MP and schedules direct problem (1 Viewer)

[tracinjeff]

Good evening, wecome to our nightmare! Just kidding. we are haveing problems with the schedules direct plugin, maybe someone can help. we know that the plugin is there, we configured it, and we saw the channels in the t.v. server configure, but we dont know how to open it. also we dont know how to open videos or music or pic's. The wiki is huge, and you would think it's simple, but I gess we are to simple. could someone give us a clue where everything is? when we start MP we see plugins, and under plugins there are a couple of games, and t.v. whene we click on t.v. and see a channel that says no free card. Did we do something wrong? any help would be great! thank you, and may the Shwartz be with you! ( space balls, we love our movies!! ) attached our MP log. thanks!

 

[2BitSculptor]

I'm not quite sure I follow you...

The SchedulesDirect plugin only feeds the lineup info from your Schedules Direct account to your TV Guide for the channels you previously scanned in the TV Server Config from your TV capture device. If you have scanned channels on your TV capture device and can preview them in TV Server Config, then that part is done, and that should tell you if your card is "free".

I don't know what you mean when you say "but we dont know how to open it. also we dont know how to open videos or music or pic's."

Chuck

 

[mm1352000]

Hi and welcome tracinjeff

...we saw the channels in the t.v. server configure, but we dont know how to open it. also we dont know how to open videos or music or pic's.

You configure your videos, music and picture folders in MediaPortal configuration. You might want to follow the quick setup guide -->here<--. After you've done that, you should be able to browse your videos, music and pictures in MediaPortal by choosing the appropriate section from the home screen.

whene we click on t.v. and see a channel that says no free card.

This seems to trip up everyone who is just starting out with SchedulesDirect and MediaPortal. What you've missed is the linking of channels to the tuners that you have available - this is required so that MP knows which tuner to use when you want to watch a particular channel. To fix this, open TV Server configuration, expand the "TV Channels" section and select "TV Mapping". Follow the instructions -->here<-- to link the channels to your tuner(s). After that you should be able to get TV working...

mm

 

[tracinjeff]

Thanks! We mapped the channels and can now see the info in M.P. What we ment by not being able to open vedios or music or pics is that on the home screen there isn't a button for these. no button for weather ether. and when i click a t.v. channel it says " no supported software encoder installed. HUH? Chinnese to me. But where getting closer! WE clicked on the link that we thought would show us how to make a log and diddent understand, is that the zip file M.P. makes in debug mode? Thank you all very much, now go treat yourselfs to a candy bar!!

 

[mm1352000]

Hi again

Thanks!

No problem.

What we ment by not being able to open vedios or music or pics is that on the home screen there isn't a button for these. no button for weather ether.

Umm, seems a little strange. Are you seeing the same home screen I'd be expecting you to see - it should look something like -->this<--.

...and when i click a t.v. channel it says " no supported software encoder installed. HUH? Chinnese to me.

If anything is "chinese" to you then the place to go and figure it out is -->the wiki<--. To give you a rough idea: when you use analog tuners or capture inputs (s-video, composite etc.) to get TV/video into your computer then the video and audio has to be digitised (converted from analog to digital) so that the computer can understand, manipulate and store it. That is where encoders come in. It is their job to digitise the video and audio. Some tuner cards have dedicated chips for doing the encoding - such cards are generally well supported. Your card (like many other mid-range, cheap or hybrid tuner cards) does not have those chips. Instead, it relies on you installing software to do the encoding. Hence the term "software encoder". Getting cards that require software encoders to work can be complex and difficult. To make this as simple as possible I'm just going to suggest you install WinDVR 3. This solution is far from ideal though as the trial will run out in 30 days and you can no longer buy the software. I suggest you invest in a tuner with "hardware encoding"...

WE clicked on the link that we thought would show us how to make a log and diddent understand, is that the zip file M.P. makes in debug mode?

Ummm, again kinda not sure what you're referring to. Debug mode (AKA the watchdog) creates zip files containing all your logs. It looks like you know about that as you've attached logs to your first post.

mm

 

[tracinjeff]

Hi, It's us again. a question again, will Win DVR 3 help with MP or schedules direct? Also, can anyone recomend a usb t.v. card that has hardware encoding? We found a win dvr 6.1 for sale, is it worth buying? Our MP home screen does not look like the pic in the link, we have only a play disk button, a settings button and a plugins button, is this wrong? How many licks DOES it take to get to the center of a tottsie roll pop anyway? Thank You all very much!
P.S. We installed a wintv-hvr-950q and it dident work. So now we have 2 t.v. cards for the laptop!

 

[mm1352000]

Hi again

...will Win DVR 3 help with MP or schedules direct?

It will make the "please install a software encoder" error go away.

Also, can anyone recomend a usb t.v. card that has hardware encoding?

I don't know of any - not in USB stick form anyway.

Our MP home screen does not look like the pic in the link, we have only a play disk button, a settings button and a plugins button, is this wrong?

If you've scrolled up and down and those are the only 3 things in the list then yes.

P.S. We installed a wintv-hvr-950q and it dident work.

The 950q needs a software encoder to be installed.

mm

 

[tracinjeff]

Thanks, we,ve got questions, but I've got to make my soal mate dinner. will post tomorow. Thank you!!

 

[tracinjeff]

Just when you thought it was safe... Hi, a quick question, if our MP homescreen is messed up, is there a way to fix it? How do we go about it? We wait with batted breath!

 

[mm1352000]

Hi again

I should have asked earlier but I was in a bit of a rush - can you take a screenshot and post it here so I can see what it looks like.

Cheers,
mm