Need help getting mp to work (1 Viewer)

mm1352000

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    @Andrew_H

    Nothing wrong with XP Pro - I use it myself. The GPU is low end, but should be okay for MPEG 2 channels at least.

    mm
     

    fyresafe75

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    ok...
    now what. i believe i have done all i am supposed to. is it really supposed to be this time consuming/difficult...i mean come on MP!

    so heres the last log file. no more dvb problems, i believe. noW when i try to p:mad:review a channel i get a message stating the channel is not mapped to any card/tuner...WHAT? so i found where you do the mapping and i have all the channels on the right side where it says " channels mapped to card" PLEASE HELP. MY WIFE WILL SEND COOKIES!!!!!
     

    mm1352000

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    Hi again

    The errors I see in your logs are mostly related to you trying to tune scrambled channels. Honestly, enabling the CAM setting when you haven't actually got a CAM is going to make trouble for you. I did not and do not recommend that you turn that setting on unless you are truly certain that you are missing channels. In that case, ask for help and specify the names/callsigns and frequencies (or major/minor channel numbers) of the channels you're looking for. As I also said earlier: you can tell which channels are scrambled in TV Server configuration. Scrambled channels have a red icon; free channels have a green icon. You can only get the channels with the green icon, so don't even bother trying to tune the channels with a red icon - it flat out won't work.

    That said, I did see two cases where you tried to tune a channel that was truly not mapped. That applies to "Unknown 565250-9" and "MeTV". If you've linked all the channels to your tuner then I can't explain that.

    mm
     

    fyresafe75

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    @mm,
    thanks for all your help. almost there. i have deleted all the reds out of tv channels and turned CAM back of. After a restart i was able to successfully open MP and i had TV viewing finnaly. although i was never able to see previews in TV config. the problem now is that the program runs slow and choppy. anything else i can do. as stated in previous thread, i am able to watch tv perfeclty with this happauge tuner in the provied wintv program provided with the device.

    oh. one more thing. when i go to the guide there is no info on any channels.
     

    mm1352000

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    Hi again

    although i was never able to see previews in TV config.
    If you had only asked I could have told you straight away that is an inconsequential codec issue. Unless people know how to handle codec merits I always advise to (1) set your codec preferences in MP configuration -->here<-- and (2) test in MP, *not* with preview.

    the problem now is that the program runs slow and choppy. anything else i can do. as stated in previous thread, i am able to watch tv perfeclty with this happauge tuner in the provied wintv program provided with the device.
    Okay. Before you do anything else, first set up your codec settings in the codecs and renderer section of MP configuration. A word of advice: codecs seem to cause well over 50% of the problems reported on this forum so it pays to try different choices if you have video or audio issues (stutter, choppiness etc). If you have no idea what codecs are then there is a brief intro here - I say brief because there is a lot to know. I'd recommend you install the LAV filters from here and use them wherever possible (ie. use LAV video decoder for all video related settings and LAV audio decoder for all audio related settings).

    Now having said that, I actually think that in this case the problem is not codecs (it is still *critical* to fix those settings). There are continuity errors all through your logs which suggests either signal or HDD stress issues. Since you say that the tuner works fine in WinTV, please first check that the timeshifting and recording folders that you've configured for TV Server to use are excluded from any virus scanner's check list. Ideally you'd also move those folders onto a second HDD (ie. have the folders on a different HDD to the OS).

    If you still have problems after doing those two things then come back with fresh logs and I'll take another look.

    oh. one more thing. when i go to the guide there is no info on any channels.
    Yes, it doesn't happen automatically - you have to find a data source for the info. This is a classic problem for people using MP for ATSC or clear QAM channels. Disable the EPG grabber in TV Server configuration - it won't do any good for you. You have basically 3 options:

    1. Schedules direct - very good but costs $25 per year.
    2. mc2xml - there is a free option, but I've heard people say that it doesn't have the EPG info for local channels... anyhow definitely worth a try as many people are okay with this option.
    3. WebEPG - I don't know to much about this option.

    Unfortunately there are no really great guides for setting any of these up, so I'm going to give you a very brief and to-the-point rundown.

    Schedules Direct

    1. Sign up for an account here and set up a line-up on their site.
    2. Download and install the TV Server plugin from here (version svn26).
    3. Open TV Server configuration.
    4. Go to the TV Channels section and rename all your channels to match the "callsign" in the SD lineup *exactly*. Click on channel name, click again after a second or so... should make it editable.
    5. Go to the plugin section.
    6. Tick the SD plugin.
    7. Expand the plugin node on the left.
    8. Select the SD plugin.
    9. Enter your account details from step 1.
    10. Tick the "force guide update on next TvService startup" (that's an SD setting).
    11. Go to the manual control section of TV Server configuration and click "stop service"... then "start service".

    All being well you should start to see guide info. No further configuration required.

    mc2xml

    1. Download the application from here.
    2. Run it (no install required). It should pop up a window that allows you to enter various settings. Do all that.
    3. Somewhere in there it should allow you to generate an XMLTV file. Do that.
    4. Take the xml file and put it in a folder where you're going to remember that it is there (maybe C:\Program Files\xmltv\).
    5. Download the xmltv.dtd file from here and put it in that same folder.
    6. Open TV Server configuration.
    7. Go to the plugin section.
    8. Tick the XMLTV plugin.
    9. Expand the plugin node on the left.
    10. Select the XMLTV plugin.
    11. Select the location where you put the xml file.
    12. Click import. If you've done everything right it should say imported x number of channels and 0 programs.
    13. Go to the second tab.
    14. Select the all channels channel group (or one of your channel groups if you've made one) and click load.
    15. Link each channel with the appropriate guide channel.
    16. Click save.
    17. Go back to the first tab.
    18. Click import again. This time it should freeze as it starts to import programs. Give it 3 minutes and you should have EPG data in MP.

    Note: at some point you would need to configure a scheduled task to run mc2xml and generate an updated xml file. Not too hard, just beyond the scope of this post. If you get stuck with the XMLTV plugin then there is the documentation here to help you.

    WebEPG

    Of all the options this is the one that I can offer the least help with. However, I can point you direct to -->here<--, which should hopefully be helpful.

    mm
     

    Andrew H

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    FWIW I had been using SchedulesDirect for a couple o' years and realized mc2xml would give me the same for free (assuming I could get it operational). I'm simply OTA so 10-15 channels is all I need. The SD uses a plugin and just runs whereas mc2xml needs a scheduled task to run a .bat file or simply the .exe -- read some of the guides and you'll see a .bat gives you better control. Now that MP has the xmlTV plugin it's actually quite simple to so and mm's assessment is right on! BTW, @mm - I wasn't sure if the Pro versions supported video support as they're more 'business' oriented. Wasn't there the case where certain OS loads excluded video at one time? Maybe I'm mistaken but that is why I threw a flag to the Pro edition. And it was me who suggested using the preview because (assuming there's no codec issue) it avoids any handoff between TV-Server and MP (e.g. if you can't tune in Preview or Timeshift in Manual Control, then it ain't gonna happen inside MP) but you may not agree with my staunch position.
     

    fyresafe75

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    thanks mm,
    i will try these suggestions when i return from vacation, or as u prbly say...holiday. again thanks for all your help...btw, the schedules direct sounds easiest and worth the low annual fee, however it would be helpful to know before hand if i'll be able to get MP functional.

    fyresafe75
     

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