution than hoping the delay will be enough to get sql express fully running

 

[rsbrux]

@doskabouter thanks for the reminder. It‘s been so long since I did a clean installation that I had forgotten this.

P.S.
Now I have checked "TV Service" in services.msc, and it already has a dependency on "SQL Browser". I have added a dependency on "SQL Server (SQLEXPRESS)" and changed the startup back to "Automatic". I hope that does the job!

 

[rsbrux]

Adding the dependency on SQL Server was a complete failure. After adding the dependency using the "sc configure" command as recommended in the article @doskabouter linked to, I could see the new dependency in the TV Service properties. After rebooting, however, the new dependency was gone, and only the change back to "Automatic" Startup Type" remained, which resulted in the TV Service not starting at all, as originally reported. Until I find a way of making the dependency change permanent, I am leaving the service on "Automatic (Delayed Start)".

 

[doskabouter]

hm strange.
other than that, I would have expected that this dependency would have been set at installation time...